baby bundts

Part of our Haiti fundraiser on Saturday involved a bake sale. Of course I had to participate. I have a smaller bundt pan that I love, I'm pretty sure it's a 6 1/2 inch pan (like this one). So I made 14 bundts, 3 flavors, and with the help of Amy, I think they turned out well! Here are a few photos and the recipes...

LEMON GLAZED BUNDT
for the glaze, I mixed powdered sugar with a little milk & lemon juice

CHOCOLATE CREME BUNDT

with this recipe as the glaze

PUMPKIN SPICE CAKE
we made a simple cream cheese frosting--cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and made it the right consistency to drizzle

menu...

*Monday: Pulled Pork Sandwiches (leftover Sweet Baby Ray's Pork from our big event Saturday!) & this yummy salad

*Tuesday: Almond Vegetable Stir-Fry with rice

*Wednesday: Fresh Mozzarella BLT with Pesto (I am SO excited about this dinner...I can't even explain it...)

*Thursday: Leftovers

*Friday: Pasta Salad (I'm adding chicken to ours...) & grilled corn on the cob (I can't get enough, and it's only June!!!)

*Saturday: Date Night (we are SO in need of one of these...Burke took **2** 8 hour tests this week!!! Imagine how much studying he's had to do to get ready... ;)

*Sunday: Happy 4th! We'll be eating with some friends, not sure what I am making yet, but I'll post when I know!

p.s. I am definitely making these some time soon...

a menu

This week, we are eating:

*Monday: Leftovers from our Father's Day feast!

*Tuesday: Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables (Burke's request)

*Wednesday: BBQ chicken (I will just grill up some chicken breasts with our favorite--"Sweet Baby Ray's" sauce--this was Ryder's request) with sweet potato fries & Corn and Radish Salad

*Thursday: Bean Burritos with Avocado (or if I'm feeling extra generous, I'll make guacamole :)

*Friday: Pizza Night!--getting ready for our big Bizarre/Fair/Fundraiser to support Haiti tomorrow! I'll be baking all day (I'll post pics/recipes next week) and definitely won't have time to make dinner...thank goodness we have coupons for Giordano's.....yum...

*Saturday: Leftovers

*Sunday: Grilled Salmon with Spicy Honey-Basil Sauce & Garlicky Roasted Asparagus

Happy Father's Day

I ended up making a few changes to our menu yesterday when I realized it was Father's Day, and we decided to have a little picnic with the Noorda's. It ended up being quite delicious...here's what we ate:

--Ribs (easiest to make EVER...and I finally got approval to make the same rib recipe again!)
--German Potato Salad (it was amazing--not exactly sure where Amy got the recipe...in fact, she probably didn't use one... ;)
--Rosemary & Garlic Potato knot rolls
--Banana-Raisin Bread Pudding for dessert (I added a little cinnamon & nutmeg to mine...)

Let's get Cookin'!!!

I'm FINALLY back! It's great to be home (although I do have a sick boy--which is so sad), and I am so excited to finally get back to cooking--and get my kids out of the "Honey-Nut Cheerios, Peanut Butter Sandwiches and snacks all day" trap. It's hard to eat well when on vacation. But we had a great trip, and I now have an amazing new brother in law! So here is what we're eating this week:

*Monday: Black Beans and Rice (thanks to Amy for the delicious beans and peach salsa--we HAVE to put them to good use!), with avocados, tomatos, shredded cheese, onions, etc....

*Tuesday: Asian Noodle Salad--I've been wanting to make this ever since I saw it on my friend's, friend's blog....

*Wednesday: Eggplant and Mozzarella Melt with spinach/strawberry/kiwi salad

*Thursday: Leftovers

*Friday: Red Pepper Soup (I will probably throw a few tomatoes in, as well) with crusty bread

*Saturday: Date Night--it's been TOO long!!!

*Sunday: Chicken with Artichokes and Angel Hair and Blueberry Buttermilk Tart (for dessert :)

Sorry...

So sorry about the lack of posts. I ended up being in Michigan longer than planned, and now we are heading to Utah for a week. That simply means that my menu for the next 6 days will consist of Cafe Rio. So unfortunately, I don't have a weekly menu to share with you for next week (unless you live in Utah and want to join me at my favorite restaurant--or we could do a picnic!). But I will share with you a recipe I made a few weeks ago when I was asked to bring cupcakes to an event. I combined a couple of Martha's recipes, and came up with these. They were quite delicious. I promise, once I'm back, I will resume my posting (which may include these, this, these or this)...



CHOCOLATE CREAM FILLED CUPCAKES

-1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins (or you can use liners)
-3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for muffin tins (unless you use liners)
-2 c. all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. salt
-2 c. sugar
-3 large eggs, room temperature
-1 c. sour cream, room temperature

-1 1/2 c. marshmallow creme
-1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350*. Butter/line muffin pans. In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa, lour, baking powder, soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, add half the flour mixture, followed by sour cream, ending with remaining flour mixture; mix just until incorporated.

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 mins. Cool in pans, 5 mins.; remove cupcakes and cool, right side up, on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, prepare filling: In a medium bowl, whisk marshmallow creme and butter until smooth. Chill until slightly firm, 15-30 mins. Transfer mixture to a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, and seal; cut off one corner of the bag to make a 1/8 in. opening.

Using a small melon baller, scoop out center of each cupcake from the bottom (or if cooked in liners, from the top), and reserve (you will use this to plug cupcake after filling). Hollow out each cupcake a bit more, discarding crumbs. Insert tip of plastic bag into each cavity, and squeeze to fill; replace plugs. Using remaining filling in plastic bag, decorate top of cupcakes (or frost on top)

EASY WHITE ICING

-1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
-1 pound (3 2/3 c.) confectioners' sugar
-1-2 TBLSP milk (optional)

In a mixing bowl, cream butter until smooth.

Gradually add confectioners' sugar; beat until smooth. If too thick to spread, beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons milk.

**I also added about 1/2 jar of marshmallow creme to my frosting to make it more fluffy, and to compliment the creme filling of my cupcakes.