Tag Archive | lemon

Pucker Up Buttercup-cakes

Love is in the air…or is that just the smell of cupcakes in the oven? Either way, these cupcakes will have you channeling St. Valentine in no time. A classic vanilla cupcake combined with the tartness of pink lemonade is just the incentive needed to pucker up and smooch somebody. This lemony tart concoction is perfectly complimented by a sweet butter cream frosting and packs a deliciously sweet and sour punch. Oh and they’re super easy! They’re perfect for a Valentine’s party or for making for your sweetheart.

Pucker Up Buttercup-cakes
Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

1 box of vanilla cake mix
3 Tablespoons powdered pink lemonade mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup water
red or pink food coloring

Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
4-5 cups powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
yellow food coloring

sprinkles and edible Valentine’s decorations, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line your cupcake pans with paper baking cups.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pink lemonade mix, eggs, oil, and water and beat for several minutes, until combined. Add a few drops of food coloring, until batter is the desired shade of pink.

3. Scoop batter into lined cupcake pans and bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

4. Frosting: In a large bowl, cream together the butter and shortening. Gradually add in the cups of powdered sugar and salt. Beat in the milk and add more powdered sugar if necessary. Add a few drops of yellow food coloring until it’s your desired shade of yellow.

5. Frost the cooled cupcakes with a piping bag or with a spatula. Decorate with optional sprinkles and edible Valentine’s decorations.

It’s time to pucker up! Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bars

Oct1

As soon as the air starts to get crisp and the leaves start to turn, I start dreaming of my favorite fall recipes; hearty soups and stews, apple cider, and wedges of these gloriously amazing pumpkin bars. What makes these bars extra special is that they a cross between a pumpkin cake and a pumpkin pie. These pumpkin bars are so good that they were once heroically saved during a fire that accidentally ignited while I was camping in Yellowstone National Park with friends. Everyone was scrambling to put out the fire but several of the guys screamed for us to save the pumpkin bars, something we still laugh about to this day. As the guys put it afterward, “Thankfully, no pumpkin bars were harmed in the fire.” I hope you enjoy these as much as my family does.

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bars

2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup cinnamon applesauce
2 (15 ounce) cans pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt

Frosting:

8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Beat the eggs and sugar together for several minutes until nicely whipped and creamy.

Add the applesauce, pumpkin, and vanilla and beat until well incorporated.

Gradually add the flour and the rest of the dry ingredients until well blended.

3. Pour batter into a greased jelly roll or sheet pan (15×10″).

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a fork comes out clean. If you don’t have a jelly roll or sheet pan or you prefer thicker bars, you can also bake in a 9×13″ for 25-30 minutes.

***Allow bars to cool completely before frosting.***

4. Frosting: Whip together the cream cheese and butter. Add the vanilla and lemon juice. Gradually whip in the powdered sugar and beat until the mixture is a thick frosting.

5. Frost the cooled bars and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Lemon Shrimp Linguine

Jun19

This recipe pushes all the right flavor buttons—lemon, garlic, herbs, and buttery shrimp with just a hint of heat. It comes together very quickly and is on the table in no time. This refreshing shrimp pasta is perfect for a date night in or for sharing with guests over a bottle of wine and some crusty garlic bread.

Lemon Shrimp Linguine
Serves 2

Ingredients:

9 ounces linguine
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup diced onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons butter
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, devained, and rinsed (If you don’t have fresh then frozen is also totally fine. Just be sure it’s thawed before adding.)
1 cup Italian parsley, roughly chopped
3 lemons, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of liquid.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil for several minutes, until softened. Add butter and ¾ cups of parsley and heat until butter is melted.

Add shrimp and sauté for 3-5 minutes or until shrimp is cooked.

Add cooked pasta and pasta water and toss.

Add lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and ¾ cups of Parmesan cheese and toss until well incorporated.

Serve onto two large plates and garnish with remaining parsley and Parmesan.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Jun5

It’s been a rainy and dreary couple of days here in Charleston so perfect weather for curling up with my pugs and a book and making some soup. My Papa actually shared this recipe for Hungarian Mushroom Soup. He had it at a restaurant a few weeks ago, went crazy for it so made it at home for the family. I couldn’t stop thinking about it so this icky weather was just the necessary push to make a pot of my own. I made it for dinner and it was phenomenal! The richness of this mushroom soup really comes out with the flavors of parsley, dill, lemon and Hungarian paprika. Definitely one to add to the recipe book for cold or rainy days.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin
3 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup sour cream

Heat a large soup pot over medium heat and melt butter. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.

Add mushrooms and garlic and sauté an additional five minutes, stirring regularly.

Stir in dill, paprika, cumin, soy sauce, and broth. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour and milk and add to soup.

Cover and simmer for an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Turn off the heat and add salt and pepper, lemon juice, parsley and sour cream.

Mix together until incorporated. Serve soup in bowls with a dollop of sour cream, a dash of paprika and parsley for color, and a crusty wheat or french bread for dipping.

This soup is so good that you’ll start wishing for cold and rainy days! Many thanks to my Papa (@LifeCoach4Men) for another amazing recipe!

Avgolemono Greek Chicken Soup

May13

This weekend was Charleston’s annual Greek Festival. It’s a great family event, filled with dancing, history lessons, vendors selling crafts and other goods, and delicious Greek delights. As you can imagine, it’s one of my favorite festivals. Sadly, we had a busy weekend so we weren’t able to squeeze it in this year. I was pretty bummed out but cheered myself up by recreating my favorite dish that I typically only get to enjoy once a year at the festival–Avgolemono. It’s basically a Greek Chicken Soup but has this amazing explosion of flavors in each spoonful. It’s unusual because it has an intense lemon flavor and a velvety, almost custard-like texture. May sound a bit odd but that combination of lemon, rice, chicken and veggies is phenomenal and every time I inhale a bowl I promise myself that I’m going to make it. I discovered you can buy it by the can online but I had that promise hanging over my head so I peeled myself off the couch and got into the kitchen. After consulting several recipe and travel websites, and a friend’s Yiayia, I decided to give it a whirl and it turned out beautifully! I didn’t want to spend a whole Sunday in the kitchen so I simplified a lot of the steps (Sorry, Yiayia!) to be more realistic to my busy lifestyle. I also thought it might be an interesting change to try orzo instead of rice. You can stick with rice if you prefer though. I hope you enjoy!

Avgolemono

Ingredients:

1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup carrot, minced
1/2 cup celery, minced
8 cups of chicken broth
1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup of orzo, uncooked
2 T. flour
1 T. butter, melted
4 egg yolks
Salt & Pepper
Fresh chopped parsley

In a large pot, saute onion, garlic, carrots, and celery until softened. Add chicken broth and lemon juice and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium high and add chicken breasts. Let cook for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Remove chicken to cool and reduce liquid to simmer.
Add orzo
Mix melted butter and flour and add to the pot.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks. Gradually add in some of the hot liquid from the pot to the egg mixture, beating vigorously in between so you bring it up to temperature slowly without the eggs scrambling. You’ll end up adding about 2 cups of liquid in the end.
Add the egg yolk mixture to the pot and stir. Season with salt and pepper.
Shred chicken and add back to the pot.
Let simmer for a few minutes until orzo has fully cooked.
Garnish with chopped parsley and enjoy!

If you really want to go Greek, you can also serve with stuffed grape leaves! Yummy!

missbutterbean

Live life to the fullest with yummy recipes, money-saving tips, and crafting fun.

Tag Archive | lemon

Pucker Up Buttercup-cakes

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bars

Lemon Shrimp Linguine

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Avgolemono Greek Chicken Soup