Birthday Cake

JACOB’S BIRTHDAY CAKE
(BUTTER CAKE LAYERED WITH STRAWBERRY PRESERVES & A WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING)

So instead of going to the store and buying a cake Jacob asked me to make him his birthday cake, he was turning 13 so he didn’t really want a little kids cake. But he had some stipulations: no milk chocolate, no peanut butter and no coconut … so this is what I came up with and it worked … he was happy and it tasted good … which was my main goal.

Recipe:
Ingredients: Cake
2 sticks of butter, softened
2 cups of sugar
3 cups of cake flour, has to be cake flour all purpose flour will not turn out
3 tsp. of baking powder
½ tsp. salt
4 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. almond extract
1 jar of strawberry preserves

Ingredients: Frosting
2/3 cups of White Chocolate Chips
2T butter, softened
1 pack of cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
Pinch of salt
2 cups of powdered sugar

Baking Instructions: Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Spray 2 9in. round cake pans
In a mixing bowl cream butter until smooth … slowly add sugar while still mixing … it should be creamed and light … add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one … sift flour, baking powder, salt in another bowl … to the wet mixture add the almond and vanilla…mix… add the flour mixture and the milk alternating between the two and mixing well after each one … mix batter until nice and smooth … pour into cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes …. Let cool a few minutes then remove from pan and let cool completely before frosting.

Mixing Instructions: Frosting
In a microwave safe bowl... combine your white chocolate and butter … put in microwave and melt stirring occasionally … you want it to be smooth, no lumps
Mix cream cheese, salt, vanilla and chocolate in a bowl until nice and smooth
Add powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until nice and smooth and creamy

Putting it together:
Once your cake has cooled, flip them over so they are bottom to bottom; spread one half with the jar of strawberry preserves, top with the other half of cake …. Frost the entire cake starting in the center of the top and working your way down the sides … sprinkle the top with remaining chips from the bag … let set for a good hour before cutting into it.

Shrimp & Garden Vegetable Linguine

SHRIMP LINGUINE WITH GARDEN VEGETABLES

This is one of my absolute favorites, my mom made it for us first and now that I am on my own I tried to recreate it with my little twist on it. It really is so good and a great spring summer meal, farmer’s market vegetables are always great too! The recipe that follows will have the general vegetables that I use but you can put any kind of vegetable with this recipe so use what you like.

Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 box of linguine pasta
1 pound of fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 lemon
½ cup of parmesan cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper
5 stalks of Asparagus
1 good size zucchini
1 good size yellow summer squash
1 tomato, cut into wedges
Sprinkle of fresh parsley

Cooking Instructions:
Cook your pasta according to box instructions, remember to salt your water after it starts to boil
Clean your shrimp, by peeling and deveining … heat up a medium size skillet with 2T of butter, 2T of olive oil, 3 cloves of garlic finely minced … once the butter is melted add the shrimp … stir to coat with the butter and garlic … cook both sides till they are pink

In another pan add sliced vegetables (accept the tomatoes) and about ½ cup of water and a sprinkle of salt … cover with lid and put on high heat until water boils and vegetables are steamed

In a large bowl combine drained pasta, drained steamed vegetables, sautéed shrimp with all the dripping (that’s your flavor), wedges tomatoes, parmesan cheese, sprinkle of salt and fresh black pepper... drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and squeeze the juice of one lemon…… Toss it all together and sprinkle with fresh parsley …. There you go its done!

Jumble Cookies

JUMBLE COOKIES

These cookies came from me not being able to decide what kind of cookie I wanted but knowing that I was having a major sweet tooth attack. They are yummy and a new family favorite; A combination of Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter and Snicker Doodle cookie all in one.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, softened (must use butter, it is a cookie after all)
1 ¼ cups of brown sugar
¾ cup white sugar
3 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
3 cups of old fashioned oatmeal oats
1 bag of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
½-2/3 cup of chopped peanuts (chop pretty finely)

Cooking Instructions:
Pre-Heat your oven to 350 degrees
Cream butter, sugars, vanilla in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy
Mix in eggs one at a time until well incorporated
Mix in flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, mix well
Stir in oatmeal, chocolate chips and chopped peanuts
Spoon onto sprayed cookie sheets
Bake for 10-12 minutes
Let cool on brown paper bar or cooling rack
Enjoy!