Sour Cream Pound Cake!

 

Buttery.  Moist.  Delicious. 

It's your basic Sour Cream Pound Cake recipe you see in every cookbook, and on every website.  I just added a simple splash of almond extract in with the vanilla. 

I love the simplicity of a recipe like this.  Nothing fancy, but you can make it what you want.  Omit the almond and toss in some mini chocolate chips and you have a whole 'notha treat.  How about zesting and orange and plopping in some blueberries?  Doesn't that sound good?  Yeah.  Thought so.

I love that you can go with the timeless traditional recipe, or class it up a bit!  

Sour Cream Pound Cake

1 cup butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups flour
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

1.  Preheat oven to 325.

2.  Cream together butter, sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy.

3.  Add in flour.

4.  Mix in the sour cream, and then the extracts.

5.  Dump into a greased/floured bundt pan, and bake for about 1 hour and 20ish minutes.

6.  Let cool, invert onto a cake plate, and serve!  

Glazed Cinnamon Donut Muffins!

Thursday Morning Treats!  Here we go again!  Hosting a small group is a great way for me to try out some recipes I've been wanting to try!  Each week is a new excuse to make a new recipe!  These muffins were a hit!  ( FOR SURE with my kids!!!)  They'd have gobbled up the whole batch if I would have let them! 

Glazed Cinnamon Donut Muffins!

MUFFINS:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk

GLAZE:
3 tablespoons butter; melted
1 cup powder sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons hot water

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2.  Line 12 to 14 muffin cups with muffin liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

3.  Beat together butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth.

4.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.

5.  Add in baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla until just combined.

6.  Mix the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and mixing until just combined. Do not overmix!

7.  Spoon batter into cups, filling the cups to the top.

8.  Bake until muffin tops are a pale golden and springy to the touch, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time.

9.  Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 10 minutes before glazing.

10.  To make the glaze, In a medium bowl mix together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and water. Whisk until smooth.

11.  When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. Once hardened, dip a second time and allow to harden then serve.

Spicy Chicken Legs!

I NEVER cook skin-on, or bone-in chicken.   This was a stretch for me.  I like my meals nice and neat, and not a mess.   A perfectly shaped, boneless, skinless, chicken breast, is right up my alley.  So for me to go all "rustic" was out of my comfort zone.

I have come across recipes super similar to this one about five times in the last few weeks, so I decided to pick up a package of chicken and just go for it.  I just kind of went with a basic of what I read in recipes.  I don't have  a specific one I used, but I saw one in Taste of Home Magazine, another in Simple and Delicous Magazine, and yet another from The Pioneer Woman.

Each recipe called for Lemon Juice, and Butter. . .and from there, the possibilities are endless!  These turned out perfectly moist, flavorful, and juicy!  The whole family loved them!  Even the ones who "don't like food with bones in them" gobbled them all up!  Of course, with 20 legs, and five in our family, we had leftovers, but for a crowd, this is the ticket!  And so budget friendly too!  The package I got cost me $6.41!

Spicy Chicken Legs!

Drumsticks! (I bought a big ol package of chicken legs from Sam's Club, there were 20 in here.)

1 1/2 sticks melted butter (yes, I agree, that's a  lot of butter, but I'm not asking you to drink it, unless of course you feel inclined, and if that's the case, it's fine by me.)

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 cloves of crushed garlic

1.  In a bowl combine butter, lemon juice, and spices.

2.  Dip the legs into your butter mixture, and then put them on a baking sheet.

3.  Drizzle a little more butter on each leg, and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, basting every ten minutes.  

4.  After the first 30 minutes of cook time, I threw the oven on Broil, and finished them off for about ten minutes, turning the legs after five minutes to get even cooking! 

Oh My! Macaroni Salad!

OK. . .so Oh My! Macaroni Salad may sound like a bit much, and there's nothing boring about it!  Occasionally, I'll hit up the deli at the grocery store and grab a container of the ultra goopy, super gloppy, totally mushy but oh so tasty, container of macaroni salad. 

As I'm eating it, I'll wonder what it is: 
What's the "veggie" chunk that just got stuck between my teeth, or
what on earth is that "saucy" stuff the macaroni is floating in, and
is that REALLY pasta, because the texture is way not pasta-ish.

And then I came across this recipe from the The Pioneer Woman and YIKES!  I am in trouble!!!!  She just took Macaroni Salad to a whole. ..nutha. . .level.  This is so insanely delicious, that I most certainly have to pace myself when it comes to my macaroni salad intake level.

Did I mention my kids?  Who HATE macaroni salad? Who think it's totally nasty?  Who gobbled up this stuff in no time flat?!!!!!  Yeah, they loved it!  I can say for certain, that I will never purchase another sloppy container of that goo from the deli, and that this will be my stand by recipe!!!!!

If you'd like the ORIGINAL version by my favorite blogger Miss Ree Drummond, you can grab it right here!  The version I have for you here, is close to the same as hers, but with a few additions and one subtraction! 

Oh. My. Macaroni Salad!!!!

4 cups elbow macaroni
3 big ol roasted red peppers, finely chopped (in a jar, next to pickles. . . you're welcome)
6 whole SUPER spicy pickles!  (I used some really hot ones!  Trust me. . . the whole "sweet-heat" thing is really workin for this recipe!)
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup cubed cheddar cheese (when I say cubed, I mean petitely diced, like you were feeding a Barbie.)
3/4 cup mayo
4 tsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp vinegar
Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper to taste (which means LOTS)
1/4 cup milk
Splash of pickle juice (not a drizzle, wouldn't be enough, you need a full on splash)

1.  Boil pasta as directed on package.  Then drain and rinse with COLD water.

2.  Toss the peppers, pickles, onion, and cheese in a big bowl.

3.  In a separate bowl combine the mayo, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper, milk, and pickle juice. 

4.  FINALLY, dump the macaroni in the bowl with the cheese and veggies, and dump on the dressing! Toss to coat, and serve that good stuff up! 

Classic Potato Salad!

This year for the 4th of July we went with an "American Classics" theme. . .burgers, watermelon, strawberries, cherries, and of course the must needed, ULTRA-American creation known to us as Potato Salad.

Of course there are MANY variations of this classic dish, and each family prepares it their very own way, but I just went with a pretty basic/typical recipe!

You know, there are days when you want to mix things up and try something different, and days where the "same old thing" just feels so right. . .and the 4th of July is one of those days!

Potato Salad

5 lbs potatos, peeled and cubed
1 1/3 cup mayo
1/3 cup sweet-hot pickles, diced SUPER small
3 Tbsp mustard
several pieces of jarred, roasted red peppers
2 tsp salt
dash of sugar
dash of pepper
2 ribs of celery, finely diced
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped finely
several Tbsp finely diced onion

1.  Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until tender.

2.  Drain and cool to room temperature.

3.  In a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, pickles, mustard, roasted red peppers, salt, sugar and pepper.

4.  Combine the potatoes, celery, eggs and onion; add mayonnaise mixture. Stir to combine.

5.  Refrigerate and ENJOY!

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake!

It's Bible Study Thursday!  (I realize it's really not Thursday, but just play along for the sake of the story.)  And I'm baking up some treats!  I am hosting a Women's Small Group in my home on Thursday mornings and what's a ladies group without treats?!  You've gotta feed the people!  I am so excited about this group, and we have had such a great time getting to know one another!  One of the things that I really enjoy about this group, is that we're all from different churches and different faiths!  It's incredible that we can all get together in the name of Jesus, and just fellowship over some treats and a GREAT book!  

Not that I want to hook you on the book, but if you haven't read Not a Fan, you SO need to grab the book and open it up!  It's compelling, it's convicting, and most of all, it's a real eye opener!  I could go on and on about this fun group of ladies, but the real reason I'm here right now is this recipe!

Coffee Cake is just cake.  But if you throw the word "Coffee" in front of it, it becomes a wonderful excuse to eat cake for breakfast.  This recipe is one I've made several times, and we all love it more and more each time we enjoy it! 

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake!

FOR THE FILLING:
2 8oz bricks of cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1.  Combine all ingredients in a mixer, and beat until creamy and delicious.

2.   Set aside and prepare the cake!

FOR THE TOPPING:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
6 Tbsp cold butter

1.  Cut all ingredients together with a pastry blender until crumbly and set aside. 

FOR THE CAKE:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream (light or regular)

1.  Combine the flour, powder, soda, and salt.

2.  In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.

3.  Add in eggs one at a time.

4.  Beat in the sour cream.

5.  Slowly dump in the dry ingredients and mix until moisted.

6.  Stir in the vanilla.

7.  Pour half the batter in a greased and floured 9 x 13 baking dish and spread.

8.  Top with all of the cream cheese filling.  To do this, I usually put the filling into a pastry bag, and evenly pipe it over the cake batter.

9.  Top the filling now, with the remaining cake batter.

10.  Last but not least, top the whole cake with the delicious, sugary, crumb topping.

11.  Finally, bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 to 45 minutes!  This is so good hot, but if you're me, you'll prefer it cold!