The Parental Visit: 2014

Long time, no see bloggy friends!

Yes, it has been 2 weeks since I've opened or thought about my blog. Heck, it's been 2 weeks since I've even looked at my blog. Sometimes, you just need a little down time to reinvigorate.  It's not like I was too busy to blog, that wasn't even the case. Except in Minnesota, where my 80-is-the-new-40 year old aunt ran us ragged. We were all exhausted after the Minnesota weekend. I laugh, because who says that after attending an 80 year old's birthday party? WE DO! All I can say, is you haven't met my aunt. The gist of that tangent? No time to write in Minnesota. Plenty of time to write in Kentucky. Writing still didn't happen.

What did happen in the 2 weeks I've been gone?

- The hubby and I crossed 6 states in 14 hours driving to Minnesota. Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota! Oh, and a word of advice- If you are going to drive through Chicago, expect to spend about $20 in tolls. And Illinois' toll booths don't take debit cards. Are you kidding me? In Chicago. In 2014. For the love.

- My aunt's birthday party was amazing. It was wonderful to be there for her, plus I also met tons of family that I'd never met before. And they were definitely my kind of people!

- We had a huge spaghetti dinner and family baseball night with my parents and Jerame's side of the family back in Kentucky. My favorite moment from the baseball game? My niece and nephew accidentally running full speed into my dad, and everyone collapsing on the ground.

- A cat has made our yard his home.

- We drove my parents out to Lesage, WV to visit Hillbilly Hot Dogs. My dad was in hog heaven.

- We toured our local Brewery.

- The Ducks beat Washington State!

- The hubby made his homemade wings for the fam. Always a highlight!

- We found a fantastic restaurant in downtown Cincinnati, right before dropping the parents off at the airport. It's called "The Senate" and if you are in downtown Cincy, it's a must-try. They had an awesomely eclectic menu of fresh food combinations. The hubby had a Lobster BLT that was to-die-for. My dad's Korean Dog was filled with flavorful short rib and homemade kimchi. Trust me, I'll be back!

And, oh yes- I stole a bunch of pictures from my Mom's iPhone. My blog-vacation included a vacation from my camera :) Without further adieu-

Taken at Grizzly's in Minnesota. Our waiter just couldn't believe that my aunt (white sweater) was turning 80. "No way!" were his exact words. My aunt was stoked :)

Me with my aunt, my mom, and my mom's cousin (my 2nd cousin). 

Another picture with my mom's cousin, her, and I. Taken at my aunt's birthday party. I'm not sure who took this picture, an iPhone newbie perhaps ;)

This was my aunt's name-tag for the party. I love it!

My aunt opening gifts with her great-grandchildren. I can't believe she has great-grandchildren.

Back home in Kentucky, I made Turkey Pesto Sandwiches for the fam. 

Lunch at the local brewery. I apologize for the bad lighting!

Getting a tour of the brewery.

Our trip to Hillbilly Hotdogs.

No one left hungry. Or without a couple of beers. Correction- Dad easily passed on the beer, but found it rather difficult to turn down a vanilla milkshake :)

The parents loved Hillbilly Hotdogs!

Here's the cat that just showed up. He (she?) showed up about a week ago. He was passing through the yard and when the hubby went to shoo him away, the cat came to him. The poor kitty was skin and bones, so we fed him. Thank goodness for my animal shelter donation pile in the basement! Anyhoo, it's been a week and he hasn't stepped one foot off the property. Not one foot. He now has a cat house, a food and water bowl, and a name. Samuel. Samuel the cat. We aren't exactly a cat family, having 2 small dogs and being backyard birders, but we'll see how it goes. Sam hasn't shown any interest in the birds. So far...

Scotch, wings, and Monday night football. It doesn't get much better. The hubby made wings for my parents the night before they left, and they were a hit. As usual :)

My parents and I outside the Senate, right before we dropped them off at the airport. It was a wonderful trip. Too short, as usual, but tons of fun!

That's it for tonight folks. I've got a couple of recipes to share this week, and then hopefully, I'll get back on track next week. I apologize to my fans to who check the blog in the morning with their coffee for the lack of new reading material as of late. Ahem, Norm. Yes, my parents let me know how much you read and enjoy the blog. A big, hearty "thank you" from me to you :)

Happy Wednesday!

Oreo Birthday Cake Bites

Fun post today! This recipe is barely a recipe, and a riff off my Mint Chocolate Truffles. These are delicious and fun, and best of all, NO-BAKE. I just love no-bakes. These would be perfect for a last-minute invitation where you need to bring something quick. They take all of 15 minutes to make, and probably 15 minutes to set. Your friends and family will love these, indeed the hubby's family was enamored by these moist, flavorful bites of birthday cake. 

You're going to need a package of Birthday Cake Oreo's. These special edition Oreo's actually come in 2 flavors- chocolate cookie and golden cookie. I originally went to the store scouting out the golden Oreo's but never came across them. Never one to be deterred by such details, my eyes strayed across the chocolate package. It was a done deal.

Thanks to the birthday cake flavored creme in the middle of the cookie, these little no-bakes taste exactly like birthday cake. Don't these just look perfect for a kid's birthday party?

Or an adult birthday party? Methinks these would go perfect with Kahlua and coffee :)

I actually made these by request! It was one of those days that I went craaaazy on Pinterest. I have those days once in awhile. You know, the days where you can't even be bothered to change out of your pajamas or to brush your hair... or teeth... or even to wipe the coffee off your face. Oh come on, everyone has those days! Anyhoo, it was a Pinterest day. I'd been pinning for quite a while, I'd probably pinned 100-200 images. One of those images was these Fruit Punch Oreo Truffles. Later that day, I received a text from the hubby's aunt. She'd seen those fruit punch truffles, and just had to have em'. Being the nice kid that I am, I offered to make them for her. Little did she know, I couldn't wait to make them!

Fast forward to even later that day, and I received a call from her. She was at the store and confronted with Birthday Cake Oreo's. They had tempted her to the point where she now wanted birthday cake truffles, the fruit punch truffles long forgotten.

To quote Barney Stinson, "Challenge Accepted".

And the rest is history. I had some real fun with these, and used 4 different gel food colors to color my melted candy coating. Just for giggles. By all means, there's no requirement to color the candy coating. A white candy coating with a smattering of sprinkles would look just as delicious. I, however, had picked up 8 different gel colors at Hobby Lobby in December and I was dying to try them. I went with yellow, pink, purple, and blue.

Let me give you this piece of advice- if you make these, have a plan to get them out of your house. They are perfectly "poppable", making them extremely tempting when sitting on your kitchen counter. It's beyond easy to walk in the kitchen, and before you know it, have gobbled up 3 or 4. This could be a problem for bikini season :)

Happy Tuesday friends! Another week is well underway in these early weeks of summer. Early summer is one of my favorite times of year. Everything is in full bloom, the humidity isn't overbearing yet, the sun is out almost every day, the birds and critters are everywhere, and the veggies in season at the grocery store, oh my! I'm a happy girl. I was walking into my backyard yesterday morning, and was certainly startled when I rounded the corner only to be confronted with a rather large deer. Our eyes met, and 2 graceful bounds later, he was gone. I'm not sure what he was doing in my backyard, seeing as the grass hasn't grown in yet and it's still a rather large mud pit, but it was nice to see him. I heart deer :)

Speaking of which, I'm off to mow the lawn and see if I can scare off any more critters :)

Ingredients:

1 package (12.2 oz) Birthday Cake Oreo's

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 package (16 oz) vanilla candy coating

gel food coloring (optional)

sprinkles 

Directions:

1. In a food processor, pulse Oreo's until they resemble a coarse crumb.

2. Add cream cheese to food processor. Pulse until mixture resembles a large ball of dough.

3. Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, roll dough into balls. Place balls on a cookie sheet.

4. Melt candy coating according to manufacturer directions. Add desired amount of food coloring, if using. Using a skewer, dip truffles into candy coating. Place on a piece of parchment paper to harden up. Dust with sprinkles before candy coating dries.

5. Allow to dry completely before storage. Store in an airtight container. 

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Love Bakes Good Cakes.

If you liked this recipe, you might enjoy-

Mint Chocolate Truffles

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday

Cincinnati Beer Run 2014

Well, it's Tuesday.

The weekend has come, and sadly, gone. I never got a chance to post my Monday post. Yesterday was crazy! One of those days you have after you've gone away for a long weekend, only to come home late Sunday night and realize the housework didn't go away while you were gone. In fact, it seems to have inexplicably multiplied. There's laundry to do, the grocery shopping must be done, the grass must be mowed, dinner must be prepared, dogs must be walked and fed, bird feeders to be filled, compost to be tumbled, etc. Not a lot of time for blogging when you've got a full day. I should have been up at 6 working on the blog yesterday morning, but instead I slept in till 8. I never sleep that late. I'm blaming the tequila-hangover-hideousness that was Sunday!

We had a great time in Cincinnati! We drove up Friday afternoon, which just so happened to be one of the hubby's cousin's wife's (that's a mouthful!) birthday. After meeting at one of the cousin's houses, we schlepped out for Mexican food. Delicious, delicious Mexican food. And no Mexican food outing is complete without a margarita.

The girls. I'm in the middle in the polka dot shirt. Coincidentally, both of the hubby's cousin's wives are named Kim, so we'll just go with Brunette Kim and Blonde Kim. It was Brunette Kim's birthday. The lucky girl is still in her twenties :)

The hubby is the only one missing from this picture, but someone had to be the photographer.

We were leaving for the race on Saturday morning at 8 am, so needless to say no one stayed up real late on Friday night. Come morning, we were all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

For the most part. Not everyone's a morning person!

Ready to run!

The hubby and I decided to represent U of O on our run. Crazy enough, the hubby and I met another Duck fan! We met a guy who had just moved from Eugene to Cincinnati a year ago. He said he still works for the same company, which is based out of Eugene, so he makes a lot of trips back to Oregon. He asked us how we liked it here, and we chatted for awhile. He seemed pretty homesick to me, I felt bad for him. I definitely know how that goes!

The hubby and his cousins. They're Toys-R-Us kids. They're never gonna grow up :)

The race ended up being a ton of fun. Hard, I must admit, but fun. I've never been inspired to drink, and then exercise, and now I know why. It's not easy. The race was set up to start in Florence, KY, which sounds crazy, but it's actually just right across the river from Cincinnati. The race had us crossing the bridge from Kentucky into Ohio and back into Kentucky. That part was pretty cool, I thought. Every half mile there was a beer stand that was serving locally crafted microbrews. You could stop at all the stands, or you could stop at none of them. I opted to stop at all of them. I must say, running after guzzling a beer is like shaking beer up in its bottle, only it's getting shaken in your stomach. Not something anyone is going to want to do on a regular basis, but as a novelty? We all enjoyed ourselves.

And after we were done running, it was time for margaritas. Giant, fish-bowl sized margaritas.

And... this is what we looked like after the margaritas. I'm not sure who joined us in the picture :)

Brunette Kim hitching a ride with Blonde Kim.

Boys will be boys.

We headed back home early on Sunday morning, seeing as it was Mother's Day. We proceeded to spend the afternoon eating Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars with my mother-in-law. So yummy. So obviously I've been back to the grindstone for a day now. I've got another crazy day on deck. Grrr. The only thing that must happen today is the harvesting of the fresh cilantro. It's gotten out of control! I don't know what happened, but we came home from Cincinnati and it looked like we had a little forrest of cilantro. Good thing I need to make some salsa :)

Happy Tuesday!

Pecan Pie Cake

Pecan pie is good.

Cake is good.

Therefore, shouldn't taking the two and combining them into one delicious confection be twice as good? 

Yes, yes it is.

This is a cake among cakes. So freakin' good. I do realize pecan pie is poplar during the winter, holiday months, but cake is popular year round. I felt no shame "pecan-ing out" this spring. The cake is rich and moist, with layers of custard and toasted nuts. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and you'll think you've died and gone to heaven. 

This is a bit of a labor intensive cake. I made it for my mother-in-law's birthday a couple of weeks ago, and I did not know what I was getting myself into. My MIL (much like the hubby's aunt) didn't have a preference on cake, and asked for a surprise. Both her and the hubby have an affinity for Pecan Pie, and I'd had this recipe under my hat for over a year. Waiting for the perfect opportunity to try it. Well, my MIL was ALL about it when I suggested it. I set about to make it the day before her birthday, until I realized I probably wouldn't be constructing the cake till the next day. The custard layer really should sit overnight in the fridge before you use it in the layers. So I made the custard, and into the fridge it went. The custard layer worked perfectly in construction the next day. I then turned my focus to the cakes, realizing I was going to need 3 bowls and to separate a lot of eggs. I hate separating eggs. Somehow, someway I always get egg yolk in my whites. Never fear, I managed to separate with ease this day. 

The egg whites are separated in this case, and whipped up. Like meringue. The egg whites are folded into the cake batter at the end, I believe to add levity to the cake. It's very important to have absolutely no yolk in your whites, or your egg whites aren't going to stiffen properly. Which means your cake won't rise. Which spells disaster! 

Ok, I'm being a little dramatic. But seriously, don't get yolk in your whites.

As I was preparing the cake, I noticed a little note in the recipe. It said you should never make pecan pie on a rainy or overcast day. What?? I'd never heard that before. It's apparently an old Southern adage. Indeed, this recipe is adapted from a Southern Living recipe. Well. I wanted to know why. Upon googling this perplexity, I was able to find... nothing. No reason that you should avoid making pecan pie on a rainy day except that you just should. Consequently, I've relegated that adage into the category of old wives' tales. 

So, there you go. Pecan Pie Cake. It sounds and looks decadent, and it totally is. Who cares if it's not Thanksgiving? Get down with your bad self anyway!

Happy Hump Day!

Ingredients:

Custard-

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/3 cup cornstarch

4 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups half-n-half

1/8 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cake-

3 cups pecans, toasted and finely chopped

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

5 eggs, separated

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

corn syrup

Directions:

1. Prepare the custard- combine dark brown sugar through salt in a COLD saucepan. Whisk until smooth. Turn heat on, and bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Whisk CONSTANTLY. Cook 1 minute or until mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla until smooth and melted, then press a piece of wax paper over the top of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. When mixture has cooled, chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours. 

2. Prepare the cakes- Preheat oven to 350º. Completely coat 3 (9 inch) round cake pans with cooking spray. Distribute the 3 cups of pecans evenly into the 3 pans, shaking to coat the bottoms and sides of pan.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and shortening until fluffy. Beat in sugar. Beat in egg yolks. Beat in vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda. Add flour mixture slowly to butter mixture, alternating with buttermilk. Repeat until flour mixture and buttermilk are completely mixed in.

4. In another bowl, beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Distribute batter among the 3 pans.

5. Bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn cakes out to a cooling rack. Brush cakes with corn syrup (I recommend putting a piece of wax paper under your cooling rack). Cool completely before constructing cake.

6. Construct cake- Spread half of custard on one cake, pecan side up. Place 2nd layer of cake, pecan side up, on top of custard. Smooth on remainder of custard. Place remaining cake, pecan side up, on top of remainder of filling. 

7. Slice cake, and serve with whip cream or vanilla ice cream.

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Southern Living.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Tickle My Tastebuds Tuesdays

Classic White Birthday Cake

Let's dive right into birthday season, shall we?

I have 2 cake recipes for you this month! I know, I know, most month's don't even have 1 cake recipe. April is a popular month for the hubby's family and their birthdays. Lots of birthdays around this time of year. This equates into lots of baking experience for moi. This cake was baked for the hubby's aunt's birthday. I had asked her what kind of cake she wanted me to make, and at first she came back with "Surprise me!". Upon further questioning, I got her to reveal that she loves white cake with white frosting. Done and done.

White cake is white cake due to the fact that there are no egg yolks in it. Separating eggs is not my forte, however, I successfully pulled it off with this cake. You know, without wasting any eggs or having to start over. This is a great recipe for white cake. Moist, flavorful, pretty. I was pleased as punch with the final result.

What's a birthday cake without at least a few candles?

Aunt's birthday was 2 weeks ago, and it ended up being a fabulous Spring day. We (we being the hubby, I, aunt, uncle, and mother-in-law) all took Aunt out for a birthday lunch, then ended up back at home for cake and ice cream. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the bees not quite out of hibernation yet- we took full advantage and got our sweet tooth on outside. Spring is just, quite frankly, the best.

I ended up going with a smattering of sprinkles on top. White on white on white was a tad too much... white. I sprinkled with a touch of reserve, always with the notion this was an adult birthday cake :)

The birthday girl with her cake :)

Special birthday kisses from Gizmo.

All dogs were present, and equally disappointed they didn't get any cake or ice cream. They had to settle for chicken jerky and some kisses :)

All right. That herb garden I mentioned yesterday that the hubby was building me? It's done, and it's super-duper cute. I'm so happy and in love with it. I think I'm going to sneak an extra post in this week so I can share photos. The hubby did a remarkable job. To this day, I'm still amazed at the things he can build (and fix!) with those two hands. I cannot wait until I can start harvesting my bounty. I also can't wait to dive in and learn about gardening. I learn so much better by doing.

For now, I bid you adieu, friends. Look at me, and my French today. I feel so cultured :)

Ingredients:

Cake-

2 1/4 cup cake flour

1 cup milk, room temp (I used 1%)

6 large egg whites, room temp

2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup granulated sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes

Frosting-

1 cup butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

4-5 tbsp half-n-half

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Flour and butter (2) 9 inch round cake pans.

2. Combine milk, egg whites, and extracts in a medium sized bowl. Whisk until well-combined.

3. Combine sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Toss to combine. Add butter to bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Beat for 1-2 minutes. 

4. Add half of the milk mixture. Beat for another minute. Add the rest of the milk mixture, beat for 1 more minute.

5. Divide batter among 2 cake pans. Bake in pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine actually baked for 22 minutes, though I will add I have a convection oven. 

6. Cool cakes in pan for 30 minutes. Remove from pans, and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.

7. To prepare the frosting, combine butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat for 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla and 2 tbsp half-n-half. Beat until you reach desired texture. Add more half-n-half if frosting is too thick. 

8. To build cake, frost the top of one cake with a thick layer of frosting. Sandwich the other cake on top of the first cake. Use remaining frosting to cover the entire cake. Top with sprinkles, if desired. Serve with vanilla ice cream for best results. 

Cake recipe by I Am Baker. Frosting recipe adapted from The Kitchen Magpie.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday

Green Smoothies

Don't be put off by the color of these smoothies. They taste ah-mazing! Yes, there may be fistfuls of spinach in these frosty bad-boys, but you'd never know if I didn't tell you. The smoothie just tastes like kiwi and vanilla. It is so good! I've always heard you can put greens in a smoothie (spinach, kale, arugula, etc.) without flavoring the smoothie, but believe it or not, I'd never experimented. Well. Now I know I should have done this before.

This is the one of the smoothies this week that I used ice in. I suppose you could freeze your kiwis if you are looking to skip the ice. I blended and blended these smoothies (you know, with my little blender), and arrived at the perfect texture. Not a single ice chip! I made these pretty thick, you could definitely add more liquid and less ice to achieve a thinner consistency.

This may seem like a strange combination. Kiwi and spinach? Turns out to be one of the best combinations! Perhaps you don't eat kiwi. Let me tell you why you should, besides the basic, obvious reason that they are freakin' delicious. These little fuzzy fruits are one of nature's super foods. They're high in vitamin C and potassium. Studies have shown kiwi can lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. They are good for your skin, can help you sleep better, and help lower your blood pressure.

Ok, after hearing all that, why wouldn't you eat more kiwi?

I think the world would be a happier place if people would just eat more fruit. My springtime diet has morphed into a fruit free-for-all. On top of trying to avoid processed food (excluding fruit snacks, my Kryptonite), I try to eat mostly whole foods and allow myself as much fruit and veggies as I want. I've had an easier time managing my weight by eating this way than I ever did eating a calorie-restricted diet and keeping a food journal. I've got a highly unscientific theory that my body doesn't like the stress of obsessing about food and calories. I think everyone would have an easier time managing their weight if they just ditched all the pre-made and processed food.

Did I mention these were unscientific theories? They are :)

All right, Jessica out. It's my mother-in-law's birthday, and I'm taking her out for lunch. Before I stuff my face with pizza however (oh the irony, after I just waxed poetic about ditching processed foods!), it's cardio day at the gym. Gotta go work up that appetite! Then...

Time to come home and bake a cake!

I love birthday season :)

Happy Hump Day!

Ingredients (makes 2 smoothies):

4 kiwis, peeled and sliced

3 cups spinach

1 cup Greek vanilla yogurt

1/2- 1 cup almond milk

2-3 cups ice

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in blender. Add more almond milk to make your smoothie thinner. Add more ice to make your smoothie thicker. Pulse until you reach your desired texture. Distribute between 2 glasses. Serve immediately.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday