Flavors of Kentucky

I received a few cookbooks as bridal shower/wedding gifts. I've started to reference them on a normal basis for different recipe ideas. My friend Amy gave me a "Flavors of Kentucky" cookbook that features the state's best recipes. I love seeing local ingredients, even Bourbon, used in the majority of the recipes. I decided to give the Bourbon Fudge Cake a try to go along with a dinner menu I planned for myself, Alex and his cousin Amanda.

After 15-20 minutes prep time, 80 minutes in the oven and 20 minutes cooling, the cake came out just perfect. It's a cake I will make over and over again - the recipe looked intimidating at first, but was actually very simple.

 Alex suggested that it could be my signature dessert. I would personally like to come up with my own recipes before I start having signature dishes, but this does seem to be a favorite already. Don't let the name mislead you, while it does have bourbon in it (and coffee) it's only meant to enhance the taste of the chocolate. It's a light and fluffy chocolate cake with the perfect amount of chocolate flavoring if you ask me!

                                                                 Bourbon Fudge Cake



Here's the recipe straight from the book:Bourbon is as common as vanilla for flavoring cakes, pies, and puddings in Kentucky. When a dinner or Derby party calls for a special dessert, here's one that's a winner every time.

2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa
1 3/4 c. water
2 tsp. instant espresso
1/4 c. bourbon
5 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened
2 c. sugar
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking power
Dash of salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Coat a 12-cup Bundt pan and dust with unsweentened cocoa. Remove excess cocoa and set aside.

Combine the water, instant epresso and bourbon in a medium-size heavy saucepan. Simmer over low heat for 3 minutes. Add the chocolate and butter; cook over moderate heat, stirring until the mixture is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat. Add the sugar and stir until well-blended. Let cool for 3 minutes.

Transfer the chocolate mixture to a large bowl. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, to the chocolate mixture using an electric mixer on medium speed. Continue to beat for 1 minute after all the flour has been added. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla extract and mix until smooth. The batter will be thin.

Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Bake for 80 to 90 minutes (mine only need 80) or until a cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of th epan. Cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack, remove the pan and cool completely (I cut and served immediately and did not crumble and was delicious to eat warm!). Serve at room temperature.

Makes 12 servings.

Here's the picture of the cake the day after I made it.. (just too yummy not to share!)

Enjoy!

Couples Who Play Together Stay Together

This past weekend, Alex and I made a trip with friends out to Maryland for some skiing. Prior to this past weekend I had only skied once or twice, while Alex had never skied. At first when our friend invited us we were a little hesitant because we weren't "skiers." (I personally think the sport can be a little intimidating for those that have not experienced it).

After our friend asked us again if we were going to come along, we decided to go all in. We decided that life's too short and we spend so much time on work, errands and chores, why not fit in as many adventures as possibile too?

It ended up being a great weekend away. While it was absolutely exhausting and involved 12 hours of driving within three days, it was worth it. We were able to get to know our new friends in Lexington more, as well as meet some other new friends. We had a brand new experience together and marveled at the beautiful scenery in Western Maryland.

Weekends like this remind you of the benefits of having a significant other. Alex and I were the only beginner skiers, so we stuck together the entire time and neither one of us had to pretend like we were better skiers than we were! There were a couple points where I was feeling very apprehensive and wanted to give up, but Alex was there to coax me to try again, and I was glad I did.

I appreciate his willingness to try new things and his extremely supportive nature. I can't wait until Spring hits in Lexington and we can have more impromptu weekend adventures!

P.S. On The Bachelorette, Michelle (and maybe some of the other girls) has talked about how the girls that are able to do physical activities with Brad (or whatever bachelor) they usually have an edge up because they've formed a bond with the bachelor that comes from taking on those types of adventures. I think this comes from the fact that things like skiing, zipling, scaling walls and waterfalls, all require trust and encouragement. Out of curiousity I googled the topic and there were plenty of articles, here's one good one about the positive benefits of physical activity on relationships.

Household Item Appreciation Day

One thing I've noticed after being married (or just from getting older) is that we start to appreciate more practical items in a way we never have before.

Below is my list of the 10 things I couldn't live without (well I could.. but why would I?). I posed this question to Alex and his response was "1. MINI BLENDER.... by far my favorite. After that i have no favorite....(I need to give this one a little thought)."

I'll be curious to see what the man of the house comes up with and how it compares to my list.

1.       Sponges, dishrags, towels…

• Anything use to wipe surfaces clean! (It’s difficult to have a spotless apartment, but I at least have to have all of the counters and tables clean and free of crumbs at all times

2.       A soap dispenser filled with dish soap

• We have brushes that have dish soap in them, but having the dispenser makes it easy to soak items in soapy water and clean the wine glasses that I can’t use the cleaning brushes on -  broke two that way oops!

3.       Good smelling candles

• These help make the apt smell good and they help me get into a good mind frame.. right now I’m burning a Fresh Cut Roses yankee candle to get into the spirit of Valentine’s day and infuse a little spring!

4.       Measuring tape & sewing kit

• Very useful for ordering clothes online and making sure they’re right size.. also the seam riper is handy for those new clothes!)

5.       Girly tool set

• This comes in handy because I know how to use everything in it and it’s easy to grab because it’s so light!

6.       Ice maker

• Love not having to empty ice cube trays and refill them

7.       Recycling bins & shredder

• recycling makes me feel like I’m doing my part for the environment and it evens help me organize “trash”)

8.       Blinds/curtains

• Love opening them in the morning and closing them at night. This is probably a habit from my childhood, but there's something refreshing about opening them when the sun has risen and letting in the sunshine.

9.       DVR

• I love to watch tv, but this ensures that I don’t miss anything – tv shows or nights out with friends or nights in with alex

10.   Coffeemaker

• Although it’s annoying to clean this out every day, I love the auto program function, it’s easier for me to wake up when my coffee is already ready!

I love to know how people think, so to me it's really interesting to see how people respond to a prompt like this... I think it can actually tell you alot about a person (Alex's response is so Alex. He likes to keep life simple).