This is probably one of the best birthday cakes I have made for Sean! This is the recipe I used and it was super moist and yummy even after being in the fridge for a couple of days. I did substitute gluten free flour and it worked fine!
Category Archives: Food
Derby Week
This year we kicked Derby week off the Sunday before the big race. I am glad we did too because we didn’t make as many of the dishes as I thought we would but we still made quite a bit. It always turns out to be such a fun week with lots of good food.
Sunday, Sean helped to make dinner. We had his family over for Hot Browns, Derby Pie, and Dark Chocolate Bourbon Torte. The torte was an addition this year and boy was it good. I didn’t take the time to make the whip cream to go on it but it was rich enough that it really didn’t need the whip cream.
Signature Hot Brown Recipe
Dark Chocolate Bourbon Torte Recipe
Kentucky Pie – The recipe I use is the recipe in the bottom of my Louisville Stoneware pie dish.
This year we made an addition to the week. JoAnn Fabrics came out with a line of fabric that was specific to the Kentucky Derby and I decided to make cloth napkins out of the gingham. They turned out a lot better than what I thought they would and I completed them in a couple of hours.(It would have been faster but with an almost 2 month old, everything takes a little longer.)
Like I said there was a lot more on the menu for the week but the fried chicken and mashed potatoes turned into grilled chicken and skillet potatoes. The night we were to have this we had walked 4 miles before dinner and didn’t really feel like having fried chicken. Sean claims that he put 11 herbs and spices on the chicken though.
The following night we had steak with Henry Bain Sauce, The Cheddar Box’s Derby Pasta, and bourbon mushrooms. This dinner was a keeper. This was the first time I had made the pasta. It was a recipe that I had found on the Courier-Journal’s website from years ago. It was really good and we will be making that one again in the future.
Cheddar Box’s Derby Pasta Recipe
Henry Bain Sauce Recipe
There was one more thing that I decided to make for the weekend which we didn’t quite get to having but is still in the fridge to eat and that was Benedictine Spread . This was also something new I decided to try to make this year and it turned out pretty good. I just forgot to take pretty pictures of it.
That wraps up the food that we had for Derby week. I did make one more thing for the week to help our little man celebrate his first Derby. Look for that post coming soon.
Yes, I am cooking.
While pregnant, especially towards the end, I became absolutely horrible about cooking. I was just not feeling up to it and even when I did cook, it didn’t always appeal to me after it was done.
Needless to say both Sean and I are very happy that I am back to cooking and he has been a huge help in cooking lately. Give him something to grill and he is completely down for it. Some of the recipes that we have tried lately, are definitely blog worthy. Unfortunately, the first two I didn’t take pictures of the finished product.
The first was spinach artichoke stuffed mushrooms. We had these with steak one night and they were sooo good. Sean even took one of the leftovers for lunch one day which says a lot because he isn’t always crazy about mushrooms. Here is where I found that recipe.
The second one was pesto stuffed scallops. This we had with a side salad and they were simply amazing. We should have gotten more scallops but we had no idea that we were going to like them so much. These were also super easy to fix. Here is where I found that recipe.
Two more. These I actually remembered to take photos but one I made up the recipe so I will have to see how much I can remember. The first was a zoodle with pesto and shrimp. This is the one without the recipe. I used a squash and zucchini with my spiral cutter to make “noodles”. I sautéed them with some onions and spinach. Topped it with pesto and shrimp. I am pretty sure my 5 week old probably hated me for this meal but it was so yummy. Sean wasn’t home for this meal and we would have had to do it much differently because he can’t have the shrimp. I thought it was fantastic and will probably try to fix it again sometime when he isn’t home.
The last one was incredible and I think this is the dish that Sean said, “Thank goodness you are cooking again.” It was a spinach and sun-dried tomato stuffed salmon. Oh so yummy and we will probably try to make this one again in the future. It was that good. After looking at the recipe, I did change one thing though. I don’t like feta so we used what we had and used Brie. It gave it a very creamy filling.
That is all for now. There are big plans in the works for Derby week as Sean has requested we make lots of traditional southern and Derby dishes for the week leading up to Derby. And just for cuteness factor, I leave this post with this picture..
Birthday Cupcakes
For the last couple of years, I have made a different cupcake or cake for Sean’s birthday. Sometimes I pick out the recipe, other times he picks it out. Some we have said we would keep, others we’ve said we would never do again.
This year I think it was a keeper and many people had the opportunity to eat his cupcakes since we were back home in Indiana and working the Salvation Army giveaway.
He picked this one out. I introduce to you, the Maker’s Mark cupcake.
The recipe for the cupcakes was found on the Maker’s website. Add this one to the list!
Oh so good Cranberries
A couple of weeks ago I was looking at Pinterest and wasting time. I came across this recipe and thought it would be easy enough to try out. I really like cranberries but they are so super sour that I wasn’t sure of a good way of fixing them except for making jelly. I am starting to get over the whole jelly thing except for maybe at Thanksgiving, so I thought this would be fun to try. It worked out well and they were so good. I can’t wait to fix them again sometime soon. They also just happen to be really pretty to look at too. 
