Amazing Dessert Recipe

½ c butter
1 ½ c sugar
4 eggs, separated
2/3 c sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 Qt sliced strawberries
¼ tsp salt
½ c chopped nuts
1 c heavy cream
sugar
vanilla

Cream butter + 1/2 c sugar, gradually beat in egg yolks. Sift flour, baking powder, salt. Add creamed mixture, mix well. Spread over bottom of two greased, floured 8″ round pans (will be thin layer) wax or parchment paper on the bottom is very helpful.

Beat egg whites until foamy; gradually add 1c sugar until soft peaks form. Spread over cake batter. Sprinkle nuts over meringue mixture.

Bake at 350 until lightly brown (25-30 min). Cool on rack.

Whip the 1 cup cream with some sugar and a little vanilla.

Fill with sweetened whipped cream and fresh sliced strawberries.

This is a pretty easy recipe although a little delicate to work with.  The cake meringue recipe is GREAT and can be easily used along with chocolate and other various filling and nut combinations.  The cakes is moist and buttery while the meringue is sweet and crispy so they go together well.

Ok so here is a super easy salsa recipe that I love to make. It really only has a few critical steps. First taste your peppers, just a little bit, before using them. Really hot use less or if mild you may use more. Seasoning taste and add lime juice and salt to your liking. It really makes a huge difference.

• 5 nice ripe roma tomatoes
• 1 spanish onion
• 1-3 hot peppers (jalapeno or serrano, etc)
• a little oil
• salt
• cilantro
• lime juice

Put peppers, onions, and tomatoes in a pan with a little oil and roast in a 350 degree oven until soft and slightly brown. When done allow to cool to room temp then blend in a blender or food processor. Add cilantro, lime and salt to suite your taste. Enjoy with some good tortilla chips!

This salsa goes really good on anything…but especially on the Duck Tacos below!

Ok so I am winging an experimental recipe today. My first inspiration was from my neighbor Joe. An avid gardener and sort of our Mr. Wilson who lives next door.

He gave me some fresh rosemary….unusual in winter in Michigan, but he brings it inside.

What to do? I naturally thought some rosemary bread sounded GREAT!

Rosemary potato bread sounded even better! And some cheese…oh ya.

So my next moment of inspiration came from Heston Blumenthal who was making a recipe with smoked potatoes!

Smoked Potatoes? Holy Cow! I wonder how that would be in bread???

So hence…of I go! I will update this post as my experiment progresses and I am of course shooting video as I go.

Update

So I have completed my loaf of rosemary Parmesan smoked potato bread. I must say it turned out delicious with a nice crispy crust and soft interior. The potato gives a wonderful texture and flavor, parm and rosemary are nice and savory. Smoking the potatoes yielded a subtle smokiness that kind of lingers on the palate and the delicousness lives you craving more!

If you like spice cake you will like these ginger ale cupcakes. I am of course using a Michigan favorite, Vernors Ginger ale for this recipe.

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup Vernor’s ginger ale
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 2 1/2 cups flour

Start off by creaming together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and egg yolks. Until nice creamy and fluffy. Add your vanilla. Mix together in a separate bowl all of the dry ingredients. Add ginger ale and buttermilk to the creamed butter, eggs and sugar. Mix together. Add in your dry ingredients being careful to not over mix. Fill muffin tins and bake 15-20 min at 350 degrees.

Butter Rum Frosting

• 2 sticks butter
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup rum (dark preferred)

Beat butter until softened then blend in your powdered sugar. Once that is all blended add your rum. Frost your cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

Guacamole doesn’t have to be complicated. With just a few ingredients the right amount of salt and acidity from the lime juice you can make awesome guacamole!

• 3 avocados
• 1 roma tomato, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• cilantro chopped
• fresh lime juice
• salt

Halve avocados and remove the pit. Using a spoon scoop the insides from the skin and into a bowl. Add tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt. Mix together as much as you like I prefer to keep mine kind of chunky. Adjust seasoning with salt and lime.

Enjoy!

• 4 chicken thighs
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 5 strips bacon, diced
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 8 oz shredded swiss cheese

Over medium heat saute onions and bacon until they begin to caramelize. Add chicken, dijon mustard and roast uncovered for about 30 min until the chicken starts to brown. Cover and cook another 30-60 minutes until the chicken is tender. Remove chicken breasts and stir in your swiss cheese.

Serve sauce over the chicken with some egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 tbsp butter

Combine all the dry ingredients together. Cut in with a fork your 4 tbsp of butter. Next we will beat together our 2 eggs and mix with the buttermilk. We will add this liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together quickly with out over mixing.

Fill lined muffin tins with your batter and bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 until nice and golden brown.