Cowboy Cake

My kids really like this and they eat it up!! Be sure to have lots of milk on hand though because it is very cakey and a big glass of milk goes perfectly.


2 1/2 cups Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

2 cups Brown Sugar

2/3 cups Shortening

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1 cup Sour Milk or Buttermilk

2 well beaten eggs



Combine flour, salt, sugar and shortening. Mix until crumbly. Reserve 1/2 cup to sprinkle on the top. Mix remaining ingredients and pour into a cake pan, 9x13 baking pan or 2 8x8 pans. Sprinkle reserved topping (can add nuts if you'd like) Bake at 350 for 30-35 min.

The Best Cornbread

This is another recipe from my new favorite blog, My Kitchen Cafe. It was soooo yummy, the perfect cornbread in my opinion!

½ cup cornmeal

1 ½ cup flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup oil

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1 ¼ cup milk

Add dry ingredients, make a well and add oil, butter, eggs, and milk into the center. Stir until just mixed (batter will be runny – don’t be alarmed!). Bake in an 8” square pan at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. This doubles perfectly for a 9X13-inch pan.

ok, we made this pasta last night and it was a creamy piece of heaven! I believe zane's words were "Olive Garden worthy"! It calls for orzo but since it's pricey here, I swapped it for swirly colorful rizoni pasta and it was soooo yummy... you gotta try this!

Creamy Orzo with Chicken, Mushrooms and Red Peppers

*Note: this pasta is best served immediately as it tends to get less creamy as it sits at room temperature - so serve warm right as it finishes cooking! (Incidentally, it heated up just fine the next day in the microwave on low power.)

*Serves 6

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 average-sized chicken breasts (about 1 to 1 ½ pounds), cut into chunks
2 red bell peppers, cut into ½-inch pieces
8 ounces white button mushrooms, quartered
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 pound orzo pasta *or any kind of pasta, tri-color rizoti is yummy!
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (can use 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1 cup reserved pasta water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon) *I used 2 Tbl. bottled lemon juice

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook according to package directions until tender. When the orzo is ready, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water (ladling it into a small bowl is my method) and then drain the orzo and set aside.

While the orzo cooks, in a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the hot oil and brown on all sides. When nicely browned (but not all the way cooked through), add the peppers, mushrooms and thyme. Stir and let cook for about 5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the mushrooms and peppers have softened and browned and most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

In the skillet over medium heat, add the softened cream cheese (if you forgot to let the cream cheese soften at room temperature, no worries! Pop it in the microwave for one minute on 40% power) in bite sized chunks and stir so that the cream cheese melts and coats the chicken and vegetables. Add the reserved pasta water and bring to a simmer. Add ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Stir. Add the orzo, Parmesan, lemon juice and fresh parsley. Stir to combine and heat through. Garnish with additional Parmesan and parsley.

Recipe Source: from My Kitchen Cafe (www.melskitchencafe.com)/adapted from Food and Wine Quick From Scratch Pasta Cookbook

Divine Breadsticks (from My Kitchen Cafe)

This is a fantastic recipe for breadsticks. I made these for the first time last week and even in our unpredictable Grenadian oven they turned out great!

The recipe comes from my new favorite blog...

My Kitchen Cafe http://www.melskitchencafe.com/

Divine Breadsticks

*Makes about 20-25 breadsticks, depending on how thick or thin you cut them

1 ½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 ½ cups flour (I usually use a combination of unbleached all-purpose flour and white whole wheat flour but use whatever you have on hand!)
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted (for the baking sheet)

Mix all ingredients (except melted butter) in a large bowl or electric mixer and knead for three minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread melted butter onto an 11X17-inch baking sheet. Roll out the breadstick dough about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Twist slightly if desired and place about 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt, herbs of choice and parmesan cheese. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown.

Apple Dip Recipe

Hey all, so here is the apple dip recipe from Emma's party. Enjoy!

1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix until smooth and creamy and chill in refrigerator. It's also really yummy with toffee bits!

Coffee Cake

This is the recipe we used at the Easter Brunch! Enjoy!!

Cake:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup flower
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Combine oil, egg, and milk. Sift together dry ingredients. Add to the milk mixture and mix well. Pour in a 9 inch square pan.

Topping: (I usually make a little bit more of this, cause, well I love it!)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts
(swirl into the cake)

Bake at 375 for around 25 minutes

Coconut Rice

Just a nice way to make your rice a little sweeter. Penny likes rice, but she LOVES it mixed with coconut milk.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups coconut milk
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 cup jasmine rice

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the coconut milk and sugar over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer.
2. Stir in the jasmine rice, reduce heat to low, and cook tightly covered for about 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
3. Remove from the heat and fluff rice with a fork; cover, and keep warm.