spinach mushroom frittata with bacon

Eggs are easily one of the most reliable go-tos at my house. We always have them, they're not expensive, they cook fast, and we can easily come up with something to mix in with them for a hearty, yummy dish! Thus, my undying love for the frittata.

The first time I made a frittata (by the way, I have to google every time to see if it's two t's first or second) I needed breakfast for some surprise company; and I went to my crisper drawer and my pantry to figure out what I could pull together! And ta-da! It was delicious! Listen, if you add cheese and salt to eggs plus a few more add-ins, then you're sure to have something delicious! 

And don't let the word frittata scare you. It sounds so fancy - like it'd be hard to make - but y'all, I'm telling you, it's a breeze!

What separates a frittata from a quiche is the crust. By removing the crust, a frittata cooks really quickly! A crust adds a wholelotta of work and bake time. AND this little number can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner in about 20 minutes! How many more reasons could there be to love frittata?! Hip hip hooray!

With that said, when At Home in Arkansas magazine asked me to put together a brunch menu for their September issue, I knew frittata would make the list for all of the reasons I just said! I loaded this particular frittata with some of my absolute favorites - earthy sauteed mushrooms, sweet tender onions, fresh wilted spinach, and salty bacon because (altogether now) "Bacon makes everything better." With a heapin' load of shaved parmesan cheese melted in, this frittata is a sure-thang! And let's be clear, this recipe feeds an army. If you need to feed fewer, then just adjust accordingly.

Here's to eggs and ease and company (and bacon!)

SPINACH MUSHROOM FRITTATA WITH BACON

{makes one 12-inch cast iron skillet or oven-safe, nonstick skillet}

12 large eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

6 slices of bacon

1 medium sweet yellow onion, chopped

1 small carton of fresh sliced mushrooms (about 2 cups)

Approximately 8 cups of fresh spinach, rough chopped 

Red pepper flakes to taste

1 cup freshly grated parmesan

Crack eggs into a large bowl, and whisk in milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Whisk them well for a  minute til well combined and fluffy. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400.

Cut bacon into pieces and saute over medium heat until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and let drain on a paper towel-lined tray. Discard the bacon grease. 

Swirl a little oil in the bottom and up the sides of the pan then add the onions and mushrooms, season with more salt and pepper, and saute until they are tender and have good color. Pile half of the spinach into the skillet and stir, allowing to wilt enough to add the other half of the spinach. Stir until wilted and mixed in with the onions and mushrooms. Taste for seasoning. Stir in crispy bacon pieces and a few shakes of red pepper flakes. Spread the filling around the pan to cover the bottom of the pan without packing it down. The filling should still be lose. Sprinkle with 1 cup of parmesan all over the filling.

 Pour eggs into the skillet and rotate pan to make sure the eggs cover all of the filling. Allow to cook over medium heat on the stovetop for about 3 minutes or until the sides of the eggs just begin to set.  Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes or until tanned on top, not brown. The eggs should be custard-like, not firm, with a little bit of jiggle to them. If you insert a knife right into the center, look just inside the slit and see if egg liquid runs into the slit. If so, then bake a little bit longer. 

Remove and garnish with more parmesan, a few reserved bacon pieces, chopped red grape tomatoes, and parslay.

If your skillet is non-stick, then you may loose the frittata from the pan and slide it out onto a plate. Or you may cut and serve wedges right out of the pan. 

BONUS RECIPE FOR APPLE BROWN BETTY ON THE AT HOME IN ARKANSAS BLOG

 

easy valentine's day crinkle cookies

I don't make cookies often. They're a lot of work that requires babysitting batches from the scoop to the oven to the cooling rack to the platter. So I don't have just a gob of cookie recipes in my arsenal.  But with Valentine's Day coming up and my sister-in-law's birthday this week too, I wanted a sweet, seasonal cookie that would be just right for both!  And these little crinkles are perfect, y'all!

I posted a sneak peek of the red velvet dough yesterday morning on the @EunaMaes instagram and even had a little guessing game giveaway for the first five who guessed correctly what I was making! And out of more than 80 guesses, I announced the five winners last night! It was fun to hear what y'all thought! If you're not following @EunaMaes on instagram, you should! We have fun and communicate and visit from our kitchens over there! 

Not only did I make classic Valentine-y red velvet crinkles, but I also made a batch of strawberry lemonade crinkles!  They are delicious and sweet with a little sour bite from being rolled in powdered sugar and pink lemonade mix; and the red velvet crinkles are a little chocolatey like we anticipate red velvet to be! These cookies are soft, chewy and moist. My kids went crazy over them, and I confess that I've eaten my fair share.{I just ate one and licked my fingers 5 seconds ago.} I even packaged stacks of 5 crinkles in little paper berry baskets and tied them in clear bags to make adorable Valentine's Day treats!  

Now there are some amazing from-scratch recipes for crinkles that you should definitely try some time! BUT this recipe is a super easy way to make these cookies - starting with a boxed cake mix! And these easy crinkles are something you can make in the kitchen with your kids. They can make the dough balls and even roll them in the sugar coating! A great recipe! Kid friendly! And makes a lovely little gift!

-click here for printable recipe- 

EASY STRAWBERRY LEMONADE CRINKLES

{makes 20-24 cookies}

1 box strawberry cake mix

2 large eggs, room temperature*

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon good vanilla extract

zest of one lemon

1 Tablespoon plus 1/4 cup powdered pink lemonade mix {not crystal light}

powdered sugar for coating

granulated sugar for coating

*Euna Mae's is a Great Day Farms brand ambassor.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Prepare two shallow bowls for the coating. One bowl will contain about 3/4 cup powdered sugar. In the other bowl, combine 1/4 cup powdered pink lemonade mix and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, vanilla, zest, and 1 Tablespoon of pink lemonade mix. Mix until it forms a nice dough.  Turn the dough out onto a sheet of parchment or a silicone mat, and form into a ball. 

Make 20-24 one-inch dough balls by rolling them in your hands. Then coat each ball by first rolling the ball in the sugar/lemonade mix then rolling the ball in the powdered sugar. Place coated dough balls about 1 1/2" apart on a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely. You may wish to sift a little additional powdered sugar over the cookies if you like. 

EASY RED VELVET CRINKLES

{makes 20-24 cookies}

1 box red velvet cake mix

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon good vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon coffee extract

2-3 drops of red food coloring to intensify the shade

powdered sugar for coating

granulated sugar for coating

Follow recipe and steps above, coating in granulated sugar first then pure powdered sugar second. Bake as directed above.

gran's strawberry cake with strawberry glaze

This is the cake that I make for every event in my life. I've made this cake for home groups, birthdays, holidays, teacher luncheons, coaches' meals, Saturdays, compassion meals, parties and more. I make it for special and not-so-special days. This is the cake that my 13 year old son says is the cake I'll make for him when he's old and he comes home to visit with his family one day. 

Pardon me while I grieve a little and gush a little. My sweet boy.

Strawberry cake is likely the best cake that comes out of my kitchen. It's as classic as classic gets. It has stood the test of time, having been made in our grandmothers' mothers' kitchens. It reminds me of church potlucks and picnics and pretty aprons. 

This recipe is my best-friend-from-college's Gran's recipe, aka Louise Gaston from Batesville, Arkansas.  I first had this cake more than ten years ago at my friend's house. And I copied it down right away while standing in her kitchen. Since then, I've made it a gazillion times. I've made it with Gran's original buttery, strawberry glaze AND I've made it with a full-blown, inch-thick homemade strawberry buttercream frosting. Both. Are. So. Good.

So I'm kicking off the week of love with this classic, to-die-for strawberry cake and so y'all can make it for your loved ones! Nothing says Happy Valentine's Day like pink cake. Or at least I think so anyway! 

Tomorrow, I'll share the strawberry buttercream frosting recipe so you can ice this cake however it tickles your fancy.

-click here for printable recipe-

 

GRAN'S STRAWBERRY CAKE WITH STRAWBERRY GLAZE

 {makes one bundt pan}

1 white cake mix

3 Tablespoons flour

1 small box of strawberry jello, do not use sugar-free

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup frozen crushed strawberries with juice

3 large eggs, room temperature*

1 teaspoon good vanilla extract

*Euna Mae's is a Great Day Farms brand ambassador

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, stir together the cake mix, flour, and jello to combine the dry ingredients and remove any clumps from the cake mix.  With the mixer on low, pour in the oil, water, and strawberries with juice. Then add one egg at a time. Add the vanilla. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for about two minutes to put air in the batter. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 37-40 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean and moist, but not batter-y. Allow to cool for about 10-12 minutes before inverting onto a cake plate.

FOR THE GLAZE

2 Tablespoons of melted butter
2 Tablespoons of crushed strawberry juice
1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract 
1.5 cups powdered sugar

Whisk together and drizzle over an almost-cooled cake.

molten brownie pudding

Sam and I have been eating better and drinking gobs of water in an effort to not weigh 8 million pounds and with hopes that our hearts will not rebel against us. We are, by no stretch of the imagination, health nuts. We're just trying to be better. And we can certainly tell a difference in our britches and on the scale. 

However....

We have been eating carefully with Super Bowl Sunday in mind where we will throw it all out the window and eat our favorites and stuff our faces before we're back at it on the Monday after. And I cannot decide what we're going to eat because there are so many things I want to indulge in on our one day where we eat with reckless abandon. 

Wings? Ribs? Chocolate pie? A sheet pan of homemade lemon bars? A bowl of queso so big you could get baptized in it? 

 

{I'm eating "heart healthy" nuts as I type. So not as fun as chocolate pie. Ya know?}

While I wade through my options I keep thinking of Molten Brownie Pudding. It's divine and rich. It's wintry and warm. And it's definitely a splurge. My gosh, it's so delicious. It's one of our favorites. And the texture is a dream. This dessert is baked in a water bath {don't be scared, it's a cinch} which keeps the bottom half of the batter all gooey and molten while the top half of the batter bakes gradually from a light crispy layer with cakey-fudginess in the middle. Descending, delicious, chocolatey layers from top to bottom.

The dessert bakes in a 2" deep, 2-quart baker, and I've fed it to as many as 9-10 people. It's rich so it packs a punch in a modest serving. And of course, I spoon it into a bowl with good quality vanilla ice cream like all warm, chocolate recipes should. Yum, y'all. Yum.

-click here for printable recipe-

MOLTEN BROWNIE PUDDING

{feeds 9-10 people, depending on your people}

 inspiration

2 sticks unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the dish

4 extra-large eggs at room temperature*

or 4 large eggs plus 1 large yolk

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup good cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons good vanilla extract

2 teaspoons coffee-flavored extract

 *Euna Mae's is a Great Day Farms brand ambassador

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter a 2qt. oval baker and set aside. Melt the two sticks of butter and set aside to cool while you stir up the rest of the batter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for about 7-10 minutes. The mixture should get very thick and turn light yellow. Do not shorten this step.  It's important to the texture. While the eggs/sugar are mixing, combine the cocoa powder, cinnamon, and flour in a bowl and whisk together well to combine and to remove any clumps.

When the eggs/sugar are thick and light yellow, turn the speed to low and stir in the vanilla and coffee extracts. Then slowly add the cocoa/flour mixture until just combined, followed by the melted and cooled butter. Stir until just combined; don't overmix.

Pour/spread the brownie batter into the buttered 2qt. baker, and set the baker down into a larger pan. I use an aluminum 9x13 cake pan. Carefully fill the cake pan with the hottest tap water you have until the water comes about halfway up the side of the baker. So you'll have an oval baker filled with brownie batter sitting inside a cake pan filled with water.

Bake for one hour on the nose. Remove carefully from the oven, discard the water, and allow the molten brownie batter to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving with ice cream.

Sour Cream Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Is this the most photogenic bundt you have ever laid your eyes on?! I certainly think so in my humble opinion. And not only is this beautiful bundt a knock-out, it's also absolutely, 100% delicious! 

Sour Cream Banana Chocolate Chip Bread is one of the tip-top most requested baked goods at my house. My family loves it. Loves. It.  It is the first-cousin to Starbucks' banana chocolate chip pound cake, but a little more moist - which I adore.  

Whether you bake it in a stunning bundt pan or a 9x11 pan, this bread has luscious texture, creamy banana flavor, and of course a sweet nibble of chocolate in every bite! Serve warm with a little spread of butter for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream! So versatile and easy - I guarantee you'll love it like we do!

SOUR CREAM BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD

 {courtesy}

1 & 1/3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup whole sour cream

1/4 cup butter {soften at room temperature for one hour}

4 large eggs*

4 medium, ripe bananas

2 teaspoons good vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

*Euna Mae's is a Great Day Farms Brand Ambassador

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a bundt pan or a 9x11 pan with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. 

Peel and mash bananas with a fork until, well, mashed.

Beat sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs together in mixing bowl on low speed for 1 minute.  Beat in flour, baking soda, and salt on medium speed for 1 minute.  Beat in bananas and vanilla on low speed for 30 seconds.  Stir in chocolate chips by hand. 

Spread batter in prepared baking pan and place in center of preheated oven for approximately 35-40 minutes or until light brown on top and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool in pan (if using a bundt pan, cool slightly then turn out onto serving platter or cake plate); cut into slices or squares when cool.

Welcome to Euna Mae's! Let's eat cake!

Well, I have excited butterflies because today's the day! After more than a year of dreaming of Euna Mae's, it's here! You all have encouraged me and tooted my horn.  And you've asked for a place for me to share recipes and kitchen tips with you. Let's be clear right off the bat - I'm by no means a fancy chef, I'm a pastor's wife and a mom of teenagers who is learning as I go! But I do cook some food, y'all.  I have a lot of food and a lot of love to give away.  And this blog is where I'll let y'all in on what's happening in my kitchen and around our table. So today's the day! It's Euna Mae's day!

A very important nugget to tell y'all starts with Euna Mae. She was my Grannie who lived just around the corner from me most of my life.  My cousin and I would walk barefooted up the hill to her house where she always had something baked, cold Coca-Cola in bright red cans, and lemon drops in candy dishes on every end table in her house. She was Grannie Nelson to us - Euna Mae to everyone in town. And you pronounce it "yoo-na may"...just in case you were wonderin'. 

Gosh, she had a great laugh. I can't think of her without hearing it in my head.

I invite you to meet Euna Mae HERE. She was a neat gal, y'all. I wish you all could've known her. But I've done my best to let you in on her life, to show you how she inspires me in my kitchen, and to express the imprint she left on us all.

So what better way to kick off Euna Mae's than with her very famous Lemon Glazed Cake recipe?! She made this cake for our birthdays, holidays, and just because we'd ask her to. I made it for my own birthday just this weekend, and we shared it with family and friends who ate every last crumb. The BEST part of the whole cake is the mushy cake-y soggy part under each piece that has soaked in sugary, fresh lemon glaze. For 40 years, I have dragged my fingers around the plate to make sure that goodness doesn't go to waste. It's one part elbow-grease, one part boxed cake mix! What's not to love?!

So in her honor and to celebrate the launch of Euna Mae's, here's her Lemon Glazed Cake recipe! Y'all enjoy!

EUNA MAE'S LEMON GLAZED CAKE

1 box lemon supreme cake mix

3 Tbsp flour

1 small package lemon instant pudding

3/4 cup oil

3/4 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

3 large eggs, room temperature 

Preheat oven to 350.  With a mixer, combine the first 7 ingredients and beat until combined.  Add one egg at a time, and beat on medium for 2 minutes.  Bake for 40 minutes or so in a greased/floured 9x13 pan or bundt or til a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cake pan. Allow cake to cool about 15-20 minutes. Then drizzle with the following glaze.

2-3 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/8-1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk together until smooth, adding more powdered sugar to thicken OR adding a little milk to thin it.  When you hold up a spoon and let it fall off the end of the spoon, it should fall smoothly but slowly almost like honey.