a piece of perfection.
- J.S.S.
- Jul 15, 2016
- 4 min read
I remember the nervousness. I remember my sister doing acupuncture on my stomach. I remember the heat and the cornfields across the street. I remember trying to protect my dad’s head from getting a sun burn on the tractor. I remember communion. I remember my uncle Ron. I remember how beautiful my mom looked. I remember doing a shot at the biker bar and not having a wallet and asked if someone would pay for it. I remember not knowing who to talk to next or sit next to because I wanted to sit next to everyone. And I remember being in the road and dancing and kissing and smiling and laughing. I remember the Village Idiot friends pretending we had guns and saying pew, pew, pew. I remember the heat…. I remember tasting our beer for the first time and knowing it was flat and nervous everyone would judge us and think we made shitty beer. I remember seeing the Stubbs van and being annoyed that it was still parked when I made my entrance into the dance hall. I remember Philip and how grateful I felt for him to be there. I remember Dirk and Dave. I remember my sister’s speech. And Dustin’s speech. I remember dancing so hard I knocked the lead singer over. I remember being shoved in a car with 2 pies, a bottle of wine, pulled pork and a whole loaf of bread. I remember not having a phone to communicate with anyone after it was all over. I remember being on the porch with my husband eating pulled pork and pie and drinking wine and remembering it all…..
It goes without saying that getting married is the most incredibly, short , exciting, most nerve wracking day of your life. But it’s kind of the best day of your life too. I haven’t had a chance to reminisce with you all about it. Or at least thank everyone for being there. For coming to dance with me and celebrate this long awaited thing… (You knew I was going to blog about it at least once….) I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy in my entire life. I even got to wear my mom’s wedding dress and where pink shoes.
I’d like to finally pair this pretty bad ass day with a dessert. (And no, it’s not a pie) I was inspired another way with this one. I’ve been trying some new things after living in a Log Cabin for well, almost a year. I use my cast iron skillet quite frequently and I thought this would be a perfect pairing to the first blog as Mrs. Stewart. So here it goes…
STRAWBERRY-ALMOND UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
By Southern Cast Iron Magazine
½ Cup plus 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and divided
¾ Cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 Pint of Strawberries
¾ Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Large Egg
1 ½ Cups all-purposed flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ kosher salt
2/3 Cup whole buttermilk
½ tsp almond extract
FIRST Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. In a 10 inch cast-iron skillet, melt 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Remove from heat. Sprinkle brown sugar over melted butter. Place strawberries cut side down in skillet. Set aside.
NEXT in a large bowl, beat remaining ½ Cup butter and granulated sugar with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy, 3-4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add egg, beating to combine.
NEXT in a Medium Bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer at low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture in thirds, alternately with buttermilk beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat in almond extract until combined. Spoon batter over strawberries, smoothing top with an offset spatula.
LAST Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Carefully invert onto a flat serving plate.
When I showed my parents the space we were going to get married in back in December… or I should say when I showed them the town of 7 people . In the middle of Texas. With a tractor. And a Biker bar. And well a country band too…. My dad pretty much pulled me aside and said, I truly never imagined you would get married like this. But I’m kind of digging it. I was a little nervous with my family… what they would think… the June heat. The Texas heat. The bugs. The Texas bugs… and well, the country music too. But it all happened. And it was awesome.
And with that I would like to pair this delicious dessert with this incredible day with the ZAC BROWN BAND SONG, As She’s Walking Away. That was our song. That’s the song we danced to… it was the music in his head when he met me. And although I was and have never been into country music, every time this song plays I get chills. I get butterflies in my stomach. I think of him. And me. And forever. I think of how perfect it just is. All of it.