Dixie-Style Dining: Sour Cream Coffee Cake

It’s not a mirage… I am actually cooking.  I wouldn’t blame you if you were surprised… Heck, I’M surprised.  One of my favorite things to do is cook, but lately… it has just taken a back burner for me.  It seems like the weeks go by so quickly and when I get home from school… or teaching Zumba… or church… there’s just no time for testing out recipes.  I’m looking forward to the “Summer Slowdown” and having a chance to catch up on some of the things I have let go. 

But ahh… spring break… you are such a gift.  Already you have given me…

…a chance to sleep in until 7:30 a.m….

…2 fun day-trips with my family…

…time with friends…

…and a chance to cook something delicious…

May I introduce you to Dixie’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake?

I have been wanting to make this coffee cake for months, ever since I found it in my grandmother’s recipe box.  I don’t remember eating this before, but I am definitely a fan of cake for breakfast. 

Let me tell you… it was WORTH the wait.  This cake is perfect for breakfast or dessert (or dessert for breakfast)!  It is soft, fluffy, sweet, and will melt in your mouth.

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks of butter (unsalted)
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 cups flour (I used unbleached all-purpose flour)

For filling/topping:

• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
• 1/2 cup sugar (I think brown or white would work, but I used white)
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Cream together with a mixer: butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Add in sour cream, baking soda, salt.  Mix.  Add in flour and mix until a thick batter is formed.  In a separate bowl, mix together nuts, sugar, coconut, and cinnamon for the filling/topping.

Layer in a baking dish (9 by 13): 1/2 batter, 1/2 topping sprinkled evenly over batter, rest of batter, rest of topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the center is removed clean.

Now, I know the recipe says to bake in a 9 by 13 dish.  But I used two loaf pans instead.  I had enough batter and filling to bake 2 loaf-sized cakes.  I actually had extra batter, so I opted to make 4 individual coffee cakes in a muffin tins, too.  (I just had to mix up a little bit more of the topping for those individual cakes.) 

The loaf pans worked well, but because they are a bit deeper than a square or rectangular baking dish, it took a little longer to cook all the way through. 

 

 

This is one of the softest cakes I have ever tasted.  The sour cream keeps the batter very moist, even after baking it for an hour.  This cake will not disappoint!  Pour yourself a hot cup of coffee and enjoy a slice of this cake anytime!

Dixie-Style Dining: Shepherd’s Pie

Happy Monday, friends!  I hope you all had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day weekend!  It was actually a bit of a busy weekend for us here at the Confessions house.  It’s Monday night and I have to admit, I’m pretty tired for 8:30 p.m.!

We spent the weekend celebrating some special birthdays, including my nephew Jerry’s 4th birthday! 

I got to dance with some friends at a fun St. Pat’s Zumba class… and then another fun class on Sunday!

And I even had time to make a special Irish meal for our family.  This recipe for Shepherd’s Pie is really special to my family.  My grandmother would make it for us when we would visit her and my grandfather in Philadelphia.  It was always one of our very favorite meals.  We would spend the day out shopping or visiting relatives and when we would come home, the Shepherd’s Pie would be ready to go in the oven. 

We loved asking her, “Did you go out and kill a shepherd today?”  And she loved to play along and say she did.  Don’t judge our weird family conversations, please.

Dixie’s Shepherd’s Pie

I know Shepherd’s Pie traditionally has peas and carrots mixed in with the beef, but my grandmother didn’t make it that way, so I didn’t either.  I’m actually not even sure whether her version had onions with the beef, but I went ahead and added some for flavor. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef (I used extra lean)
• 1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• worchestire sauce and/or any other flavorings you like (Our family likes Maggi’s seasoning.)
• 5-6 potatoes peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 cup skim milk (use more or less for mashed potato creaminess)
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• salt, to taste
• medium cheddar, sliced (enough to cover casserole)

Prep: Place potato in boiling water.  Cook until fork-tender.  While potatoes cook, brown beef and onions together.  Add seasonings.  Add 1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved into 1/2 cup cold water to the beef mixture.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, then reduce heat.  When potatoes are tender, add milk, butter, and salt, and mash with electric mixer until desired consistency is reached. 

Layer in casserole dish: beef mixture, potatoes, and top with the slices of cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees or until the pie is warmed through and the cheese is nice and bubbly. 

 

Technically, this is much easier to serve if you let it stand for about 5-6 minutes after it is out of the oven… but sometimes you just can’t wait that long, you know?  We won’t judge you. ;)

Enjoy!

Dixie-Style Dining: Butter Cookies

Friends, I learned something today.  Actually, I learned a few things. 

1.  Glee Season 2 is now available on Netflix!  Yes!  I had so much fun watching Season 1 this summer, and I was dying to see Season 2.  AND right now we are watching the Britney Spears episode.  Oh yeah.  It’s awesome.  I totally wish I could go back in time and be in Glee Club.  Well, only if it was THIS Glee Club.

2.  A cookie press is the coolest thing ever.  You can make so many fun shapes with this tool.

3.  You know how sometimes you bite into a cookie and it’s light and sweet and crunchy and amazing?  Well, I learned the secret to that.  It’s BUTTER. 

Every year, my grandmother would make tons of Christmas cookies.  She made chocolate chip, peanut, and butter cookies in various shapes.  She made gobs and gobs of them.  Every day she would refill the cookie platter and we never. ran. out.  Seriously, no matter how many guests we had or how many we ate… there were always more. 

Several months ago, as we were going through my grandparents’ things, I found my grandmother’s cookie press.  As I sorted through the little discs that make different shapes, I found the flower and tree I remembered, and I knew I had to have the press.  I always wanted to get one, but it’s so much more special to have my grandmother’s.  As I was making these cookies today, it was a special feeling knowing that this was how she made these cookies.

It was only fitting that I used her butter cookie recipe, too.

Dixie’s Butter Cookies

Now, let me be clear here.  These are in no way healthy or very good for you… but they are good for your soul and I promise you that they will melt in your mouth.  They are light and crunchy and have a rich buttery, sweet flavor.  You could probably make any shape cookie, but I used a cookie press to make little tree-shaped cookies.  I topped mine with green sprinkles to make them extra special!  I also made only half of this batch and made approximately 3-4 dozen cookies with it.  The recipe below is for a full batch.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. butter
• 2 cups sugar (I used white granulated)
• 4 egg yolks
• 6 cups flour (I used unbleached all-purpose)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 12 tsp (or 1/4 cup) milk (I used skim)

Prep:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together.  Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix well.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  Blend.  Add 1/2 the milk.  Mix.  Add another 1/3 of the flour, and then mix.   Add rest of milk.  Mix.  Finally add the rest of the flour and mix.  Shape cookies and cake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes (the time really depends on the size of the cookie) until the edges are golden.  Cool and enjoy!

Dixie-Style Dining: Ann Landers’s Meatloaf

So… who doesn’t love meatloaf?  It’s one of those meals that has a little bit of a 1950’s/old-school feel to it, but I think it’s because it’s so good.  It’s hearty, and it makes for great leftovers.  I’ve made meatloaf lots of different ways: Southwestern, Barbecue, used Turkey instead of beef… but there’s something to be said about the classic version.

When we went through my grandmother’s recipe box back in March, I loved finding this recipe because my grandmother also saved the newspaper clipping with the original recipe!  It was neat to hold that clipping and think about my grandmother cutting it out of the newspaper and putting it in her recipe box.  I love that she saved the clipping and kept it with her recipe card for so many years.

Instead of typing in the recipe, I thought I’d give you the original.

I only wish I could read Ann’s response to the relationship question!  That sounded interesting!  I wish I knew what happened to the couple in question.  Did they get married?  Are they still married?  Anyway… moving on.

This meatloaf made enough for two+ meals.  And I thought it was just as good the second day as it was the first.  It was really thick and hearty—not crumbly.  It would make PERFECT sandwiches the second day.  And with fall slowing making its way into the south, I think it’s the right time of year for meatloaf.

Of course, you could use ground turkey and this recipe would still be great, but I chose to make it from the original Ann Landers recipe.

Enjoy!

Weekend Success: Blue Jeans, Crafting, and Handmade Pumpkins

You know, there are a lot of things in life that can be frustrating.  I would say that blue jean shopping can be one of the WORST experiences ever.  I have had weekends where I have gone in every store and tried on every pair of jeans I can find, only to come away empty-handed.  And then one day… when you’re least expecting it… the perfect pair appears.  This is what happened to me this past Friday as I was doing some last-second shopping for something to wear to my sister’s engagement party/oyster roast.  I was at T.J. Maxx, which is always a hit-or-miss shopping spot.  Either I love everything I find or I find absolutely nothing.  This time, I was successful and even came away with a new pair of jeans!  Plus 2 shirts and a pair of black dress pants! 

I know they’re not real noticeable in this picture… but… blue jean success!

On to Saturday’s projects.  About a week ago, I was catching up on blogs and I saw this cute idea on Fashion Meets Food, one of my favorite blogs to read.  As soon as I saw this idea, I knew I had to try it.  Sadie and I put together 5 little pumpkins in about 10 minutes. 

These are so easy!  We used cinnamon sticks for the stems, so they smell really fall-ish!  We didn’t even need glue!  I found the fabric at Hobby Lobby.  They were already cut into 18 by 21 inch rectangles.  We just tucked the edges into the TP tubes and held them in place with the cinnamon sticks.  The ribbon added a nice touch at the top.  We’re going to give 2 of these away, and we’re putting the other 3 here at our house!

And finally… dinner.  We made an old classic… Meatloaf!

I think meatloaf is one of the best cool-weather meals, and it makes great leftovers, too.  The recipe will be posted tomorrow.  It’s my latest Dixie-Style Dining Recipe!  Check back for that. 

Finally, I almost forgot to share that I passed my AFAA exam!  (You may remember a couple of weeks ago when I went to the AFAA workshop to get my Primary Group Fitness Certification.)  I was so glad to find out I passed!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! 

Dixie-Style Dining: Mimi’s Christmas Breakfast

Happy Labor Day!  I know lots of people celebrated today by cooking (and eating!) barbecue.  And I did eat BBQ at lunch today.  But my special meal of today was breakfast.  If you’ve been reading for a while, then you know I have a thing for breakfast and I also love eggs, no matter the meal!  So I decided that a Monday off of work was special enough to celebrate with Mimi’s Christmas Breakfast!

This breakfast is so special to all of our family.  Every Christmas morning, for as long as I can remember, my grandmother made this for us.  We would all wake up and spend the first part of the morning playing with all the surprises that Santa brought us.  Before we started the family gift exchange, we all would sit down at my grandparents’ dining room table and enjoy this breakfast casserole.  It was the only time during the year that we had it, so it made it extra special. 

A few years ago, we were visiting my grandparents, and I went through my grandmother’s recipe box and copied down this recipe.  I’ve made it for friends and family on my own, and it is always a raving success.  It is definitely the best breakfast casserole that I have ever had… and you know I have sampled lots of egg dishes!

This breakfast is called Mimi’s Christmas Breakfast, because this recipe was passed to my grandmother by one of her friend’s daughters: Mimi.  I recently saw Mimi on our trip to Philadelphia and I asked her if she still makes this breakfast dish.  She replied, “I made it last week!” 

I hope you enjoy this casserole.  Even though it’s special enough for holidays, it’s also the best cure for a drab Monday morning and reheats well in the microwave, too!  Take a piece to work and enjoy it with coffee as you’re checking emails in the morning. :)

Mimi’s Christmas Breakfast

The original recipe serves about 8 people, so I have reduced the size of the recipe to make it serve about 4 people.  My grandmother used to fry the bacon and then crumble it for the top.  I have taken a shortcut and use the bagged real bacon pieces.  I think it works great and did not change the flavor.  Another bonus of this recipe is the fact that you can make it the night before and the next morning just pop it in the oven!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 slices of bread (she calls for white, but I used whole wheat and it works fine) with crusts removed
• 2-3 oz. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
• 2-3 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1.5 –2 oz of Crumbled Bacon Pieces (found in a bag on the salad aisle—NOT the fake orange bacon bits—real crumbled bacon)

Preparation:

Spray a 9 by 9 baking dish with nonstick spray.  Cover the bottom of the dish with the bread slices.  Spread the cheeses evenly over the bread.  Mix the eggs and the milk well.  Pour slowly and evenly over the bread and cheese.  Sprinkle the bacon pieces evenly over the top.  Refrigerate overnight.  In the morning, bake at 35- degrees for 45-60 minutes, or until cooked through and “fluffy.”  (The top will rise.)  Serve hot with hot coffee! 

Can you look at this picture and not drool?  The bacon and melty cheese is heavenly. 

 

Happy Labor Day!