Southern Red Velvet Cake

My friend, Rebecca, made this red velvet cake. WOW...was it ever good?! It was dense, rich and perfect! She got the recipe from Food Network...it's definitely one of my new favorites and I will try making is soon.

Southern Red Velvet Cake

Vegetable oil for the pans

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon fine salt

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour 3 (9 by 1 1/2-inch round) cake pans.In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.Remove the cakes from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. One at a time, invert the cakes onto a plate and then re-invert them onto a cooling rack, rounded-sides up. Let cool completely. Frost if desired (Rebecca used a buttercream frosting which was delish!)

Note: Rebecca made this in a springform pan. I plan on doing the same because it was so dense & rich...YUM!

Thanks Rebecca!

Chicken Pilau

We had friends over for dinner Saturday night. Jason & Rebecca love Indian food, so Anand made some of our favorites.

We had Chicken Pilau, Chicken Tikka Masala, Basmati Peas with Rice, and for dessert we had fresh berries with light whipped cream and a biscotti. It was a great meal! You may ask "but Nicole, I thought you were going vegetarian?". We are working towards that but are "cleaning out the freezer" first. Once the chicken is gone, it's gone. We have to decided that, for now at least, we will be eating seafood though.

So, without further adieu, here is the recipe for Chicken Pilau...

Chicken Pilau

Ingredients:

Thank you to the Mittals!

So, there is a man who was working on a project with Anand. One day, they were scheduled to have a meeting at 9:00 a.m.-Anand told him that he wouldn't be able to make it because he had to take "the twins" to daycare. Well, long story short, this man also has twin daughters!! They are 5 months older than our girls. He & his wife invited us over to their home for lunch and a playdate for our daughters today. We had a great time! The girls all got along great and the food was delicious! We had Butter Chicken, a kidney bean dish, homemade cheese curry, tossed salad, yogurt, and homemade chapathis. I even got a quick chapathi making lesson! Unfortunately, while Anand was holding Suri she pulled the placemat and a glass fell and broke (sorry guys). I promise I will post recipes as soon as I get them, but in the meantime here are some teaser pics!