Monday, July 20, 2009

Blessed Birthday Meal


Our third son turned 20 years old yesterday! He has been home from college for the summer and has worked almost every single day. It was good to see him for a full day and to be surrounded with family.

We held his birthday meal up the path at Granna's. She had a box of Twinkies everyone dug into while waiting for food and I had to smile. Matthew loved Twinkies so much growing up that people used to buy him boxes for his birthday. . . smile.

The Lord blessed us with some wonderful Angel Food Ministries boxes (He provided through my sister... so thanks for her being a vessel for His bounty!) and we had plenty of food. The meal served 23 + people!

We started off with chilled cantaloupe and watermelon and they were wonderful!

My husband took the hamburger meat that came with our main box (for more on this, visit: www.angelfoodministries.com) and mixed it with ground venison from the freezer for grilled hamburgers. We had two bags of potatoes so this birthday son's girlfriend peeled all of those and cut them in smaller sizes for quicker cooking. I used a free spirited style of the recipe below. All that means is that I used the ingredients it called for but with no measuring. I just tossed it all together and my daughter, niece and I kept tasting it until we liked it. Along with all the ingredients called for in the recipe, we added garlic powder and I finely chopped garlic cloves and sauteed them in butter along with some finely chopped onion and drizzled this over the whole thing before gently mixing it in. Very good!

Octoberfest German Potato Salad
Servings: 7

Ingredients:
3 pounds potatoes, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons dried parsley
ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add peeled and cut potatoes; cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl. Add onions.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, oil, vinegar, sugar, parsley, salt and pepper. Gently stir in the potatoes and onion. Let stand for 1 hour before serving to enhance flavors.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED C 2009 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com
7/20/2009

I've made this chocolate cake for several years now. The idea to search this recipe came because Mamaw made chocolate pound cakes for many years and my husband loved them. When the two oldest boys were grown and on their own, a lady who watched after Mamaw started making the chocolate pound cakes for her.
She sent one of these home and Matthew tried it and fell in love!
Time went on and Mamaw moved out of the home she made so many cakes and meals from and went to move with my MIL.

I looked for recipes but stopped the first time I made this one. I have shared and shared and shared it before now bec it has brought more compliments than any other cake I've made. It is that good.

When my MIL ate a piece at Matthew's birthday gathering, she told me she simply must have one made for her next birthday. Such a decadent chocolate flavor and deep, rich cocoa all the way around. Marvelous!
Chocolate Pound Cake III

Servings: 16


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
3 cups white sugar
5 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water 1 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the dissolved coffee and buttermilk. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED C 2009 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com
7/20/2009

Friday, July 10, 2009

Tres Leches Cake

Finally found it!

My mom made this cake for my birthday a couple of months ago and my DIL loved it so much ... I am making some for her baby shower. It was at this great blog:

http://fullbellies.blogspot.com/

I'll share the other recipes and ideas from the shower when I have more time!

TRES LECHES CAKE


1 package white cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare mix
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup milk
1 cup (1/2 pint) whipping cream
1 container (8 ounces) whipped topping, thawed

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Bake about 35 to 40 minutes or until cake is firm to the touch. Remove cake from oven; cool 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine sweetened condensed milk, milk and whipping cream in a 4-cup measure. Poke holes all around the warm cake, using a wooden skewer or toothpick. Slowly pour milk mixutre evenly over top of holes on cake. Let cake cool 10 to 15 minutes more to absorb all the liquid. Cover and refrigerate cake in pan at least 1 hour.

When cake is completely cool, spread whipped topping evenly on top. Cut into pieces and serve with fresh fruit. Keep cake covered and refrigerated.