Martha's Rum Bundt Cake

Last weekend I met Martha Stewart! I went to a book signing and there she was in all of her beautiful glory (perfect hair, perfect voice, not so perfect shoe and sock combo) and we had her rum cake from her new book, Cakes. I left with 4 books signed for holiday presents and a new recipe. Here goes! I changed a few things to make a full bundt cake instead of mini ones because only Martha has mini bundt cake pans. Serves 9

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter cut into 8ths, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
2 tbsp dark rum
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 large eggs
Baking spray

For glaze
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp milk or half and half

Preheat oven to 325F
Line a bundt pan with cooking spray
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl

In a mixer, combine sugars and butter on medium until pale and fluffy
*This took about 4 minutes
Meanwhile, combine buttermilk and rum in a measuring cup
Add eggs one by one to butter mixture
Then on low speed add in 1/3 flour mixture
Followed by half the rum mixture, 1/3 flour, other half of rum mixture, and finish with the remaining flour

Pour into a bundt pan. The batter should be a little more than half way up the pan
If there is left over batter, use in another pan or disregard (don't want overflowing to occur!)
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top springs back and a knife inserted comes back clean
Let rest for 10 minutes then flip over onto a cooking rack

Wait about 30 minutes or until cool and top with glaze
*Glaze is made by whisking milk and sugar together.
If too tough, add more milk
If too runny, add more sugar

Healthy Chicken Orzo Salad

I started googling recipes that were low calorie now that this wedding diet really needs to happen! I found a recipe for a chicken and orzo salad that sounded wonderful. I changed up some ingredients and voila! Feel free to add feta or goat cheese to add a little kick. Serves 6

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups orzo pasta
1 half rotisserie chicken, chopped
Juice from one small lemon
1/4 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
2 english cucumbers, chopped
3 green onions, light green and some green parts chopped
8 cherry tomatoes, cut into fourths
1 tbps chopped fresh dill

Cook pasta according to packaging, drain and rinse with cold water
In a small bowl, whisk garlic, oil, lemon juice/zest, mustard, salt and pepper
Pour pasta into a large bowl and combine with dressing
Toss in chicken and vegetables
Sprinkle with dill
Eat up!