Link & Mingle 3

Hooray! It's that most social time of the week again! Thank you people for forcing me to start this Pinterest thing! I'm find such great recipes, home ideas, and I have to admit... lots and lots of clothes. More on that later.
I feel like Thursdays have also become "April's Adventures into Social Media" days!! Have I mentioned often enough how OLD that makes me feel?! Yeesh! But it's also SO fun! Who knew that two of my favorite blogging ladies already knew each other?? Discoveries like that just make my day.
But today, I have to mention something that made my week. So when I first started my Pinterest page, I uploaded all my recipes! Then I figured out that isn't quite how it works, so I took them all down again. Yesterday I discovered... people are pinning my recipes!! I AM ON PINTEREST!!! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it. It's like being a celebrity! Or maybe it's not. But it sure thrilled little ole' me. If any of you pinners are part of this party, THANK YOU!! You're the bestest!

But ALL of you rock :)

The long of it is, the "Link and Mingle: Sisters in Blogging Social Media Linkup". The short is, the "Link & Mingle". Call it what you wish. :)

Meet our weekly hosts!

Shaylee Ann | Mother {at} Heart

Kim | Singledou[b]t
Kendra | Adventures of Brad & Kendra
Courtney | Thoughts From the Birdhouse
Britt | Yellow Umbrella
Courtney | Baxtron{Life}
April | Dimples and Delights

and for this week's co-hosts, we have
Faith | The Life of Faith

Pippa | Shop with Pippa
Kimberly | Making Pinterest My Reality

Thank you, ladies!

Links are connected to each header, to show you just what you should link up. :)

The "rules" are thus:
visit/follow/like as many links as you can,

link up to as many social media sites that apply to you (please link up only links that apply - blog posts and other links that do not apply will be removed),

share, tweet, and blog about this link party if you so wish,

grab the button {below},

and have fun meeting new people!

Links are connected to each header, to show you just what you should link up. :)

We would love it if you followed all of your hosts and co-hosts, but that's not mandatory. Just have fun! :)

If you would be interested in co-hosting this party periodically, send an email to {shaylee.motheratheart@gmail.com}.

Alright, ladies! Button-up, link-up, and meet-up! :)

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<center> <a href="http://www.mother-at-heart.com/search/label/Link%20and%20Mingle" target="_blank"><img alt="Mother {at} Heart" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQNvGlAo7y-sgtt6cIsx2OKxKOx6pKS4l-dlsYuXWSW0UXxepqBBKA8smOmob1Sy6HWyhsfeyQfwyhyPXsx-Gas0DDpaZhr4yKIvW59Ck-4zy1DHs2gGXy7IzMjPvCiuP6IO3w5MWCSc/s487/button.png" width="250"/></a></center>

Thank you for linking up!

Pasta with Asparagus and Lemon Cream Sauce

What a great day!! Finally met my dear blogging friend Shaylee in person! And felt very tall. It's been a while. We had a great visit, lots of girl talk, Joe was an angel, and they ate my cake for me! What more could you ask for??

I lost track of time, so had to make dinner fast when I got home. Stephen gets cranky when he's hungry. "So like a man!" (ha, name that quote!) Luckily, I had this simple, quick, delicious pasta recipe that I've been dying to try. I am the only member of my family that likes asparagus, so I usually don't subject them to it, but I told them they could just give me theirs. This is one of my new favorite dinners EVER!!! You must, must try it. Even though there is cream in the sauce, it is light and fresh and summery. The sauce barely coats the pasta, not drenching it in rich creamyness. We're making it again, this time with my meatballs! I'll give you that recipe too, later, they're scrumptious! Until then, at least try this!

Pasta with Lemon Cream Sauce, Peas, and Asparagus (adapted from The English Kitchen)
Printable Recipe

8 oz of uncooked twisty or tubular pasta (penne, ziti, fusilli, rotini, etc...)
1/2 pound of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch slices (I just had a handful)
1 cup frozen green peas
1 Tb butter
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1 cup vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 TBS fresh lemon juice (approximately 1 lemon)
the finely grated zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
dash of cayenne pepper

fresh Parmesan cheese

optional fresh lemon slices

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Add the asparagus during the last minute of cooking. Place the peas in a colander. Drain the pasta mixture over top of the peas when done. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a skillet/saucepan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant and slightly softened, about one minute. Stir the broth and cornstarch together in a small bowl with a fork, making sure to mix well. Stir broth into the garlic/butter. Bring to a boil while stirring. Cook until thickened a bit, stirring constantly for about one minute. Whisk in the cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper and cayenne. Cook and stir for about one minute to heat through. Toss in the pasta and vegetables, stirring to coat well. (You can also cook the sauce while the pasta is boiling, return pasta and veggies to the pot, and pour sauce over it all.) Garnish with some more freshly ground black pepper if desired and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

This was so fast, and so easy, and so GOOD!!

Stephen made some very yummy spice-rubbed chicken to go with it, convinced that it MUST need meat... But even he, a die-hard carnivore, admitted that this pasta didn't need meat! Gasp.

I agree. The peas were kinda mushy, and the asparagus was out of season, but STILL!! I love love love it. And imagine it with fresh peas, and in-season asparagus... and possibly green beans... Sigh.

I'm so happy we have leftovers. Yum Yum YUM!! (Thank you, Marie!)

Blueberry Nectarine Cheesecake

Sometimes we bake for fun, sometimes for relaxation. Other times for service, or just plain sustenance.

Today I baked for sanity.

It's been a rough week. The closer we get to moving, the more delays we have. We literally won't know what day we're leaving until the day before. We could leave Sunday, or not until Tuesday. This is pretty hard on my brain, because I am in charge of the finances and logistics of the move. Stephen has enough to worry about with his thesis! But when you don't have a moving date, it is awfully hard to plan! This makes me angry.

Today was a two-cake day.

I needed something to WORK on. Luckily a friend brought me some peaches that needed to be used ASAP, so I added another cake to the one on the docket already. Put in headphones, got my new phone all set (I can use it as an iPod!!!) and blasted the loudest, angriest, most brain-filling music I have. Teenage April made an appearance for a while. She's angry. Very, very angry. She surfaces occasionally, usually only when I am so stressed or furious that I want to just break things. I used to go for a drive, listening to that angry music as loud as I could stand, until I either cried or sang all my anger out.

Now I bake! But cookies or muffins don't do it. It has to be something more awesome, more challenging. Cakes! So, cakes + angry music = April Therapy. After about 30 minutes of teenage fury, I lowered the crazyness level to the Prince of Egypt soundtrack. Gorgeous, passionate, deeply spiritual. Still enough power to keep up my therapy and motivation, but less anger. I'm sharing my favorite song with you; it's gorgeous, and the louder you listen to it, the better :) Don't worry!! This one is happy! My favorite part is the Hebrew at the end. It gives me goosebumps, and then I cry. Every time. (and I'm currently on my 3rd in a row...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZI5yKwp-y0

Okay, I can't help it, I have to share this one too. It's amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPb2FqFN7-A

I feel better. Anyone want some cake?? I need someone to give the rest to!

Blueberry Nectarine Cheesecake (adapted from Pip & Ebby)
Printable Recipe

15 cinnamon graham crackers, broken into pieces
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
Four 8-ounce packages cream cheese,
    softened
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup milk
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 pint fresh blueberries (2 cups)
4 nectarines, cut into thin slices
½ cup peach preserves
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray. (I lined the bottom with parchment too)

In the bowl of a food processor, add the graham crackers, 1/3 cup sugar and butter. Process until crumbs form and butter is combined. (Or crush the crackers and stir sugar and butter in!) Press crumbs into the bottom of springform pan.

Mix together the cream cheese and 1 ½ cups sugar until smooth. Blend in milk. Add eggs, one at a time, just until combined. Add the sour cream, vanilla and flour and mix until smooth. Add the blueberries and carefully mix in with a spoon until combined. Pour the filling into the prepared crust.

My adventure: I tried a 9-inch pan first. This makes a LOT of filling... which turns into a GIANT cheesecake!! if you aren't feeding a crowd... or plan on eating a lot of cheesecake... I recommend halving the recipe! It filled my 9-inch pan to the brim... so I whipped up a new crust and poured the batter into my 10-inch pan. Perfect fit!

Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 5 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow cheesecake to cool while in the oven to prevent cracking. Chill the cheesecake in the refrigerator for 2 hours. (even longer is better!)

This is what it looks like if you are impatient and open the door a dozen times... Oh well! I'm covering it up :)

Top cheesecake with the nectarines. In a small bowl, stir the preserves and lemon juice together, and warm in the microwave for 30 seconds. Brush the warmed preserves over the nectarines. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

So pretty and summery! And yummy too! :)

The original uses peaches, but I love the tartness of nectarines. You can use either! Apricots would probably work too.

I'm pretty picky about basic cheesecakes, but this one is fabulous. It is creamy, NOT cakey, and the sour cream helps keep it from being overly sweet. Mmmm... I will admit, I had a slice for breakfast...

It really wasn't that hard, either. I think the key is that cooling stage... But as fancy as it looks, it was dead easy! Thank you Pip! (or Ebby...?)

Don't you just love recipes like that??

Shared at Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Zucchini Cake Bars

We all have them. Those recipes that keep popping their nosy little selves into your mind, or recipe box, or life-in-general... The recipe that someone told you was SO awesome, but it doesn't sound like anything special to you, so you dismiss it. It never really goes away, once it has wriggled it's way into your food-driven psyche (well, maybe not EVERYONE is food-driven...) This is mine.

I've been married for seven and a half years. During our first few years of marriage, after constant urging by my new husband, I sat down one afternoon at my mother-in-law's kitchen table and wrote down the recipes to all of Stephen's favorite family foods. There were lots. This one must have been towards the end, when my hand was getting tired... because there are no instructions! Hmmm...

A few of those recipes have already made it into this blog, most we have kept, tweaked, and loved, a few have fallen by the wayside... but this one I have never tried. Anytime the subject of zucchini comes up, Stephen reminisces, and tries to get me excited about it.  I take advantage of his memory lapses and say "Sure! Maybe next week!" By then, he has forgotten again. Well, now it's his turn again. After all, what good is a food blog if I don't try new things, for crying out loud??

Kay's Zucchini Cake Bars
Printable Recipe

2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated fresh zucchini

4 oz cream cheese, softened
4 Tb butter, melted
3 Tb sugar (I used ultrafine, you could probably use powdered or granulated)
3 Tb milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease/butter a 9x13 baking dish.

Whisk all the dry ingredients together. Add the egg, vanilla, and oil, and mix well. The mixture will be crumbly.

Stir in the zucchini until it clumps together.

Press dough into the bottom of the baking dish, spreading it out evenly.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is golden brown, and a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Let cool before cutting.

Whisk the butter, cream cheese, milk, vanilla, butter, and sugar together. Beat/whisk until smooth. Drizzle over the top of the bars.

Oh. My. Goodness. Could I possibly have been more wrong?! I should have trusted... how could any of my mother-in-law's recipes be less than wonderful??

I am addicted. I am enthralled, entranced, transported, and humbled. This is abso-flipping-lutely fan-dang-tastic!!!!!

They may not look like much, but they have won a place in my tummy, and in my heart. I will make them every year!! Too bad I can't get away with making them every month...

They are soft and moist and spiced and scrumptious. They taste like the End of Summer, with a preview of Fall. My favorite part is the edge, all crispy...

I hereby vow to NEVER dismiss my husband's recipe suggestions ever, everever EVER again. Please please try them!! You'll love them, I swear!!

Shared at On the Menu Monday

Cheesy-ness

In honor of the birthday (last week) of my childhood BFF (Happy Birthday Laks!!) I bring you Cheesyness today. A "recipe" from childhood, and another adventure into the world of "make-at-home". I've made a lot of sweet things lately, and I just wasn't in the mood for another one this morning. Luckily, I had all of the ingredients for these crackers already! I am excited about them. You should be too!!

But First: the Cheesy Bread.

Because my Mom usually baked homemade bread, we didn't have flimsy store-bought stuff around. And while her homemade bread was (and is!) the fluffiest I've had, it still had more "substance" than store-bought. This makes it especially good for toasting, large sandwiches with tons of fillings, and Cheesy Bread. This was our favorite after-school, after-play, after-snack snack. Yum.

First: Top bread with at LEAST 3 thick slices of cheese. It's okay, this bread can handle it.

Second: Place bread (with cheese) on a plate, napkin, or papertowl.

Third: Cook in the microwave for 25-30 seconds. The cheese should be soft in the middle and bubbly at the edges. You don't want it ALL bubbly, because then it becomes Greasy Bread.

Let cool just a bit, and enjoy. Plates are preferred, otherwise that cheese melds with the papertowel... we ate it anyway, paper bits and all.

You can also do this in the oven... it gets a little bit better "toast", but we were kids. We didn't have time for such nonsense!

Mmmm... cheeeese...

And then there are these little nuggets of happiness. They literally made my day! I've been in a bit of a funk today, (nothing serious) but these cheered me right up. The world is right, where these little darlings exist!

Homemade Cheese Crackers (from Full Fork Ahead)
Printable Recipe

8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded
½ stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons ice water
more kosher salt for sprinkling (optional)

Mix the cheddar, butter, and salt until soft and combined.

Add the flour and mix on low speed (the dough will be dry and pebbly). Slowly add the water and continue to mix as the dough forms a ball.

Pat the dough into a disk, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour. (I lost motivation and mine sat overnight...)

Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Divide the dough into two pieces and roll each into a very thin (1/8 inch or less) 10 x 12-inch rectangle. Using a fluted pastry cutter, (I don't have one... no pretty edges for me!) cut the rectangles into 1-inch squares, then transfer to the baking sheets.

Use the tip of a chopstick to punch a hole into the center of each square.

(I also don't have pointy chopsticks. I used a meat thermometer. You could use the tip of a knife, tine of a fork... be creative!) Stephen suggested sprinkling with kosher salt at this point. We did half with, and half without. We like it with just a teeny bit of kosher salt on top!

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until puffed and browning. Watch carefully, as the high fat content of the crackers makes it a fine line between golden delicious and burnt. Immediately remove the crackers from the pan to cool.

Look how much they puffed!! Probably because they sat so long. The original has nice, lightly puffed, pretty-edged crackers...

I like mine. They're adorable! I want to adopt them all. They make me smile. :)

This is just about perfect. If you let them get much darker they taste burned (trust me, the first half was a bit overdone!)

They're crispy and crackly and some of the poofiest ones even have a tiny bit of soft cheese in the center! I actually like those best! *happy cracker dance*

Next time I'll make a double batch. Scrumptious!! I'm never buying cheese crackers again!!