My sister's baby shower and one of my most requested recipes for orange brownies!

Today was an amazing day!! This was the day set aside to bless my sister and baby Lucy with a shower in my home. I think that my sister is one of the most loved people around! She has more friends than anyone I've ever known. This is because she's so genuinely kind, loyal, funny, and the girl you want at your party cuz she's just so fun! It's no secret how much I adore her and I've been waiting for years to throw her a baby shower. Baby Lucy surprised us all by arriving a month early, so she's already been held, cuddled, and kissed many times over by the time we had this event.

I couldn't have done this without the help of our 2 sister in laws. What a great team we make! Ashlie, the designer, was in charge of the pom poms and cookie sandwiches. Eli, the amazing baker, was in charge of the cake and party favors, I did the rest. Party planning is not my gift! I have stressed and planned and ran many, many errands. By the time we hung the pom poms last night I couldn't wait for Stefie to arrive! I was so excited with how everything turned out! My girls even got involved, staying up late with me the other evening while we twirled piece after piece of tissue paper making the wreath for the entry.

I'm a detail person so I tried to think of everything, adding color to my porch with primroses and rubber boots. I planted fresh herbs outside the kitchen window, made a wreath for the front door, and had the yard cleaned up. Lucy's room is butter yellow, cream, and light grey so that became the color theme for our shower. This made me think of sunshine and fresh ingredients so I baked orange brownies and lemon pound cake which I "labeled" with slices of the appropriate fruit. (I felt so clever). I also burned grapefruit scented candles along with orange grove scented ones to go with our theme.

My mom gave a beautiful devotion and then my grandma made everyone cry as she blessed the food and prayed that God would not only nourish our bodies but nourish our hearts as well as we were together. We're blessed with an amazing heritage of godly women. I'm so glad that we could do this for my sister and I think I had just as much fun throwing it as she had attending!

These two recipes were HUGE hits so I thought I'd share them here. Hope you enjoy!!!





Orange Brownies

These are always a hit!

1 1/2 c cup4cup flour
2 c sugar
1 t salt
2 sticks butter- softened
4 eggs
2 t pure orange extract
1 t orange zest

Glaze:

1 c confectioner's sugar
2 T freshly squeezed orange juice*
1 t orange zest

Preheat oven to 350*

Grease a 9x13 pan, set aside. In a mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter, eggs, orange extract, and zest. Beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepare pan and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and set.

Remove from oven and pierce entire cake with a fork.

Prepare the Glaze:

Combine the confectioner's sugar, orange juice, and zest in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Pour glaze over brownies.

Let brownies cool completely before cutting into squares.

*zest the orange before juicing for best results.



Glazed Lemon Pound Cake

This cake doesn't rise very much so don't be surprised if it's shorter than you might expect.

5 T unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
3/4 c plus 3 T sugar plus more for dusting
1 c cup4cup flour
1/4 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
3 T fresh lemon juice plus finely grated zest of 2 lemons, plus more zest for garnish, optional
1/4 c milk
2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Dust with sugar, and tap out excess; set aside. Whist together flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir together 1 T lemon juice and the milk.

2. Put butter and 3/4 c sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in eggs and zest. Working in two batches, atlernate mixing in flour mixture and milk mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, stir together remaining 3 T sugar and 2 T lemon juice. Upon removing cake from oven, immediately brush with lemon glaze. let cake cool in pan 10 minutes. Unmold cake. Brush remaining glaze on top. Garnish with zest.