"Reunited and it feels so good..."

This past weekend was our 10 year high school reunion. (Most of you already know that Justin and I graduated high school together, and actually met way back in 5th grade!) It was so fun to see some of our old friends again and take a little trip back in time. I've been working hard for a while, with help from my friend Kristin, on planning the reunion and getting everything together for it. I was so happy to see everything go smoothly and everyone have a nice time.

The events began Saturday with a family picnic at Planet Playground in Meridian. This was a chance for everyone to bring their kids and show them off. We were the only couple there with no kids...which was slightly awkward, but we survived! Saturday night was dinner and drinks at Weidmann's in Downtown Meridian and I made the cupcakes for the event! (recipes coming right up!)We ate and mingled and drank and laughed and listened to corny old music (think "Ghetto Cowboy" and Destiny's Child)until midnight. It was a blast. The best part of the night (or morning, I should say) was our bonfire after the reunion! Our closest buddies from high school came out to our land to sit around like old times and catch up. We stayed out there until 4 AM! The next day was ROUGH...but totally worth every minute!

Good Times!

I made three different mini cupcakes for the dinner event. I wanted them to reflect our school colors (yes, I'm that dorky) so, I chose red velvet, dark chocolate, and raspberry sour cream. If you were at the reunion, you are probably thinking, "I didn't see any raspberries!". Well, turns out, the only berries to be found in Meridian were a few (sad looking) pints of strawberries at Piggly Wiggly. So, improvise I did! Here is a link to the recipes I used (cupcakes 4, 5, and 25):Mingmakescupcakes.com I made a few modifications, like: 1. I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder for a darker color and flavor in the red velvet and chocolate cupcakes. 2. I subbed in strawberries for the raspberries in the Raspberry Sour Cream cupcakes. 3. I thickened each icing recipe a bit with additional powdered sugar to get to the consistency I needed to ice them as shown. 4. I omitted the chocolate shavings on the chocolate cupcakes.
I forgot (!) to take a picture of my cupcakes displayed at the reunion, so the only photo I have is of the trial run I did last week (for which I was in Jackson...where they have raspberries...) So, here they are!:

They were a hit, especially the strawberry! Go figure! Haha.


What else have I been baking, you may ask....

How about a 12 layer chocolate cake?
Fun!




It was so good, but so time consuming!! Here is the recipe if you have some time on your hands! 12 layer Cake


I'm getting excited to start planning my Christmas baking soon! Hope everyone has a great day!

Valentine's day menu....I took a different route!

So, yeah, that "healthy" menu plan I had going on....HA! Who am I kidding? It's Valentine's Day for goodness sakes! We needed something a little more special than scallops and cauliflower. :) There's still plenty of time to get "skinny" for my vacation. (again, who am I kidding)

With the memory of last year's Valentine's dinner on my mind, I decided to make rack of lamb our little love day tradition! Maybe I will try a different variation each year and try to mix up the sides and presentation a little.

This year I tried Giada's Rack of Lamb with Mint-basil Pesto. Click the link for the full recipe from foodnetwork.com. Rack of lamb is super easy to prepare (it just looks fancy and complicated). Once it is carved the "lamb lollipops" give the most beautiful presentation...especially with the "pop" of the green pesto. It was so delicious! I pulled the lamb out a little shy of the 20 minutes suggested for medium rare since we like our meat a little more on the pink side...it was absolutely perfect. Be sure to let the rack rest for the full 10 minutes so the juices can redistribute before you carve it!!
As our side, I decided on polenta. I've made plenty of polenta, but I have never tried it "fried" before. I thought the lamb would look perfect perched on top of a little tower of polenta cakes. Here is how I made them:

Creamy Parmesan Polenta Cakes
Katie Daniels

1 tube of basil-garlic prepared polenta, chilled
1 egg, beaten in a shallow dish
2-3 dashes Tabasco
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp Freshly grated Parmesan
1 tsp finely chopped basil and mint leaves (left over from your pesto!)
1/4 cup flour
Olive oil

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Slice chilled polenta into 1/2 inch slices (2 per person). Beat egg in a shallow dish with tabasco. In another shallow dish combine flour, salt and pepper to taste, parmesan, and herbs. Coat a polenta cake with egg and then flour mixture and fry in oil until golden brown. Repeat until all cakes are fried adding more oil as needed. Drain cakes on paper towels and season immediately with salt and pepper.

These were beautiful and yummy! Another easy, yet dramatic-looking dish...Check out how it looks plated. Can you believe this whole thing took about 30 minutes total?





Look how pretty my china is!

I put together this cheese plate for us to snack on before, during and after dinner:




Smoked gouda, drunken goat, mini toasts, organic blueberries, bourbon pralines, and local honey. This, in itself, could have been my meal...so, so yummy! My favorite bite: toast dipped in honey with a slice of smoked gouda.

Are you ready for dessert? Always, right?!
In college, our favorite treat was the molten chocolate cake at Chili's. (obviously I wasn't doing much in the kitchen in those days!) This is still my favorite dessert. But when it's made with really good ingredients it is even better!!
I found this recipe for molten chocolate cakes in cupcake form...perfect! Thanks, Martha...I can always count on you!

Molten Chocolate Cupcakes
Martha Stewart

How gorgeous are these?!



Hope you all had a fabulous Valentine's Day!!

Happy Fall Y'all!

Oh, man! I have been loving this fall-ish weather we have been having! Today I made a trip to the farmer's market for some mums and found this amazing lettuce pot!



They called it "living lettuce". It makes me want a HUGE salad. You just trim off what you need to make your salad, etc. and it keeps growing for you!! LOVE it!

Here are some pics me and Baxter enjoying these beautiful days:


gorgeous sunny sky

sweet puppy dog

some of my roses making one last show before winter


You are probably wondering what I have been cooking lately, huh? Well, last week I had some cupcakes to make for Hunter Beason. His mom, Mecie, told me they were having another camping party and wanted cupcakes. She gave me creative control and told me to "do whatever"! Here is what I made:

S'Mores Cupcakes!

They have been really big lately on all of the cooking blogs, so I thought this was a perfect time to try them out. Here is a link to the recipe I used from "Good Thymes and Good Food" that includes the graham cracker crust, chocolate cupcake,and marshmallow buttercream. I topped each cake with either a graham cracker stick or a mini hershey bar. Also, I left out the chocolate chips from this recipe. (only because I forgot to buy them!!) They were soo yummy!

Also, I discovered a new love at The Fresh Market! I have many many loves there, but this one is taking the number one spot this week! This pistachio gelato is beyond words. Get some.


I was really craving seafood a couple weeks ago (specifically crab legs and shrimp), so I decided to make Justin and I a form of Surf and Turf. After searching the internet, I found this recipe on "What's Cookin' Italian Style" for a crab, shrimp, and mushroom sauce to go on steaks.

For the steaks, I got 2 filets from The Fresh Market and cooked them according to the only steak recipe I will ever use...Ina's Steakhouse Steaks. Perfection, everytime!

I served Rachael Ray's potatoes gratin on the side. This is one of my absolute favorite potato recipes. If you know me, you know I LOVE potatoes. So, trust me on this one...it is like potatoes in alfredo sauce....mmmmm.



Umm. Yeah. Definitely not something you want to eat on a regular basis, but a good splurge!

Hope everyone is getting outside to enjoy this weather if you can! Have a great week!

Walkin' on Sunshine...

Wow! What a gorgeous day today was! We have had a particularly cold winter down South this year. I mean, It has snowed like three times! In a state where everything shuts down at the mention of "flurries", this is a huge deal. Today brought a welcome 68 degrees and some beautiful sunshine. It was the perfect Saturday: up early, planned meals for the week, went grocery shopping, got a haircut, went to a movie with the hubby, a brisk walk on the treadmill, and spent the evening at Borders reading cooking magazines. As for today's food, I had the last of the leftover butternut squash risotto for my lunch. :( For dinner, ham and cheese panini with bacon and pesto mayo dip. Dessert: chocolate chip angel food cupcakes with fluffy frosting. Yup. It was a pretty awesome day.

For the panini: I cooked a few strips of bacon, spread whole wheat bread with dijon mustard, and piled on ham, bacon and colby jack cheese. I pressed those babies in my panini press, and ta da! Supper's ready! For the pesto mayo dip: just stir 1 Tbsp. pesto into 3 Tbsp. mayo. Done. Serve with a simple salad.


Chocolate Chip Angel Food Cupcakes with Fluffy Frosting

Frosting from Cooking Light

I used an angel food cake mix, for simplicity. Mix according to box directions. Fold in 1/2 cup of semi-sweet mini chips. Bake in paper lined muffin tin according to box directions. Allow to cool on racks.

Fluffy Frosting

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Dash of salt
2 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and next 4 ingredients (1/2 cup sugar through 2 egg whites) in top of a double boiler; place over barely simmering water. Beat with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form and candy thermometer registers 160°. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon frosting over each cupcake.
Top with mini chips.

TIP: once your frosting reaches 160, remove it from the heat. Do not walk away to take a beautiful picture of your cupcakes. :)

Light, fluffy, chocolatey goodness.