Kentucky Butter Cake

What could be a better dessert for your derby party than liquor soaked butter cake? With the derby quickly approaching this weekend you know preparations at Churchill Downs are well under way. The horses are probably being fine-tuned, bathed, brushed and whatever else they need. The jockeys are trying to mentally prepare. And every good southern woman (or any woman for that matter) attending is making certain that she has the most perfect hat!


Oh I have dreamed many years of attending the derby…not necessarily for the races but oh my goodness any excuse to wear an over the top hat is the place for me! Just ask my momma as a kid I always insisted in having a hat for Easter! I would love to be invited to some British wedding just to have an excuse to wear an amazing hat! Plus I think I could really get in to betting on racing animals.

Anyway I digress this cake is rich, luscious and very buttery. Oh goodness I can taste it now. This is one of my momma’s tried and true recipes that never get turned down. The cake only gets better the longer the butter sauce soaks in.

In addition to your Kentucky Hot Browns and Mint Juleps give this recipe a go for your derby party or any party for that matter!

Kentucky Butter Cake

1 Cup Butter Softened

2 Cups Sugar

4 Eggs

1 Cup Buttermilk

2 tsp Vanilla

3 Cups Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

½ tsp Baking Soda

Grease bottom only of a 10in tube pan. In a large mixing bowl cream butter. Gradually add sugar; continue creaming until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each. Add remaining ingredients. Blend on a low speed until moistened, beat 2 additional minutes on medium. Pour batter into the pan. Bake at 325 for 60 to 65 minutes.

Butter Sauce

1 cup sugar

¼ cup water

½ cup butter

1 tablespoon of rum flavoring (or bourbon)

Prepare butter sauce in the last 15-20 minutes of baking of the cake. In a small sauce pan combine butter, sugar and water beat until melted do not boil. Add liquor. When the cake comes out of the oven prick the top with a fork and pour warm sauce over the cake. Cool cake completely before removing from the pan.

Back in the saddle...Let's hope!

She is the ruler of our sidewalk

Where in the world have I been well that can be summed up pretty quickly! Work…work was a train wreck last week. Since then I have had several things going on.

1. On Saturday night the hubs threw a surprise 30th birthday party for me. It was truly a surprise, I was shocked! He had the help of many to pull it off I am so touched that so many came together to celebrate with me! I don’t have many pictures yet but these are a few I do have! These three had an absolute ball!
Someone asked me today if it was a wild and crazy party, I said no it was good food, family and friends and that is pretty much perfect to me! Thank you so much to everyone that came, and to those that helped the hubs pull it off! And to the hubs thanks I never saw it coming!

2. I know it is supposed to get cold later this week but I seriously couldn’t resist buying some flowers this weekend. Charlot and I even potted some of them up yesterday, let’s hope that isn’t a mistake! I love love love flowers and pretty pottery. I snagged the blue and white pot at HomeGoods the other day! I also love HomeGoods.

                                      

                                   

                                    

                                    

3. I am participating in my first 5k on Saturday it is a run/walk thankfully I am not certain I could make it! Any words of advice or encouragement are welcomed!

Avocado, Shrimp Salsa???

I am not certain what to call this dish so I am going with avocado shrimp salsa. My cousins wife brought this dish to our family Easter celebration on Sunday and it was delish. I didn’t exactly get her recipe nor did I fully ask her how to make the dish but I thought I would give it a try. I thought it would be a nice healthy treat for our office Administrative Assistant, since today is Administrative Assistants day!


The verdict is in and it was loved by all regardless of what I decide to call it! This light refreshing dish would be great for a summer party served with toasted bread, celery, or store bought flat bread crisps like I did! It is also super easy to make with just five ingredients it whips up in no time flat.

Now in the following recipe you will see the term cheeked for the roma tomatoes in this dish. I am not certain this is an actual culinary term but I use it. I just mean cut the side of the tomato off and use them, trying to avoid the center with the seeds. If there is ever a term in one of my recipes that bothers you or you don’t understand please feel free to contact me I kind of tend to speak my own language.

Back to the dish! If you would like you can add some finely diced red onion but raw onion just doesn’t make my pallet real happy! Make it for your next get together make it to serve over chicken breasts make it for your momma make it for your hubs whatever you do just give it a try!

Avocado Shrimp Salsa

2 Avocado’s Diced

3 Roma Tomatoes Cheeked and diced

1 package of Cocktail Shrimp diced a bit

1 Small container of crumbled Feta

1 Lemon (Zest and Juice)

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients with lemon zest and juice. Season with Salt and Pepper. Chill before serving

Weekend Recap...

Whoa I have been MIA for a bit too long, sorry bout that spring brings crazy to my occupation! This past weekend was jam packed and amazing! On Friday I celebrated my big thirtith birthday! Exciting! It was kind of a whole week of birthday for me actually! On Tuesday my co-workers threw me a suprise birthday party, my momma made me cinnamon rolls on Thursday and on Friday I woke up to flowers and loves from Charlot and the hubs. Once at work my cubical was so gorgeously decorated and I was blessed with lunch with two of my aunts! Pretty great day that just got better! 

I cannot explain this pic well my face in the pic but I wanted to show off my shirt!

The hubs who rarely makes a plan had arranged a sitter and made reservations at this fun little place in Rocheport, called Abigail's. It was wonderful to enjoy a quite dinner with hubs. The place is really neat with a menu that changes daily so it is written on a dry erase board, and none of the serving utensils or dishes match. Ther is artwork everywhere and desserts to die for! I was in too big of a hurry to eat the dessert I forgot to snap a pic! All I can say is gooey butter cake amazingness!

Check out the menu and the hubs dish (again I had eaten most of mine w/o a pic)

Then we spent Saturday doing some shopping for my SIL's wedding got Charlot a bumble bee dress (some would refer to this as a flower girl dress). Than evening we had Easter dinner with the hubs side of the family. So fun, here are some egg hunting pics!

Sunday was Easter. Bunny basket, Breakfast, church, lunch, egg hunt, nap and one more birthday celebration! It was great! The first photo in this post is of my papa and Charlot after the egg hunt Sunday. Perfect!

It was a great weekend I am so very blessed! Hope each of you had a great weekend and are having an awesome week! 

Thankful Thursday's...it really is the little things.

Today will be pretty short and simple. It has been a long week...planting season is upon us, it comes with the territory! So tonight went I got home to a quite house, the hubs and Charlot were out. I realized how very thankful that I have a home to come home to. One that is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. One that though small is overflowing with love. I am thankful that I have a nice comfy couch to rest on and I am really thankful that someone invented DVR. Yes it isn't really the big things in life it truly is the littles that mean the most. 

She loves spring...

On our drive to the sitter’s this morning my daughter announced to me that it was almost spring! “Momma spring will be here after Easter is over!” She apparently can only handle one occasion at once. Then she says, “Oh I love spring.” Me too sweetie why do you love it? “Spring break!” She’s three I thought that every day was kind of a break. Plus where in the world she came up with the concept of spring break I have not a clue. But sure sweetie I could use a spring break as well! Let's just hope that once she is old enough for an actual "Spring Break" she chooses to come home and spend it with her momma...please!!!

This chick has no clue.

This conservation brought me to remember some of the things my kiddo does really love about spring and the Easter season. These pictures are of the cute “Egg Tree” that she and I created; she had a blast helping me with this. The other pictures are from a recent trip to Orschlen’s. Each year around Easter these stores get loads of chicks, ducks and baby bunnies in and they allow kiddos to touch and handle the little cuties. This is a great reward for Charlot she loves these little guys, and no we did not bring any home! If you have one of these stores in your area go check it out your kiddos will love it!

Happy Spring everyone and enjoy your Easter!

Spinach Artichoke Dip Pizza with Chicken and Bacon

We had a bit of a watch party on Sunday night at my parents’ house to watch the Food network Series “America’s Best Cook.” A friend of our family who my bro and I grew up show against was competing on the show so I decided it was a good excuse for a party.

In the process of planning the party food came up and it was requested that I make my Shrimp and Pesto Pizza again. Well that was all fine and good but I knew I needed something else, a new exciting pizza. Well lo and behold I thought why not mesh spinach artichoke dip and pizza, of course that would be great. And the results came back pretty darn positive another pizza to keep in my rotation.

Even though our friend didn’t make the finals she did an amazing job representing the Mid-west. Especially mid-west farmers. She would have made my team for sure but apparently the Food Network forgot to call me to judge/mentor. It was fun watching her and celebrating with some great pizza! Give this bad boy a try!

Spinach Artichoke Dip Pizza with Chicken and Bacon

1 can pizza dough (I used Pillsbury whole wheat)

1 ½ chicken breast Seasoned with Salt and Pepper and Sautéed

3 Strips of Bacon Diced and browned

1 container of Garlic Herb Cheese

1 Can Artichokes in water Drained and diced

Juice of ½ lemon (cuts the richness)

1 bag of Spinach

1 ball Fresh Mozzarella sliced thin

Heat oven to 400. On a large cookie sheet spray with Pam and sprinkle on some cornmeal. Spread your dough out to reach all sides. Prick the dough all over with a fork prebake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes

Mix your garlic herb cheese, lemon juice and your diced artichokes. Spread over your cooled crust and top with sliced mozzarella cheese. Top with as much spinach as you like. I used quite a bit because we like the green stuff. Then add on the chicken and bacon.

Throw it back in the oven for an additional 10-12 minutes! Remove from oven, slide off cookie sheet on to a cutting board, and allow it to cool a few minutes before doing this. Slice it up and dig in!

Quick and Easy Beef Lo Mein

Oh man do I love Chinese food especially Lo Mein… plus we have an amazing Chinese restaurant here locally. I seriously haven’t found one I like more. Then there are those times that I don’t really want to drive into the next town to get takeout from this lovely little place. Plus if I make it I get to control the ingredients that are going into the mix plus I can bump up the veggie content!


Last Thursday was one of those nights that I needed a quick supper and I had gotten a beef sirloin steak out of the freezer so I needed to incorporate it into the meal. Typically I use those steaks in fajitas or even slow cooked with tomatoes but I just wasn’t feeling either of those. I really wanted some Chinese. Me being me I threw caution to the wind and decided I would give making my beloved Lo Mein a go!

I wanted to quick marinate the meat and add more veggies to this dish. The result was a great balance of savory, sweet/tangy, and spicy. Plus as I said before I was in control of the ingredients and the amount of each ingredient which was really great! Please don’t judge the fact that I had frozen egg rolls with it, they were in my freezer and with no shame I will say they were delicious as was the main course. Give this recipe a try for a different quick and easy week night supper. Feel free to switch up the veggies to meet your family’s needs, cabbage, green onion, broccoli, carrots would all be great!

Beef Lo Mein

1 Sirloin Steak (1-1 ½ lbs.) thinly sliced across the grain. (I threw mine back in the freezer for a few minutes to make slicing thin easier!)

1 Onion Thinly Sliced

2 Bell Peppers Sliced in match sticks

2 cups Sugar Snap Peas

½ Lb Fettuccini Pasta

Marinade

¼ cup EVOO

¼ cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce

2 TBSP Sugar

2 Cloves Garlic Minced

1 TSP Ground Ginger

¼ TSP Red Pepper Flake

1/2 Orange (Juiced)

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a gallon size zip top bag add your meat with all marinade ingredients close the bag and shake it around so that all meat is evenly coated. Place back in the fridge while you prepared the remainder.
Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a large nonstick skillet heat 2 TBSP EVOO. Once your oil is hot add your onion (I do onion first because I like it to get all the way cooked.) Once your onion is softened take your meat out of bag don’t pour the sauce into the pan what is on the meat is plenty. Add meat to the hot skillet stirring quickly to speed cooking, add peppers at this time too.
When meat and peppers are to desired doneness add peas and pasta stirring quickly to coat the pasta in the sauce. Squeeze the other half of the orange over the dish at this time. If you feel you need more sauce you can add some pasta water or a bit of soy sauce. Your peas will still have a nice bright green color and a nice crunch to them as well!
Please enjoy!

Thankful Thursday's..

So due to the overwhelming amount of posts on Facebook telling me it was Natioal Siblings Day I decided to jump on the bandwagon!

I truly am thankful for my brother he is such a blessing in my life I am not real sure what I'd do without him. But not only am I thankful for him today I am so very thankful for all memories I have from us growing up together...here are just a few 

On the paper route we shared (we were the definition of cool) we had a game to see how many political signs we could hit in the yards.

Washing sheep together at the state fair with zero water pressure, then getting yelled at by dad for the lambs not being clean.

You ditching your truck multiple times with me in it. 

Nearly wrecking my truck in our parents drive way.

Going to the jackpot show in Higginsville by ourselves because we made dad mad, woops

Three words Cards Kathryn Cards (sorry this is totally inside, story another day)

Walking pigs for hours on end. Oh wait we still do that.

I know I was super annoying at times and I still am, but I have never looked up to someone quite like I look up to you...one final memory...

The night they announced you would be serving as the 1999-2000 State FFA officer for area 6 and they put the duct tape on your jacket to read Association. I had never wanted to be more like you than I did on that moment.

Love you big bro!

Now these two are not my blood siblings but they have been in my life for so long I can't imagine life with out them. There have been ups, downs, cheers and tears but through it all I am very glad that when I married your brother you became my sisters.

Don't think I won't go Down memory lane with you two as well...

Mer swimming through corn

Rach sharing a bed in Des Moines

The crazy after thanksgiving shopping trip

Mer when does oil boil

Rach prom dress shopping, heaven help me

Ther are many more but I'll save those for later as well. I am very proud to have you in my life and I pray you feel the same! 

Love you two

Grilled Chicken Portobello Stacks

Last night I was driving home from work trying to think (driving and thinking for me sort of dangerous) of some thing I could quickly make for supper before I needed to head to Zumba. I kept think about avocados I have no clue why! All I knew is I needed to get Charlot picked up, I needed to vote, and I needed to see if the grocery store had any ripe avocados!

Like a beakening calling my name the local store had some lovely produce, avocados went in the cart first, then these huge really nice portobellos spoke to me! And a dish was born! Am I the only one that does this? Any who I got the goods and headed home to get cooking!

In addition to the mushrooms and avocado I grabbed some tomatoes and chicken breast. I did the bulk of my cooking on a grill pan but this could easily be done on an out door grill. I wasn't sure how it was going to go together, but man alive this open faced "sandwich" was delish! The tomoato avocado mix creates a lovely little sauce as well as providing some extra creaminess to the dish. I served ours with a chunk of crusty bread, this soaked up the sauce left on the plate quite nicely. The best thing is it is super healthy and done in under 30 minutes. Let's make this!

4 large portobello mushrooms (cleaned)

4 chicken breasts

2 avocados (diced)

3 Roma tomatoes (cheeked (I don't know if that is a term?) basically avoid the seeds in the center)

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

4 tbsp EVOO

Salt and pepper t taste 

Drizzle both sides of the mushrooms with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in a hot grill pan. These will need to cook for at least 5 minutes on each side over medium heat. You want them soft but not falling apart.

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Cook in a nonstick skillet with a drizzle of EVOO in the bottom of the pan. Start cooking these in a really hot pan so get get a really nice crispy "skin" these should cook 5-7 minutes side. Allow to rest and dice.

Toss you tomato and avocado together with the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. This will get a little saucy and have a fresh salsa look.

Assembly mushroom, chicken, salsa, knife fork, eat!