How to Make a 2-Step Pound Cake

There is not better cake in the universe to me than pound cake.  It has always been my favorite cake and I love it so much that our wedding cake was pound cake. Pound cake is an annual family tradition as a dessert in our family. We serve it with Peppermint Stick Ice cream and I have to say it is the highlight of the holiday season! If you have never tried the combination you MUST. It can also be served with fresh fruit and whipped cream. I prefer homemade whipped cream.  Of course I don’t advise you to eat too much of this rich dessert.  I have always been told that pound cake got the name from the list of original ingredients…a pound of butter is used in this recipe so it should be eaten in moderation.

I want to share with you this easy two-step pound cake recipe.

Two Step Pound Cake

4 cups all purpose flour
3 cups sugar
1 pound butter (real butter)
6 eggs
3/4 cups milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Add into a bowl in this order.  A helpful tip: Place a kitchen towel around your mixer to prevent any spattering for the first few seconds, start on low until mixed.  Beat with electric mixer for 5 minutes. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 325 for 1 hour 30 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Invert on cake plate and cool.

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by Expert Mommy, Melissa Jennings

How to Make a Savory Pot Roast

Savory Pot Roast- This recipe was passed to me from my Mom.  There is nothing better than a delicious tender pot roast on a cold winter day!

3 1/2 to 4 lb beef round or chuck pot roast

1 can (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 pouch Dry Onion Soup Mix

1 1/4 cup hot water

6 medium carrots cut into 2 inch pieces or 1 small bag of baby carrots

6 medium potatoes peeled and quartered

2 TBSP flour

2 TBSP Olive Oil

In 6 quart dutch oven or 8 quart pot with lid add 2 TBSP oil and heat on medium/high heat.  Add roast and brown on all sides. Remove fat.

Stir in cream of mushroom soup, onion soup mix and 1 cup of hot water.  Reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook 2 hours stirring often.

Add vegetables, cover and cook for 45 minutes or until roast and vegetables are fork tender.

Remove Roast and vegetables.  Stir together 2 TBSP flour and remaining 1/4 cup water until smooth.  Gradually stir into soup mixture.  Cook until mixture boils and thickens.  Stir constantly.

Add vegetables and beef back to sauce.

I like to serve with peas and cornbread!

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by Expert Mommy, Melissa Jennings

How to get your son excited about cooking (and eating) healthy

Did you know that children who learn to eat healthy early in life are more likely to continue good eating habits as they get older?

I’ve had friends who didn’t bother to try and feed their child anything beyond standard kid-fare because to them it was a losing battle they didn’t have the energy to fight. If this is you, you’re not alone.

One way to get your son excited about eating healthy is to involve him in the cooking process. Even at a young age, there are plenty of opportunities to help without making more of work than help for mom. Read more

How to Make Chocolate Cake from Scratch

3 c flour                                          1 Tbsp vanilla
2 c sugar                                         2 Tbsp vinegar
5 Tbsp cocoa (1/3 c)                       2/3 c oil
1 tsp salt                                         2 c water
2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease pans (2- 8″ round or 1- 13″ x 9″)

Measure dry ingredients into bowl. Pour vanilla, vinegar, oil and water into dry mix. Mix until smooth batter forms. I use a whisk.

Bake at 350F for 34 – 40 min. until fork inserted comes out clean. Cool completely. Remove from pans.

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Dina-Marie Oswald, RN is one of our Expert Mommies. She contributes tips on frugal living, homeschooling and food.

How to Make Pumpkin Seeds

It’s a delicious and nutritious seasonal snack. And it’s easy enough for kids to do almost entirely on their own! Reilly demos it for us here. Recipe included in VIDEO (2:31).

Do your kids have a go-to recipe that they love for halloweeen or Thanksgiving? Share it with us in the comments below! And give Reilly some props! She’s a natural!

How to Connect with Your Teen, in the Kitchen

Food for Thought — The Kitchen Connection

In our house there are two females: the dog and me.  My husband and I have three sons, ages 13, 12 and “almost 11.” I was ecstatic with the arrival of each of our sons.  But that didn’t keep me from being a bit disappointed as I imagined a future that would not include:

• Barbie anything.  I was right.  I did not miss the tiny shoes that I heard were a threat to young siblings, new vacuums and barefoot parents.  However, we did experience similar situations arising due to stray pieces from Lego Space, Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones. Read more

How to Make Frog Spit

My kids love giving deliciously disgusting names to our relatively healthy summer smoothies! Half the fun is making it. My kiddos love helping.

In this case, we used:
- 3 kiwis
- 1 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
- 2 lime popsicles
- 1 banana

But really, use your imagination! Throw anything sweet and green in a blender!

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Practical Mommy is Ria Sharon. Click the links for Practical Mommy’s recommendations for travel car seats, affordable and fun diaper bags (skip hop bag), and the best-selling crib brand, Da Vinci Crib.

How to “Brighten” Up Cookies and Milk

This is one of my favorite desserts. I have been enjoying this at home with my fiance since the first time we had pizookie at Oregano’s, the inspiration for this dessert. My go-to cookie dough for this has sunflower or peanut butter and chocolate chips…yummy! This is what I call the best way to end a Friday night snuggling on the couch in front of the TV — the “sunny side” to the weekend!

“Sunny Side Up” Sunflower Butter Cookies with Ice Cream

Chocolate Chip Sunflower Butter Cookie

Ingredients (makes 10-12 3-inch wide and 1/2-inch high uncooked cookies)

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup smooth sunflower butter at room temp (peanut butter is ok to use)
½ cup loosely packed brown cane sugar
1/2 cup sugar (if you don’t want your cookies too sweet, you can reduce it to 1/4 cup OR skip this…I’ve tried it many times and it’s still goood!)
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Nestlé Toll House Semi-Sweet

Preparation

1) Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.

2) Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

3) In a separate large bowl, beat the softened butter and sunflower butter together until it becomes fluffy. Add the sugars and beat together until smooth. Add the egg, beat, then the milk and vanilla extract, beat. You can use either a hand mixer or stand mixer to mix.

4) Incorporate the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate chips.

5) Use an ice scream scoop to shape the dough into a ball that is a tad bigger than a golf ball. Place it on an ungreased cookie sheet and press with a spatula into a disc that’s about 1/2″ inch in thickness, so it will be about 3 inches in diameter. For easier transfer of the delicate cookies after baking, cut parchment paper squares to line the bottom of each cookie.

6) Bake for 8 minutes. Remember the goal is to just half-bake the cookie. It will still be very soft in the middle.

7) Transfer onto a plate (a pancake turner would work wonderfully) and immediately top with ice cream. My personal favorite with this is vanilla bean ice cream. Oh so delish!

Serving Suggestion: One other thing I like to do is bake each cookie in a ramekin and just use it for serving with the ice cream. Careful with the hot baking dish, which I wouldn’t recommend if you serve it to your kids.

Make-ahead Suggestion

What I usually do is prepare the cookie dough, shape them, refrigerate them to solidify them a bit and then individually wrapping them in plastic wrap for freezing. It’s great to just take out when you’re craving and absolutely perfect if you have last-minute guests to entertain because this will surely go with coffee or tea.

www.gourmeted.com

There is no love sincerer than the love of food. ~George Bernard Shaw

How to “Fancify” Everyday Fruit

This is a good way to “jazz up” everyday fruits into something a little more fancy for dessert. It’s easy to make and it’s so good! This recipe is was inspired by a recipe I found on Bon Appetit’s February 2008 issue.

Apples in Honey and Pine Nut Caramel with Creme Fraiche

Ingredients for 2 small servings, but can be easily doubled, tripled

* 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
* 1 firm but ripe Pink Lady or Gala apple (or pears, etc…just experiment!), peeled corked and halved or quartered; quartered cooks faster
* 1 generous tablespoon of mild honey (such as orange blossom or clover)
* 1 tbsp. pine nuts
* tiny pinch of kosher salt
* optional:  creme fraiche, whipped cream or cheese such as cottage cheese…yummy

Preparation

1. Cook butter in pan over med-high heat until it begins to brown.
2. Place apples cut side down into the pan with melted butter.
3. Drizzle honey over apples. Slightly swirl pan to blend butter and honey that has trickled down the pan.
4. Reduce heat to medium and cover. Cook until the apples are tender but not too soft (they will break if overcooked). Don’t forget to swirl the pan occasionally. You can add water, by half-tablespoons, if caramel turns too dark before the apples get tender. Depending on the cut of the apples, it might be cooked and tender in 10-15 minutes.
5. Flip apples to get some of the syrup on the other side.
6. Transfer apples onto your serving plate.
7. Put back your pan with caramel sauce to medium-high heat; add pine nuts and salt.
8. Cook for about 2 minutes until the sauce is brown and bubbling. Spoon sauce over apples and serve.
9. Top with your choice of topping or eat on its own

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Joy is a web professional who is passionate about food and cooking. She and her fiance call Gourmeted.com their ‘online kitchen’ where they share their experiments with recipes, kitchen tools and gadgets, dining out, or discovering new ingredients and healthy food alternatives.

How to Pamper Mom with Chicken Wontons

In this VIDEO, Chef Roman personal chef of Kangaroo Catering in St. Louis shares his recipe for chicken wontons, a party and every day favorite. Easy. Yummy. For the recipe, send an email to chefroman (at) kangaroocatering (dot) com

I want a personal chef!

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