Vinh's birthday!

This is us exactly 9 years ago on Vinh's 30th birthday. His hair was short and spiky and mine was on its way to being blonde. We weren't dating yet, but I guess we were getting there. We all had dinner at a nice restaurant. We went out to a friend's bar and celebrated into the wee hours of the night. Then without any sleep, I left to catch a 6am flight to Colorado to go on a snowboarding trip! The ride to the airport was pretty painful... but oh my have times changed since then. Just the thought of an all-nighter hurts me!

For my hubby's 39th birthday, we spent a quiet evening at home with our kids and some family. I made an Italian dish, and to be quite honest, I'm not even sure if Vinh really likes that type of food. My inspiration was an episode of The Pioneer Woman that featured her Chicken Parmigiana dish. She made it for her husband on his birthday... so I kind of copied her. 

To continue with the theme of Pioneer Woman inspired recipes, I made her blackberry cobbler, too. I love this recipe because it's more cakey than a true cobbler. I've never been a cobbler fan until I've had this one. It's so easy to bake and very simple. 

To round out the desserts, I made the rest of Ina's chocolate chunk cookies. Tasted even better and baked so beautifully after a few days of refrigeration. 

(Just bought a Silpat and love it!)

(A few snapshots of kids... Harper loves that Cozy Coupe!)

And at the end of the birthday dinner, we gathered around and sang happy birthday to Vinh... and of course, the little guy blew out the candles! Whew. I'm so tired from all the cooking, but so happy that everyone enjoyed the food and had a good time. I'd say this birthday party was a success! Happy birthday, honey!!

Chicken Parmigiana

recipe from The Pioneer Woman

4 whole (up To 6) Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, trimmed and pounded flat
½ cups All-purpose Flour
Salt And Pepper, to taste
½ cups Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
¾ cups Wine (white Or Red Is Fine)
3 cans (14.5 Oz.) Crushed Tomatoes
2 Tablespoons Sugar
¼ cubes Chopped Fresh Parsley
1 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 pound Thin Linguine

Mix flour, salt, and pepper together on a large plate. Dredge flattened chicken breasts in flour mixture. Set aside. At this time, you can start a pot of water for your pasta. Cook linguine until al dente.

Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter is melted and oil/butter mixture is hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.

Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and keep warm.

Without cleaning skillet, add onions and garlic and gently stir for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the flavorful bits off the bottom. Allow wine to cook down until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.

Pour in crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add sugar and more salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for 30 minutes. Toward the end of cooking time, add chopped parsley and give sauce a final stir.

Carefully lay chicken breasts on top of the sauce and completely cover them in grated Parmesan. Place lid on skillet and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly heated. Add more cheese to taste.

Place cooked noodles on a plate and cover with sauce. Place chicken breast on top and sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.

Blackberry Cobbler

recipe from The Pioneer Woman

1 stick Butter
1-¼ cup Sugar
1 cup Self-Rising Flour
1 cup Milk
2 cups Blackberries (frozen or fresh)

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Butter a baking dish.

Now rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter; distributing evenly. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the top.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. If you desire, sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.

Extras

-For the chicken dish, I used chicken broth instead of wine. I'm not opposed to cooking with alcohol, I just didn't have any wine.

-I didn't use any onion because I don't like them... unless it's an onion ring.

-I did freshly grate my parmesan. I actually freshly grate all my cheeses now. I learned it from Ina. 

-I used one big can of crushed tomatoes and a small can of diced since I couldn't find three small cans of crushed. 

-I used frozen berries in the cobbler.

Red Velvet Cake

I baked this red velvet cake and... oh my goodness... the batter alone is most definitely what dreams are made of. Trust me! I've scoured the internet and I've read a lot of comments on what a true red velvet is. There's all kinds of different information out there. What seems to be consistent is that the cake was made famous by New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Which is strange to me because I always considered it a Southern Cake...  I mean Hello... On Steel Magnolias the groom's cake for Shelby's wedding was an armadillo shaped red velvet! But all historical information aside, this cake is a winner! I was really interested in trying a roux based frosting for this cake, but I decided to go with cream cheese because I was just too lazy to make the roux.

I threw out all the extra frosting before I realized I could have piped some pretty borders on it. It would have definitely covered up my bad icing job. But even though I think it's a little plain, my son gave me tons of encouragement by telling me how pretty it is. Love that kid!

And since it's my husband's birthday tomorrow, I decided to do an early blowing out of the birthday cake. Mostly because I was eager to cut a slice and I'm not baking another cake for tomorrow (he's getting a birthday cobbler). And also because my oldest just loves the whole thing... the song, the cheering, and especially blowing out them candles. He's a hoot! 

Red Velvet Cake

recipe from Hummingbird bakery

8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 egg

5 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

4 Tablespoons red food coloring mixed with 2 Tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Turn mixer to high and add  the eggs.  Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste.  Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined.  You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk.  Add half of the flour and salt and mix until combined.  Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour.  Beat on high until smooth.

Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar.  Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.

Spoon batter into prepared cake pans and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.

Let rest in the pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

recipe from Hummingbird Bakery

4 2/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

6 Tablespoons butter, room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, cold 

Beat the powdered sugar, and butter together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Mix on medium-slow speed until it comes together and is well mixed.

Add the cream cheese all at once and beat on medium to medium-high until incorporated.

Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes, or until the frosting becomes light and fluffy. Do not over-beat as the frosting can become runny.

Extras

-I used 2 9-inch pans, but sliced the cake into four layers and I ended up needing double the frosting.

-I froze my cakes after it completely cooled because I read that it made cakes extra moist. I could not tell the difference, but it might be a trial and error kind of thing. 

-I only had one 2 oz bottle of red food coloring (McCormick Red) so I added an additional 1/4 tsp of gel (Americolor Super Red).