• Naked Cake

    I’ve been obsessed with naked cakes since last year, you might remember my berry layer sponge cake, which had a naked look.  A couple days ago, I decided to bake another cake with the naked look and fresh flowers. I used the Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake recipe from Cook’s Illustrated book and a lemon and lavender filling. Lemon-Lavender Cream Cheese Frosting 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 8 T butter, softened (1 stick) 1 tsp grated lemon zest 2T lemon juice 1 ½ tsp dried lavender buds. Ground ½ tsp vanilla 2 1/3 cup confectioners sugar Mix cream cheese, butter and sugar in a food processor or mixer.  Add other ingredients until smooth. And because I…

  • Heirloom Tomato Tartine

    Heirloom tomatoes are one more reason I love summer.  When I saw this beautiful basket of heirloom tomatoes at the farmer’s market I was so excited to bring it home and make something fresh and delicious. With a few tomatoes still left after salads, I had enough to make this quick and easy spread with some basil from our herb garden and a few other ingredients we had on hand. This one is a great fresh go-to for home parties or just a fresh and light treat for yourself. Ingredients: Cream cheese Crumbled Feta cheese Heirloom tomatoes Toasts Fresh basil, chiffonade Extra Virgin Olive Oil Directions: Put the feta and cream cheese…

  • Swiss Steak Recipe

    Swiss steak or as I call it my “miracle” beef. By the way, the name does not refer to Switzerland,  but instead the process of swissing meat. With this recipe you will be able to transform tougher and cheaper meat cuts to ones so delicious and soft they will be tender enough to be eaten without a knife.  Enjoy! I used thin eye of round steak for this recipe; for a very low-cost price, the package came with about 6 steaks. Ingredients: 1 package of thin eye round steaks 1 cup of chopped onions 1 tbsp of chopped parsley 3 or 4 peeled tomatoes ( I used a can of italian peeled tomatoes)…

  • Vanilla Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream

    It’s summer, it’s HOT, and it’s time for more ice cream.  Here’s our latest creation, a take on one of my favorite childhood recipes: Vanilla Strawberry Swirl ice cream. You can use your favorite vanilla ice cream recipe, we used the basic Cuisinart Simple Vanilla recipe. Ingredients 1 cup whole milk ¾ cup granulated sugar pinch salt 2 cups heavy cream 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract Sauce Ingredients Strawberries: 16 ounce basket of strawberries Sugar: 1/2 cup Instructions In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed or whisk to combine the milk, sugar and salt until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.…