Strawberry Cake

2 cake recipes in a row?!?! Must be a special week-end or something!  ;)  Today Darwin declared that he really wanted to bake Mommy a cake for Mother's Day. And not just any cake - a Strawberry Cake! So the 2 of us (with a little help from Big Little D) whipped this one up on a whim, and it worked. I'm a lucky Mommy for having such thoughtful boys.

This is today's posted recipe more by default; it has fruit and it's one of the few things I made or ate today (the recipes for the other meals/snacks we ate today have already been posted). It might not be the healthiest per se, but it sure is tasty! And beats a boxed mix any day! Enjoy!

Darwin's Strawberry Cake

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups frozen strawberries, thawed (but not drained)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 8- or 9-inch round pans.
2. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and blend/stir for another 2 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Gradually add to creamed mixture and stir gently until thoroughly combined.
4. Lightly mash frozen strawberries. Pour strawberries and all juices into cake batter and stir until smooth (with strawberry lumps, of course).
5. Pour batter into greased pans and bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until cake springs back to the touch.
6. Let cool then frost with your favourite buttercream or cream cheese icing. ENJOY!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Looking for a good recipe to make for Mother's Day? Here is my favourite coffee cake recipe, often served at Mother's Day brunch (we'll be eating it a day early this week-end, as it's in the oven right now!). This recipe comes from a little cookbook entitled Bake Sale Bestsellers Cookbook. I've been making this recipe for years and never change a thing (with the exception of the middle layer - I add extra cinnamon and skip the nuts - toss in some pecans if you'd like!). It is best served warm, drizzled with a little caramel sauce. DELISH! Treat your mom, or yourself, and bake one this weke-end. I'm sure you'll love it, too! Enjoy!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Middle/topping:

• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1. DO NOT PREHEAT OVEN.
2. Cream butter, sugar and eggs until fluffy. Blend in sour cream and vanilla.
3. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add to creamed mixture and stir a few times to combine.
4. Place half of batter in greased bundt pan.
5. Combine sugar and cinnamon for middle layer. Sprinkle 3/4 on top of batter in pan.
6. Add remaning batter and sprinkle with remaning cinn/sugar mix.
7. Place pan in COLD oven and turn to 350 degrees. Bake approx. 55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
8. Serve warm, drizzled with caramel. ENJOY!

Brown Butter Rainbow Trout

Another fish recipe. It's real simple to make, and really enjoyable to eat! Give 'er a try and I'm sure you'll love it, too! This works well over rice, or even paired with a salad. (I paired it with my Easter recipe "cheater" post - Balsamic Butter Asparagus.....it was a buttery dinner ;) .

*This recipe is for 1 8-ounce filet. Obviously you can easily double/triple qty if making more servings!*

Brown Butter Rainbow Trout

• 1 8-oz Rainbow Trout Filet, cut in half
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• s&p

1. Warm cast iron skillet on med-high heat. Add butter and allow to melt and brown a few minutes.
2. Squeeze lemon juice into melted butter and whisk to combine. Add s&p at this step as well.
3. Let butter and lemon juice cook about 2 minutes before adding fish (or until butter is bubbly and visibly brown). Add fish to pan, skin side up. Cook for 2 minutes then flip. Cook for another 2 minutes, or until fish is cooked all the way through (/ flakes apart easily).
4. Spoon butter sauce over fish and rice before serving. Enjoy!

Black Bean Quesadilla

Olé! Mexican night at our house. Here's a recipe for some tasty quesadillas. These were gobbled up and thoroughly enjoyed. I hope you enjoy them, too!

Black Bean Quesadillas

• 4 homemade tortilla shells (see recipe from March 21)
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup homemade fresh salsa (see recipe from May 3)
• 1 cup shredded marble cheese (or any cheese you'd like!)
• sour cream and extra salsa for dippin'

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lay 2 tortilla shells on cookie sheet. Top each evenly with 1/2 can black beans, 1/4 cup salsa, 1/2 cup shredded cheese (put 1/4 cup on bottom, 1/4 cup on top). Cover each with a second tortilla shell.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted.
4. Serve immediately with some salsa and sour cream. ENJOY!

Fresh Salsa

Tonight's recipe was whipped up using some fresh veggies I just purchased. It took a bit of time to get everything chopped up, but it was worth the effort. The taste was wonderful. No jar of mass-produced salsa can beat it. I hope to make other salsas this summer with veggies from our own garden. For now, this one will definitely do! This recipe would also double as a wonderful bruschetta topping (perhaps with some feta cheese! hmmmmmm....note to self - future recipe potential!). Watch for this recipe in tomorrow night's dinner recipe, too! As always - Enjoy!

Jenno's Fresh (Mild) Salsa

• 4 roma tomoatoes, cored and diced
• 1/3 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, very finely chopped
• 1/4 each red, yellow and orange peppers, diced
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• fresh cracked s&p
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (more if you want a little more heat)
• small spinkle white sugar
• 3 fresh (big) basil leaves, finely chopped

1. Placed chopped tomatoes, onion and garlic in bowl. Set aside for a few minutes, while dicing peppers.
2. Before adding peppers to tomato mixture, give mixture a stir, then drain any excess liquid. After liquid is drained, add peppers and stir.
3. Add remaining ingredients to bowl and combine well. Be sure to sample, and add more s&p or whatever you'd like.
4. Serve immediately or store in fridge for a few days (if it lasts that long!). ENJOY!

Oven Roasted Cauliflower

A favourite vegetable in this house is cauliflower. My boys eat it up everytime. I like to try new recipes and/or methods of preparing it, just to mix things up a little. This recipe is a keeper. Give it a try and let me know what you think. I found the inspiration for it while scanning a recipe website (surprise - NOT allrecipes!). Enjoy!

Oven Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp lemon juice (or juice from half a lemon)
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• fresh cracked s&p
• drizzle olive oil
• 1/4 cup asiago cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a shallow baking dish, or on a cookie sheet, arrange cauliflower florets in a single layer. Sprinkle on minced garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, s&p and a drizzle of EVOO. Lightly toss to combine and evenly coat.
2. Bake in preheated oven, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes or until tops of cauliflower is lightly browned.
3. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with asiago cheese. Serve and enjoy.

*You may notice that my recipes call for fresh cracked pepper AND salt. If you can, invest in a salt grinder in addition to your pepper mill. Fresh cracked sea salt is much tastier than regular table salt!*

Sweet (Amish) White Bread

This recipe (slightly modified) comes from allrecipes.com (yah, my favourite site!). The bread is wonderful to eat alone. And the dough even doubles as a great one for making cinnamon buns (I'll have to post that recipe another time!). Enjoy!

Sweet (Amish) White Bread

• Preferment (mix together and set on counter covered, 2-16 hours ahead of time):
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 tsp active dry yeast yeast
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 4-5 cups AP flour

1. In a large bowl, combine preferment and all other ingredients, except ONLY 3 1/2 cups of the flour, adding the flour 1 cup at a time. (Have the remaining flour ready to add if/when needed).
2. Mix together with wooden spoon or dough hook on KA mixer. Once combined, add enough extra flour to create a slightly tacky dough. Knead with hand or hook for 5 minutes.
3. Place dough in well oiled bowl and proof in microwave (see notes on this from step-by-step bread recipe).
4. After about an hour, dough will have doubled in size. Gently dump dough onto counter and divide into 2 equal portions. Lightly pat/stretch each portion to create a rectangle. Fold rectangle into thirds, as you would a letter.
5. Place folded dough into bread pans. Place back in microwave to proof, uncovered.
6. The second rise will take about 60-90 minutes for dough to rise above sides of pan. 30 minutes into 2nd proof, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Once dough is ready for the oven, bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes (or until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped). If you'd like a softer crust, immediately brush bread with butter.
8. Allow bread to cool (even just slightly) on wire rack before slicing. ENJOY!