Southern Pound Cake

A little over a year ago, I introduced you to a new cookbook, "Deep South Dish - Homestyle Recipes" by Mary Foreman.  Back then I had shared with you her recipe for Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad.  If you haven't tried it yet, you should. It's one of my favorite salads!

Since then Mary's Southern Pound Cake recipe has become a "go to" recipe for me. I don't even have to look it up in the index. The book will fall open to the page for me. That's how many times I have made this cake! I've wanted to share it with you before, but we gobble it up so fast I haven't been able to get a picture of it before!

You can serve this cake however you like. It's great with a scoop of ice cream ( Truckin' Man's favorite), with a nice berry sauce, or just a simple glaze. There is no wrong way to serve this.  

Southern Pound Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 tsp orange or lemon extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Prepare bundt pan by greasing, then flouring (be sure to get in all the grooves of your pan). Remove any excess flour. Set pan aside.

In medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt.  In large mixing bowl, beat butter and shortening on medium speed until creamy.  Add sugar, half cup at a time, until mixture is fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add flour mixture, half cup at time, alternating with milk, on low speed. Start and end with flour.  Mix until flour and milk are completely incorporated.  Add vanilla and orange extract.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Level top of batter with spatula so that it is smooth.  Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake for 20 minutes then turn cake out to wire rack to cool completely.

Source: Deep South Dish: Homestyle Southern Recipes



Powdered Sugar Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tbsp half and half
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp orange extract
Milk, as needed

In medium mixing bowl, sift powdered sugar. Add melted butter to sugar, stir until combined. Add half and half, and vanilla mix well. Add additional milk if needed, to reach desired consistency. Once cake has completely cooled, pour or drizzle glaze over cake.


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Cilantro Lime Rice

Sometimes the most simple side dishes can be your favorite go to dish. And believe me, simple dishes are what I need right now. I am so busy with the garden and taking care of all these veggies, I don't have time to fuss over recipes.

Set your favorite main dish recipe (Mexican Beef) to go in your slow cooker, and thirty minutes before dinner start this Cilantro Lime Rice. Simple and delicious. The cilantro and lime gives this such a fresh flavor, you will think it came from your favorite Mexican restaurant. 

Cilantro Lime Rice

2 cups water
1 cup long grain white rice
1 tsp salt
4 tsp vegetable oil, divided
2 Tbsp lime juice (freshly squeezed if you have it)
3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
Cilantro for garnish, optional


Over high heat, bring water, rice, salt and 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil to boil. Let boil until most of the water is evaporated. When water just skims over the rice, cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, remove from heat and let set covered for an additional 5 minutes.

Add remaining vegetable oil, lime juice, and cilantro. Stir to combine. Garnish with additional cilantro if desired.

Enjoy :)

Source: Macaroni & Cheesecake


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Gardening is Hard Work. But...

Gardening is hard work, and while I would love a break, I am so happy with our efforts.  Here we are in mid-August and still out there picking veggies daily. That makes me so happy. 

Something fun this year in the garden is that I even heard the hummingbirds buzzing through.

They must be loving all the blossoms.

This whole side of the garden is one big mess of squash family. Zucchini, spaghetti squash, a couple varieties of winter squash, and two different kinds of pumpkin. Oh, and one little watermelon plant lost in the middle. So many vines. Here a vine, there a vine.. 

Excuse my size comparison of adding my flip flop to this photo, but I was sooooo excited when I saw how big this pumpkin was I just had to add something to the photo. I don't have tiny feet either! So excited. There might be more, but in the mass of vines, this is the only monster one I could find.

Here is our one lil' watermelon. Still happily growing.

Cilantro, still growing. So happy. 

 One of my biggest joys of the garden this year. Sweet Heat Peppers. They are thriving! Each little compact plant has a minimum of 15 peppers on it. They are just loaded! And, bonus is they are a delicious pepper. More sweet than anything which of course keeps husband happy.

 And, here is our Carolina Reaper. Grown from a seed. From a pepper my cousin sent us. We never really expected the plants would grow (only one of three did). We really never expected we would get a pepper. Now, to see if it will grow to maturity. If it does, what will we do? Probably just admire it! 

Have you ever met a reaper?

Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins

You are probably flooded with zucchini recipes right now, and here I am adding another one to the list. Sorry about that, but I have to get this one in my archives right now before I lose it again! This is one of my all time favorite muffins, and I hadn't made it in several years due to a zucchini shortage.

But, zucchini is back in abundance this year, so let the muffin baking begin. But, wait. Where's my recipe? Ugh. Gone! Checked all the recipe cards, and found my original recipe, but not my notes on how I had tweaked it to awesomeness.  So, I tried the basic recipe, and husband and I just were not impressed. Being the trooper he is, he did work his way through the initial batch for his breakfasts.

Today when he walked in the door, I had this waiting for him, and got my thumbs up back from him.  In my opinion, what makes these so good, is the whole wheat flour. It just adds a nuttiness that compliments the zucchini so well.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup vegetable oil
3 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 14 muffin cups with non-stick spray; set aside.  In medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.  In large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, vanilla and vegetable oil.  Stir until combined; add zucchini.  Add dry ingredients; stir only until combined. Add chocolate chips.  Do not over mix.

Divide mixture evenly into prepared muffin cups.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool in muffin pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.

Store in airtight container.

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Summer Days

This garden. I can't say enough good things about it this year. 

We are battling a couple issues right now, but overall it's one of our best years yet. 

After a couple years of not having much zucchini, we are enjoying a plentiful harvest.

The carrots. So pleased with the carrots. We finally found varieties that do well in our heavy soil.

Beautiful Bell Peppers. These aren't producing as well as last year, but I can't complain. 

They are healthy, and we are picking them. 

We picked our first Roma Tomatoes, eggplant, and Sweet Heat Peppers this week. Really exciting, as our new veggie of the year is eggplant. Now to try it in some recipes as see how we like it.

I don't think I have overshared my beautiful lilies this year. So, here is one for you to enjoy.

Summer day on the farm, watching the storm move in.

 Queen of the Farm with her best bud. Sadly, this photo was from their last play date. Her friend moved to Texas. We will miss them all lots, and will just have to road trip for a play date now!

 Stay Cool my friends!

Whiskey Peach Sauce

Pinterest. It can really help out when you need it! I had peaches laying on the counter that were in desperate need of a purpose, or they would end up being a treat for the chickens. What to do.. What to do.... Flipped through a couple cookbooks, and found nothing inspiring. From there, I went to pinterest. I searched anything "peach" I had previously pinned. I was thinking some type of cookie/bar destiny for my peaches. Nope. I found the Whiskey Peach Sauce I had pinned, who knows how long ago. That was our peach destiny. Less than an hour later, we were sampling and loving this creation!

You need to go get some peaches, let them ripen, and make this sauce!!  We had to get an extra container of frozen yogurt to have on hand for the weekend, since we will be enjoying this any chance we get. Even if it's just on a spoon while walking past the fridge! I think this would be a great topping for some waffles, and even on some pork chops. But, I can tell you for a fact... It rocks as an ice cream/frozen yogurt topping!

 

Whiskey Peach Sauce  (Source: Serious Eats)

3 cups coarsely chopped ripe peaches (about 3 large) 

1 cup dark brown sugar 

1 cup granulated sugar 

1/3 cup your favorite whiskey  ( I am a Windsor girl)

2 teaspoons lemon zest, grated

Add all ingredients to a large pot. Bring to a boil, over medium heat, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened

Remove from the heat.  With immersion blender, puree the mixture until smooth.  Store the sauce in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Enjoy!!!

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