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!

Ducky cookie favors and cake - Kacey's Shower

I think one of my favorite parts of the shower was the duck cookies I made for favors. It was my first attempt at royal icing and while it was messy and I don't think it tasted that great it looked beautiful.

I made sugar cookies from the Better Homes and Garden's cook book. I made the cookies on a snow day in February and then froze them until the shower. I made royal icing based on the Martha Stewart recipe. I made the royal icing with meringue powder because Kacey shouldn't have raw egg whites which are usually in the icing.

I decorated each duck cookie with yellow and then put a squirt of orange and spread it with a skewer for the beak. I also gave each duck a brown eye and a pretty pink bow. I was really proud of my work!

The best part was putting the ducks into individual cellophane bags. I tied each bag with a pink ribbon with while polka dots. I placed them on a big lazy susan that my mom made me and placed another sign in front of the platter so everyone knew to take one when they left.


I got a cake from Sam's club with a ducky on it as well. The chocolate cake was DELICIOUS! I will continue to get cakes from them because of the good taste, ease of ordering, and great price! It was much easier than making a cake, which was kinda out of the question since I thew the shower by myself!

Baby Pink Punch - Kacey's Shower

So, I looked all over for the perfect recipe for Kacey's shower but I didn't feel like making that sherbert punch and I didn't want to put Jell-O in it so I made up my own punch.

Amy's Baby Pink Punch
1 can pink lemonade concentrate - thawed
2 liters of sprite
1 bag frozed strawberries
ice cubes (I made little star-shaped ice cubes)

Mix well in a punch bowl - enjoy!

Everyone loved this punch and it was INCREDIBLY easy to make. It was a bit tart but that's what made it fun. The strawberries were mostly for decoration and keeping it cold but it was quite pretty for a little girl baby shower.

Cheese Dip - Kacey's Shower

For Kacey's shower I also wanted to have some munchies for people while they were waiting for everyone to arrive. I made my mother in law's tried and true cheese spread. I am tempted to make you try it before you read the ingredients. Everyone LOVES the cheese spread when they eat it but the ingredients are weird. They all work together very well but its hard to believe that it would work!

Cindy's Famous Cheese Dip:
Melt cheese (velvetta 1 large box) in a double Boiler

In a separate bowl mix:
1 cup of Catalina Dressing
1 cup of French Onion Dip
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

After the cheese is melted pour the cheese into the dressing, dip, butter mixture and mix with mixer. Pour into smaller containers.

Ooookay, I know what you are thinking, I warned you. Honestly, though, its SO yummy! You should really give it a try at your next get together.

Strawberry Walnut Spinach Salad - Kacey's Shower

For Kacey's shower I also made a green salad, like I said I wanted to serve something spring-like so I decided to make this salad which has been a favorite of mine in the past and is WONDERFUL for entertaining. I got this recipe from Kraft Food and Family magazine.

Layered Strawberry Salad
4 cups baby spinach leaves
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
3 cups torn Boston lettuce (I used romaine)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced, separated into rings (I put this on the side because I HATE onions, in fact it made me ill just to cut them!)
2 cups strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup PLANTERS Walnut Halves, toasted
1/2 cup KRAFT Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

I also offered Raspberry and Ranch dressings, most people chose raspberry. I also included the recipe card in front of this dish so that everyone knew what it was. This salad was a big hit again and it did make everyone long for spring again! I served the salad with croissants from Sam's club, they were SO flaky and tender, yum!

Fruit Salad - Kacey's Shower

For my friend Kacey's shower I made a fruit salad that was delicious. Our friend Heidi is allergic to pineapple and anything it touches so I decided to leave it out even though I LOVE it. So here is my fruit salad recipe it was PLENTY (more than enough) for 20 people.

Fruit Salad
1 canteloupe
1 small seedless watermelon
3 kiwi fruit
2 cans of mandarin orange segments
2 big boxes of strawberries
1 small container of raspberries
1 big bunch of green grapes
1 big bunch of red grapes

I sliced all of the fruits the day before and kept them in seperate containers so that the fruit salad didn't get mushy. It was SO yummy. I also put a menu card in front of the fruit salad at the shower so everyone knew what was in the salad. I embelleshed it with a duck to go with the theme!

Kacey's Shower

Okay, so I threw a baby shower at the beginning of the month and I haven't blogged about it yet, so sue me! I am excited to show all of the little details that went into making a special day for my friend and fellow Kindergarten teacher, Kacey.

I had about 20 people over on Sunday, March 2nd to celebrate Kacey's second baby. I know its kinda taboo to have a shower for a second baby but Kacey lived in Florida and none of us knew her then. At that point she only had one very small shower and didn't get to celebrate in a big way. Now, the other big factor here is that Kacey has a four year old boy and Kacey is VERY excited to welcome a baby girl! So, we were all excited to get her some cute, frilly girly outfits and accessories. We were all happy to get together to celebrate the birth of her new daughter.

Okay, so first I decided that I was sick of winter so I had a spring menu of fruit salad, croissants, and green salad with strawberries, mozzarella, and walnuts. I also made a delicious punch in my mom's deluxe punch bowl. I made ice with a star shaped ice cube tray. The punch was simple with frozen pink lemonade concentrate mixed with sprite and frozen strawberries.

I had a duck theme so the cake had ducks and the favor was a duck shaped sugar cookie that I made and decorated with royal icing. I also had some cute decorations to make everything just right.

Here are some pictures:

New Year's Day and the BIG game - Pork Tenderloin

Well, it is New Year's Day and after our ditch episode last night (see 2 posts below) we had my Aunt Pat, Unc, and Chad's parents over to watch the game. We had lots of snacks including Cindy's famous cheese spread (I will publish the recipe soon) with garlic toast, Aunt Pat's veggie tray, more taco chips and dip and a delicious lunch. We had pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes (which were a suprise even to me!)
I made the marinade for the tenderloin on New Year's Eve and let it marinate overnight. It came out moist, tender, and delicious. It was my first tenderloin so I was nervous but I was very happy with the results.

Pork Tenderloin
courtesy of the Food Network

Ingredients
1 1/2 - 2 lbs. pork tenderloin
Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoon dry red wine
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated ginger (I omitted this because I didn't have it)
1/2 teaspoon groun cinnamon
2 green onions (green part only), chopped. Yeah right, I used onion powder.

Combine the marinade ingredients in a measuring cup and whisk together. Pour over pork in a plastic bag. Marinate overnight.


Preheat oven to 350* F. Bake for 45 minutes until the meat is 145* F internally.
Well, I don't have a meat thermometer so I just cooked it for 50 minutes because my oven tends to undercook things. I cooked it in a 9x13 pan lined with aluminum foil. I turned the tenderloin over a couple of times while it was cooking and used my basting brush to get the juice on top of the meat twice during cooking.

Allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes. Then cut into 2 inch pieces. Drizzle some of the juice over each piece before serving (I just used my brush to brush each side with a bit of the cooking juices on the serving platter). I was really happy with how this turned out! It was so delicious!

We finished up the gameday meal with the other half of my trifle (see recipe below). I made it right before I served it with the other half of my ingredients.

Plan B- Garlic Mashed Potatoes

So I was planning on roasting some potatoes to go along with my pork tenderloin but I got out the bag and they were soft and wrinkly. I knew I couldn't use them but I already had people over so I had to find a plan B. Then I remembered a couple of months ago when Meijer was having a sale on boxed potatoes and I bought a box of Betty Crocker garlic mashed potatoes. The box had two pouches of 4 servings so it was perfect for our group of 6. They were extremely easy to make and it was actually a much better idea than screwing around with a bunch of potatoes in the oven. They were really good and I think I will make them again when people come over!

New Year's Eve, the ditch, and Chocolate Toffee Trifle

For New Year's Eve we decided to go to my friend Alison's house which is about 20 minutes south of where we live. It was 3 couples and my friend Kacey's three year old son, Evan, who is obsessed with Superman. In fact, he has a cape that he refuses to take off and if he for some reason is not wearing a Superman shirt and you call him Superman he will say, "Ahhm Clarr Kennn" which means "I'm Clark Kent." It's pretty funny.
So anyway we played games, ate food, and got stuck in a ditch! OH YEAH! Lots of fun in the 8 or so inches of snow we got. Fortunately we were right outside of Ali's house on the way home when it happend. We waited a long time for AAA to send us a tow truck so we decided to call one of our own. By the time it all resolved it was so late and the roads were so bad that we ended up sleeping at Ali's. It worked out well because I didn't want to drive home in that junk, especially with the New Year's drunks on the road.
But anyway, before all of those dramatics we ate some delicious food. I made taco pie cups, taco dip (see below), and Chocolate Toffee Trifle. I think it is my new fav desert. I used the recipe below but I made half of it for New Year's Eve and I kept the second half of the ingredients seperate for New Year's Day. Don't assemble this dessert too far ahead of time or it could get soggy.

Chocolate Toffee Trifle
courtesy of the Food Network

Ingredients
1 box chocolate cake mix (I used Devil's Food)
1/2 cup coffee liqueur
2 cups fudge sauce
3 chocolate covered toffee bars (Heath Bars), broken into pieces
2 big containers of Cool Whip or whipped cream

Directions
Prepare the cake according to the box instructions in a 9x13 pan.
Cool throughly.
Poke the entire top of the cake with a fork and pour the coffee liqueur over the cake to soak in.
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Slice the cake into 1 inch thick pieces.
Then line the bottom of a large glass bowl with a layer of cake. Pour 1/3 of the hot fudge sauce and a 1/3 of the Heath bar on top of the cake. Then top it with whipped cream. Repeat this two more times.
I used some of the chocolate sauce on the top to make it pretty.

Like I said, I only used 1/2 at a time and it made a big dessert. Enjoy!

Taco Pie Cups and Taco Dip

So I thought I would make something at Alison's that everyone would like. I know that Kacey, Ali, Chad, and I all love taco pie so I decided to make taco pie in a muffin tin to make it easier to eat at the party. It was just like the original but it was a bit of work to make the cresents do what I wanted. Also, I didn't have too much room for the layers so each cup has Taco Doritos, meat, and cheese. I couldn't do the double layers of chips and cheese but it worked out okay. Honestly, my favorite part is the cresent anyway. To make the cresent rolls the right shape I took the larger rectangles and pinched the seam and cut them into squares to put into the cup. I cooked them for 6 minutes empty, layered in the ingredients, and cooked for about 15 minutes.
I brought them in my new pyrex portable that Chad got me for Christmas. It was so handy! It turned out to be a good party food!

I also used my other pyrex portable to bring taco dip and chips to Ali's. I just used the extra taco meat from the taco pie cups. It worked out wonderfully!

Michigan vs. Michigan State

So this was Michigan/Michigan State weekend and we had a couple of people over to watch the game. Now, I live pretty close Michigan State's campus but wouldn't you know that we were all Michigan fans at my house. The game was exciting, our team won, and we had PLENTY to eat! I think the coolest thing was the military jets that did the fly over at MSU's stadium were killing time all by our house. So we got to see (and hear) them making lazy circles in the sky until they ZOOMED off toward the stadium. It was very cool!
So, when I have people over the first thing I think about is, what will we eat? I always have new recipes to try so I gave a few new recipes a whirl. I will post them each seperately to make it easier to find the recipes later. I made BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, cheesy potato soup, and spinach artichoke dip.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I made BBQ pulled pork sandwhiches for the football party because I knew I could make it ahead and have it in the crockpot for whenever people were hungry for it. This has been an extremely popular recipe on my What's Cooking board on The Nest, so that is where I will credit this recipe. I don't really eat BBQ sauce or much pork so I had a taste or two but I didn't eat a sandwich. Honestly, I was so full from spinach artichoke dip and soup that I couldn't have fit one in my tummy! When I had the porkloin in the crockpot with the rootbeer I couldn't believe how STINKY it was. I had two candles around it at all times because I couldn't stand the smell. It gave it a good flavor, however, when all was said and done! Also, I didn't have any idea that pork tenderloin was so expensive! Luckily, it was buy one get one free at Meijer so I threw one in the freezer. So, without further ado . .

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Ingredients
2 lbs. Pork Tenderloin
12 oz. Rootbeer
1 18 oz. bottle BBQ sauce (Chad likes Sweet Baby Ray's)
Hamburger buns

Directions
Put pork tenderloin in crockpot.
Pour rootbeer over pork.
Set crockpot on low for 6 hours.
After 6 hours take the meat out and shred it with two forks, it was so tender that the shredding was extremely easy.
Clean out the crockpot, empty the rootbeer.
Mix shredded pork with the bottle of bbq sauce.
Cook 1 1/2 hours more in crockpot on low.
I kept mine on low for longer than that and then put it on low during the game.
Serve on hamburger buns (toast if desired).

Cheesy Potato Soup

Honestly, what is better than a crockpot full of delicious soup on a cool fall day? Oh I know, add a bunch of cheese to it!
I got this recipe from Good Eats and Sweet Treats. The original recipe called for broccoli too but I wanted Chad to eat it. As it turns out he didn't eat any anyway, so I guess I could have had some yummy broccoli in there too! I also added some bacon, because really bacon makes almost anything better! This soup was so incredibly easy that I could totally make it on a weeknight after work. I always have these ingredients at my house! Its good to know I can have this delicious soup whenever I want. MMMMMM!

Cheesy Potato Soup

Ingredients:¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 (14.5 oz) cans low sodium, fat-free chicken broth, divided
3 cups peeled, cubed potatoes (about 1.25 lbs)
2 cups broccoli florets, chopped (I omitted this)
1 small onion, chopped
1 ¼ cups 2% reduced fat milk (I used 1/2%)
1 (8 oz) block 2% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I bought a 2 cup bag of shredded cheese and used about another handful from another bag. We like it cheesy)
2% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping (optional)
chopped green onions for topping (optional)
Freshly ground pepper (to taste)
Salt (to taste)

Directions:
Whisk together flour and 1/3 cup chicken broth until smooth. **Set aside**

Combine remaining chicken broth, potatoes, broccoli and onion in a Dutch oven (or large saucepan). Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Cook, stirring often, 5 minutes.

Stir in milk & 8 oz. of freshly shredded cheese. Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until cheese melts. Add salt & pepper to taste. Top each serving of soup with shredded cheese and green onions as desired.

I then put it in a Crockpot on warm and it was good in there for several hours!

Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip

Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip
From Kraft Food and Family Magazine
Ingredients
1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, finely chopped
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
3/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
3/4 cup KRAFT Mayo Light Mayonnaise
1/2 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Directions
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix all ingredients until well blended.
SPOON into 9-inch pie plate or quiche dish.
BAKE 20 min. or until heated through. Serve with TRISCUIT Reduced Fat Crackers and assorted cut-up fresh vegetables.

I served mine with Tostitos Gold chips, pretzel sticks and Tostitos Scoops! YUMMY!

Football Saturday

I finally made the infamous Weight Watchers cake (well cupcakes) and the yummy low-fat pudding/cool whip frosting. Let me just say, it was SO good. I could have licked that bowl of frosting. And of course by could have I mean, I did. The consistency was a little sticky but so good.

Lucious Low-fat Cupcakes

1 box of cake mix
1 can of Coke Zero
Yield 24 cupcakes

Mix together. I put them in cupcake pans with paper liners, which I sprayed because I was worried they would stick because of the lack of fat.

Frosting From My Cooking Blog

1 8oz tub of Cool Whip Light
1 big box (5.1 oz) Fat Free/Sugar Free Instant Vanilla Pudding
1 1/2 cups Milk
1/3 cup confectioner sugar

Mix pudding, milk, and sugar until well combined. Fold in the Cool Whip.
I frosted the cupcakes by using my Pampered Chef cake decorating set. It took a lot of work to keep filling up that little frosting squirter but the frosting was a little runny so it made it easier to get them on the cupcakes.

But that wasn't all. You can't have people over for football and not serve like a million things to snack on. So, in addition to the cupcakes I served:
Shuler's cheese spread with Ritz crackers.

Cheese and Meat dip with tortilla chips
1 small block (or half large block) Velveeta Cheese (2% milk reduced fat)
1 can No Bean Chili

cut Velvetta into small cubes. Mix can of No Bean Chili and cheese and put in microwave until melted (about 3 minutes) stirring at least once during cooking.


I also made a really DELICIOUS pizza roll that I found on Amber's Delictable Delights which is a delightful blog that I have been frequenting.

The pizza roll was a huge hit with the football crowd.



Ingredients:
1 roll Pilsbury French Bread Loaf refrigerated bread dough
2 cups shredded mozzerella cheese
parmesean cheese
Italian seasoning
pepperoni
egg wash (egg white and water)

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350*
Unroll bread dough and cover with almost all of the mozzerella cheese and also sprinkle with parm. Add some pepperoni and a little Italian seasoning. Roll up the bread into a log. Pinch the ends and the seam. Cover with egg wash and cut some slits in the top to let out the steam. Add a few pieces of pepperoni and the rest of the cheese.
Bake at 350* for 20 minutes
Allow to cool 5 minutes
Slice into pieces. I should have sliced into smaller pieces because this disappeared very, very quickly! Everyone loved this quick, easy recipe. I will DEFINTELY make it again! Next time I think I will have to make two because it was gone before you could blink. SO YUMMY!