Olive Garden Lemon Cream Cake

This is a recipe of my mom's that I completely recommend. It is truly to die for.

Cake:

1 Betty Crocker cake mix

1 1/4 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 egg whites

Lemon Cream Filling:

8 oz cream cheese softened

2 cups powered sugar

3 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Vanilla Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup cold butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish:

Powdered sugar

1. Make white cake following the directions on the box. Pour batter into a greased 10" cake pan or springform pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Allow cake to cool completely when it comes out of the oven.

2. Make lemon cream filling by mixing cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in lemon juice.

3. Whip cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until it forms stiff peaks Fold cream cheese mixture with whipped cream. Stir gently by hand until blended.

4. Make crumb topping by combining flour and powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Add butter and dribble in the vanilla extract. Use your hands to mix cold butter into flour and sugar. Break butter into smaller and smaller pieces as you incorporate it into the dry ingredients. Be sure not to press the mixture together. You want to end up with a very crumbly consistency with pieces no bigger than a pea. (If you have trouble making small crumbs, pop the bowl into your fridge for a few minutes.) Chill this crumb topping until you are ready to use it.

5. When the cake is cool, slice it in half through the middle and remove the top. Spread all but 1/2 cup of the lemon cream mixture onto the bottom half of the cake, then carefully replace the top half of the cake.

6. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup of the cream filling over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle the crumb topping on top of the cake and press it onto the sides all the way around the cake.

7. Now chill the cake for at least 3 hours before you serve it. When you are ready to dig in, slice cake into 12 slices. Serve each slice topped with powered sugar tapped through a strainer.

Lady and Sons Asparagus Sandwich

This is another recipe my Mom shared with me. I loved it too. My Mom first had this sandwich when we went to Savannah, GA a few years ago and ate at Paula Deen's restaurant "Lady and Sons." My mom fell in love with this sandwich and was excited to find it on the internet.

Ingredients

• 8 to 10 fresh asparagus spears, washed and trimmed
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• Salt and pepper or lemon pepper
• 2 slices pumpernickel bread
• 2 slices Jack cheese
• 1 or 2 tablespoons Thousand Island Dressing, recipe follows
• 3 slices red onion, cut into rings
• Pickle slices or fresh parsley, for garnish, optional

Directions

Blanch asparagus spears in boiling, salted water for 1 minute. Remove immediately to a bowl of ice water.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add asparagus and lightly saute. Season with salt and pepper, or lemon pepper. Remove asparagus from pan and set aside. Butter 2 pieces of bread with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Place bread in the same skillet, buttered side down, and grill on 1 side. Flip bread and lay 1 piece of cheese on each slice of bread. Grill until cheese is melted and then remove from pan. Spread desired amount of dressing on top of each slice of bread. Arrange asparagus on top of cheese, rotating the spears. Place onion rings on top of asparagus. Cut sandwich in half. Garnish with pickle slices or parsley, if desired.

Thousand Island Dressing:

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1 hard-boiled egg, crushed finely

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup dill relish

Salt and pepper

Lemon pepper

In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon pepper, to taste. Store in an air-tight container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Yield: 2 3/4 cups It makes a ton, so you can half the recipe. My mom likes it so much she uses it as a dressing on salad.

Veggie Lovers Quesadilla

My mom found this recipe from abountifulkitchen.com. We made it when I went home for a few days. We all loved it. I am trying to find more recipes with lots of veggies. Meat is kind of grossing me out lately but I'm not ready to go all out vegetarian yet, so I'm just flirting with it.

Zucchini, washed and sliced thin
Mushrooms, washed and sliced thin, stems on
Roma tomato, chopped
Red onion, chopped
Spinach, fresh
Pepper Jack Cheese, grated
Tortillas, Flour any size (we used uncooked whole wheat)
Pesto, store bought or home made
Olive oil or cooking spray
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

Prepare all vegetables and grate cheese.
Turn griddle (or fry pan that will fit tortilla) onto medium high or about 350 degrees.
Spray pan lightly with cooking spray.
Spread one tortilla with about 2 tablespoons of pesto. Place on grill or pan. Cook over medium high heat. Layer a small amount of cheese, then all desired vegetables, topping with a bit of cheese again. Place other tortilla on top. Flip the tortilla onto other side, being careful to not let vegetables spill out. Use either one large or two small spatulas. After turning, brush top of tortilla with a little Olive oil, and sprinkle generously with Kosher salt and ground pepper.
Remove from pan to cutting board or serving platter when cheese is melted. Using pizza cutter or large sharp knife, slice into wedges and serve immediately, or keep warm in 250 degree oven until serving.
May be served with guacamole and salsa.

Tips:
-you may alternate and use any vegetables desired. I sliced fresh vegetables really thin and did not pre-cook the vegetables.
-To cut the amount of fat and calories, use a small amount of cheese. For a large burrito size tortilla, I used about 1/3 cup grated (packed into a measuring cup) cheese total.