New Eats & Book Giveaway

Hello and happy Wednesday! 

I have three things I am pretty excited about and

want to share with you today. 

1. Roasted Tomatoes--I tried these last night. Quick. Easy. Delicious. Perfect for those garden tomatoes that are coming in.

2. Avocado Tuna Salad--Also tried this last night. I changed the recipe slightly. I used diced cucumbers instead of onions. Also added sliced almonds. Yum!

3. Secrets of Persimmons Forest E-Book--I recently read this book and had to share it with you all. This is a great read for all ages. Set in Louisiana, it's tale of twin sisters with a dark secret. It's full of suspense and fun too! 

Want to win an e-book copy?

Just click HERE and enter to win by July 21st!
Good luck to everyone!

 

What's For Dinner #2

I picked up a copy of Make and Take by Better Homes & Gardens the other day because I was looking for some easy recipes. 

And sometimes it's nice to hold the recipe book in your hand instead of looking online.

This is a fun magazine. It has all sorts of interesting (and easy) recipes to make and take to family picnics or church dinners.

Inside I picked out a couple recipes to make for dinner tonight. 

Here's what on the menu tonight.

Upside Down Pizza Casserole

  
I used the recipe found in the link but added to the mixture black olives and mushrooms...yum!!
 

And for dessert..

Lemon-Blueberry Salad

This recipe was so quick. 
2 packs of lemon pudding mix
mixed with 2 cups of milk.
Add 12 oz of cool whip. Mix.
Add 3 cups of fresh blueberries with 2 cups of crushed vanilla wafers. 

What are you cooking for dinner tonight??
Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

Hello Spring

Click here to find more seasonal quotes.

 Summertime. 

It's my favorite season. Unless autumn has finally arrived. 

Then it's my favorite. Boots, scarves, and pumpkins. 

They get me every time.

Christmas comes along quickly with it's many festivities. If we're lucky the first snowfall soon after-and it's beautiful. 

After so long the winter starts to look cold and bleak. 

Then enters spring. It's wonderful. 

Colors begin to peak through the grass, trees, and mountains. I think God must have known what He was doing putting spring after winter. New life is all around and so is the sunshine. 

I believe that's my favorite part of spring. Fresh flowers and sunshine.

In celebration of spring - here is a handful of links to get you prepped and ready for the season!

Enjoy! 

 

 

 

Let's Eat Cake....Again

A few weeks ago I did a post about about naked cakes. 

If you missed it you can read it here.

In the post I talked about trying to make a naked cake of my own. I actually did make one. Sadly, this is it. Just go ahead and stick this cake on your Pinterest fail board.

Naked Cake No.1

In my defense, it did taste good. 
However, I realized there just wasn't enough frosting. I used one box of cake mix and one can of frosting. 
Yep. Not near enough frosting. 

It looked a little sad, so I had the bright idea to then cut the sides off. Somehow I thought that would make it look better. 

It didn't. 
Enter naked cake no. 2. 

Naked Cake No.2

  I decided to give it another go. 

My brother's birthday was coming up, so I figured it was worth another shot. This time I was prepared. 

 I used a triple chocolate cake mix, which had pudding in the mix. One I had it mixed, I then added a cup of applesauce in the batter to make it even more moist. I wanted to be certain I had enough frosting. I did. With plenty to spare at that! 

I found a wonderful peanut butter frosting at this Cleobuttera website. It was light and airy--the perfect pairing with a chocolate cake. Just like a huge Reese cup. Which is why I decided to decorate the top with crushed mini Reese cups.

 

 My advice on making a naked cake? Be sure to have plenty of frosting on hand. The layers look so much better filled to the brim! Another thing I found handy was a side scraper. 

This really helped to make the look I was going for. 

I wanted to just smooth the excess frosting along the sides without actually frosting the sides. There you have it. My official naked cake. We won't mention the first one again...

 Here are a couple great websites to show how to make your own.

Easy Naked Cake How-To 

& Smoothed Sides Naked Cake How-To Video

Have Cake. Eat it too.

Who here likes cake? 

Or should I say who doesn't like cake?!

I have always had a sweet tooth--especially for cake. 

Of any kind. 

I must confess. My all time favorite is the boxed cake mix. That might have made all you made-from-scratch bakers out there cringe, but it's true. 

Growing up, it's what my mom made for my brothers and I almost every year on our birthday. 

You know what the best frosting ever is???

 Rainbow Chip by Betty Crocker. 

Don't just take my word for it. 

Check it out yourself! 

It was discontinued for a year or so but was brought back by popular demand. 

Yep. Its that good!

Speaking of cake---While browsing through Pinterest the other day, I stumbled upon a interesting but beautiful cake. It was called a naked cake. 
I had never heard of this before, so of course--I googled it.

From what I could gather, a naked cake is created when the frosting or topping covers only the cake top and in between the layers but not the sides. Therefore leaving the sides exposed or--naked. 

Many of you have already heard of this trend, since countless blogs and magazines have been talking about it for some time, including Country Living who featured these last August. This style seems to be a popular trend for weddings and parties. 

I love the concept of this cake! 
I hope to be back in a few days with my version of a naked cake. 

In the meantime, here are a few of my favorties I found on Pinterest.

1. http://www.stylesweetca.com/blog/2016/1/6/how-to-make-a-naked-cake
2.
http://www.thenest.com/Recipes/87886/detailview.aspx?STOPREDIRECTING=TRUE&id=87886&type=7&recipe_ingredients=Chocolate&PgReferrer=results.aspx
3. https://www.instagram.com/p/8U43PxNQDx/
4. http://justdestinymag.com/how-to-make-beautiful-naked-cakes/
5. http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2015/05/naked-cake-tips/
6. http://whatsgabycooking.com/naked-birthday-cake/

--UPDATE--
Just wanted to let every know..I did try a naked cake of my own. However, I can't bring myself to post pictures of it. I'll try again next week and see if the second is any better! It's harder than it looks. Just sayin'...

The Boutique

I have a secret. I need to share it. 

 It's called The Boutique.



 It's been around for a few years now, but I have only recently truly discovered it. It's our local southern girl shopping destination. 

Let me tell you a little about it...

You know the feeling you get when you walk into your favorite clothing store? You walk in, look around and it seems everything was made with you in mind? 
It's a wonderful feeling.

That's the same reaction I get when I walk into this place. Especially if the words SALE or NEW ARRIVALS are in the equation.

 

These ladies know how to make a girl feel at home. From knowing your name--not because you frequent so often--to the perfectly gift bagged purchase, you can't wait to come back and see them again. 

Inside The Boutique you're going to find some of the latest fashions, complete with scarves, jewelry, and handbags to match. They have a wide range of brands from Miss Me Jeans to Missy Robertson and Simply Southern to Betsey Johnson. This isn't just any boutique though.

The reason it's so unique--they also offer a menu of delicious foods. Favorites such as chicken salad, sandwiches, muffins, and teas-- just to name a few. 
Like I said, the ultimate southern girl stop.

So can you see why I shouldn't keep this a secret any longer? 
It's too good not to share.

You might not be a local person, but no worries. 

You can still shop online from my favorite place anytime. 

Check them when you can by clicking on the logo below.
Enjoy!

 All pictures were taken from here.