Beth Moore's Texas Sheet Cake

I went to a Beth Moore simulcast this weekend at my church, and man alive, Beth Moore brought the Word. It was just what I needed. It was an amazing two days of truth, Biblical teaching, worship and fellowship. And it was like a little slice of heaven seeing almost 400 women worshiping together for a weekend. Glory, it was GOOD.

You know what else I got this weekend that was like a little slice of heaven? The recipe to Beth Moore's Texas sheet cake. Oh, girl, it's good. She told a funny story about how she's not necessarily known as the cook of her family, but that she is known for her Texas sheet cake. And, of course, she shared it with the 90,000 or so of us who were taking part in the simulcast. Bless her.

And I, in turn, am going to share it with you.

The timing of receiving this recipe was quite perfect, actually, because I needed to make a dessert for a lunch meeting at church the day after the simulcast. I tend to try new recipes out on unsuspecting people, and decided that this would be no different. I have made cakes in the past, why would this be any different? Well ... it was easy enough to make, but for some reason the middle part of the cake took a good bit longer to bake than the outer edges. I rigged some foil to try to shield the already-done part from the heat of the oven while the center cooked, but I have no idea whether the edges were overcooked and dry or not ... hopefully the fudgy icing covered up any flaws.

I can tell you that the piece I had was nice and moist and very, very chocolaty and rich. And, it's always a good sign when this is the only picture you can get of what you made.


Beth Moore's Texas Sheet Cake
Grease a 9x13 sheet cake pan. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift together:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar

Bring to a boil:
2 sticks butter
1 cup water
1/4 cup cocoa

Pour over dry mixture and mix in:
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Icing
Heat together:
1 stick butter
1/4 cup cocoa
6 tablespoons (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp.) milk
(I added 1 tsp. vanilla)

Add anywhere from 1/2 to 1 box of powdered sugar to achieve desired consistency (Beth prefers close to 1 box)* and 1 cup pecans. Spread on cake while it's hot.

*I used 16 oz (1 lb.) of powered sugar

If you like P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps, you'll love these

A few years ago, right after I moved back to Brunswick, Patrick and I were a part of a group of folks that got together every Thursday night for dinner. Each couple brought appetizers, and we'd all sit around eating, laughing and enjoying the fellowship. For fun, our evenings were often themed, and we would each make a dish that corresponded to the night's theme.

One night we were assigned to bring something Asian inspired, and for the life of me I couldn't decide what to make. I don't fry (at least not yet - this blog may inspire me to step outside my comfort zone one day), so egg rolls were out of the question. Fried rice wasn't "appetizer-ish" enough. Then it dawned on me. I love the lettuce wraps from P.F. Changs. Perhaps I could find a way to recreate them ... so, of course, I turned to the internet for help.

My ever faithful and trusty friend Southern Living came to the rescue, and I found a strikingly similar recipe made with turkey, of all things.

I will be the first to admit how surprised I was at how delicious this turned out. It is good. Don't let the bad photo and perhaps strange-sounding ingredients turn you off of this recipe. Just give it a try. It's different, but it's a good kind of different. It's one of those dinners that you'll make and eat, and go, "Man, this is good, and so different than what I usually eat. Why haven't I made this in four months?" And then two months later your husband will ask for it again because he really, really likes it, too.

Plus, those random ingredients -- they last forever, either in your pantry or in your fridge. So it's okay if you don't cook this once a month, cause they'll last. But it's so good you'll want to!

(Please forgive my photography skills; I know I desperately need to work on them. Just don't judge the food by the photo. The food really is good. The photo ... notsomuch. And I know that.)

Crispy Ginger-and-Garlic Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Recipe courtesy of Southern Living
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup water
1 (20-ounce) package lean ground turkey
1 cup chopped shiitake mushrooms
1 (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 head iceberg lettuce, separated into leaves
Hoisin sauce (optional)

Cook carrots and 1/2 cup water in a large nonstick skillet over high heat, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes or until carrots are softened and water is evaporated. Remove from skillet.

Reduce heat to medium. Cook turkey in skillet about 5 minutes, stirring until turkey crumbles and is no longer pink. Add carrots, mushrooms, and next 8 ingredients. Increase heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring constantly, 4 minutes. Add green onions, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Spoon mixture evenly onto lettuce leaves; roll up. Serve with hoisin sauce, if desired.

Sun Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta

Y'all know what a fan I am of fast, easy, and delicious meals. This recipe has it all, folks, plus veggies, too! A hometown friend of mine, Dawn, created this fab dish and was gracious enough to share it with me.

The first two words I saw in the recipe were "goat cheese." SOLD!! I love goat cheese, but rarely have the opportunity to eat it, much less cook with it. The rest of the recipe could have included sardines and sauerkraut (two foods I wouldn't cook or eat), and I would still have made it, just for the goat cheese. Thankfully, Dawn's recipe included yummy ingredients like sun dried tomatoes, broccoli, Alfredo sauce and mushrooms. Mmmmm!! And did I mention this takes no time at all to make? 30 minutes, and you're sitting at the table, enjoying a scrumptious meal!




Sun Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta
Recipe courtesy Dawn Norris
2/3 box of penne rigatte (must use the rigatte…it soaks up the sauce better)
1 package of broccoli-in-the-bag
1 tablespoon butter
Olive oil
½ of medium onion, diced
1 package of sliced mushrooms (if you're like my husband, you can pick these out or omit them. I happen to think mushrooms are quite yummy)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 jar (or more if you love sun dried tomatoes) of sun dried tomatoes, julienned (I couldn't find a jar, so I just used the package from the produce section)
½ of roasted chicken, cut up in big chunks, or 1 package of the precooked Tyson chicken strips
1 jar of Sun dried Tomato Alfredo pasta sauce (Classico is best)
Salt
Pepper
Container of goat cheese crumbles
1/3 cup of parmesan (optional)

Boil your pasta. Use about 2/3 the box of penne for about six people.

While pasta is boiling (that is literally all the time it takes to make this dish), put “broccoli in the bag” to steam.

Put butter and about two turns of olive oil (I always use some of the oil from the sun dried tomato jar) in LARGE sauté pan on medium to high heat. Begin sautéing onions. Once onions start to soften, place the mushrooms into the pan and begin cooking. When mushrooms are beginning to brown, add the garlic, sun dried tomatoes, chicken, broccoli, and jar of sun dried tomato Alfredo sauce. Add salt & pepper to your liking. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Lower heat to very low.

At this point, the noodles should be done. Add the noodles to the sauce pan directly from the pot using a slotted spoon or strainer (you want a little of the pasta water to get into the sauce mix—it helps the sauce stick to the pasta better).

Pour into a big pasta bowl (this feeds at least 6 people). Mix in the container of goat cheese crumbles and sprinkle on parmesan (optional).

Enjoy!

In season - fresh tomatoes

One of Patrick's friends and co-workers, Dennis, gave us some beautiful tomatoes last week. They were red, ripe, and ready to eat. They would have been delicious on tomato sandwiches. But, no one in our household eats tomato sandwiches. Or raw tomatoes. Or any food with large tomato chunks. Caprese pizza is the closest thing to a "real" tomato that we'll eat, and they were on the menu a week or two ago.

So ... what was a girl to do with five ready-to-eat tomatoes? I couldn't let them go to waste.

I did what any technologically savvy girl would do -- I turned to the internet.

We do like tomato soup here at the Witherow house (no chunks, please), and I found a recipe on foodnetwork.com that looked like it had potential, so I decided to give it a try, even though eating soup in the middle of August while it's 90+ degrees outside is a little ridiculous.

Side note - is it weird that I had never tasted tomato soup until college? Or maybe I had graduated college ... anyway, it was not a soup I ate growing up. It is a recently acquired taste of mine. And we don't eat the Campbell's Tomato Soup, either - we go for the good stuff - Wolfgang Puck's Tomato-Basil Soup (I can only find it at Publix). Yum.


Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa's recipe on foodnetwork.com
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped red onions
2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
4 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped and seeded (about 5 large)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup packed chopped fresh basil leaves, plus julienned basil leaves, for garnish
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream (I used half & half instead)
Croutons, for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute for about 10 minutes, until very tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt, and pepper and stir well.

Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tomatoes are very tender. Add the cream to the soup and process it through a food mill* into a bowl, discarding only the dry pulp that's left. Reheat the soup over low heat just until hot and serve with julienned basil leaves and/or croutons.

*I don't own a food mill, so I just pureed everything in a blender until smooth and it was the perfect consistency.

What to do with overripe bananas - Banana Muffins

I am finicky when it comes to bananas -- I will only eat them when they are greenish. If I see too much yellow, or even a hint of ripeness coming to them, I won't eat them straight out of the peel. For me, once a banana is ripe and yellow (which, to most normal humans, is perfection), they have to be baked for me to even consider consuming them.

Thus, many a "good" banana goes uneaten in our household.

I learned long ago that instead of wasting these sweet treats, freezing them was the solution, so that when I want to bake, they're ready to go (after, of course, a short defrost). The other day I had four frozen bananas, and an itch to bake. So I whipped up these little lovelies, and they are delectable with or without the frosting.

I love banana bread, but there's something about this recipe that takes them beyond your basic banana bread recipe, in my opinion. It haven't put my finger on it yet ... there's a depth in flavor to these that other recipes I've tried don't have. Maybe it's the extra vanilla? Whatever it is, we like them a lot; I think Patrick ate three or four straight out of the oven!

Banana Muffins with Mascarpone Cream Frosting
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis - Food Network
Muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, peeled and coarsely mashed

Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl to blend. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the banana. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake the muffins on the middle rack until the tops are golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out with no crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a rack and cool slightly. The muffins may be eaten warm or cooled completely and frosted.

To frost the cupcakes: Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone cheese and then beat in the honey. Spread the frosting over the muffins. Sprinkle with the walnuts.

Quick weeknight meal - Beef Teriyaki

When perusing cookbooks, magazines and websites for recipes, I tend to find myself drawn to Italian and Mexican-influenced dishes for some reason. Perhaps the fact that they tend to be coated in cheese has something to do with it.

I've been trying to broaden my cooking repertoire lately, and while thumbing through my trusty "America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook," found an Asian-inspired dish that looked tasty. It was also labeled "fast." That, of course, caught my eye. It wasn't labeled "will make your stove a mess," though. But my stove, oh, it was a mess when I was done. Something to do with popping oil and such leaves a stove all messy. Oh well, nothing a little stove cleaner and elbow grease can't fix. And, even though I overcooked the meat just a smidge, the dinner was still great. I even ate rice (a lot of it), and I'm not usually a fan of rice. Broadening my horizons folks, broadening my horizons. We ate it with some steamed broccoli, too, which is always a good side dish for Asian-beefy type dishes, in my opinion.

We give this recipe two thumbs up and will definitely be making it again.


Beef Teriyaki
From America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons mirin, sherry, or white wine
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 pounds top blade steak, trimmed and sliced 1/4" thick (you can also used 1 1/2 pounds of flank steak if you can't find top blade steak)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
2 scallions, sliced thin

Whisk the soy sauce, sugar, mirin (sherry/wine), ginger, garlic, cornstarch, and red pepper flakes together and set aside.

Pat the meat dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown half of the meat, about 5 minutes, then transfer to a clean bowl. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and meat.

Briefly re-whisk the soy sauce mixture to recombine, then add to the skillet. Simmer, scraping up any browned bits, until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Return the meat with any accumulated juice to the skillet and toss to warm through. Transfer the meat and sauce to a serving platter and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and scallions.

(In the interest of total disclosure, I couldn't find sesame seeds or scallions during my weekly grocery run - I went to Wal-Mart, need I say more? - so I went without. I don't think it hurt the recipe at all, but I suppose they would have added two more levels of flavor that my dish was lacking. Oh well. I hate when I can't find what I want at the grocery store.)

Quite possibly the best meal I have ever made. If I do say so myself.

After last week's success with the chicken parmesan, I decided to give chicken another whirl this week. I've had this recipe in my files for about a year but it's just sat there, intimidating me. Had I known then how EASY and OH, SO TASTY it was, I would have brushed aside my chicken fears and made this long ago.

Oh my goodness. If tooting my own horn wasn't looked down upon, I would toot away. This was, quite possibly, one of the best meals I have ever made. It was beyond delicious, in my oh-so-humble opinion. The meat was tender and juicy, and so, so flavorful. The rosemary, lemon and garlic all came together to make this a company-worthy meal. It will definitely be a staple on our menu rotation. I'm telling you - do not wait a year to make this - try it tonight!!

Roasted Chicken Breast with Lemon, Garlic, Rosemary, and Potatoes
Recipe from www.goodthingscatered.blogspot.com
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but not melted
Zest of 1/2 large lemon, lemon reserved
2 large cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
3 russet potatoes, washed thoroughly and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
Kosher salt
Ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line large baking pan with foil for easy cleanup.
Pat chicken breasts dry, season liberally with salt and ground pepper, and place breast-side up at least one to two inches apart in pan. In small bowl combine butter, lemon zest, garlic, and rosemary and stir with spoon to thoroughly combine. With back of spoon, spread butter mixture on top of chicken breasts evenly. Slice reserved lemon and place slices in pan around the chicken.

In medium bowl place cubed potato and toss with 1 teaspoon olive oil, parsley and salt and pepper. Scatter potatoes around chicken breasts. Place baking dish in oven and cook about 30-40 minutes or until thickest portion of chicken breast has reached 175 degrees. Remove from oven, take chicken breasts out of pan onto a warm serving platter and tent with foil. Take one pinch more of Kosher salt to sprinkle over potatoes, toss and place back in oven for 5-10 minutes. Remove potatoes and serve with chicken.

Don't be a chicken

I am fairly skittish when it comes to cooking chicken. I have a fear that my husband, whom I love dearly, will die a slow and painful death of salmonella poisoning. (That, or the chicken will be tough and rubbery and dry, which although not nearly as tragic as death-by-salmonella-poisoning, it runs a close second.) Thus, I usually steer clear of recipes that call for cooking chicken, roasting chicken, boiling chicken, and the like. Unless, of course, I can use the ever-popular rotisserie chicken, canned chicken, Purdue Shortcuts, or something of the like.

But y'all make me adventurous and want to live life on the edge.

Last week, I cooked us some chicken. And lived to tell about it. (Patrick is alive and well, too.)

I have to say, it was good. (My photo doesn't do it justice - it tasted much better than it looks. I need to work on my photography skills.)


Oven-Baked Chicken Parmesan
Recipe from goodthingscatered.blogspot.com
4 large chicken breasts (about 3 lbs.)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups of bread crumbs (I used Panko bread crumbs)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups pomodoro/marinara sauce (make your own, defrost what you have or store bought is just as delicious)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Cooked pasta of your choice (I used spaghetti)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a shallow dish mix together egg and milk.
In separate shallow dish mix together bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, garlic powder, paprika, and salt.
Rinse and pat chicken breasts dry.
Pound to tenderize chicken breasts to about 1 inch thickness throughout.
Preheat olive oil in a oven proof skillet over medium heat.
Dip chicken breasts into egg/milk mixture and then cover in breadcrumb mixture.
Place coated chicken breast in hot oil and saute each side until lightly browned (about 1 minute per side).
Place skillet directly into oven.
When internal temperature of chicken reaches 160 degrees, carefully remove pan from oven and place a spoonfull of sauce and 1/4 of the cheese on top of each.
Place skillet back into the oven and bake until internal temperate reaches 170 degrees (about 15 minutes total).
Remove from oven and serve on top of pasta.

Sausage something-or-other and cinnamon apples

The original recipe title of this recipe is "Sausage braid," but it sounds too much like a meat headpiece to me, so I decided to rename it. And then I couldn't think of anything snappy. But, regardless of the name, it's a scrumptious meal.

Now, I'm not typically a sausage eater. At all. But I will eat anything that Suzanne and Carter dish up when it's their turn to cook on Thursday night. Well, this little humdinger of a meal is what they served one evening, and it, folks, is a winner. Even for this self-professed non-sausage-eating person. Something about the way the cream cheese and the veggies and the crescent rolls all combine together with the sausage just makes it work. Oh, and this is another one of those versatile foods; we eat it for dinner here at our house, but I made it for brunch at my parent's house one morning and it was perfect then, too.

Sausage Braid
12 ounces bulk pork sausage*
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
3 ounces cream cheese, cubed
2 tablespoons chopped green onion tops
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (I used 2 teaspoons dried parsley instead)
1 tube (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 egg, lightly beaten

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage, onion, celery, green pepper and garlic until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender; drain. Add cream cheese, green onion and parsley. Cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted; set aside.

Unroll crescent dough on a greased baking sheet; seal perforations. Roll into a 12-inch x 10-inch rectangle. Spoon sausage mixture to within 3 inches of long sides and to within 1 inch of ends. On each long side, cut 3/4 inch-wide strips 3 inches into center. Starting at one end, fold alternating strips at an angle, forming a braid.

Brush dough with egg. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. Refrigerate leftovers.

*I can't find 12 ounce bulk pork sausage, so I just use the full 16 ounces that I can find.


Cinnamon Apples
4 apples, peeled and cored
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon butter

Toss the first four ingredients in a large Ziploc bag to coat the apples. Pour the apple/sugar mixture into a medium saucepan and add the water and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender. (Cooking time depends on how tender you like your apples - and probably on the type of apple you have; Patrick likes them very tender, so I cook them for at least 25 minutes.)

If this icing were on a piece of cardboard, I'd eat it.

I feel slightly dumb posting this recipe here because, well, it comes from the back of a cocoa box and I really should just put a big ole sign on here that says "Y'ALL GO BUY SOME HERSHEY'S COCOA AND MAKE THE BEST CHOCOLATE ICING EVER" and my point would be made. But, brevity is not typically my strong point, so, here we go. (Plus, it's pretty much all we ate here at the Witherow house this past weekend.)

Y'all have probably learned by now how much I like, along with the quick and the easy, desserts. If I had my choice between breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, I would always, always, always choose dessert.

Did I mention that I like dessert?

So, on Friday, I got a craving for some chocolate, and three Little Debbie Fudge Rounds did little to satisfy said craving. (You think I'm kidding? I'm not. And no, I'm not pregnant. Just pathetic.) So, I dug through the pantry and lo and behold, found a box of chocolate cake mix. Now, after making the yummy not-from-a-box chocolate cake (recipe below) a week or so ago, I had vowed to never make a cake from a mix again, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I ripped that box open faster than you could say "Hershey's."

Now, this post is not about the cake. The cake is just an average, run-of-the-mill cake-mix cake. I don't even know what brand it is. It's the icing that is its saving grace. Oh, the icing. Two words - butter (one whole stick) and cocoa. Need I say more? Divine.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting
Ripped right off the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed of an electric mixer to spreading consistency. Add more milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups.

Seriously. You could just skip the cake and eat this icing. It's that good.

Breakfast for dinner - homemade buttermilk pancakes

Last week, I made a cake that called for buttermilk (see the oh-so-creatively named "chocolate cake" recipe, below). After using one cup, I still had quite a bit left in the carton and wanted to use it before it went bad. Patrick and I love us some pancakes, and to me, Bisquick pancakes have always been "homemade enough." Not so much anymore. I don't know that I'll ever be able to look another Bisquick pancake in the eye again. Last night, I used the rest of the buttermilk on some as-close-as-they-come-to-Cracker-Barrel pancakes and don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to Bisquick. These are melt-in-your-mouth good.

This recipe uses butter (yes, in addition to buttermilk - this is not a healthy pancake), and I think the butter gives it that nice golden, crunchy crust. So tasty.

Buttermilk pancakes
From America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 cups buttermilk*

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter, and then the buttermilk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the buttermilk mixture into the well, and whisk very gently until the buttermilk mixture is just incorporated (a few lumps should remain). Be careful not to overmix the batter.

Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet (I use an electric griddle instead) over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Brush the pan bottom with 1 teaspoon oil. Using 1/4 cup of batter per pancake, add the batter to the skillet and cook until large bubbles begin to appear, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes, and cook until golden brown on the second side, about 1 1/2 minutes longer.

If you're not eating these immediately as they come off the skillet of griddle, you can keep them warm by putting them on a wire rack (on top of a baking sheet) in a 200 degree oven.

One note: I would recommend letting the buttermilk come to room temperature before adding to the egg/butter mixture. I didn't, and the buttermilk was straight-from-the-fridge cold and made the melted butter get lumpy. Not good. I think room temperature buttermilk would combat that issue. Also, to keep the pancakes as light and fluffy as possible, the key is to mix the batter minimally. Stop stirring the batter when there are still streaks of flour visible. Overmixing the batter develops the gluten, which turns pancakes tough.

*If you don't have buttermilk, you can whisk 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice with two cups of milk in a medium bowl and set aside for a few minutes to thicken.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for PEACH ice cream!

Nothing says "summer" to me quite like a big bowl of my grandma Helen's peach ice cream. She would make this frozen deliciousness from sweet, ripe, Southern Illinois peaches, and the whole family would wait, rather impatiently, for it to freeze so we could devour it. More often than not, we wouldn't let it freeze all the way and would just dive right on in. It was so, so good. It was one of the highlights of our summer. All of us loved it, and we waited all year to taste it. And, although I know that I will never quite get it to taste exactly the way Grandma Helen did, I am going to try (especially now that I live in the Peach State)!

I made this yesterday morning and we ate it for dessert last night - it was sweet and delicious!


As one of our wedding gifts, Patrick and I received a Cuisinart 1.5 quart electric ice cream maker. I chose it for one purpose and one purpose only - to make Grandma's peach ice cream. I think Patrick just wanted ice cream, period. Any flavor, any time. Point being, if I had one of those old-school ice-cream makers that requires salt and ice and all that jazz (like my Grandma Helen used), there would be no peach ice cream being made in the Witherow house. Y'all have learned by now my love for the quick and the easy. This, my friends, still fits the bill (that is, if you have a handy-dandy Cuisinart ice-cream maker. If you don't, give me a call and 30 minutes notice, and I'll prepare you your very own bowl of goodness).

Grandma Helen's peach ice cream
Modified to fit a 1.5 quart ice-cream machine
5 ripe peaches, peeled and mashed
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Pinch of salt (less than 1/8 teaspoon)
Between 1/4 & 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
2 cups half and half

Mix together the peaches, sugar and lemon juice and let stand for a while. Add the salt, vanilla, almond and half and half to the peach mixture and mix together. Add to your ice-cream maker freezer and follow its instructions.

I used these exact measurements and since the ice cream does expand during the freezing process, it did get really full in the ice cream freezer. Next time I might use only 4 peaches and a little less cream, but I really liked the taste of this combination and I didn't make a mess, so maybe I won't. Tweak as needed for your machine.

Leave a comment if you want the one-gallon recipe; I'll email it to anyone who wants it.

Sweet summertime!

PS - thanks to my mom for the conversions; I did not inherit her talents in math, so I had to turn to her for help!

We ate this so fast there was no time to take a picture - Tuscan Ravioli

That's how stinkin' yummy this dinner is, y'all. It's so good. Hear me on this. Do not let the lack of photo deter you from trying this recipe. I implore you. For the love of all that is good and right, try this recipe. If you need backup, just head on over to Suzanne's blog and ask her what she thinks of it. She'll give you the scoop. Her family digs this dinner, too.

So that's my pitch.

As I think I mentioned last week, Patrick and I have a standing dinner date with the Akins family every Thursday evening. It's a ton o' fun. They're a family with four kids four-years-old and under - what's not to love about that?? We get loads of kid and baby time (and good adult hang time, too), and also get to have great meals each week with six of our favorite people. A while back, I introduced them to this ravioli dish, and it was an instant hit. Everyone loved it, and it's one of Patrick's favorite meals. It's become a staple on the Witherow and Akins menu rotations ever since. Once you try it, you'll understand why.

Oh, and one more thing. It's super fast and super easy. Again, I love this recipe.

Tuscan Ravioli
Adapted from a Southern Living recipe
1 package frozen cheese ravioli
1 jar sun-dried tomato Alfredo sauce*
2 tablespoons white wine**
1 can petite diced tomatoes***
1/2 cup chopped basil
Parmesan cheese

Prepare pasta according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, pour Alfredo sauce into a large saucepan. Pour wine into sauce jar, cover tightly, and shake well. Stir wine mixture into saucepan. Stir in tomatoes and chopped basil; cook over medium-low heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Toss with pasta; top with Parmesan cheese. Makes 4-6 servings.

If you're planning on having bread with this dinner (bring on the carbs!), put it in the oven before you start making the ravioli. Cause I'm telling ya, this dinner takes no time to make. The ravioli take about 5 minutes to cook, and the sauce takes 5. SO FAST!!

*I use Classico Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo Pasta Sauce. Sometimes Publix has it buy-one-get-one-free and then I stock up!
**I don't know anything about wine and use Fairbanks Sherry instead. I use it for anything cooking-related that calls for white wine.
***I use Hunt's petite diced tomatoes, and it seems to have less liquid than some of the other brands. If you use something else, I would recommend draining the liquid first. You'll have less sauce, but that's okay. (Draining the liquid is actually what the "real" recipe recommends, anyway, but we like the sauce and want lots of it.) You could also be all fresh about it and chop two medium-size fresh tomatoes, but I take the easy way out of things. Hello - quick, easy.

Aloha!

It seems like all of my recent recipes have been of the "fast and easy" variety. Well ... I guess when you're a working woman, that's what you like to cook after a day of working - something fast and easy - but still delicious!

These little sandwiches certainly fit the bill. They take all of 10 minutes to assemble (if that), and 20 minutes to bake. Who doesn't love having dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less? These could also double as lunch, or as appetizers/snack food if you're throwing a party. They're quite the versatile little sandwich.

I got this recipe years ago, from one of my closest friends, Whitney. She claims that she can't boil water, but she can make a mean Hawaiian sandwich! And her mom, Rose, introduced me to butterbeans when Whitney and I were roommates at Ole Miss. Oh my word. I didn't know what I was missing until I had one of Mrs. Canterbury's butterbeans. Pure delight. Whitney - please get your mama to send me some of her recipes so I can try to make them! The Canterburys sure know how to put out a game-day spread in the Grove, too. Grovin' was always more fun when they were in town!


Hawaiian Sandwiches
Recipe courtesy of Whitney Puckett
1 package of King's Hawaiian sweet rolls (the original kind)
Lunch meat and cheese of your choice (I use turkey and ham, and colby/jack or cheddar)

Topping:
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Combine melted butter, mustard and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl and mix well.

Spray pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray.
Slice rolls; fill with meat and cheese and top with bread. Poke holes in top of rolls and drizzle topping over the top of all. (It's best to use a pan with sides so that the topping can pool in the bottom.) Cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Keep covered with aluminum foil until the last 2-3 minutes of cooking.

Mama Mia!

I love pizza. I could eat it daily. I also really like Caprese salad. Fresh mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes ... mmm ... so good.

Put them together and what do you get? Pure deliciousness, that's what!


This Caprese Pizza is a quick, easy recipe (my favorite kind!), perfect for an after-work, weeknight meal. It's also a meatless dish, so it's great for any vegetarians out there. It's light and summery, too - just right for the hot, hazy days of August!

Caprese Pizza
Bake at 425 degrees
Toppings:
3 medium vine-ripened tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz. fresh mozzarella
Coarsely ground black pepper

Crusts:
1 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 package refrigerated pizza crust
1 clove garlic
1 oz. (2 tablespoons) grated Parmesan cheese

1. Slice tomatoes into 1/4" slices. Place onto a paper towel-lined cutting board. Sprinkle both sides evenly with salt; let stand 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, for crusts, lightly brush pan with 1 tsp. of oil. Unroll dough onto pan. Press garlic into prep bowl and combine with 1 Tbsp. oil; brush over dough. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over dough.

3. Cut dough lengthwise into thirds. Carefully move dough slightly apart to separate. Bake 11-12 minutes or until bottoms of crusts are light golden brown.

4. While crusts bake, finish toppings. Chop basil; combine with oil and set aside.

5. Blot tops of tomato slices with paper towels. Slice mozzarella cheese into 1/4" slices. Arrange tomato and cheese slices in overlapping rows on baked crusts. Brush basil oil over pizzas and sprinkle with black pepper. Return to oven and bake and additional 4-5 minutes or just until cheese melts.

Ciao; Enjoy!

The "key" to dessert success

So, as you know, Patrick and I visited my parents this weekend, which meant I got a few days reprieve from cooking. My mom is a great cook, so we got to indulge in a night of her cooking. We went out and got some great fresh seafood in downtown Savannah on Saturday night. One thing we were able to enjoy all weekend was a homemade Key Lime Pie. It's one of Patrick's favorite's, so Mom had made one and it was waiting on us when we arrived Friday evening. There was even enough for us to each bring a slice home to eat tonight. It's tart and slightly sweet - the perfect key lime pie.


My mom and I use the same recipe - the one that is on the bottle of Nellie & Joe's Key West Lime Juice, but we double the recipe so that the pie is thicker. We don't want a skinny, wimpy pie! Here's our modified recipe:

Kara's Key Lime Pie
adapted from the Nellie & Joe's Key Lime Pie recipe
9" graham cracker pie crust
2 - 14 oz. cans of sweetened condensed milk
6 egg yolks (whites not used)
1 cup Nellie & Joe's Key West Lime Juice

Combine milk, egg yolks and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Pour filling into pie crust and bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Allow to stand 10 minutes before refrigerating.