Perfect Pound Cake

There's nothing better for a warm spring or summer night then a slice of fresh pound cake w/ a dollop of fresh, whipped cream & strawberries.

<3 Lishie

Pound Cake 

Southern Living

• 1 lb butter, softened (room temp)
• 3 c sugar
• 6 large eggs (room temp)
• 4 c all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c milk
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. (The butter will become a lighter yellow color; this is an important step, as the job of the mixer is to incorporate air into the butter so the cake will rise. It will take 1 to 7 minutes, depending on the power of your mixer.) Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light & fluffy. (Again, the times will vary, & butter will turn to a fluffy white.) Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow yolk disappears.

Add flour to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning & ending with flour. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. (The batter should be smooth & bits of flour should be well incorporated; to rid batter of lumps, stir gently with a rubber spatula.) Stir in extracts.

Pour into a greased & floured bread pan.

Bake at 300° for 1 hour & 40 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from pan, & cool completely on a wire rack.

Snack Quarry Mix +

The Snack Quarry is my take on Chex Mix minus the Chex.

And another fun snack from The Dinosaur Party.

Snack Quarry Mix

I mixed:

• 1 bag of Bugles (Dinosaur Claws!)
• 1 bag of shaped pretzels -waffle, etc. (Foilage!)
• 1 bag of Peppridge Farm Rainbow Goldfish (Dinosaur Food!)
• 1 bag of Yogurt covered raisins (Dinosaur Eggs!)

Mix it all up in one, big bowl...

Place a new, cleaned, Kid's shovel in the bowl...

And you have it... a Prehistoric

SNACK QUARRY.

The kids LOVED it. Loved "digging" food.

It's the simple things.

Speaking of Simple things... Prehistoric Punch & Party Horns.
For Gabriel's 3rd Birthday, we had a Space theme & served Tang. It went over so well... People ran out to buy, well, Tang. So I thought, well, serve Tang again since it's orange for the dinosaur theme & call it "Prehistoric Punch".  As for the "Party Horns" for any triceratops in the crowd, they were just dime candy sticks.

<3 Lishie

Gabriel's Mommy

Apple Cupcakes for Teacher

Apple Cupcakes for Teacher

Teacher Appreciation Week 5/6- 5/10.
Thank you...
For teaching my baby boy...
For taking the time to care...
For everything you do...
For the little things...
For the big things...
the kindness,
the stern-ness,
the gentleness...
the urging on...
the tenderness...
the love.
Thank you for it all.

<3 Lishie
Gabriel's Mommy

Apple Cupcakes for Teacher
1 Vanilla Cupcake Recipe.
1 Cocoa Frosting Recipe (see below).
Red Sprinkles.
Pretzel Sticks.
 Spearmint jelly leaves.
Gummy Worms.

Cocoa Frosting Recipe

• 1/2 c butter, softened
• 3 c powdered sugar 
• 1 c cocoa
• 1/3 c milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients together until smooth.

ABCs/123s Cupcakes
1 Vanilla Cupcake Recipe.
1 Cocoa Frosting Recipe.
ABCs/123s Sprinkles.

~~~~~

Teacher Appreciation Days 1 & 2 are HERE.
For Day 1:


For Day 2:


For Day 3:



For Day 4:



And now, for Day 5, to cap off the week:
Apple & ABC/123 Cupcakes for Teacher

Italian Chicken Meatballs

So just in case you think I only bake... here's a savory meal for you ;) We've been eating a lot of standbys in the DeMaria house & this is one of them. If you cannot tell from all of the celebratory cake, it's been busy & that is not to mention the other things going on! I don't want to exhaust you by listing them so, here, read this tasty recipe instead! Happy Friday!!!

<3 Lishie
 

Italian Chicken Meatballs

• 1 1/4 lbs. ground chicken
• 1/2 c breadcrumbs
• 2 TBSp chopped onion
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 TBSp chopped parsley
• 1/2 c Parmesan cheese, grated
• s & p
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 egg, whisked
• zest of 1/2 a lemon
• 3 TBSp olive oil
• 29 oz canned tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 400°F, setting rack to top of oven. In a large bowl, using your hands, gently mix together first 11 ingredients. Shape into 3" size balls & place a few inches from each other on a foil-lined baking sheet. In a small bowl, mix one spoonful of your sauce with olive oil. Brush this mixture on top of each meatball. Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove meatballs from oven & add to your simmering sauce (below) for 5-10 minutes. Serve with pasta. And shredded fresh parmesan, yes, don't forget the parm!

Sauce- saute 1 small onion, chopped in olive oil w/ 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 TBsp tomato paste... Add the rest of the tomato sauce... Simmer on low...