Let them eat cake!

"Let them eat cake!"

Last month I was given the opportunity to bake a chocolate cake for my mother-in-law & sister-in-law's birthdays.  I have to say that I was very excited about this.  Outside of experimenting with substitutes and trying to "reinvent the wheel" I have not baked a "regular" dessert in a really long time and this was long over-due for me.  This chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream frosting was delicious!  Aside from being a tad too dry (I believe I over cooked it just a touch), it was delectable. I found the recipe on my iPad app: How to cook Everything: by Mark Bittman.  *The website link does not have this recipe in it (and for fear of copyright issues I'm not going to post it here).

I have found this to be the best app I have on my iPad for recipes.  If there are any other really good ones that people are recommending, I would love to know about them.

However, The one thing I am incredibly proud of, is my "mad" frosting skills!  It turned out so pretty, and the frosting was probably my favorite part of the whole cake.  I'm not a huge frosting fan by nature, but this was really good.   I had a few ounces left over so I put it into the fridge and I shamelessly ate spoonfuls of it over the next few days, no I didn't share with my family I hid it away.  Yup, it was that good.

It's my son's birthday is this week and he's having a sleepover party to celebrate.  He's requested this cake.  I suppose I will "have" to bake this again for him <insert sarcastic groan here>. Seriously though, I am looking forward to making this again.

My recent chocolate cake experience has brought a new light onto my long-time love of baking.  I had forgotten how much I enjoyed doing it.  I guess I became caught up in trying to substitute different types of fats and sugars and flours and I have had so many disappointments that I just didn't want to bake anymore.  It makes me sad to realize that.  I remember finding my step-mother's "Better Homes & Garden" cookbook and thumbing through it and landing on Peanut Butter Cookies.  Those were the only types of cookies I made when I was younger (mostly because those were the only ingredients I had on hand in the house to make). Regardless of the reason for making them (all the time), I loved them nonetheless.  I have a lot of fond memories baking.  It was nice to be reminded of how much I enjoyed it.  I'm definitely looking forward to making it again this weekend, just for the joy of baking.  

Refreshing Cucumber Watermelon Salad

This morning I found a recipe to use up some of the watermelon that my family doesn't seem to want to eat.  Why I'm not quite sure, but I bought the watermelon this past weekend and it's sat in my fridge, with only me eating it.  Now I'm sure we can all agree that this can get a bit drab after awhile, regardless of the fact that I love watermelon.  My only issue with this is that it's fully seeded, now this isn't as big of an issue when you slice it up and a whole bunch of people are eating it during say a BBQ and you can have a seed spitting contest but this was not one of those times.  I'm getting off track, so I made a salad similar to this last year and I cannot find where I had this recipe at, so I had to seek out a new one and this one is pretty similar.

It's a very easy recipe, i found it on Pinterest here and then the original link is from The Healthy Foodie.  I have taken the liberty of adding and removing a few ingredients from the original recipe on her site, but I think the beauty of cooking is making things more "your own".  I'm very happy with the outcome and will gladly be noshing on this throughout my day today.

Refreshing Cucumber Watermelon Salad:

1 Cucumber (seeded or not, your choice) sliced into quarters

3 Cups of Watermelon, diced (save yourself some time and get the seedless watermelon, unlike me)

3 Tbsp chopped fresh Basil

2 Tbsp chopped fresh Mint

1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper (I used course ground)

1/4 tsp salt (I prefer Kosher)

3 Tbsp White Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 of a Lime squeezed

1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

In a large bowl add everything but the Cucumber and Watermelon, mix and let sit until you've chopped up your Cucumber and Watermelon, once you do, add them to the dressing and mix well.  You can serve it immediately or cover and refrigerate until you are ready to dig in!  I love it, and you could even add some cooked diced pancetta or bacon to the salad too, for a little extra crunch.  Enjoy! 

Booties!

I have a few friends that are now expecting, this is wonderful news!  I would like to make them a gift, a keepsake, if you will.  Now, in general my overall opinion on baby booties are more geared towards cuteness and not really "usable" gifts.  I mean, I never used booties on my son when he was a baby, he wore little socks and they were oh-so-adorable!  Booties never stayed on his feet.  So the question is, why would I give my friends booties for their new bundle of joy?  Well traditionally, I wouldn't but in this case, I might have to because I found a few really cute patterns on ravelry.com and I just had to try them.  Number one, for the simple fact that I have yet to accomplish a good looking 3-dimentional, functional piece of clothing.  Functional is the key word here.  Number two is because, simply put they are freaking ADORABLE! I have high hopes that they will in fact stay on a tiny baby's foot or feet I guess.

Here is a picture of my first attempt at these ADORABLE booties.

They really are cute, I think the button completes them.  Now to make a few more and maybe adjust the pattern a bit to see what else I can come up with to make them that much more adorable.

The Scarf is Complete!

I finished the scarf before Christmas, which was intended for my husband.  It's beautiful, soft and exactly what he wanted.  Unfortunately, it's too short for him.  I did not have enough skeins to make a suitable length for a man.  I know, get another skein, right?  Well I tried, I exhausted my resources.  This dye lot was not being produced any longer.  I mean, it had been over a year since I purchased the current skein.  I searched Amazon, called other yarn shops, even in other states, and nothing. I finally gave up and blinded off the scarf.  It was complete, but fit for a child or woman, definitely not a man. Needless to say, my husbands disappointed that the scarf won't work for him.

I was speaking with a friend about my conundrum, and she had two skeins of the same yarn, weight and everything, in a different color.  She offered to give them to me.  Well, I was SO excited!  I mean, I could actually make a new scarf for my husband and he could have it before the winter was over!  Well, I was very grateful and very appreciative to have this wonderful gift of free yarn.  So I accepted them, naturally.  It was a completely different color from what we had before, but beautiful none the less.  I showed my husband, I was very excited to say the least and he popped my bubble.  He told me that it was indeed a beautiful color, but he didn't want that color, and it would make a beautiful scarf for a girl.  Really?  I told him to wait until it's been knitted a bit, and he can see the full potential of this beautiful color.  It went with most everything he owned and wore regularly, he would surely see it's potential.  So, I began working on it and produced a good swatch for him to look at, and again with the "It is a good color, and it will be a wonderful scarf for a woman.".  I was defeated, I accept this now.  Now my quest is to find a few new skeins to make my husband a scarf that will actually work for him in a color that he will love. It will happen before Christmas 2013.  It's just a scarf, it shouldn't take that long, right? This is my goal, we'll see how well i fare with this before, lets say August.

Just breath..

My family has adopted a new dog, she's a month new with us and she is a sweet 2 1/2 year old Lab/Shar Pei mix.  She looks nothing like a Shar Pei, and more closely resembles a smaller black lab.  She's a Pound Puppy, through and through.  We have no idea what her history is, so we know nothing of her potential "quirks".  Well, I think we've recently discovered some of them.

Let me give you a bit of back story first.  For the past year, I have been slowly knitting a scarf for my husband, a beautiful, soft, cashmere scarf.  My goal is to complete it before this coming winter.  Time is crunching closer to my end date, so I've recently picked it up again after having put it aside this summer due to purchasing our first home (that's a different train of thought for another time).  Well, my dog, Kayla, has been exploring our home and getting familiar and comfortable with her new surroundings.  This is a wonderful experience to witness and be able to participate in, I have wanted a dog for such a long time.  Anyhow, this past Monday, she wanted to explore my knitting box and discovered my nicely wound ball of cashmere yarn for my scarf project.  She wanted to taste it's silky smooth texture between her teeth evidently, and tore this ball apart, like she has her toys before.  I caught her red pawed, and was utterly dismayed at what I saw.  Hindsight I wish I would have taken a picture of it, but my emotions were too close to the surface to think rationally about the whole situation.  Luckily, she did not touch the scarf that has been already made.  I was at a loss, I cried.  I admit it, I broke down and cried like a child who's favorite toy just broke. This is what I was untangling for the next four hours.  Mind you, these pictures are after two hours of untangling already.

This is my end product of dangling:  I'm quite proud of myself, I'm not going to lie this was a very trying task for me.  I look forward to being able to finish this scarf before the winter comes, so that I can actually give this to my husband.  You can already see the project taking form, when I'm done, I'll be sure to take better pictures of it and show you the end product.

Spicy Tomato Juice

A few weeks ago, I was walking down the isles at the grocery store, talking with my best friend on the phone.  Best friend, I just had a fleeting moment where I felt like I was in high school again.  Anyhow, i saw a Bloody Mary mix on the shelf and thought that it sounded so good.  I started reminiscing about the best bloody mary that I have ever had.  It was at some country restaurant on Vashon Island.  It was spicy and rich.  Never again, have I had one quite like it. At the time I contemplated purchasing this drink mix, due to nostalgia overtaking my thoughts.  Then she says to me, "Why don't you make some yourself and post it on your blog!", what a marvelous idea!  So, over the course of the last few mornings, I've taken to making a spicy concoction for my mornings, sans the vodka.  Although, I believe with the vodka, would be just as tasty, if not a smidge better.

What you'll need:

4 1/2 Cups tomato juice (I've got Low Sodium V8 on hand all the time)

4 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

3 tsp hot sauce

2 cloves pickled garlic minced (originally posted here at the bottom of the site)

2 Tbsp of the pickled garlic liquid

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp dried dill

1 tsp lemon juice

Celery Stalks, Olives, or any other fun condiment to add

Add all ingredients, except the condiments into a pitcher or large measuring cup (it would have to be 4+ cups big), mix.  Rim your glasses with salt and ice if desired.  Add your condiments and serve.  Makes 4 servings.

My family loved this.  I have to share.  When I first started experimenting with this earlier this week, it was in the morning when my son and I get ready for our day.  I made some to go along with our breakfast.  He asked me what I was making, I told him it was bloody mary mix without the alcohol.  Not that he really knows what is in it but he knows that I enjoy Bloody Mary's once in awhile when we go out for breakfast.  Anyhow, I poured him regular tomato juice to have with breakfast, asked him if he wanted to try some of mine.  His eyes got real wide, he got this huge smile on his face and you could see the excitement he was trying to contain.  He caught himself and got real serious and said "Yes, please".  Well, he complimented my drink and said he really liked it.  I found out from my husband later that night that he came home and was talking with him about it, saying that he got to have "Bloody Mary's" with breakfast this morning.  Now, we have since established with him that he needs to refer to them as "Spicy tomato juice", since we know that he maybe going around to his friends and such wanting to talk about how he got to have a Bloody Mary.  Should an adult hear this, we may get some interesting questions about our parenting skills.

Sunny Orange Yogurt Muffins

This morning was absolutely beautiful! The sun was streaming through the kitchen and showing signs of spring, finally!  This weekend was warm and sunny, a nice contrast to the typical Northwest cloud.  To bring in this wonderful day, I had to bake a treat that reflected this morning.  So this time, I broke out one of my most loved cookbooks, William Sonoma.  I love how moist and subtly sweet these muffins are.  It's like a small sunburst in your mouth, maybe that's the sun-drenched happiness speaking but either way it's intriguing, don't you think? 

You can find the recipe here.  This is for the quick loaf bread, but it's exactly the same for the muffins.  It should make 14-18 regular sized muffins.  I made 12 regular muffins and 12 minis.  I love minis, they bring me back to my childhood.  When Hostess first introduced the mini muffins in a bag, it was all the rage then.  Banana Nut was my favorite at the time.  They are still around, I see them every now and again, but the real joy for me now, is knowing that I can make them ten times better in my own kitchen.  Anyhow, back to my point, these muffins are sure to bring a bit of sunshine to anybody's day.