Parties

Tissue Paper Pumpkin Craft

~ lk529 ~ 5 Comments

I’m so excited to be sharing a craft with you today!

Following the birth of my second son (almost one year ago – eek) the “Sew” part of Sew You Think You Can Cook has become near extinct as my spare time manages to keep dwindling. Who knew two young boys could be so exhausting!? Oh wait, just about everybody. But, I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Not even a craft room. 😉

When my mother-in-law came to visit a couple of weeks ago half of her suitcase was packed with crafting materials! She had two projects planned for Firecracker to make and some material for a Halloween craft I’d asked her to help me with. It was a fabulous week filled with modge podge and my sewing machine.

My husband and I were very skeptical as to how our two year old would do with a craft project. And he did his best to curb his mom’s expectations and enthusiasm. I am happy to report that Firecracker had a blast crafting with his Tilly! He couldn’t wait to make a second of each for his little brother, too.

How to make a Tissue Paper Pumpkin

Start with a template of a pumpkin (or whatever other shape you want to create) and trace it onto a piece of burlap, a piece of Lite Steam A Seam 2, and a piece of fabric. Cut out the pumpkins.

Sandwich the Steam A Seam 2 between the burlap and the fabric, iron to fuse the pieces together, following the product instructions.

Working with the burlap side up. Paint the stem of the pumpkin with brown craft paint, if desired.

Paint modge podge over the face of the pumpkin. An empty yogurt container is a perfect vessel for portioning out the craft glue.

Apply 1 1/4″ squares of tissue paper to the pumpkin and gently “tap tap” to adhere.

Tissue Paper Pumpkin Craft

Seal down the tissue paper by painting over the pumpkin with another layer of modge podge. Allow pumpkin to dry.

Using modge podge again, glue down the jack-o-lantern face, if desired. These jack-o-lantern faces were cut out from black fabric scraps. My mother-in-law brought three different sets of eyes, noses, and mouths and allowed Firecracker to create his own pumpkin face.

Seal in the face by covering with another layer of modge podge.

Tissue Paper Pumpkin Craft

Once the pumpkin is completely dry, trim the edges of any over hanging tissue paper. If there are bubbles in the paper, simply puncture them with a pin.

Hot glue a string on the back fro easy hanging.

Tissue Paper Pumpkin Craft | Sew You Think You Can Cook | http://sewyouthinkyoucancook.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

#ChoctoberFest: Halloween White Chocolate Raisin Bars

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

#Choctoberfest

I’m opening up my #ChoctoberFest offerings with the chocolate that’s questionably chocolate. I know, I’m a rebel. I’m talking, of course, about white chocolate.

Upon making these bars I came to the conclusion that, to me, white chocolate tastes like Christmas. I’m not sure why, but there it is. Therefore, I decided to up the Halloween factor because, folks, it’s way too soon for Christmas things.

I took a cranberry white chocolate bar and swapped some raisins. For that spooky black and orange combo I dyed the frosting. Bingo bango. Happy Halloween and happy #ChoctoberFest!

Halloween White Chocolate Raisin Bars

Ingredients for bars:

  • 1 1/2 C flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 C brown sugar
  • 1 stick butter, melted
  • 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 C white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 C raisins

Ingredients for frosting:

  • 2 tbsp butter, softened
  • 2 tbsp cream cheese, softened
  • 1 – 1/3 C powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tsp heavy cream, as needed
  • food coloring (optional)
  • raisins and white chocolate chips for garnish

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×9″ cake pan with foil and lightly grease.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In another bowl, whisk the egg, brown sugar, butter, and vanilla until combined.
  4. Combine dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the white chocolate and raisins. Spread into prepared cake pan and bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.
  5. Make frosting: Using a hand mixer, combine the butter and cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar 1/3 C at a time until desired sweetness is reached. Add heavy cream a teaspoon at a time as needed to bring the frosting together. If using, mix in the food coloring.
  6. Spread frosting onto cooled bars. Garnish with white chocolate chips and raisins.

*This recipe is modified from Allison at http://celebratingsweets.com/cranberry-white-chocolate-bars-copycat-starbucks-cranberry-bliss-bars/*

Halloween White Chocolate Raisin Bars for #ChoctoberFest from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Don’t forget to enter our giveaway and be sure to check out the other bloggers who posted more chocolate recipes today: 

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#SundaySupper: Sleepover Foods

~ lk529 ~ 14 Comments

You guys, guess what?

You know this super awesome theme for today’s Sunday Supper? Sleepover Foods? Yeah, it was mine!

If you have some super epic ideas, you can easily submit them here.

A big thank you to Marion of Life Tastes Good for hosting the event. I’m so excited to see what everyone has to offer for our virtual sleepover!

Originally, I’d have loved to share a fun popcorn recipe perfect for watching movies late at night. But the reality of doing so had me switching gears to a different salty snack.

Why couldn’t I share popcorn? Well, because I have two little boys, who, while awake ensure I will burn the popcorn every time. They’re also not of popcorn-eating-age, so when I make popcorn I have to wait until after bedtime. But by then, there is zero light by which to take a drool-worthy photograph. And let’s be real, there wouldn’t be any leftover to try shooting some stale-popcorn pictures.

I started thinking about party mixes and thought it’d be fun to make one out of all Goldfish. (No, I am not sponsored by Pepperidge Farm – I WISH!) I thought about my favorite popcorn flavor – salted honey – and knew I wouldn’t be able to transform that to my fishy mix because Treat isn’t yet one year old and can’t have honey. Agave wouldn’t lend enough flavor, so I decided on real maple syrup!

Firecracker was more than happy to be my little model. I put him into a pile of pillows and blankets on the floor and handed him of cup of my Maple Fish Party Mix.

An Original Recipe

Maple Fish Party Mix

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp real maple syrup
  • 2 C cinnamon graham cracker goldfish
  • 2 C pretzel goldfish
  • 2 C whole grain cheddar goldfish
  • 2 C original goldfish

Steps:

  1. Melt butter and syrup. You can do this in a small pot on the stove or in a microwave safe bowl.
  2. In a large microwave safe bowl, toss together all of the goldfish. Pour the melted butter and syrup over the top and toss to coat. Microwave 1:30min, toss, and microwave another 1:30min.
  3. Spread the goldfish mix onto a baking sheet and allow to cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container. The goldfish will keep up to 2 weeks.

Maple Fish Party Mix for #SundaySupper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Breakfast

Snacks

Desserts

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out ourPinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cut-Out Cookies

~ lk529 ~ 7 Comments

There’s a Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood episode with the teaching lesson “it’s okay to make mistakes” in which Daniel and Prince Wednesday bake trolley cookies with Baker Aker.

We watched that episode one morning and decided to bake some cookies! With Treat taking a long nap, Firecracker and I were able to do some baking together.

I immediately went into the cupboard and pulled out The Gourmet Cookie Book and started skimming through to see what we could make with what was in my pantry.

I decided on Bizcochitos (Anise Cookies). Except that I didn’t have aniseed or lard. Which is why this recipe title is not Anise Cookies! I substituted vegetable shortening for the lard and decided to prepare for the season by using pumpkin pie spice. This recipe from December 1978 didn’t mention how to store the cookie dough, but I found it easiest to roll out if it were chilled, so I kept the portion I wasn’t rolling out in the refrigerator.

We used a train cookie cutter as is only natural with a train obsessed toddler in the house. He was more than happy to be my little model when it came time to photograph the cookies. In fact, the words, “I help” came out of his mouth as he held up a cookie and took a bite. Only a food blogger’s kid! I love him.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cut-Out Cookies (toddler) | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Depending on your cookie cutter size, this recipe will make 5-6 dozen cookies.

The recipe says to, and I quote! “store them in an airtight container for 5 days before serving.” Yeah, right! These cookies didn’t even last five days on my counter.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cut-Out Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 C vegetable shortening
  • 3/4 C sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 1/2 C white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 C flour, plus more for rolling
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 C water
  • cinnamon sugar

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and pumpkin pie spice, mixing until combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt. Add to the stand mixer, beat until combined. Add up to 1/4 C water until dough is smooth.
  4. Roll dough out to 1/8″ thickness. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters and place on baking sheets. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.
  5. Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly golden. Remove cookies to a cooling rack.

*This recipe is adapted from The Gourmet Cookie Book*

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cut-Out Cookies | Sew You Think You Can Cook | http://sewyouthinkyoucancook.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

Tuesday Tattles: 2nd Birthday

~ lk529 ~ 18 Comments

Tuesday Tattles

It’s finally time to share my Firecracker’s second birthday party, with you!

When we moved to California and became regulars at the playground I quickly realized it’d be a great place to have the kids’ birthday parties. I scoped out the venue for months to determine when would be the best time of day to throw a party at a public park, to figure out if it’d be allowed, and to decide which picnic table to claim. I then had to start asking around about how big the 4th of July got around here. The answer was a resounding “crazy!” So I knew that we simply wouldn’t be able to celebrate on THE day. (Good thing it wasn’t his 1st birthday!)

We celebrated on a Sunday at 10:30 am. Firecracker is only two weeks older than our friends’ son and so we did a dual birthday bash for the 2 year olds. Our guest lists would have been identical anyway. The party was attended by other families who moved out to California from Ohio the same time we did. And by happy coincidence, my dad had meetings in Los Angeles the following week so my parents came out for the party and my mom stayed out here to play and help with the kids while my dad was in his meetings!

IMG_9583I had originally planned (aka – when he was born I picked out his first four birthday themes) on having an Auburn themed birthday party. It was hard for me to change my mind, but I knew that my train obsessed toddler would much prefer a train themed party. So, I let go of my planning and switched gears.

This party was much smaller than his 1st birthday, so instead of ordering a cake, I decided to simply make cupcakes. I made 4 dozen cupcakes – way more than I needed. About half of them ended up in my freezer unfrosted. I displayed the cupcakes on Twizzler train tracks on our dining table. I made Busy Day Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes, my friend made the frosting for the vanilla cupcakes.

Cupcakes for a Train Themed 2nd Birthday Party

 

Down at the playground we set up a table with snacks. I cut out black circles and taped them to disposable aluminum loaf pans to create train cars. My friend had popsicle sticks which we used to create a track for the food.

A fruit train of pineapple, cherries, and red and green grapes was led by Orange Cream Dip and Chocolate Hummus. A veggie train of cherry tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, and carrots was led by Sour Cream and Onion Dip and Ranch. We also had a container of hummus. Salty snacks of pretzel sticks, potato chips, and “pigs” in a blanket joined the party, too. I traced a train cookie cutter to cut out the labels for the respective dips.

A train themed 2nd Birthday Party

After a couple of hours at the playground we moved the party to our place for grilling and cupcakes.

Decorations were fairly minimal too. I used the major Thomas and Friends character colors as my inspiration, blue, red, and green for Thomas, James, and Percy, respectively. I wrapped streamers around the banister for the stairs and tied some balloons on each end of the staircase. Balloons were attached to chairs at either end of the table were the cupcakes were displayed. Two sets (1 balloon of each color) of balloons were placed on Thomas the Tank Engine balloon weights and taken down to the playground to bookend our picnic table.

The biggest decorating endeavor was the Happy Birthday Banner. The banner was placed above our awesome 80’s style mirrored fireplace. I didn’t have a single hole puncher (I do now!) and couldn’t fit the train shapes in our stand 3 hole puncher, so my mom strung the banners together with a needle and thin yarn.

I found templates for a train engine, train car, and caboose through Google searching. I printed those out on colored card stock. I had two blue trains for the birthday boys’ names, a red train, and a green train. 4 red cabooses, and 19 grey train cars!  For the letters, I used the font Ariel. Three letters at a time were typed in WordArt at font size 96, then I sized the WordArt graphic to be 3.48″ x 8.81″, making sure the letters would fit inside the train cars, and then selected Rotate Flip Horizontal so that the text would be backwards. The words “2nd” and “and” followed the same method except that the WordArt graphic was sized at 1.52″ x 3″. The letters were arranged to look like railroad crossing signs and put on two 5″ yellow circles. Everything was cut out using a craft knife and adhered to the train cars using small glue dots.

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My attempt at getting a photo of the birthday boys with their cupcakes was a slight fail.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

SRC: Mini Pecan Pie Cupcakes

~ lk529 ~ 13 Comments

newsrcbanner

It’s Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day! In the Secret Recipe Club, each participating blogger is assigned a blog from another participating blogger and secretly searches their site for something to recreate. The accompanying blog post then goes live on reveal day! So while I was immersed in my assigned blog, someone else was picking through mine! I’m so excited to be part of this group, to see what on my blog peaks other’s interests and to stumble upon new blogs and new recipes.

I had to chuckle when I received my assignment in my email this month. You see, for the past two reveals April of Angels Home Sweet Homestead was assigned my blog! For our themed barbecue/picnic reveal she made Mexican Street Corn Salad and for our traditional Group C reveal she chose Cinnamon and Honey Roasted Chickpeas. I suppose it was only fitting that I took my turn diving more deeply into April’s blog.

April’s philosophy behind her blog is fantastic. She writes:

I want to bring back a simpler way of life, where families sit down together to a home cooked meal and talk every day, growing as much of that food as possible with our own hands, and the old-fashioned art of canning that food too.

I just love that! While I can’t grow my own food – partly due to lack of yard but mostly due to lack of green thumb – I can provide home cooked meals for my family. After our 18 months in Ohio without a dining table, it was a goal for our California home to have a space dedicated to eating family dinners. Our large table fits perfectly off the kitchen (and doubles as extra counter space) and is set with two booster/highchair seats for my boys. We have finally gotten into a rhythm of dinner between 6-6:30 and I love it! Firecracker is reaching an age where he can recount the day’s activities to Daddy and I know that as the boys continue to get older, the stress of eating will give way to pure enjoyment and nurturing our relationships and bodies.

Seven recipes made their way to my secret Pinterest board from April’s blog including Fruity Breakfast Burritos, Restaurant Style Salsa, and Greek Yogurt Tuna Salad. I was going to show the list to my husband and have him decide what I’d make. But then I didn’t. Though I’m pretty sure I picked the “right” answer anyway.

While I was updating my planner this month I decided to take a peek at the food holidays for July. I was slightly surprised to see that National Pecan Pie Day isn’t in the fall, but it’s July 12th! My decision was made. April had on her blog, and a recipe that I’d saved prior, Pecan Pie Muffins.

Now, I’m not sure these qualify as a muffin. That’s why you’ll notice I renamed them cupcakes. Though I’m not sure if that’s accurate either. Muffins imply a little bit of healthiness. There’s absolutely nothing healthy about these sweet bites.I could say that pecans are a source of protein, but that’s really stretching it. I almost just called them Mini Pecan Pie Cups but without a crust I don’t think they qualify as pie.

Whatever you want to call them, they’re pretty delicious. (And that’s coming from someone who doesn’t care for pecan pie!) I ate two within an hour of them coming out of the oven – one to taste test and one as a snack during their photo shoot.

April made hers in a regular size muffin cup and got 6 of them, but I thought mini would be the way to go. I can’t have my husband taking only 3 to work, because let’s be honest, there’s no way all 6 would be leaving the house untouched. I’m glad I made them mini, too, because I don’t think I’d be able to eat an entire muffin of this dessert before my sweet tooth had enough.

Firecracker helped bake these treats, but he won’t be getting to try them – they’re simply too sticky and sweet for my 2 year old. Now I just have to send them with Stuart to work so he doesn’t see them sitting on the counter.

This recipe makes 24 mini muffins/cupcakes. I recommend baking these without liners, no greasing of the pan necessary – there’s plenty of butter in the batter. I was 2 liners short of 24 and those two cups were our favorites because the sugar gets all crispy and crusty on the edges. If you do use liners, not that they’re much easier to peel back if you allow the cupcakes to cool completely before eating.

Mini Pecan Pie Cupcakes

Ingredients:

  • 1 C brown sugar
  • 1 C chopped pecans
  • 1/2 C flour
  • 2/3 C butter, melted
  • 2 eggs, beaten

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, pecans, and flour. Mix in the butter and egg until combined.
  3. Divide batter evenly among 24 mini muffin tin cups.
  4. Bake 18 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.

*This recipe is adapted from April at http://www.angelshomesweethomestead.com/2011/01/pecan-pie-muffins.html*

Mini Pecan Pie Cupcakes for #SecretRecipeClub from Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in The Secret Recipe Club this month click here:

#SundaySupper: Easy to Make Patriotic 4th of July Recipes

~ lk529 ~ 8 Comments

It’s July 3rd, the day my Firecracker turns two! (TWO!) It also happens to be the day before Independence Day – the 4th of July. Which is why #SundaySupper is celebrating with Easy to Make Patriotic Recipes.

To kick start a festive morning, might I suggest these stars? They’re a baked pancake, which I’m dubbing “breakfast cake.” It makes me think of that Jim Gaffigan skit:

You’re not having cake for breakfast; you’re having fried cake, with syrup on top!

I made this breakfast after returning from my brother’s wedding in FL last month from a bare pantry. I think that qualifies my recipe as being “easy to make.” I didn’t have any butter, so I used oil, and I didn’t have enough sugar for both the baked pancake and the syrup, so I decided to add vanilla to the batter and keep the sugar for the syrup.

I used a star cookie cutter to make the shapes and topped them with strawberry syrup and fresh blueberries. The leftover pieces of “cake” were handed to Treat, with no sugar I didn’t feel too guilty about it.

IMG_9217

The 4th of July is in my top three of favorite holidays. I love creating menus in my country’s colors. Three years ago I went all out with a Red, White, and Blue Spread: complete with colored star shaped ice cubes and dyed pasta! Two years ago was my first year (probably ever) missing the fireworks display, but I had a good reason. Last year I was on cloud 9 celebrating the holiday (and Firecracker’s 1st birthday) with my entire family where I spent my childhood Fourths.

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My 1 day old Firecracker – 2014

This year we will be experiencing our first California 4th of July. I am hoping for a fog-less, smog-less night so we can watch up to 3 Fireworks shows from our balcony. We’ll be grilling burgers, drinking sangria, and chowing down on rice krispie treats. (I can’t not have rice krispie treats!)

Breakfast Cake Stars with Strawberry Syrup

Ingredients for Breakfast Cake:

  • 1 1/2 C flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 C buttermilk
  • 1/4 C vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for Strawberry Syrup:

  • 2 C diced strawberries
  • 1 C + 1 tsp water, divided use
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 1 tsp corn starch

Steps:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ cake pan.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry. Pour into the cake pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.
  3. Make the syrup: Put strawberries in a saucepan with 1 C water and the sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 15 minutes, or until the syrup has started to thicken and the strawberries have broken down.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining teaspoon of water and the cornstarch. Add to the syrup. Allow syrup to thicken another 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Strain.
  5. Option: Using a cookie cutter, cut shapes out of the breakfast cake. Serve with strawberry syrup and fresh blueberries.

*This recipe is adapted from April at http://www.girlgonegourmet.com/2016/06/pancake-squares.html*

Breakfast Cake Stars with Strawberry Syrup for #SundaySupper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

All-American Appetizers

America the Beautiful Beverages

Raise the Flag Breakfasts

For the Red, White and Blue Salads and Main Dishes

Oh Say Can You See Desserts

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement

Blogger CLUE: Lemon Loaf

~ lk529 ~ 22 Comments

blogger CLUE

Easter is coming early this year (March 27th) and the Blogger Clue crew and I have been on the hunt to provide you with some wonderful Springtime dishes.

This month I was assigned the blog Confessions of a Culinary Diva. Christy describes herself as a “food enthusiast, wine aficionado, Food & Cooking Channel fanatic, and cookbook bibliomaniac, who suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust.” On quick look at her blog and you just know her mini-bio is true – there’s wine everywhere! And countless recipes that take you to another place (France mostly).

While on the hunt for Easter foods I was immediately drawn to her Easter Pie and next year I’ll be sure to try it! The only reason I didn’t stop, drop, and cook it was because I didn’t have Arborio rice and I wasn’t about to buy some while I’m trying to rid my pantry (via cooking) of my current stock before the big move.

I thought about what foods I think remind me of Easter. I don’t serve a ham and my family has always done our own thing. Growing up we would always have a dish traditional to my mom’s family. We would have a dish called Swienconka (pronounced shven-shun-ka). Swienconka is Polish and translates to “blessed food.” My mom’s grandfather was a butcher and he would bring home the leftover meats for this dish – veal, smoked butt, two kinds of Polish sausage, and ham. These meats would be cooked and mixed with hard boiled eggs. The mixture would then marinate in vinegar and fresh and jarred horseradish.

I decided to look for brunch ideas! I almost made Onion Biscuits. And I took a peek at what cocktails could fit an Easter morning: Earl Grey Mimosa and this beautiful Sangria would definitely fit the bill.

And then somehow I stumbled upon a Lemon Loaf (which she presented most beautifully) and I was sold! Lemon always reminds me of spring time and Easter. Probably because my grandmother’s annual pound cake has lemon extract in it. This loaf cake reminded me very much of her recipe, and I almost made a cream cheese frosting to pair with it but instead decided tolemon loaf 4 Sew You Think You Can Cook create a simple glaze of powdered sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and a little milk to pour over the top of the loaf. It definitely amped up the lemon flavor!

This cake was a hit. Firecracker saw it on the counter and had to have some. He earned his half a slice, too, by helping clear off space for me to photograph it!

 

Lemon Loaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 C cake flour, sifted
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/3 C sugar
  • zest of 2 extra large lemons
  • 1/2 C heavy cream
  • 5 1/2 tbsp melted butter

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heavily grease a 9×5″ loaf pan.
  2. In a bowl, whisk the sifted flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until smooth. Stir in the lemon zest. Add the dry ingredients in three batches, mixing until combined after each addition.
  4. Whisk the heavy cream into the cake batter. Add the melted butter and stir until combined.
  5. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out cleanly. Allow cake to cool 10 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  6. Option to top with a simple lemon glaze or a cream cheese frosting.

*This recipe is adapted from http://www.treats-sf.com/2012/04/twd-lemon-loaf-cake.html*

Lemon Loaf for #BloggerCLUE from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Here’s a list of the other players of Blogger CLUE this month:

#SundaySupper: Root Vegetables

~ lk529 ~ 25 Comments

Every year in our marriage we’ve celebrated Valentine’s Day by enjoying fondue. That’s what happens when you get two Fondue Makers! Sometimes I do a cheese, sometimes chocolate, and sometimes even both!

This year, our 5th married Valentine’s Day, was a little different. Our stay here in Ohio has been for schooling, my husband will earn his Masters degree at the end of the month. He successfully defended his thesis this week! This calendar year has been quite a stressful and busy one so far and I am quite ready to get my husband back. So, for Valentine’s Day this year I was reading Chapters 4 and 5 of his thesis, being a second set of eyes to check for content cohesion and grammatical quirks.

I woke up really early on Sunday, February 14th to go to the grocery store before the post-church crowds did their shopping to get everything I’d need for Caramelized Shallot Fondue and Champagne Poached Pears. I also found some Florida Strawberries! And then I got to the check out only to discover that they couldn’t sell me alcohol before noon.

We decided we’d go back to get the champagne later in the day but a snow storm derailed those plans. It was on to Plan B. No plan. The plan of, “What’s in the fridge?” Beets. Pine nuts. Crescent rolls. Pasta. Bacon.

An internet search yielded a Beet Pesto Pizza. We didn’t have any of the toppings but the pesto we could make and serve over pasta instead. (We did toss some bacon in our pasta, too!)

The result? A beautiful, deep pink pasta which turned out to be simply perfect for Valentine’s Day! My garnish of parsley makes this a great option for Christmas, too.

That long introduction leads us to the theme for today’s #SundaySupper hosted by Cindy of Cindy’s Recipes and Writings, root vegetables. We contemplated adding some sweet potato to the pesto, but were too afraid of the color that might result. There are some great ideas for how to prepare a wide variety of root vegetables in today’s round-up, simply scroll past my photo to check them out!

Beet Pesto

Ingredients:

  • 1 large beet, peeled and diced
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 2 tbsp pine nuts
  • 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Toss beet and garlic in a little bit of olive oil. Season with S+P. Place on a baking sheet and roast 20-30 minutes, or until tender. (Note: roasting time will depend on size of dice.)
  3. When slightly cooled, place in a food processor and pulse until fine. Add the pine nuts and olive oil and puree until smooth. Season to taste with S+P.
  4. Option: Serve on pasta with parmesan and parsley.

Beet Pesto for #Sunday Supper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Appetizers

Breakfast

Main

Sides

Desserts

8387592742_f6164fd5a8_oJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the#SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

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#SRC: Pot o’ Gold Cookies

~ lk529 ~ 32 Comments

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Good morning and welcome to another edition of The Secret Recipe Club. For a little “behind the scenes” information, The Secret Recipe Club (SRC) is divided into four group. Each group posts on a different Monday of the month. I am in Group C and always post on the 3rd Monday of the month. Which meant that during those special months with five Mondays there’d be a week without any fun reveal day! So now, on the 5th Monday of the month there is a themed reveal and it’s a “free for all,” which means that there aren’t any group restrictions. I’m looking forward to getting to know some of the other bloggers in the club.

Who would have thought that February would ever have 5 Mondays in it!? Happy Leap Day, everyone! As it’s the last day of February the Secret Recipe Club is looking into March for inspiration. Leprechauns and Bunnies was the assignment as St. Patrick’s Day has to share its month with Easter  this year.

I don’t think I could have asked for a better assignment this month! Making Memories with your Kids has an incredible index of holiday foods and crafts. Erin is a single mom to two kids who are most definitely making memories together through baking and crafting. Her blog is such a great resource of ideas!

Her sloppy Joe baskets would work for either holiday, really. Erin made them as “Easter baskets” but they could easily be a “pot of gold,” too.

While I don’t care much for St. Patrick’s Day (especially now that I don’t live near Kate anymore) I decided to make her Pot o’ Gold Cookies instead of her Chocolate Peep Sugar Cookies simply because the former were simple and used ingredients I already had. I did take some liberty in forming a few as Easter eggs and decorating with purple sprinkles, but you’ll notice they’re not photographed. They weren’t very pretty; to make them like Easter eggs definitely use white chocolate instead!

Forming Pot O' Gold Cookies with Grandma Sew You Think You Can Cook

These shortbread cookies were a huge hit! My mother-in-law helped make them and showed Firecracker how to roll the dough into balls. He wasn’t particularly interested and instead preferred to “Hulk smash” the balls. Until he discovered the deliciousness of the dough! It’s egg-free so I had no problems with letting him try it, though once I realized he was eating it I had to clear most off of his table to prevent a sugar rush!

If I hadn’t put these cookies in a bag they wouldn’t have lasted through the evening. They’re addicting! Luckily the “impenetrable” barrier of a resealable bag (and a trip to Graeter’s ice cream) kept them safe so I could share them with friends.

Pot O’ Gold Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 2 sticks butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 C powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 2 1/4 C flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 C milk chocolate chips
  • yellow or gold sprinkles

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, and almond extract. Mix in the flour until it starts to combine. Turn dough out onto a flat surface and knead until smooth and combined.
  3. Roll dough into 1″ balls. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 11 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden. Allow cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheet.
  4. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave. Spoon chocolate over the cookies and top with sprinkles. Allow chocolate to set before serving.

*This recipe is adapted from Erin at http://makingmemorieswithyourkids.com/2015/03/pot-of-gold-meltaway-cookies/*

Pot O' Gold Cookies for Secret Recipe Club from Sew You Think You Can Cook

I didn’t wait for the chocolate to set before photographing… Firecracker doesn’t like sticky things, he wasn’t quite sure what to do!

Pot O' Gold Cookies, not yet set Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in the themed Secret Recipe Club this month click here: