This is one of my favorite cakes to bake in the summertime. I’m not a huge fan of biscuit based shortcakes, but pairing berries with this deliciously, buttery, moist pound cake is one of the best ways, in my opinion, to sweeten up the summer.
This cake is pretty easy to throw together, and the beauty of it is, it can be made a day or two ahead of when you need it, or frozen for up to a couple of months, and it still tastes perfectly delicious when it’s time to eat.
One look at this salad, and I’m thinking about summer, in all of its glory. Warm weather, cool, crisp veggies fresh from the farmer’s market, lazy days, get togethers and BBQs with friends and family…this salad encompasses it all.
I’ve been making this salad for a few summers now, and every time I do, I get just as excited about it as the first time I’ve made it. Maybe even more so, because I know how good it really is now!
I start by whisking together a speedy quick dressing of olive oil, some red wine and white wine vinegar, a dash of Dijon, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.
This, my friends, is a really good sandwich.
I’m a sucker for a good BLT, and summertime is the perfect time to make them. It’s such a simple sandwich, but there may be nothing finer than a BLT on a warm, summer day, made with fresh tomatoes from the garden. (In our case, the tomatoes always come from someone else’s garden because I have a bit of a brown thumb.)
I made this dish purely out of skepticism.
I recently received the America’s Test Kitchen: Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook as a gift on Mother’s Day from my girls, because I guess they’ve heard that I like to cook!
If you’re an avid reader of this blog, you know that I love America’s Test Kitchen. They are some crazy smart food people over there. I’ve never made anything of theirs that hasn’t been good, so when I saw this recipe for a french toast casserole in a Crock Pot, I was really skeptical. I mean, I love my Crock Pot, I really do, but some things just don’t work in it…and a lot of recipes I’ve tried in it just come out tasting like flavorless mush. When thinking of French toast in a slow cooker, I had visions of rubbery eggs and mushy bread. It wasn’t a pretty vision.
I’ve discussed my love of wheat berries, and how healthy they are for you before, so I won’t bore you with the nitty gritty on that. (If you want to check out the nitty gritty, check out my Autumn Wheat Berry Salad recipe.)
But…
My girls are fairly decent vegetable eaters. Emily will try more than Avery, but that’s the case with every food, not just veggies. Asparagus, though, is one vegetable that they consistently turn their noses up at. Since I’m a big ol’ meanie, I make different asparagus dishes every year, knowing that at some point, they’ll come to the dark (green) side.
This pasta dish helped…a bit. The smoky, melty cheese and salty prosciutto added so much flavor to the dish, that they didn’t seem bothered by the asparagus. In fact, Emily even ate some of it! (One out of two ain’t bad, right?)
I love this cake. My husband loves this cake. My children love this cake.
I’m guessing a lot of other people do too, and that’s how it got its name. It certainly is yummy, and it’s a pretty impressive dessert for being so simple to put together. It’s a great dessert for a crowd, or pot luck, because you can make it ahead of time and it actually tastes better the longer you let it hang out in the fridge!
Earlier this week, I shared a recipe with you for some homemade Vietnamese Summer Rolls. This is the salad I served alongside them. Even if you’re not making Summer Rolls for dinner any time soon, this salad is light and fresh, and perfect for warm summer days.
I start by prepping my cucumbers. It’s a simple salad, but the cucumbers needs some time to hang out with some salt, so that some of their excess moisture pulls away. I peeled and sliced up 1 1/2 lbs. of cucumbers and tossed them with some kosher salt. Then, they hung out in a colander in the sink to drain for about an hour.
Summer rolls are one of my favorite things to order whenever we head out for Vietnamese food. They are crisp, and light, and unlike a deep-fried egg roll, don’t leave me feeling guilty after dinner. They’re kind of fun, too…crisp salad, sometimes shrimp, sometimes pork, sometimes both, all wrapped up in chewy rice paper and then dipped in peanut sauce? Good stuff.
We’ve now reached the chapter in our pre-move process where it’s crucial to try to use up what we have in the fridge/freezer and in the pantry. This is a super meal for times like these, if you happen to have these items hanging around. If not, well, groceries don’t get much cheaper than Ramen noodles.
(Contrary to popular belief, you can consume Ramen noodles in the comfort of your grown up home…not just off of a hot plate in a college dorm room.)
My kids love twisty, twirly Ramen noodles, and I love when I can turn something simple into something delicious. This dinner was a win-win.