Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

My sister-in-law's birthday was on Mother's Day.  When I found out she was planning to make her own birthday cake I made her email me the recipe so that I could make it for her!  Making your own birthday cake is against so many rules of having a birthday. 

She is a BIG chocolate lover!  So, it surprised me to find out that her favorite cake is this lemon poppy seed cake.  She originally found the recipe in a very old church recipe book.  I'm a BIG lemon lover and was excited to try out a new recipe. 

LEMON POPPY SEED BUNDT CAKE

3 Cups Flour

2 1/2 Cups Sugar

1 1/2 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 1/2 Cups Milk

1 1/2 Cups Oil

1 1/2 TB Poppy Seeds

3 Eggs

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla

1 1/2 tsp Lemon Extract

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour a bundt pan (I like to add a good amount of sugar to my flour to make the edges sweet and crispy).  Pour batter into pan.  Bake for 1 hour.  Remove from oven, run knife around edges.  Let cool for a bit before turning out onto platter.

LEMON GLAZE

1-2 Cups powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp butter, 1/2 tsp vanilla, lemon zest, bit of milk to get the right consistency.  I even squeeze a bit of the lemon into the frosting.  Mix and drizzle onto cake.

I used my Dollar Tree cake stand made out of a dollar glass plate glued to a dollar candle stick - using E-600.  I should give credit for this idea, I've seen it all over blog land, but most recently over at 

A Love to Create with Trina.  She has so many great ideas!

This cake turns out super moist and SO YUMMY!  I would love to make it using almond extract in the place of lemon.  I think I love almond just as much as I love my lemon :O) . . .

Speaking of cake, remember how I posted my Cake's in a Jar the other day?  Well, somehow that post was deleted by Blogger.  I'll have to repost those again soon. . .

For a complete list of parties I link to click HERE!

Fluffy Strawberry Shortcake & WHERE we've been!

I grew up with my mom making this fruit dip that we all LOVED!  It's light and fluffy and SO YUMMY!  Recently I've been using it ON things in addition to being a "dip".  We devoured it on our strawberry shortcake last night :O).  We've also enjoyed it on waffles and pancakes.

FRUIT DIP

32 oz strawberry yogurt (or flavor of your choice)

LARGE tub of Cool Whip (I believe it's 1 pound)

Mix together and chill before serving.

The original recipe calls for equal parts of yogurt and Cool Whip.  We likes ours a bit fluffier.  I think this Fluffy Strawberry Shortcake would be divine made with lemon yogurt!  I also recommend eating the fruit dip by the spoonfuls all on it own :O). 

Apologies for my long hiatus...FOUR days before Easter my sweet husband decided that the kids would be waking up to the below sign!!  It has been a whirlwind and OH SO FUN getting everything, enjoying our vacation, and then getting back to our regular routine.  It's always fun to go, and always great to be back HOME!...

For a complete list of parties I've linked to click HERE!

Almond Gooey Bars - Tutorial

Almond Gooey Bars - a family favorite!

Years ago my mom came across this recipe in The Cake Mix Doctor cook book.  It's been a family favorite ever since.  My kids have even been known to request these in place of a birthday cake! 

The recipe I have on hand is a handwritten one that my momma copied down for me. 

Almond Gooey Bars

Crust

1 yellow cake mix

1 stick butter melted

1 large egg

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 tsp almond extract

Filling

8 oz cream cheese (room temp)

2 large eggs

1 tsp almond extract

1 stick butter melted

3 3/4 powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix the crust ingredients for 2 minutes (with electric mixer) until smooth...

Pat evenly in the bottom of a 9 x 13 and set aside.  I like to use a miniature rolling pin...

Then, beat cream cheese until fluffy...

Then add eggs, extract, and butter.  Beat 1 minute.  Next add the powdered sugar and beat for 1 more minute...

Until it becomes a nice whipped taffy texture...

Poor the filling over the crust...

Smooth it out, and put it in the oven @ 350 degrees for 45-47 minutes...

When it's done the top will be brown and very crispy.  You will be tempted to remove a small square and eat it right away - I highly recommend that :O).  But for the rest of the pan I would suggest letting it cool completely before cutting your squares, as to avoid them all falling apart...

Enjoy!

Click HERE for a full list of parties I've linked to!

Happy St. Patricks Day - Traditions

We've always had a fun time celebrating St. Patricks Day at our house.  It all began when the kids were tiny (those who know us, can you believe how tiny they were in this picture ?!)...

You never know who will visit.  Sometimes it's Lucky the Leprechaun, and sometimes it's Lucy the Leprechaun.  Either way, they're always mischievous.  There might be footprints left behind leading to a note explaining how to go about searching for that treasure...

Or sparkly confetti leading to that pot of gold...

Sometimes they hide the treasures about the yard...

Or make sure to equip you...

For a pinch-free day...

Breakfast might be as easy as Lucky Charms...

Or a little fancier...

But one thing is for sure!  The milk is ALWAYS turned green...

And golden chocolates will NEVER be forgotten...

It's always fun, the leprechauns are always tricky, and we never know what they'll bring...

This year we had a great time making shamrock waffles with our heart-shaped waffle maker.  Just add green food coloring to the batter...

Separate the waffles and shape them into your shamrock, add whip cream, and some green sprinkles...

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!  How do you celebrate?

For a full list of parties I link to click HERE!

Chili Cornbread Casserole

This is a delicious, quick, and cheap meal to whip up!  Our entire family enjoys it, and it's easy enough for the 10 year old to prepare for dinner. 

Ingredients

2 Cans Nalley's Original Chili (I like to use the vegetarian 99% FF)

2 Boxes Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix (mixed to box instructions... you'll need eggs & milk)

Shredded Cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Spread the 2 cans of chili across the bottom of a 9 x 13...

Mix the cornbread as per the box instructions, then spread the mixture on top of the chili...

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes @ 400 degrees (or until the cornbread mixture is completely baked through).  Add the desired amount of shredded cheese and return to the oven until melted (aprox. 5 minutes)...

Remove from the oven...

Cut into squares, serve, and enjoy....

My kids like ketchup on theirs.  My mom used to make this when I was a kid.  I'm not sure where she got the recipe.  It's great without the cheese as well if you are going for low-cal.  I think it would be great to make it with leftover homemade chili, though you would need to be careful with portions.  Once I added an extra can of chili and the cornbread stayed doughy....ended up cooking it for over an hour.  It would be fabulous with a scratch cornbread recipe...again, I would just have to figure out how much to put on.  We love the cornbread recipe in the Mormon Cookbook.  I'll have to figure out the portions on those two things.  For a quick and easy dinner the can and box version is wonderful - we LOVE it!


For a full list of parties I link to click HERE!

Craft Blog Coming Soon!

A little sneak peek of what's to come....

Crafting...
Kids projects (Fruit Loops to colored sand)...

Recipes...

Repurposed clothing...

Healthy lunches for kids...

Homeschool fun...

Gardening...

Cake decorating...

See ya soon!