Paula Deen's Lemon Gooey Butter Cake

Paula Deen is the queen of butter and let's face it people, butter makes things better! My very generous Aunt Penny went down to her restaurant The Lady and Sons in Savannah, Georgia and got me an autographed copy of her cookbook The Lady and Sons - Just Desserts.


My mom, sis, and I went down to her restuarant The Lady and Sons a few years ago and everything I ate was so delicious that I am trying to figure out when I can get down there again. In the meantime I can do my best to recreate her recipes.
Chad and I were invited to my Aunt Pat's house for a bar-b-que for Memorial Day weekend so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try a new, delicious, fatty dessert.
As I looked through the book I saw a two page spread for Gooey Butter Cakes. Now these are legendary in Paula Deen land. She has a million different ways to make these Gooey Butter Cakes (which are really like bars). I decided to "lighten it up" hahahaha, by adding lemon.

Basic Recipe for Gooey Butter Cake - from Paula Deen's Lady and Sons - Just Desserts
Cake
1 18.25 oz. box of yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (one stick) butter, melted

Filling
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 16 oz. box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (one stick) butter, melted.

Directions:
Combine cake mix, egg, and butter in an electric mixer. Pat into a lightly greased 9x13x2 pan. This will be like a paste of sorts and will act as a crust. Set aside.

Next, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth, add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and add butter slowly. Mix well.
Pour onto cake mixture and spread evenly.

Bake at 350* for 40 - 50 minutes. It should remain a little gooey in the center. cool completely and cut into squares. These are rich (hence the TWO sticks of butter) so it should yield 20 - 24 bars.

Now, I decided to make it lemony - so there were some changes. I used a lemon cake mix instead of yellow and then added 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice and the zest of two lemons to the cream cheese mixture. YUMMY.



Some of the other suggestions are available in the cookbook or on Food Network

Cindy's Cheesy Potatoes - Easy

My mother-in-law has some very interesting dishes that she makes. She claims that she isn't a good cook but she has some foods that she specializes in and she really does a nice job with them. One of them is cheesy potatoes. These are perfect for a bar-b-que or christmas dinner. They are SO easy and the taste great, what's better than a starch covered in cheese???

Cindy's Cheesy Potatoes
1 package of frozen hashbrowns (I told you this was easy!)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
8 oz (2 cups) shredded cheese
diced onion (optional, I clearly leave this out)

Mix all ingredients
Bake at 350* for 1 hour.

I forgot to take a picture! Sorry, it was great and everyone at my friend Ellie's bar-b-que loved them! Give them a try for your next party!

Lots of Gardening! - window boxes

We also decided to put some plants in our window boxes this year. We went to a place just outside of Okemos called VanAtta's greenhouse. That place was amazing. I was a bit overwhelmed but the window boxes are in lots of shade which makes the choices a bit limited. The window boxes by the garage gets a bit more sun so we got to put Gerber Daisies in out there which I really like. We have begonias on the porch. All of the boxes have pansies, dahlias, and some other random cool looking flowers. I think we bought too many flowers, the boxes are REALLY full and they haven't even grown yet! Here are some pics, probably too many but I worked really hard!

Lots of Gardening! - veggies

Well, its Memorial Day weekend which used to mean three days of sleeping in and goofing around. Now that we're homeowners holiday weekends become great excuses to work on the house! Ugh! Being pregnant makes some tasks a bit more difficult and I get tired very easily but the good news is that it all got done and we still got to do something fun each day, like go to the Tiger's game and go to a couple of bar-b-ques.

So, on Friday we bought our veggie seeds and then went to dinner. We bought watermelon, cucumber, corn, cauliflower seeds. We also bought a green pepper plant. I looked long and hard for potato seeds but then I thought, uhhh, potatoes don't have seeds! I called Dad and he filled me in on what to do. I was lucky (or lazy) enough to find some very well started potatoes in my cupboard. Apparently I had big plans to make a lot of roasted potatoes and I forgot they were in there!

So, last week we prepared the beds so we were good and ready to plant on Saturday. We planted a few rows of corn along with the little green pepper plant.


Then we planted watermelon in little hills and our cauliflower



Lastly, we planted our potatoes (with some significant 'eyes' which were more like fingers) and cucumbers. I think this bed is going to get hopelessly overgrown but Chad seems to think it will be just fine! :)


I am looking forward to keeping everyone posted on our veggie plant growth and development. I always think it is such a fun science experiment. Especially when the whole thing costs so little to start up!

Are you playing ping pong?

So, I can finally feel the baby moving around in there! I am about 19 weeks along and if one more person asks me "what are you having?" I might scream. I sometimes say, "I'm hoping its a human!" hehehehe, nothing like a sarcastic fat lady!
So, anyway, we go in for our 'big ultrasound' on June 6th. Contrary to popular belief that ultrasound is to check the baby's growth and development and *not* just an appointment to determine the baby's gender! :)

Our baby is quite active. I am sure Chad (an former avid soccer star) is thrilled to hear that our baby feels like a soccer player already! It is the weirdest feeling to know that there is a human being inside my abdomen. I know that it has been in there for a while, but when you can actually feel it moving, it is something different entirely! Honestly, most days I still kinda feel like I am talking about someone else being pregnant or having a baby, but when I feel that little mouser in there, I believe that it's mine! YIKES!
I will say this, though, this baby does NOT like to be squished up. Whenever I sit down and bend over (like when I am testing kids at work) the baby starts trying to kick me so I will sit up. Mouser does NOT like being squished! HAHAHA! S/He is fiesty like mom already! ;)

I hope everyone has a good day, I am looking forward to a long weekend coming up here soon! WHOO HOOO!

Kids say the darndest things

So I told the parents of my Kindergarteners on Friday that I am pregnant. Honestly, I couldn't really hide it anymore and I was getting tired of people staring at my bulging stomach since no one should ever ask if someone is pregnant!
So yesterday and today my kids have been talking about it amongst themselves. It is funny to hear what they have to say about it.
At the end of the day, however, I had my purse with me because I had to go right to the GI doc after work. One little boy in my class said, "You have to go to the doctor so he can take your baby out!"
I said, "no, my baby has to cook a little longer in my belly."
Then he said, "are you going to eat your baby?"
I guess it was a valid question. I forget that they are very literal about everything and many of them are not developmentally ready to understand double meanings or jokes. It was just such a funny response!

Just don't worry . . .

Okay, so we all know that I'm pregnant. I also have Crohn's disease which is an intestinal issue that is lots of fun, let me tell you! My disease is in remission right now and it is generally under control. In fact, with my medication I should be fine for a while. Of course, this disease like many others reacts to hormonal changes. Maybe you didn't know this but being pregnant messes with your hormones. There are a great many people that get a severe flare up of Crohn's right after they give birth when hormones are at their peak.
I went in to my Gasteroenterologist (well the PA, not my regular doc) today for a routine follow up after a small flare 6 weeks ago. I decided to ask her about what might happen after the baby is born, when to call, what to look for, what to do if there is a problem etc. She gave me some good answers and then said, "but just don't worry." Stress does increase an already existing flare but I found her statement hillarious.
'SURE', I thought, 'I will just forget all of the literature I read that said it is very likely to get sick after giving birth. I just won't worry about being too sick to get out of bed with a newborn at home that I am responsible for. I will just laugh off the fact that last time I got sick enough to go to the hospital for a few days, and I will ignore the fact that even if I catch it early, the treatment will be harsh enough that I will have to switch to formula.' Sounds relaxing to me! :)
Actually, believe it or not, I am not too concerned about it, I know there isn't much I can do to prevent it. I just found her response amusing! I just thought I would share!

Still pregnant now school too!

Well, my next round of classes start up today. I am taking an online master's class from May 12-June 30th. It is about literacy assessment and I am very excited about the prospect of updating and changing the way I assess the kids in my classroom! I am also taking a professional development course that really picks up after school gets out. Then I am taking 2 more classes Starting July 1st. One of them meets two afternoons a week and the other meets once a week and then has an online component. SO at least I will keep busy this summer! The problem is that being pregnant, working full time as a Kindergarten teacher (they are NUTS right now), taking a class, and doing all the house adds up to a VERY tired Amy. Oh boy, it didn't take long to get me tired before but add a fetus, laundry and making dinner and I am all but spent. Oh well, I am sure I will make it through, I always do! I hope you are having a restful day!

So as it turns out . . .

I'm pregnant! Most of you (family members etc.) know this already but I finally have some cute pics to post! The first pictures are right before my mom and I went shopping for a plethora of maternity clothes. Then you can see how cute one of my new dresses looks when Mom and I went to my cousin Amanda's baby shower.






So, I am 17 weeks along and I am due in October. I am not so sick anymore but that would basically account for my lack of posting. I have been pretty tired and my nightly naps have been pretty long. I do have to say that being a Kindergarten teacher and being pregnant are not a great combonation! I am not sure if we will find out if it is a boy or a girl, its up to Chad and he's not sure yet. He doesn't think there are enough surprises in life. I think that I will be just as surprised at 20 weeks as at 40! ;)
So, anyway, that is my big news. It's not a huge secret as pretty much everyone knows and if they don't they haven't apparently they haven't seen my big belly lately! I just wanted to share!