Lyla Reagan Fischer

It has been more than six weeks since I last posted. And while andbread has been silent, my life, over these last forty-odd days, has been anything but; a whirlwind of the new and the noisy. Just four days after my last post, my life was changed forever, as my husband and I welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. After nine months of anxiously waiting and 17.5 hours of labor, Lyla Reagan Fischer finally decided to make her grand entrance. Lyla was born on June 26th at 11:11 a.m. She weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces and measured 20 inches long.

For the last month-and-a-half, we have been adjusting to life with a newborn and loving every minute of it (well, almost every minute; the 3 A.M. feedings took some getting used to). I do have to admit that with Lyla here, there have been many nights that cooking has been the furthest thing from my mind. I have been able to whip up a few nice, homemade meals during nap time, but on those days when nap time just doesn't happen, I've been forced to find the easiest option which, quite often, has been sandwiches. I am proud to say though that I have yet to serve cereal for dinner (although give it time, I am sure it will happen).

This last weekend though was a very special weekend for our new, little family of three. Lyla was baptized and all of our family traveled great distances to be with us and celebrate as we welcomed Lyla into the Catholic Church.

It was a very special weekend and of course was worthy of a very special homemade meal. Our menu included slow cooked barbecue brisket (prepared by Adam), barbecue pork, roasted potatoes, fruit salad, green salad, broccoli salad, asian salad (yes there were a ton of salads!, but all very delicious), baked beans and vanilla cupcakes (recipe below). It took many hands and many hours to prepare all of this wonderful food, and it was the perfect way to celebrate an oh-so important moment in Lyla's life.

That evening as we all gathered to share the food together and support Lyla on her big day, I looked around the room at our wonderful family and felt my heart swell. This little girl of mine has no idea just how lucky she is; lucky to have a such a loving family that will support her, cheer her on, travel great distances for her and love her unconditionally and indefinitely. At six weeks old, she is already surrounded in love, with team of people standing behind her. 

So, my sweet, little Lyla, on this your baptism weekend, there are three things that I wish for you...

The first is faith. Faith in God that He will lead you and watch over you all of your life and that He will never abandon you. Faith in yourself, that you can accomplish anything and everything you will ever dream of and then some. Faith in your family, that we will always love you, always support you and always be here for you.

My second wish for you is knowledge. That you will have a constant and undying thirst for it. That you will always question and search for truth. And that when you cannot find your answers, that you will turn to God and rely on Him for wisdom.

And my final wish for you is love. That you will learn to love with your whole heart and without hesitation. That you will trust in the never-ending love that your parents have for you and fall on it during hard times. And that you, my baby girl, will one day have a child of your own and learn that there is a whole new level of love that you could have never even imagined existing.

Thank you to all of our family, especially Lyla's Godparents, for making her baptism weekend so wonderful. She truly is the luckiest little girl.

And as promised, the recipe for Lyla's Baptism Cupcakes (recipe from Allysa Torey, owner of Magnolia Bakery).

Vanilla Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups of self-rising flour

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup of butter, softened

2 cups of sugar

4 eggs

1 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Start by creaming the butter until smooth. Then add the sugar and beat together. Add one egg at a time until you have added all 4 and beat the batter between each egg. Add the flours in three parts alternating with the milk and vanilla. Do not over beat the batter.

Bake the cupcakes at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Vanilla Buttercream

1 cup of butter, softened

6 cups of confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup of milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

In a large bowl mix together the butter, 4 cups of sugar, the milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Gradually add additional sugar as need, but only one cup at a time. Beat until smooth and until the icing has reached the desired consistency.

Note: In this warm weather, the frosting melts very quickly as you can tell by the furthest cupcake on the right. As soon as you have frosted the cupcakes, get them into the refrigerator to avoid melting. I had intended to add pink "L's" to the top of the cupcakes, but with the heat did not want them to turn into big pink blobs. Next time.

Is it Spring Yet?

When my husband was applying for jobs, I told him that I would go anywhere he wanted as long as it was south of our current location which at that time was South Bend, IN. Somehow he managed to accept a job in one of the only major cities north of South Bend - Milwaukee. He promised me though and stated over and over again, that the weather would be no worse, no colder and if I am not mistaken I believe he said we would experience less snow in Milwaukee than we had in past years in South Bend. I did not believe him.

Today is May 4th. We are a full month and a half into "spring," yet I wore my winter coat to work this morning and it snowed two whole days last week. When I check the forecast each morning, I find myself getting overly excited for temperatures in the 50's and not surprised at all when the high is only 42. I often point out to my husband that South Bend is consistently 10 degrees warmer than Milwaukee. Now don't get me wrong, Milwaukee is a far better city than South Bend. There is much more to do, wonderful restaurants to try out, apparently some great beers (50 more days and I can confirm that for myself!) and not a week goes by that someone doesn't tells me how amazing the summers are here. Yet somehow I find myself constantly asking "is it spring yet?"

Last week as the rain continued to fall and I was still wearing my winter sweaters I decided the only way to encourage spring to come was to start acting like it had already arrived - make a meal worthy of a beautiful spring day: beef tenderloin with mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, and a delicious carrot cake.

Beef Tenderloin:
Beef tenderloin is such a great cut of meat that you really should not have to do too much to it. I simply coated it with a bit of olive oil, and sprinkled it with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.

I cooked the meat at 450 degrees until it reached an internal temperature of 140 degrees. I allowed it to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into it.

Before serving the beef, I made a simple mushroom gravy by heating olive oil in a large skillet. Once warmed, I added a bit of thyme and a whole package of mushrooms and allowed the mushrooms to become tender. I then added about 1/2 cup of chicken broth as well as 1/2 cup of white wine. After bringing the gravy to a boil, I simmered the sauce until it began to reduce. From there I added a bit of corn starch mixed with water to work as a thickening agent.

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes:
This is perhaps the easiest way to make potatoes and the results are amazing. It only took 3 simples steps to prepare: drizzle the potatoes with olive oil, season with rosemary, salt and pepper, bake until fully roasted.

Serve along side of the beef with mushroom gravy.

Carrot Cake:
Now as wonderful and as simple to make as that meal was, the true spring item of the night was the carrot cake. Of course, requested by my husband, this cake was moist and light and with each bite brought spring a little bit closer to Milwaukee. Here is out how you make it:

Start by greasing and flouring two round cake pans.

In a large bowl combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of allspice and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Whisk all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Whisk together 3 large eggs at room temperature and 2/3 cup of vegetable oil.

Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture until just combined.

Next, grate 1 and a 1/2 cups of carrots. For me this took approximately 5 carrots, but depending on the size you could need a few more or less.

Lastly, mix in the shredded carrots and 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple. The crushed pineapple adds a little extra moisture and keeps the cake fresh for longer.

Stir the batter until combined and then scrape even amounts into each cake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow the cakes to cool for awhile before removing from the pans. Otherwise you risk breaking or cracking. While the cakes cool, make a simple cream cheese frosting. Start by beating together 8 ounces of cold cream cheese, 5 tablespoons of softened butter and 2 teaspoons of vanilla in a bowl.

Slowly, and only a little bit at a time, add confectioners' sugar until you have reached your desired consistency. Sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon and stir until combined.

Once your cakes are cooled, you can begin the assembly process. Take your time assembling the cake. Rushing through this process can cause broken pieces of cake in your icing. Simple place your first cake on a cake stand. Slowly spread a portion of the icing outwards. Try not to go back and forth over the same area.

Once the bottom layer is complete, gently place the second cake on top and repeat the icing process. Once the cake is fully covered, coarsely chop about a cup of walnuts and lightly press them along the edge of the cake.

Spring may be a bit delayed this year, but in the meantime we can at least enjoy a meal worthy of a beautiful spring day. Although I will probably continue to ask and wonder if it is spring yet (or if it will ever arrive), I am happy to know that with each passing day we are getting closer and closer to summer. And this summer will bring me the greatest gift of all - Baby Fischer! I hope she likes carrot cake.

Birthday Celebration

We celebrated the husband's birthday last week and as tradition goes, he picked the meal of his choice - with no vetoes from me. Throughout the year, he often requests certain dishes that result in disappointed, and even quizzical looks from me. Sometimes his request are granted, others, not so much. Although he does select many of our meals (think various pots 'o meat, meatballs, meatloaf, roast beef, brisket, barbecue pulled pork, etc - are you seeing a trend here?) birthday dinners are usually more extravagant and include higher quality cuts of meat or fishes, nice wines and elegant cakes. In past years, his birthday dinners have consisted of filet mignon, beef tenderloin with mushroom gravy, twice baked potatoes, mushroom risotto, glazed carrots, chocolate ganache cake, coconut cake and various pies.  This year his selection, true to form, was all boy: Chicken Pot Pie and Pumpkin Cake. So in honor of his 26th, I attempted my first ever Chicken Pot Pie.


Having never made a Chicken Pot Pie, I skimmed a few recipes, but could not find one that met my exact expectations. With a few ideas in mind I got to work. I started off by sautéing half an onion in a bit of olive oil until fragrant. 

Next I chopped and added 3 stalks of celery to the pan and allowed them to soften for several minutes.

Once the celery had softened a bit, I add roughly 3/4-1 cup of flour and allowed the flour to heat up in the pan for a minute or two. Once warmed, I scrapped the pan loosening any scraps before adding in my liquids. 

Next, I added in the liquids: approximately 2 cups of chicken stock and about 1/2 cup of white wine and mixed the ingredients together until thick and creamy in consistency.

Once I had the right consistency, it was time to add in 1/2 cup of low-fat milk as well as 2 large chicken breasts which I had chopped earlier. I allowed the chicken to cook in the pan for about 5-7 minutes.

Once the chicken was cooked through, it was time to add all of my chopped vegetables: carrots, peas and corn. I used 4-5 large carrots, 1 cup of peas and 1 cup of corn. Feel free to include as many vegetables as you would like. It is a great way to bulk up the meal and keep it healthy. Finally, I seasoned the dish with freshly cracked black pepper, a bit of salt, and a touch of paprika. 

I cooked the mixture on the stove for a few more minutes allowing the vegetables to heat up. Once this was complete, I poured the entire mixture into a glass pan to finish off in the oven.

I have seen several other cooks make Chicken Pot Pie with biscuits on top rather than in the tradition flaky crust. The birthday boy was all for this idea, so rather than whip up a pie crust, I topped my mixture with biscuits and threw it into a preheated oven 35 - 40 minutes or just until the biscuits were golden brown and the mixture was bubbling. (Note: if the biscuits are beginning to brown before the pot pie is ready, cover the pan with tin foil to avoid burning the biscuits and continue cooking until done.)

When reheating any leftovers, you can do so in a sauce pan on the stove. Feel free to add more flour or chicken stock if necessary.

While the Pot Pie was cooking, I got to work on the Pumpkin Cake. I had recently found a recipe for Pumpkin Cake at The Spice House, a wonderful spice store that I could spend far too much money in if allowed. Their recipe seemed like just the one to finish off the birthday dinner.

First, mix white sugar, brown sugar and eggs together in one bowl.

Next, add in pumpkin and oil and mix until just combined.

Lastly, add in white flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. 

Pour into a greased cake pan and cook at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes or until done. 

The cream cheese frosting for this recipe called for Brandy. I did not have Brandy on hand, so I substituted a little Cognac instead. Here is how:

Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.

Add in a few tablespoons of pure maple and 1 tablespoon of Cognac. Although the recipe did not call for it, I also added in a bit of cinnamon. Lastly, add in powdered sugar until the frosting is thick and spreadable. 

Once the cake has cooled, top with the frosting and celebrate another great year!

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband!