Alec's Birthday Food...

OK guys, after our dinner on Sunday, here are the recipes! This is a 2 recipe posting (calm down, I can tell you are excited).






Faye and Jerry’s Pound Cake

This is the classic recipe from Matt’s parents. Matt’s father was a baker to put himself through school, and has made all of their children’s wedding cakes using this fabulous recipe, including ours! We usually serve it as the cake for Strawberry Shortcake , covered in strawberries and whipped cream—yum! Strawberry Shortcake is always the cake that Alec requests for his birthday (we even make it in cupcakes for mini shortcakes for his classroom friends). If you are able to get a hold of cake flour, by all means use it. It is more finely ground and makes a lighter cake with a wonderful crumb, just be sure to use 3 ½ cups of it. It also can be made into a chocolate pound cake with the addition of cocoa, as shown below. Makes one Bundt cake , 2 loaves or 28 cupcakes.


1 ½ c. butter
3 c. sugar
5 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla (we use 1 tsp. of vanilla instead!)
3 c. flour (or 3 ½ c. of cake flour)
½ tsp. baking powder
1 c. milk
¼ c. sour cream

Optional: For chocolate pound cake, add ¾ c. cocoa powder to flour

Heat oven to 325.

Cream butter and sugar together in a mixer, then add one egg at a time, mixing each until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and mix. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder, and add to the sugar mixture alternately with the milk (I always do it in thirds— one third of the flour, then a third of the milk, another third of the flour… and so forth). Mix in the sour cream.

Pour into greased and floured pan. Bake for 75-90 minutes, until golden on top, and center has moist crumbs on a tester. For cupcakes plan on about 35 minutes.

Real Macaroni and Cheese

While I confess that I occasionally make boxed Mac and Cheese (though it is Trader Joe’s organic white cheddar and pasta… never that yacky blue box stuff. I know some people love it, but I never had it as a kid (my mom hated it) so it is totally a foreign taste to me!), but this here is the real deal. I prefer creamy stovetop mac and cheese, so if you are looking for a baked pasta dish with breadcrumbs, this is not it. I frequently use the sauce for other things that need a cheddar sauce (baked potatoes with broccoli, for example). It is great and is the standard in our home. Adapted from Alton Brown. Serves 4-6.


1 pound pasta
3 Tb. butter
3 Tb. flour
1 Tb. powdered mustard
3 cups whole milk
½ c. onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
¼ tsp. paprika
12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
½ tsp. kosher salt
Black pepper, to taste


Start pasta boiling, and while it cooks make the sauce by melting the butter in a separate pot. Add onions and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Whisk in the flour and mustard, and keep stirring for about 4-5 minutes, making sure it is free of lumps. Whisk in milk, bay leaf, paprika and salt and pepper. Turn to a low simmer and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.

Turn off the heat, and add the cheese, a handful at a time, whisking until fully melted before adding the next handful. Mix with the drained pasta and serve immediately.