Fancy Spring Time Potato Salad

As some of you may know, Riley LOVES  potatoes. But for some reason she has always hated potato salad! I know, crazy right?! Anyway, I tossed together this wonderful potato salad over the holiday weekend and she loved it! So I thought I would share it with you fancy people. Enjoy! -Jess

fancy spring time potato salad
Ingredients:
8 small red potatoes; boiled until fork tender DO NOT over cook! 
zest and juice of one lemon
2-3 large hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes 
1 small beet, peeled and thinly sliced
hand full of chopped fresh basil 
1/3 cup good mayonnaise 
salt and pepper to taste 

Miss Riley and Fuzzy Tickle 

 Chop potatoes into small chunks, place in large bowl and toss with zest and lemon juice. Chop eggs into small chunks and add to potatoes. Combine the rest of ingredients and toss together. Chill until ready to eat!  

So So Yummy zesty lemon cookies

So a few days ago I had a craving for some so so yummy Lemon cookies. Riley and I both thought it was a great idea to make some before daddy got home, so to the kitchen we went...only to find out half way through whipping our butter, that we were just about out of sugar! How could this happen!? I didnt panic, (okay maybe I did for a minute and maybe I even thought about throwing the bowl at the wall) I went ahead and added the 3/4 cup of sugar I had left and then measured out 1/3 a cup of honey. The end result were just as yummy as these but they did come out a little flatter then normal.
So friends the moral of this story is: dont let the lack of ingredients hold you back, I know there is a "science" to baking, but sometimes you can just make something up! have fun! See what happens..Who cares if it fails! do it! Happy baking -Jess
p.s. I originally posted this recipe on tastykitchen.com and included directions for making these cookies vegan friendly! check it out!

 So So yummy Zesty Lemon Cookies
ingredients: 
1/2 cup butter, softened 
3/4 cup organic sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 large eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one lemon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp flax seed meal


Mix butter in bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add sugar and honey, beat until combined and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Add lemon juice, vanilla and zest. In separate bowl whisk together salt, baking powder flour and flax seed meal. Add to mixing bowl and mix until combined. chill dough until firm, then scoop out onto cookies sheets using cookie scooper or small ice cream scoop. bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. cookies will have very little color but do not over bake! sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy! 

M.I.A. Riley's Fancy Birthday

So I guess I have neglected my blog just a little, but with good reason! We spent the last month in Southern California, sure I had time and things to blog about, but the truth is I was missing my kitchen and just didnt feel in my "zone". So the blog got put on hold. Now I have been back home about a week and feel the need to share the fancy cake I made for Riley's 4th birthday while we were visiting SoCal! I cant believe she is 4...I cried...its true, but not in front of people, because that is just crazy. okay, so after much debate with my four year old and a "test" batch of "pink lemonade cupcakes", we finally decided on this cake. I changed it up some to make it a two layer cake instead of three. Oh and in case you are wondering about the pink lemonade cupcakes, they were very tasty but a little, (and by little I mean A LOT), too sweet for my liking.

Happy Baking!-Jess

Riley's Fancy Pink Vanilla birthday cake

Ingredients:

• 2  cups unsalted butter, at room temperature 
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 4 LARGE egg whites, at room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

preheat oven to 350F, grease and flour two-9inch round cake pans. Combine butter and sugar in large bowl and beat until light and fluffy. add egg whites and mix until combined. In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt, whisk together. combine vanilla and buttermilk in measuring cup. add dry ingredients into large bowl and mix, followed by buttermilk. mix until well combined. 
*note, I made this using a hand mixer, but it is much easier to do using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. 
Divide batter evenly into prepared cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes. or until toothpick in center comes out clean. let cool completely before frosting. 


For the frosting I used the same recipe found on here but i added a few drops of natural red food coloring to give it a pink tint. Enjoy!