Tres Leches Cake

I recently became kind of obsessed with Tres Leche Cake. It is SO yummy. I had it for the first time in a really long time about a year or so ago at my favorite little lunch spot, Beehive Bakery and Cafe. I remembered how much I loved it and realized it was something that I needed to make. So I found a great recipe and made it. Then I made it again a couple weeks later. Then again a few weeks after that. And now as I am typing this, I am realizing that I am way overdue to make it again. This is a great dessert to serve company, or just have with your family. Nobody will be disappointed in this dessert.

Tres Leches Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups whole milk
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12oz) can evaporated milk

1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup sugar (or to taste)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9X13 cake pan. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, then add eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Slowly add flour and baking powder, a few spoonfuls at a time. Mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 
When cake is done, cool completely. Pierce the top of the cake several times with a fork. Combine the whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk. Pour over pierced and cooled cake. refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Whip the whipping cream with desired amount of sugar and the vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread over top of cake. Keep cake refrigerated. 

Perfect Homemade Biscuits

There are a couple of reasons why I love making biscuits. My dad always made biscuits. He loved making them. Biscuits always remind me of him. After he passed away, I inherited his biscuit cutter, which was his mom's biscuit cutter. It is a possession that I treasure and love. I use it every time I make biscuits.

The second reason I love making biscuits is because I served an 18 month LDS mission in the Knoxville Tennessee area. My husband served a 2 year mission in the same area. We both fell in love with biscuits and gravy while serving in the south. People in the south make all kinds of variations of biscuits and gravy. There was one family, the Threets, that used to feed the missionaries all the time. She was famous for her Chocolate gravy. She always made it for us. I'll be honest, I didn't love it. I just love a good ol' sausage gravy. Luckily, she always served both types of gravy.

I make biscuits and gravy pretty often for a great weekend breakfast. 3 out of 4 of my kiddos love it. The 4th loves biscuits with homemade strawberry jam, so she never complains when we have it for breakfast.

Perfect Homemade Biscuits

3 cups flour
3 Tb sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
3/4 cup COLD butter
1 egg
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients, then cut in the cold butter until the butter is about pea size. You want to be able to see the butter. (I do this in my food processor. I pulse it until the butter is the desired size, then I dump the mixture into a bowl and mix the rest by hand) Add the egg and milk, mixing well but not over mixing. Turn out onto a well floured space. The dough will be very sticky. Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough and knead it just a couple of times. Then pat the dough out to about 3/4 to 1 inch thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter or glass that has been dipped in flour. Place rounds on a baking sheet either lightly sprayed or covered with parchment paper. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the tops just start to turn a golden brown.

DeAnn's Cinnamon Rolls

You know those friends that Heavenly Father sends into your life because you desperately need them, but you just didn't realize you needed them until they were there? That is who DeAnn is in my life. She filled a hole I didn't realize was there. I met her when we moved to Ankeny Iowa, after grad school. She was instantly my BFF and I knew that would never change. We lived in the same town for 3 years, then I moved again-several states away. It ripped my heart out when I left her. After we moved, I cried every day for weeks because I missed her so much. Thank heavens her in-laws live just 15 miles from me. That means that she and her family come to Utah once a year. She and I spend one glorious day together every time she comes. It is a highlight of my whole year. Thank heavens for hours of phone conversations, because once a year just isn't near enough. I can't count the hundreds of hours we have spent talking, laughing, and crying together. I could write pages about our friendship and what we have been through together, but we should probably get to the cinnamon rolls... These cinnamon rolls. Holy Moly! They are absolutely amazing, and DeAnn is famous for them. If you know her, chances are you have had her cinnamon rolls. And chances are you are drooling right now just thinking about them. They are THAT good! I am going to list the ingredients and directions just how she wrote them out for me.

DeAnn's Cinnamon Rolls

1 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup butter
Put in pot and heat on stove until butter is just melted. Not to go over 120 degrees. (she told me to take it off the stove before the butter is all the way melted, and just let it sit to finish melting)

In mixer, mix:
4 cups flour
6 Tbsp sugar
5 tsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt

Put 3 eggs into mixer when you are ready for the milk mixture to be poured in. Turn mixer on to mix eggs while you are slowly pouring in the milk mixture. Add 3-4 more cups of flour, until dough pulls away from the sides. Let raise for about 1 hour. Roll out and cover with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut. Raise again until they are the size you want. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown on top.

Frost with homemade cream cheese frosting! Enjoy!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

For all of you who have been hounding me to post some recipes on my blog, here you go. Now, LEAVE ME ALONE!! Just kidding. I'm flattered by the hounding. I'm glad that many of you use this blog for recipes. I can't believe that it has been two years since I lasted posted! That is craziness. A lot has happened in the last two years! Life has been a little crazy. But I do enjoy keeping this blog and I am recommitting myself to post recipes!

I have to give warning, that I don't have great pictures. Over the last two years, I have snapped a lot of pictures of food to add to the blog, but most of them have been taken on my phone. So, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit! And please don't mind the 90's bowl in the above picture. That was the stoneware I got for my wedding. Shorty after this picture was taken, ya know- almost 2 years ago, I replaced all my stoneware with cute and very plain white ones! Yippee!

This is a recipe that I make very often. I love this soup. It is a perfect soup to make a big batch of and take some to a new mommy, or a sick friend. It is perfect because it is warm and comforting, yet doesn't have any strong or overbearing flavors. It really is the perfect soup. You should make it before it gets too warm outside!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1 large onion, diced
1 cup carrots, sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
8 cups chicken broth
3 cups cooked wild rice
1-2 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can evaporated milk

In a large pot, saute onion, carrots and celery in the butter until tender. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually add broth. Stir in rice, chicken, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and stir until slightly thickened. Add milk. Cook for 3-4 more minutes. Serve.

Asian Flank Steak

This is one of our new favorite dinners around here. The husband absolutely loves it. I like it because it is super easy, and doesn't require a lot of time to prep and make. The first time I made it, Steve said "you should make this for company".  I haven't done that yet, but I am sure that I will before too long.
I have made this with flank steak, london broil, and some sirloin steaks that I got on sale. I think that any inexpensive type of steak is fine, the trick is just to slice it like you would a flank steak.

Asian Flank Steak

1 Tbsp canola (or veg) oil
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 Tbsp water (omit water if using low sodium soy sauce)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 flank steak
Thinly sliced green onions
Hot cooked white rice

Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic, and cook, stirring, until very fragrant, or about 3 minutes. Add soy sauce, water and brown sugar. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Preheat oven on Broil while sauce is simmering, and cut small slits into both sides of the steak. Place steaks on a broiler pan (I put my wire rack on top of a foil covered cookie sheet) Brush or spoon a little bit of the sauce onto the top of the steaks, then place under the broiler for about 4 minutes. Flip the steaks and spoon or brush more sauce on the other side, and broil for about 4 more minutes, for medium rare. Leave it in longer if you want it more well done.
Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak, against the grain, and diagonal. Place the slices of steak on a platter, and spoon a little more sauce over the top, then sprinkle with the sliced green onions. Serve with hot rice and the rest of the sauce for drizzling over the rice.

Lee-ann's Gingersnaps

I was telling my husband one evening that I really wanted to find a great gingersnap recipe. The very next day, I was having lunch with my friend Lee-ann, and she pulled a baggie out of her purse, and said "I brought a treat for you". The baggie was full of gingersnaps, and they were amazing. It was the recipe that I had been waiting for!
Lee-ann is one of those friends that honestly changed my life. I met her when I was 23, and had just returned from serving an LDS mission. I had never met anyone like her before. She was so confident, charismatic, and comfortable in her own skin. She was "herself" no matter who she was with. She was also one of the funniest people I had ever met, but in a totally unique way. From the moment I met her, I admired her and wanted to be like her. I was so blessed to have her become one of my closest friends, in a very short time. Not only did she change my life by showing me those characteristics, but she is also responsible for me being married to Steve. How could I ever repay her for that?
Now Lee-ann and I both have 4 kiddos, right about the same ages. She still continues to inspire me. She is an amazing mom, and one of the strongest women I know. I love every second that I get to spend with her, and always come away wanting to be a better person.

Lee-ann's Gingersnaps

1 1/2 cups shortening
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
4 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
white sugar for rolling dough in

Cream together shortening, brown sugar, molasses, and eggs. Add remaining ingredients. Roll dough  into small ball and then roll in sugar to coat. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Zucchini Bread

This really is the best zucchini bread recipe in the whole entire world. Really. It is. I wish I had a picture of the whole loaf. But everytime I make it, it gets taken to friends and family, and gobbled up by my own family so quickly that I always forget to snap a picture. This picture is actually of a plate that I took to my parents, then realized after I gave it to them that I really needed a picture. So I just hurried and took one. But you can see how yummy and moist it looks. It really is the best!


Zucchini Bread


1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
4 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups grated zucchini

Grease and flour (I usually just spray them, but sometimes they do get stuck...) two 8x4 inch pans. Preheat Oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the first 5 ingredients. Then add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Mix well. Fold in zucchini until well combined.  Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 40-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for about 20 minutes, then remove the bread from the pans.

Salisbury Steak?

I really have no idea if this is like Salisbury Steak or not. Any opinions? I came up with this little diddy 9 or 10 years ago, but have never known what to call it. I am hesitant to call it this though, because when I hear the name Salisbury Steak I automatically think of TV dinners. As a child, I would have a TV dinner about once a month, on the evening that my parents went to the temple. I never liked the Salisbury Steak ones, so I have a hard time referring to this recipe as that same thing. I would like to assure you that it tastes nothing like the frozen little "meat" patty covered in brown "gravy" that is found in a TV dinner.

Salisbury Steak?

6 cubed steaks
flour seasoned with salt and pepper
vegetable or canola oil
1 onion
2 packets of brown gravy mix
water

Cut onion into thin wedges and place half of them in the bottom of a crock pot along with about 1 to1 1/2 cups water. Set aside.

Dredge each of the cubed steaks in flour mixture. Cover the bottom of a saute pan with vegetable oil, and heat on medium heat on stove top. When oil is hot, brown each of the flour coated steaks in the oil.

 Once each one is browned on both sides, move it to the crock pot, placing it on top of the onions. When all of the steaks are browned and in the crock pot, place the  rest of the onions on top.

Cover crock pot and cook on low for about 6 hours or on high for about 3-4 hours. About 20-30 minutes before you are ready to serve it, mix both gravy packets with 1 cup of water. Pour mixture over the steaks in the crock pot, gently turning/folding to sorta mix the gravy mixture with the liquid that is already in the crock pot, and coat the steaks in the gravy. When you are ready to serve, if the gravy is to thick, gently fold in a little water. Serve over hot mashed potatoes.

Bruschetta

A few weeks ago, my friend Shannon brought this bruschetta to a church activity. I knew right when I tasted it that Steve would love it.  I made it a couple of weeks later for a BBQ we were hosting at our house, and then again for our family 4th of July BBQ.  I had some left over the 2nd time, so I sauteed it the next night and served it on Steve's pasta with Alfredo sauce. He really liked it.
The recipe says to serve it on focaccia that has been toasted under the broiler then rubbed with garlic. That is how Shannon served it, and it was super yummy. I did it a little more low-key and just served it with a sliced baguette. This is a great make-ahead appetizer. 


Bruschetta



2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered or halved, depending on their size
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Combine all ingredients, toss to coat. Let sit at room temperature for a couple of hours before serving, tossing to coat occasionally.  Serve with bread that has been drizzled with olive oil and toasted, then rubbed with fresh garlic.
* I added 1 clove of chopped fresh garlic to the bruschetta the second time I made it since I wasn't serving it with bread that was rubbed with garlic.

Honey-Lime Fruit Salad

This is one of my most favorite ways to eat summertime fruit. I seriously love this fruit salad. The first time I had it, we were at our friend's, the Morrows, house for a BBQ. Christine made this to go with dinner, and we loved it. I make it many, many times every summer. When Christine made it, she put chopped, fresh mint in it. I love it that way, but since I never have fresh mint on hand (and it is pretty pricey to buy at the grocery store) I almost always use poppy seeds instead. The mint does add a really nice, subtle flavor though.
This is another one of those recipes that I just throw together and don't have measurements for... sorry! I will try to guesstimate as best as I can on how much of everything. Use more or less of what you want, according to the flavors you like and how strong you like them. You really can't ruin this fruit salad.

Honey-Lime Fruit Salad

Large bowl of fresh fruit (my favorites in this are watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries, and nectarines or peaches)
Juice of 2-3 limes
1/8-1/4 cup honey
1-2 tsp poppy seeds (or chopped fresh mint)

Mix lime juice and honey, then add poppy seeds/mint.  Pour over fresh fruit before serving and toss to coat.