There is a sweet little song by Edison Lighthouse from 1970 called Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes). I used that phrase for the invitations and on the cake. I actually love cooking with the herb rosemary, so I tried to incorporate it as many ways as possible. Of course that included my signature rosemary shortbread cookies. I was so excited to get adventurous and try these recipes! I did include a few dishes without rosemary just in case someone wasn't a fan.
I had a lot of fun making these charming little centerpieces. I do wish my rosemary had been a little longer, but they still turned out adorable. It was pretty simple. I got some pink flowers and rosemary from the store, put them in a pint sized mason jar, and decorated the jar with some pink ribbon and a happy birthday message printed on cardstock. I used clear double stick tape to attach the ribbon and message to the jar. Voila! A country chic centerpiece perfect for a girl's party.
No I haven't learned how to make frosting roses yet, I have to give credit to my mom for that one, but the rest was all me! The cake was made from scratch too, which I haven't done in a while. I used a recipe I had from when I helped make cake for a friend's wedding. An apple spice cake seemed perfect for a fall birthday! The cake uses honey as the sweetener instead of sugar, so here is a great tip I learned from watching one of my favorite shows, "The Kitchen." - spray your measuring cup with non-stick spray before you measure the honey, and it will just slip right out. I tried it and it worked! It's amazing! It's going to make measuring and cleaning up when cooking with honey so much easier from now on.
Apple Spice Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened.
1 1/2 cups honey
4 eggs
3 tsp vanilla
2 cups applesauce
4 cups flour, sifted
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
Beat butter and honey together until it gets fluffy, then beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in applesauce. Sift in dry ingredients. Mix well. Batter will be thick. Grease a 9 x 13 cake pan and bake at 325 degrees for 45+ minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely in the pan before frosting. (preferably with a homemade cream cheese frosting!)
I doubled the recipe for the party
3 cups cooked chicken (I put a family pack of chicken breasts in the slow cooker with a little water until they were easy to shred).
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
a squirt of Dijon mustard
chopped celery
salt to taste
This was one of my favorite recipes that hadn't made for a while. I adapted it from a plain carrot bread recipe in a bread cookbook. This was the book that told me to make any white bread recipe into a whole wheat recipe by just replacing half the white flour with whole wheat. I use this tip a lot! I was excited to bring the recipe out again!
2 packet dry yeast
1 1/2 cups water
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups grated carrots
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp melted butter
Sprinkle the yeast into 1/2 cup of the water. Let it stand for 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve.
Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the dissolved yeast. Add the carrots, rosemary, and butter to the well. Mix in the flour. Stir in the remaining water, as needed, to form a moist, crumbly dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth but still sticky.
Put the dough in a covered bowl and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and let it rest for 10 more minutes. (Rising tip -do your baking and laundry at the same time and proof your bread on top of the warm dryer!)
Shape the dough into a round loaf. Place on a floured baking sheet and cover with a dish towel. Let it rise again until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees, or until golden and hollow sounding when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack.
Rosemary Parmesan Quick Bread
A great bread for a busy weeknight! It has the ease of a quick bread, but the taste of yeast bread. I upped the rosemary from 1 tablespoon to 2.
Recipe courtesy of Valerie Bertinelli - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/valerie-bertinelli/crazy-easy-quickbread.html
Pesto Caprese Salad
I had a ton of basil in my garden this year, (just about the only thing I had a ton of!) and had just made a load of pesto. I had also just helped out my dad by picking a bunch of tomatoes from his garden before a frost came. Pesto, tomatoes...pesto, tomatoes...I eventually put two and two together, grabbed some fresh mozzarella and came up with this tasty and classy salad!
Basil Pesto
Grape or Cherry tomatoes, halved
fresh mozzarella, cut into chunks
Mix them together. Done!
Sparkling Honey Rosemary Lemonade
When kids turn one they are finally allowed to eat honey - so why not add a little sweetness to the party? Don't forget to spray your measuring cup with non-stick spray!
Recipe courtesy of Nutmeg Nanny - http://www.nutmegnanny.com/2013/10/14/sparkling-honey-rosemary-lemonade/
What kind of Rosemary themed party would it be if I didn't include my personal favorite and signature cookie, rosemary shortbread? My blog post with this recipe includes lemon zest, but this time I made them straight up, no lemon.
http://sarahrosessupposes.blogspot.com/2013/12/rosemary-lemon-shortbread.html
Happy Birthday Rosemary! I love you so much and I can't wait to see where life takes you!
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