Lawn Mower Salad

I saw the name of this recipe and I HAD to make it for ya'll!  With all the summer cookouts on the way, this is the perfect side dish!  It's easy to customize this to you own likes.  It can be made ahead of time and serves 8-10 for a single batch.  This is very economical and it takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish!

You'll need:
12 oz broccoli slaw mix (veggies only)
3/4 c shredded carrots
3/4 c sliced red cabbage
1 c chopped salted cashews
1 c sunflower seeds
1 c dried crasions
2 pkgs chicken flavored ramen noodles
1/2 c granulated white sugar
1/2 c oil (canola, vegetable, olive - whatever you have on hand)
1/4 c apple cider vinegar (or rice wine vinegar)
1/4 c soy sauce

Mix the slaw carrots, cabbage, cashews, crasions and sunflower seeds and set aside.

Crush ramen noodles - remove the seasoning packet.

In a separate bowl, mix oil, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and the season packets from the ramen noodles.

Mix the veggies with the dressing. 

If you want to add the ramen noodles at this point, you will have softer noodles at serving.  If you prefer the crunch of the lightly marinated noodles, add them about an hour prior to serving this dish.  I do half at the initial mix and half just before serving.

Refrigerate this at least an hour up to overnight. 

This is such a colorful and tasty dish!  I'm sure it will compliment anything you are serving!

Bake a big batch and enjoy!

Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

 

 

It's mid Spring and Mother's day is almost here.  This time of year makes me remember my Mama and what a wonderful cook she was.  She loved to bake and Daddy loved something sweet after supper so she always had something on hand to keep him happy!

I took a fancy to this buttermilk cake recipe as Mama always had buttermilk on hand.  I would never drink that stuff but is does a good job in the bakery so I decided that this would be my May recipe.

It turns out that I made my decision in my heart but not in my head (nor in my cabinets).  The original recipe for this cake makes a strong caution on being exact with measurements when baking.  That's more or less true.  I'm hoping that it's less true today as I don't seem to have moved a single measuring device to the summer tiny house I'm living in!  I did remember to look for my spring form pan before we left for church.  It didn't make the move either so I treated myself to  new one (should have looked for measuring cups too but that didn't happen)....

I measured all these ingredients with my heart and my eyeballs!

You'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  1 tsp baking powder
  1/4 tsp salt
  1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  1 cup white granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
  1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  2 jumbo eggs or 3 large eggs
  1/4 cup sour cream
  1/4 cup buttermilk
  14 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled and slicedInstructions

Preheat oven to 350*

Lightly spray a 9 or 10 inch spring  form pan then whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

 

Cream the soft butter and sugar together in a stand mixer for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl a couple of times.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then beat in the vanilla.

 

Stir the sour cream and buttermilk together, and then add the flour to the mixing bowl alternately with the wet, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until combined, but don't over mix.

 

Fold in the berries and turn into the prepared pan. Smooth out the top. Sprinkle the surface of the cake liberally with white sugar.  No I cheated here and went all independent by tossing the sliced berries in a little flour before I added them to the batter.  I always do that in muffins to keep the fruit from sinking to the bottom so I figured the same theory would work with a cake too.  Let's just say this step is optional! :)

 

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the cake no longer jiggles in the center and the top is golden and slightly crackled. The exact cooking time will depend on the pan size you use. You can insert a toothpick in the center to test.

 

Let cool briefly, and then unlatch the spring and remove the outer ring. I like to run a spreading knife along the edge first to loosen any parts of the cake that are sticking to the pan. Cool completely on a rack before slicing.

 

This is delicious with coffee in the morning or makes a nice brunch plate too.  After dinner, you could serve this warm a-la-mode' and I bet you'd eat every bite. 

 

Change to blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or even sliced fresh peaches if you want.

 

Make something nice for your Mama this spring!  I bet she'd just love this!