Serving Up {Cake}: Lemon Sheet Cake

My husband feels very strongly that if a dessert does not contain chocolate, it is not really a dessert.  What?
As strongly as I love chocolate, there are many other delicious flavors that constitute dessert in my book. One flavor that is a close second to chocolate for me is LEMON!  Love it!  Especially in the spring and summer when the bright flavor of lemon seems to match the warmth and sunshine of the season.

I found this recipe for lemon sheet cake 15-20 years ago in a Taste of Home magazine.  I have never had to search any further - this cake is perfection.  It is moist and deliciously lemon, with a cream cheese frosting that takes it to the next level.  Yum!

I generally make this cake as written as a sheet cake, baked in a 15x10 baking pan.  But I have also baked it in a bundt pan which makes a very pretty cake to display.  If you go that route you will need to lengthen the baking time by 10 minutes or so....just keep an eye on it.  Either way, you will be in lemon heaven!

One Year Ago: Butterscotch Potato Chip Cookies
Two Years Ago: Cashew Chicken Salad
                          Raspberry Rice Pudding

LEMON SHEET CAKE     
(recipe from Taste of Home Magazine)
printable version

1 pkg. (18-ounce) lemon cake mix
4 eggs
1 can (15 oz) lemon pie filling
1 pkg. (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
½ C. butter, softened
2 C. powdered sugar
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cake mix and eggs until well blended.  Fold in pie filling.  Spread into a greased 15x10 inch baking pan.**  Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar until smooth.  Stir in vanilla.  Spread over cake.  Store in refrigerator.

**I have prepared this cake in a bundt pan as well.  It works great and looks beautiful, but the baking time has to be adjusted a bit longer**

Serving Up {Tip}: Lemon Zest

I love a little tang of lemon zest and yet I used to dread seeing "lemon zest" in a recipe because I felt foolish purchasing a lemon simply for the purpose of zesting it and wasting the rest.  I say used to because thanks to my family's green smoothie habit, we go through lemons quickly these days so it isn't the issue that it used to be.  Actually, now my issue is the reverse - I use a lemon every day or two and hate seeing the perfectly good zest go to waste.  So I have a solution and it works brilliantly.

When I purchase my lemons, I wash them in the same fruit wash as the rest of my produce and then I zest a weeks worth of lemons.  I know the lemons will be used shortly for smoothies so I am not concerned with that they will dry out after being zested.

I then take the zest and place it in a freezer jar and freeze it.  It freezes perfectly and retains it's bright flavor if used within a reasonable time.  No more issues with lemon zest and you can begin experimenting by adding it to all kinds of recipes.  I personally like to add it to salad dressings (here is a favorite), I add it to pancakes, waffles and muffins and it is absolutely DIVINE in chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal cookies.   I am dead serious about the chocolate chip cookies - try it!

What do you add lemon zest to?

One Year Ago: Chicken Tortellini Bake

                        Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette

                        Creme Brulee French Toast

Serving Up {Soup}: Thai Coconut Ginger Broth

I admit that this picture is not a good photo.  And there is no way the looks of it will make you jump up and add it to your "to try" list.  But hear me out.  The picture doesn't look good because this is something you make/sip when you don't feel good.

As we enter the "virus" season, make sure you have these ingredients on hand.  I generally leave the chicken out of it when I am ill - I just want the brothy goodness.  There is something healing about pouring this into a mug, holding the warm mug in your hand and sipping the delicious brothy flavors of chicken, lemon and ginger.  It warms all the way down and you can feel good that you are actually putting something healthy into your body when you need it the most.

Here is to a healthy fall, but should you need it, you will be glad to have this recipe.

Tom Kha Ghai: THAI COCONUT GINGER BROTH    
(recipe from Food Renegade)
printable version

1 quart chicken broth
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 tsp dried chile flakes
1 tsp. freshly grated ginger
juice of 1 lemon
sea salt (to taste)
1-2 cup pulled or cubed cooked chicken (optional)
1-2 green onions, chopped (optional)
chopped cilantro (optional)

Bring the stock to a boil, skim any foam that rises to the top and add coconut milk, lemon juice, chile flakes, ginger, and optional chicken. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Ladle into soup bowls or mugs and garnish with cilantro and green onions.

Serving Up {Drink}: Strawberry Lemonade Quencher

This recipe ought to have been posted a month ago!  Yummy, refreshing, and delicious - it kind of encapsulates summer.  After our nice, cool weather here in the Northwest last week, our temperatures have spiked back up for another week of summer.  If you are experiencing something similar, this is the perfect drink to serve over ice to cool things off!

STRAWBERRY LEMONADE QUENCHER     Pin It
(recipe from The Pampered Chef)
printable version

10 cups cold water
1 can (10 ouncees) frozen non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri mix, thawed
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (4 to 5 lemons)
3/4 cup sugar
Whole strawberries (optional)

Place all the ingredients, except whole strawberries, into a large drink pitcher.  Stir until sugar is dissolved and ingredients are well combined.
Serve chilled and garnish with whole strawberries, if desired.

Serving Up {Pasta}: Creamy Lemon Pasta

The first thing that you might notice when you read the recipe for this dish is that it calls for thin spaghetti and yet, the photos are definitely not of spaghetti.  While the recipe calls for thin spaghetti (and I have always made it with thin spaghetti), the night I made this recipe I had children requesting a different shaped pasta.  While my kids may think that the shape of the pasta matters, I realize that it generally does not and I can report that this recipe turns out just fine using a shape other than thin spaghetti.  Oh, and I also added some cooked chicken.  So basically I took a photo that will look very different from what you will end up with were you to follow the recipe as written :)

I LOVE the light lemon flavor and would definitely encourage the use of real lemons versus bottled lemon juice.  There was something about squeezing a fresh lemon over the dish as it came out of the oven that just set my spirits high.  One bite and my spirits went soaring!

BAKED LEMON PASTA    
(recipe from The Sister's Cafe)
printable version

1 pound Thin Spaghetti
4 Tablespoons Salted Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 whole Lemon, Juiced And Zested
2 cups Sour Cream
½ teaspoons Kosher Salt, Or More To Taste
Plenty Of Grated Parmesan Cheese
Flat-leaf Parsley, Chopped
Extra Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente. In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over LOW HEAT. When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat. Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.) When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley. Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end or feel free to add as much as you like.

Serving Up {Salad}: Strawberry Spinach Salad

If I had to choose just one of my favorite salads to eat for the rest of my life, this would make the cut into at least the final three.  It is really that good!  When strawberries are in season I have been known to eat this for lunch everyday for a week or more, and have never tired of it.  In fact, after a week of eating it I will still salivate as the clock nears noon and I begin to think of eating it again.

This salad is just one of many terrific recipes that can be found over at the Sister's Cafe - one of my favorite food blogs!  It pairs spinach, strawberries, feta and pine nuts with a delightful lemon & Dijon dressing.  Not only is it delicious, it is beautiful and would be a gorgeous accompaniment to any Easter brunch.

 

STRAWBERRY SPINACH SALAD     Pin It
(recipe from The Sister's Cafe)
printable version

Dressing:
3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
3 Tbs. sugar
1/2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1/2 Tbs. grated lemon rind
1/4 cup canola or light olive oil

Combine all the ingredients in a blender.  Continue to pulse until the mixture is combined, thickened and the sugar is dissolved.

Salad:
3 cups fresh spinach
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
Feta Cheese, to taste

In a large bowl, toss together the spinach, strawberries, nuts and feta.  Toss with enough dressing to coat.