Zach's birthday cake!!!

I hope Zach knows that I'm the luckiest girl in the world! He's the best and I love him so much. :) I asked him about his birthday cake a few weeks ago and he said raspberry and lemon. YUM CITY! I gladly took the challenge.

Raspberry cake!!!

Ingredients

* 1 cup butter
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 4 eggs
* 3/4 cup milk
* 1 teaspoon raspberry extract
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups cake flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons raspberry gelatin powder
* 8 oz pureed raspberries (strain through mesh if you don't want seeds in the cake)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3-6 inch round pans. I'd also recommend lining the bottoms with parchment, to make the layering/assembly easier later. Sift together the flour, baking powder, gelatin and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and raspberry extracts. Stir in the pureed raspberries. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly tapped. Cool 15 minutes before turning out onto cooling racks.


Lemon Buttercream!!!

* 1 cup butter, softened
* 3 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon lemon emulsion


Cream together butter and sugar. Add lemon juice, vanilla and lemon emulsion. Mix until creamy fluffiness is achieved. If this is going to be an "outside" cake, substitute 1/2 your butter for crisco. It'll stand up better to the heat.

This combination proved to be mighty tasty, indeed! :)

Happy birthday to my man! <3

It's June 9. How did this happen?

I am in awe of how quickly the year has passed! I'm thinking about making a weekend trip to somewhere nearby. Maybe Tulsa? Maybe Dallas? Hmm...

Tonight's dinner:

Balsamic grilled chicken, corn on the cob, and loaded mashed potatoes!

Balsamic grilled chicken (courtesy of thefarmerwife @ Tasty Kitchen

* ⅓ cups Balsamic Vinegar, Or More To Taste
* 3 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
* 1-½ Tablespoon Soy Sauce
* 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
* 2 Tablespoons Sugar
* 2 whole Cloves Of Garlic, Minced
* ⅓ cups Olive Oil
* 1 dash Fresh Ground Black Pepper
* 6 whole Chicken Breasts

Mix all ingredients but chicken in a bowl. Taste it, then make additions as you see fit. Then, put your chicken in a bag, pour the marinade in over it, and close the bag. Squish it all around, to make sure all the chicken is covered. Let it marinate for at least 2 hours. Then, grill it up! (we are short of barbecue grills here, so I'll be utilizing the George Foreman.)

Corn:

-1/2 cup sugar
-3/4 tbsp cayenne pepper
-healthy dash each of seasoned salt, black pepper, cumin
-bay leaf, if you wanna
-spoonful of minced garlic (3-4 cloves worth)
-2 tbsp butter

Fill a good-sized pot with water. Add all ingredients, heat to a boil. Add corn, boil until tender (about 5 minutes). Eat it up. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM


loaded mashed potatoes:


6 medium-sized red potatoes, washed and cubed (I imagine Yukon Gold would be good too)
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1-1.5 cups plain yogurt, unsweetened
6 pieces of bacon, crunchy and crumbled
3/4 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
3 green onions, diced
heaping tablespoon of Dijon mustard (Trust that it will work, sounds crazy, but it adds a tangy flavor)
heaping tablespoon of minced garlic
salt and pepper, to taste

Boil potatoes until soft. Drain off the water, then mash potatoes using a hand mixer. Add yogurt and butter, mix until combined. Add remaining ingredients, mix well.

It was much funnier before.

So, my dad always gags and will occasionally barf when he smells poo. My brother and I have always thought this was endlessly ridiculous and would give him a hard time. Well, my day has come. I'm petsitting for the next couple of weeks, and I went over this morning, only to find 2 mammoth piles of dog poop. I gagged. I barfed. I got myself together and cleaned it up. I was not happy. Poor Dad, now I get it. lol


Last night, Zach and I ate Salmon Fantasia and cucumber salad (reruns, I know, but easy to eat when it's hot outside). We drank screwdrivers, we watched a movie called The Band's Visit, and ate chocolate hazelnut ice cream(made from coconut milk, but didn't taste like it!). It was fairly glorious!

Screwdrivers are easy to make and even easier to jazz up.

Put 1 shot vodka of your choice (orange vodka, plain vodka, vanilla vodka.... whatever you want) in a glass. Fill it up with ice. Add orange juice (pineapple orange if you're feeling sassy) and stir it up. Good times.

Today, I'll be ultra-lazy and make veggie burgers for dinner. Tomorrow I'll be good and cook, since I'll be off all day. Quitting my teaching job has turned out to be an okay thing so far. I've been in calmer spirits and I see more of Zach. both are very good things. :D

This weekend is tentatively named "Barberpalooza." I have an 8 hour rehearsal to attend on Saturday with the lovely Sooner Sensations Chorus., then it's off to Del City to enjoy a show by the excellent Music Central, featuring special guest Zing! I will sleep when I am dead. lol

c'est bon

Oh Happy Day! Goes to Paris

Click the link to enter a sweepstakes for a trip to paris, from Oh Happy Day! :)

Zach is wunderbar.

Today is mine and Zach's 2-year anniversary! Woop Woop!!! He makes my life so rich and delicious, I can't imagine going without him. He makes the world go 'round.

He made us a delicious dinner tonight!

Poblano Rigatoni

4 servings rigatoni pasta
Salt for water
1 tablespoon(s) olive oil
3 poblano chiles, or 2 large green peppers per recipe, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 small (about 6 ounces each) zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 clove(s) garlic, crushed with garlic press
teaspoon(s) dried oregano, crushed
1 pint(s) grape or cherry tomatoes
1 pint button mushrooms, sliced

Heat large, covered saucepot of salted water to boiling over high heat. Add pasta and cook as label directs.
Meanwhile, in nonstick 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onion; cook until lightly charred and tender-crisp, about 7 minutes. Add zucchini and mushrooms; cover and cook 3 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and 1 teaspoon salt; cook 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes; cover and cook until slightly softened.
Drain pasta. In serving bowl, toss pasta with vegetables.



Seriously good stuff going on here!!! Thanks to Good Housekeeping for the recipe, which originally had cheese and no mushrooms. :) Zach keeps me honest on dairy. lol


Eat well!!!
<3Jen