I love red velvet cake. I never even heard of red velvet until I moved to Tennessee and was really afraid to try it because it uses so much red dye. Finding the right cake recipe has taken me some time but I've finally found one I really like, thanks to the joyofbaking web site. I've read that some make this cake with beets but I have yet to try this. Now that I'm thinking of it I'm going to have to go on a search for a good red velvet beet cake.



2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Red Velvet Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven. Butter two - 9 inch round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.

Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least an hour. (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 - 8 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
1 - 8 ounce tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted

Cream Cheese Frosting: In your food processor, or with a hand mixer, process the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and process until smooth. Transfer this mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Then, in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. With a large spatula, gently but quickly fold a little of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream, in two stages. If the frosting is not thick enough to spread, cover and place in the refrigerator for an hour, or until it is firm enough to spread.

Today we wanted something light and easy so when I asked the husband what he wanted he said grilled chicken. Easy enough. Looking in the fridge for anything to go with the grilled chicken and I see spinach, red bell pepper, tomatoes, and lemons. I checked to see what pasta I had and found rotini. This was going to be the best grilled chicken ever.

2 chicken breasts
3 vine tomatoes
1 roasted red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
3 cups spinach
3 tablespoons fresh basil
6 oz black olives (preferably pitted Kalamata)
6 oz feta cheese
14 oz rotini pasta
1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons Mediterranean oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Start Cooking the pasta according to the directions. Then flatten the chicken and season with oregano, salt, and pepper. Heat pan with olive oil and cook chicken.


Rinse spinach and set aside. Cut tomatoes, red bell pepper and chop the garlic and basil.


When the chicken is almost done add the spinach and tomatoes. You want to just warm the tomatoes and have the spinach wilted, about three minutes.


When pasta is done drain and put it into a nice size bowl. Add the olives, feta cheese, basil, and red bell pepper to the pasta. Take the chicken out of the pan and cut into bite size pieces. Add chicken, tomatoes, and spinach to the pasta then add the juice of one lemon. Mix all together and serve. You can add more salt and pepper to taste.

The kids always come home from school starving but they would never consider eating a whole apple..... that would be insane. So I try and find ways to incorporate this fruit into something that they would eat. Most of the time I cut them up and let them dip them in peanut butter and or honey but yesterday I decided to turn my apples into fritters. The kids didn't complain. How could they.... it was fried in oil and covered with sugar.

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup finely chopped apple
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add milk and egg; beat until batter is smooth. Fold in chopped apple. Drop by teaspoonfuls into deep hot oil and fry for about 2 to 3 minutes, until nicely browned.
Mix confectioners' sugar and cinnamon. Drain well on paper towels then sprinkle cinnamon and confectioners' sugar on top.

I don't watch Rachael as a rule. Not because she doesn't cook great food but more for the fact that she is annoying. When she calls Extra Virgin olive oil EVOO it just drives me bezerk. I know some people find it cute and endearing but I think it's pure laziness that she does this. The morning she was making this recipe I was channel surfing and it caught my attention. I had all the ingredients and was excited to try something new and I was happy I did. Although I didn't have saffron because that stuff is expensive and I just can't justify paying 16 dollars for something I never use. I ended up using a little turmeric for this recipe. I didn't really measure. I just added a little at a time until I got the right taste. I did add just a little paprika for color.

4 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and ground black pepper
48 green beans or enough to fill your chicken bundles
2 large red bell peppers, cut into about 30 strips the size of the green beans
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 cup of chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup cream

Preparation
Budget tip from Rach: Halve the chicken breasts horizontally separating each into 2 cutlets. (Some markets sell “thin cut” chicken for a premium price but with a sharp knife, cutting the chicken breast yourself is easy, so why not save yourself some money!) Place each halved cutlet in an individual freezer plastic storage bag with a slider tab. Add a tablespoon of water to each baggie and pound them into thin cutlets. The baggies can now be stacked and frozen for future use. Each portion will thaw in minutes and ready to use for dinner any night of the week. Plus, by halving and pounding out the breast meat, you’re stretching your dollar and the meat to provide twice as many portions.

For this recipe, arrange 4 cutlets pounded to 1/8 of an inch thick on work surface. Season the cutlets with salt and pepper on one side then lay about 6 or 7 green beans and 4 or 5 red pepper strips in the center, with the ends sticking out. Fold the bottom half of the chicken up around the bundle then roll the two ends around so it looks like a little package with green beans and red pepper sticking out. Season the outside of the chicken with salt and ground black pepper.


In a large, nonstick skillet with two turns of the pan of olive oil over medium-high heat, cook the stuffed cutlets seam side-down. Cook about 7-8 minutes, then turn to brown the other side. Remove the cooked chicken to a plate and reserve.


To the pan, add the saffron and ginger then pour in the chicken stock and bring up to a bubble. Stir in the cream and heat through.

My baking skills in general are lacking. I love to do a lot of improvising when it comes to cooking and I've found improvising is a huge drawback in baking. This is why I normally use cake mixes. They are so simple and even I can't screw it up. One night though I was really craving some chocolate cake but I had no cake mix and I wasn't in the mood to go to the store. I decided to try and make a cake from scratch and this time I would be careful to follow the instructions to the letter. I did a search for chocolate cakes and found the Hershey's web site. I knew that if Hershey's has a cake recipe it had to be good and it was. Now I make this recipe all the time. Sometimes chocolate cake makes everything all better.

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

My husband hates fish. He hates the look of fish, the taste of fish, the smell of fish, basically he just wont eat fish. In all honesty if I would have known he didn't eat fish before we were married I would have probably called off the wedding. I'm happy that I didn't know this flaw before hand because I love my husband. Anyway.... I love eating fish and after all these years of denying myself such a wonderful source of protein I decided that I was going to make fish once a week no matter what. My husband wasn't happy with this but he said he would try and keep an open mind. When I found this recipe I thought that it was a little too simple but it looked good. By the way I found this recipe on the Paula Deen web site. I guess Bobby is her son and cooks with his mom sometimes. It seems that cooking is a family affair for this family. Now on to the problem I encountered with fish night. My husband knew I was going to be cooking fish and so he decided to go pick up some barbeque for himself before he got home. I was extremely mad. I couldn't believe that he would eat before coming home. He did felt bad after seeing how upset I was. I really loved this recipe and will make it again on fish night and if my husband decided to not eat with us that's his loss.

Butter cooking spray
4 (6 to 8-ounce) tilapia fillets
1 teaspoon SIlly Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lime, finely grated zest and juice
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a large cast iron pan with a nonstick butter spray.

Rinse fish and pat dry; place on the prepared baking sheet. Season each fillet with Silly Salt, cracked pepper, lime zest and lime juice. Add fish to the pan. Place a pat of butter on each fillet and cook in the oven for 8 to 12 minutes.

Yield 4 servings

My friend from Russia came over for dinner and made this salad. It was the best Greek salad I'd had in a long time. We had such fun drinking Greek wine and talking about astrology, she's big into that. My friend moved back to Russia recently and I miss her terribly. she is such a funny character and I just miss hanging out with her.

I love greek salads. They're simple and tasty. Greek foods main seasoning are olives, garlic, lemons and herbs, which I've always been partial to. I'm slowly getting my kids to like this salad and they'll eat it as long as I take it easy on the lemons.


3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1½ tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic—minced
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and extra for garnish
3 tomatoes—cut into wedges
¼ red onion—sliced into rings
½ cucumber—sliced into thick half-moons
½ green pepper (capsicum)—julienned
4 oz (120g) feta cheese—cut into small cubes
16 kalamata olives

PLACE the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano in a small jar with a screw-top lid and shake to combine. PLACE the salad ingredients in a large bowl. POUR the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine just before serving. Garnish the Greek salad with a little freshly ground black pepper.