Rosemary Gone Wild And A Recipe, Too!

Today I pruned my rosemary bush because as you can see, it had gone wild.  I must add that this is the picture after I pruned it!  

 I planted some mint because I just love to make mint iced tea.  

 I also planted some basil which I use quite often for a tomato, onion and basil omlet,  and bruschetta, I must add!

 I haven't gotten thyme yet but that will be my next purchase.  I had some but the rosemary had so taken over my little herb garden that it wasn't doing well.  I weeded the herb bed so that came up too.

I would like to leave you with a great recipe for Oven Lemon Rosemary Salmon. I use it quite frequently because fish is so healthy for you.  Adding the herbs and lemon to the salmon really helps to cut down on the fishiness of the fish.  I have also used the herb topping on chicken and it is just as good if you don't care for seafood.  Try it!

Oven Lemon Rosemary Salmon

1 lb of salmon

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

pinch of freshly ground pepper

2 cloves of garlic

2 tsp of fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

capers(optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the fish into 4 equal portions.  Combine olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary in a bowl.  Brush the mixture onto the fish. 

Place on a greased baking sheet that has sides to it.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until the fish can be flaked with a fork.  To serve, top the fish with capers which is optional. 

Serves 4.

Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

Yumm-o!  Have you all heard of this Ooey Gooey Butter Cake?  It is fabulous!  You can do so many things with a 1 dollar box of cake mix and this one is my favorite!  I wanted to share this recipe because it is one of my children's favorites.  Also, this is a quick recipe to have on hand if you have some quick unannounced show-ups at your house!  Whoops! Oh and I almost forgot that you can add coconut and pecans, you can add peanut butter chips or even chocolate chips to this recipe!  I would love to hear from you if you try it!  I hope you enjoy!

1 hour | 20 min prep

SERVES 12

• 1 (18 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 eggs
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (16 ounce) box powdered sugar

1. Mix cake mix, melted butter and one egg.
2. Pat into 13x9 inch pan.
3. In a separate bowl beat cheese until fluffy.
4. Add 2 remaining eggs to cheese and mix well.
5. Add powdered sugar and beat until lumps are gone.
6. Pour this mixture over cake in pan.
7. bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes or until topping is golden.  (I usually cook it for 45 minutes)
8. Allow to cool somewhat to set topping (slides off when warm).

Toasted Cinnamon and Sugar Pecans

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This evening our family ventured out to the Avalon Spring Festival that was put on by our neighborhood. We walked around and visited many tents with creative things to sell. There were a great deal of jewelry booths, but none like mine, yeah!

I also tasted some garlic grapeseed oil made by Wildtree which is fabulous on italian bread with a few herbs sprinkled on top. I had never heard of Wildtree before today. I suspect they are a company similar to Pampered Chef selling cullinary oils and spices.

But my most yummy find was the cinnamon and sugar toasted pecans. I am sure most of you have tasted these amazing, delicious pecans or they also had almonds. So, I decided when I got home, how hard could this be? I took 4 tablespoons of butter and melted it on low. Then I added about a half a cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and cooked them together stirring frequently for about 3 minutes on low. Then I tossed in about 2-3 cups of pecans which I like better than almonds. I guess that's 'cause I am a real southern girl! I cooked them for another 2-3 minutes on low until I started to notice a carmelization occuring and a toasty smell. Please be careful not to over cook because they may burn. The pecans were very hot so I poured them out on some wax paper to cool and then broke them up and ate them right out of the pan lined with paper. These were fantastic!

My husband had set out the Breyer's All Natural Chocolate icecream to soften. He likes his particularly soft. I made him a bowl and decided that these toasted cinnamon and sugar pecans would be so yummy delish on top of the chocolate icecream. And guess what, they were! This was an amazing find! My husband loved it and my kids raved about how yummy the pecan snack was!

So, I would just love it if you all would try this and let me know how this turns out for you. I thought I would add a picture of my yummy concoction. Hope you belly turns flips! Enjoy!