Lady Bird Johnson's Lemon Cake

I love to collect recipes from First Ladies. I even have a cookbook of recipes from the White House. I came across this recipe about 14 years ago in a newspaper article, and I've made it several times. It is delicious! I especially enjoy making this cake for Easter. There's something about lemon that sings Spring to me!

When I made this recipe I did make a few swaps so that my niece Catherine could enjoy it. Catherine has dairy, nut, and shellfish allergies. So when we have parties we make our dishes "Catherine approved."

I added extra lemon to the cooked cake, and I substituted the milk for rice milk and the butter for margarine (parve). Parve is a Hebrew term (pareve is the Yiddish term) that describes food without any meat or dairy ingredients.

After the cake cooled I drizzled fresh Meyer lemon juice and let it set over night. The extra lemon really makes the cake moist. The glaze isn't quite as smooth as it would be if I used butter, but it's still delicious.

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter or margarine (at room temperature)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
8 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon lemon juice (I used meyer lemon)

***Lemon Icing***
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine (at room temperature)
1 lemon, grated rind only
1 lemon, juiced (meyer lemon)
2 teaspoons cream (or more, until spreading consistency)
yellow food coloring, if desired

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks until light and lemon-colored; blend into creamed mixture. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; resift 3 times. Add sifted ingredients to creamed mixture in thirds, alternating with milk. Beat the batter thoroughly after each addition.

Add vanilla extract, lemon rind and lemon juice; beat 2 minutes. Bake in greased 10-inch Bundt pan in preheated oven at 325 degrees F for 1 hour or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. You can also can use three 9-inch round cake pans and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Double the frosting recipe for a layer cake.

Lemon Icing: Combine ingredients and beat, adding cream until desired consistency.

What a weekend!

We had lots of fun this weekend!  We had a surprise birthday party for my husband's cousin, she's 80, looks 60 something and is still sharp as a tack, funny & interesting!  Wow, was she surprised!

We met for lunch at a local and delicious seafood restaurant in Massachusetts and then went back to the birthday girls home for cake and catching up!

How the day started for me! Tea & warpaint!

both turning 80 next year & married 60 years!

The birthday girl & her 84 year old hubby of 58 years!

The birthday girls daughter, son-in-law & hubby

 She was thrilled beyond belief that relatives from Connecticut, Georgia, New Hampshire, Western Massachusetts came to celebrate her birthday!  She kept saying "I can't believe this."

Another cousin and her husband, married 45 years!

The delicious lemon birthday cake with raspberry filling & butter cream frosting!

All the numbers meant something special for the party girl!  And yes,

she enjoys going to bingo 2 nights a week!

  

Her great-niece just happened to be in the neighborhood - from Tennessee!

A 4th of July racing quilt in process!

The cousins!

A quick stop at a lake in Littleton, MA

A quick stop at a pond in Dunstable, MA

Pure love at the end of the day!

Then it was back to the birthday girls home on Sunday morning for delicious mushroom & spinach omelets!  The biggest meal I cooked this weekend was tea!!!  LOL!!!  Hmm, I could get used to that!

Happy St. Patrick's Day My Friends

My favorite teapot!

Come sit with me and enjoy a cup of tea while I tell you what's been going on lately.

It's been a crazy week plus! I'm involved in a few committees at work. We had a district wide middle school competition which has taken up a bit of my time as a coach. While we didn't win, I'm very proud of our students for stepping up to the plate and trying their best!

Last Sunday I got together with a bunch of my cousins and an aunt (just the girls) for a Sunday brunch. I don't know if I ever told you, but I'm one of 40 grandchildren on my mom's side - yup Irish and very fertile!

The reason we got together was to wish one of my cousins luck - she had a brain tumor removed Friday at MGH. The outlook was grim - it was sitting on her brain stem and the MD's couldn't tell if it was attached to her brain stem or not, they couldn't get a clear picture. After just over 7 hours of surgery I am happy to report that she is doing well, the surgery was a success and there is no sign of cancer! Her mom, my God-mother was a wreak, I kept in touch with her throughout the day.

Most people know MGH as Mass General Hospital but around here it's known as Man's Greatest Hospital. Please say a prayer for Tracey's speedy recovery.

It may sound corny, but you could feel the love of family at our brunch. We decided when Tracey is well, we'll have a "Sláinte Brunch" for her and we'll be having many more brunches! We have a huge family and we want to stay connected, not always easy to do today.

Saturday evening we celebrated St. Paddy's day at our cottage in Maine with some friends and family. There were eight of us and we had a wonderful time! The company and the food was wonderful.

Finally friends, I'm leaving you with this Irish Blessing to enjoy!

May you be poor in misfortune,

Rich in blessings, 

Slow to make enemies, 

quick to make friends, 

But rich or poor, quick or slow,

May you know nothing but happiness 

From this day forward. 

Happy St. Paddy's Day from Duke!

Thank you & Happy St. Patrick's Day friends!

Spicy & Flavorful not Salty, Taco Seasoning Mix

My sweet friend Susan at From Beyond My Kitchen Window shared this recipe on her blog about a year ago.  Last week I got to sample the recipe when she used it in a delicious soup she made for us, check out her latest post here!

Here's Susan's home made Taco Seasoning Mix!! The best part, there's no salt, and you don't need any!  This is a great way to add rich and bold flavor without adding salt, especially if you need to watch your salt intake.  The beautifully blended flavors in this recipe will help you on your journey to become one of the biggest losers too!  Oh, in case you're wondering, it smells amazing also!

This week, I added some to my Deviled Eggs, that I made for a work party to kick the recipe up a notch!  So, be creative and enjoy!
      
Ingredients:
4 tbsp. chili powder
3 tbsp. paprika ( Susan uses smoked paprika )
3 tbsp. cumin
2 tbsp., plus 2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Add all the ingredients to a bowl, mix and store in an air-tight container!  

I love how rich & beautiful the colors look next to each other

Mix it up in a bowl, isn't it pretty!

Store it in a small 8 oz. jar.

Easy to spoon out and use!

Aww, look who's relaxing after a hard afternoon of playing!

Duke

Blue Ribbon Blueberry Pie & a Pie Bird

Cooling on the rack!

I've had a bee in my bonnet since last September, when I entered a pie contest and didn't win anything!  Some of you may remember that post And the Biggest Looser Is.  Then, my sweet friend Susan at From Beyond My Kitchen Window told me about a recipe she found in Yankee Magazine, and she gave me the magazine with the recipe!

Thus my quest for the perfect pies began. So, about a month ago I made this wild Maine blueberry pie for the first time - when I tell you it's "lick your plate amazing" I'm telling you the truth! I served it to my Maine friends and all they could say was "ohhhhh" &"ahhhhh" & "mmmmm" ~ that's a Five Star review if you ask me!!!

Then for Valentine's Day, my wonderful husband gave me a pie cookbook, How to Build a Better Pie and I'm looking forward to making a few pies from that book! Wait until you see what I've got planned next!

In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this pie from Yankee Magazine! The recipe is from Mary Blenk. Mary didn't win her first contest either, but she kept trying. She's 56 years old now, with 92 ribbons and many trophies to show for her culinary efforts. I'd call her an expert!  I'm serving Mary's pie for dessert tonight! It's cooling on the rack right now!

Ready for the oven!

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Start to Finish Time: 1.25 hours

Yield: 1 double-crust pie

• dough for a 9-inch, 2-crust pie: 
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface and crust bottom 
• 1/4 cup cake flour 
• 1 teaspoon table salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/3 cup butter-flavored vegetable shortening 
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon regular(unflavored) vegetable shortening 
• 5-7 tablespoons ice water, divided 
• Granulated sugar (for crust bottom) 

Preheat oven to 400°. In a large mixing bowl, whisk flours with salt and baking powder. Add butter-flavored shortening; use a pastry blender to work it in until the mixture has the consistency of fine meal. Add regular shortening, and blend until mixture looks like wet sand with pea-sized bits of shortening (Mary says this will make the crust flakier).

Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time. Toss with a fork until dough starts to form a ball. Turn dough onto floured counter, and knead three times, until smooth. Divide dough into two balls, one slightly larger than the other.

On a floured surface, roll out larger ball to a 13-inch circle and transfer into a 9-inch glass pie plate. Dust bottom of crust with a bit of sugar and flour. Trim any excess dough that is draping over the edges of the pie plate, and set aside.

Filling:

• 1/2-1 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 tablespoon light-brown sugar 
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
• 1 tablespoon Minute Tapioca mix 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 4 cups Maine wild blueberries (preferably frozen) 
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice 
• 1 tablespoon salted butter 

In a separate mixing bowl, prepare the filling. Whisk together sugars, flour, tapioca, and spices. Toss berries in dry mixture. Pour berries gradually into crust, holding back flour mixture with a big spoon. When the coated berries fill the bottom, pour the rest of the dry mixture on top of berries. Drizzle lemon juice over berries; dot with butter.

Roll out top crust to a 10-inch circle and set atop pie. Fold bottom crust up over top crust; crimp to seal. Cut slits in the top. Use leftover dough to make berries and leaves to decorate the top. Bake 40-45 minutes for fresh berries, 5-10 minutes longer if you're using frozen, until juices bubble up out of the vents.

Now, if you're short on time and can't or don't want to make the crust - don't!  Just buy refrigerated pie crust and skip down to the "Filling" instructions to make your delicious pie!

Pie Birds
Pie birds were used to prevent pie filling from boiling up and leaking through the crust by allowing steam to escape from inside the pie. I've read they originated in Europe, and I've also read that they were invented by the Shakers.  Whoever invented them, all I can say is "they work."

Wordless Wednesday ~ Celebrating Mardi Gras

Epic Snowstorm & Fabulous Meatloaf

Well, if you haven't heard, we have had a snowstorm of epic proportions!  The East Coast from New York to Maine has come to a grinding standstill!  My husband and I decided to go to our weekend home Thursday evening - work was canceled on Friday.

A view of our neighbors front porch

I'm now worried that maybe we should have stayed in Massachusetts!   It has been snowing for over 24 hrs. in Maine ~ thankfully the end is in sight, but the blowing is awful.

Our neighbors can't get out of their homes, the snow is packed up against their storm doors, and they can't open them - some irony there!  Some have gone out windows . . . 

Across the street, see the mailbox . . . 

So to deal with the stress of 4 foot high snow I cooked up a fabulous meatloaf!  It has become our favorite!

I found this recipe on Stonewall Kitchen's website this past autumn and have made it several times.  I substituted their relish for red relish from the market.  It was a lot more cost effective.

Ingredients
3/4 pound ground beef (I like lean)
3/4 pound ground pork
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup red relish (I used Howards red relish.  Cains makes one too!)
1/4 cup tomato sauce
3/4 cup breadcrumbs (I used 1/2 panko 1/2 basic crumbs)
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. Stonewall Kitchen Country Ketchup
2 Tbsp. light brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. Combine the beef, pork, onion, red relish, tomato sauce, breadcrumbs, egg and salt. Mix thoroughly and place in prepared loaf pan.
3. Combine the Ketchup and brown sugar. Spread this mixture over the meat loaf.
4. Bake 1-1 1/4 hours until the meat loaf is firm and has an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. Remove meat loaf from the oven and drain off fat and let “set” 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

This is what Duke thinks of all this snow!