Hey all! I am SO excited to be hosting this giveaway from Tiny Prints! Right now they are featuring *THE* cutest back-to school line! Click here to check it out!
Below are a few of my favorite products for Back-to-School:
Teacher Stationary
Paper Notebooks
Lunch Box Notes
Allergy Alert Cards
And now for the GIVEAWAY!!!
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So yesterday was my birthday…you know, the day where you get to pretty much do and eat whatever you want 
. I started off the day with Eggs Benedict and finished it with pizza and cake. To help celebrate my birthday I want to share with you a super yummy Strawberry Cream Cake. Tender yellow cake, fresh strawberries and strawberry filling, and cream cheese whipped cream…yep this cake is pretty much awesome.
If you use a cake pan for this recipe and not a springform pan, make sure the sides are at least 2 inches high. Make sure you chill the finished cake for the full 3 hours before serving; this will ensure that all the layers set and are less prone to shift when cutting.
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs (2 whole and 3 separated), room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 pounds fresh strawberries (about 2 quarts), washed, dried, and stemmed
4 – 6 tablespoons sugar
pinch table salt
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 cups heavy cream
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour round 9 by 2-inch cake pan or 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and all but 3 tablespoons sugar in mixing bowl. Whisk in 2 whole eggs and 3 yolks (reserving whites), butter, water, and vanilla; whisk until smooth.
In clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat remaining 3 egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy, 1 to 2 minutes. With machine running, gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form, 60 to 90 seconds. Stir one-third of whites into batter to lighten; add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto greased wire rack; peel off and discard parchment. Invert cake again; cool completely, about 2 hours.
Halve 24 of best-looking berries and reserve. Quarter remaining berries; toss with 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (depending on sweetness of berries) in medium bowl and let sit 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Strain juices from berries and reserve (you should have about 1/2 cup). In workbowl of food processor fitted with metal blade, give macerated berries five 1-second pulses (you should have about 1 1/2 cups). In small saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer reserved juices until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour reduced syrup over macerated berries, add pinch of salt, and toss to combine. Set aside until cake is cooled.
When cake has cooled, place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in slow, steady stream; when almost fully combined, increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture holds stiff peaks, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes more, scraping bowl as needed (you should have about 4 1/2 cups).
Using large serrated knife, slice cake into three even layers. Place bottom layer on cardboard round or cake plate and arrange ring of 20 strawberry halves, cut sides down and stem ends facing out, around perimeter of cake layer. Pour one half of pureed berry mixture (about 3/4 cup) in center, then spread to cover any exposed cake. Gently spread about one-third of whipped cream (about 1 1/2 cups) over berry layer, leaving 1/2-inch border from edge. Place middle cake layer on top and press down gently (whipped cream layer should become flush with cake edge). Repeat with 20 additional strawberry halves, remaining berry mixture, and half of remaining whipped cream; gently press last cake layer on top. Spread remaining whipped cream over top; decorate with remaining cut strawberries. Chill for 3 hours before serving.
Serves 8-10
Source: slightly adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, May 2006
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How many of you have zucchini and summer squash coming out of your ears right now?
Are you so sick of them that you’re ready to pitch ‘em by the side of the road with a “free to a good home” sign?
Well, don’t give up on them just yet! This tian is excellent as a side dish, and spectacular a top of some pasta e Olio. Before you give up on those yummy summer veggies, layer them together and top ‘em off with some yummy cheese…seriously what doesn’t taste better smothered in gooey, glistening, beautiful cheese!?!
2 T olive oil
2 medium yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium zucchini
2 medium yellow squash
2 medium potatoes
2 medium tomatoes
2 t dried thyme
Salt & pepper
1 C Romano cheese
3 T chopped, fresh herbs (I used basil but parsley would be yummy, too)
Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté the onion and garlic in a skillet with olive oil until softened and opaque, about 5 minutes.
While the onion and garlic are sautéing, thinly slice the rest of the vegetables ¼- ½ inch thick.
Spray the inside of a 9×13 inch pan (or any other 3 quart baking dish) with non-stick spray. Spread the softened onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Place the thinly sliced vegetables in the baking dish vertically, in an alternating pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and thyme.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 60 minutes. Remove the foil, top with cheese and bake for another 20 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown. Sprinkle with the fresh herbs before serving.
Source: adapted from Budget Bytes
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Growing up I remember my siblings and I sitting around the dinner table asking each other the quintessential question:
“What would you do for a Klondike bar?”
I remember responses like: “I’d eat a dirt-covered worm for a Klondike Bar” and then “I’d eat two dirt-covered worms for a Klondike Bar”, etc. to one up each other with the grossest or most outrageous responses. We loved eating these after a long summers’ day (no air conditioning, mind you) and smiled as we heard the crack of the chocolate coating because we knew we had gotten to the Arctic-chilled ice cream. Brrrrrr…I get chills just think about it!
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