squeals of delight

around here at birthday time, it's ALWAYS ALL ABOUT the CAKE.

i was cruisin' around facebook and saw this cute little mud pool piggy cake thingy and my daughter perked right up and said she'd been wanting to learn how to make fondant anyway. (we watch too much Cake Boss.) this seemed like a perfect opportunity.

anyway, it turned out fantastic.

i looked up some fondant and modeling clay recipes and i am never thrilled if i have to use confectioner's sugar or corn syrup.  we settled on trying a recipe for modeling chocolate substituting honey for corn syrup in the traditional recipes.

most of the "experts" also specified that if i wanted to color the chocolate, i should use paste colors which i didn't have access to.  i used the standard liquid for the pink the color of the pigs, but it was only a few drops and it didn't seem to cause a problem.

modeling chocolate recipe

4 Tbsp raw honey
1 bag (9 oz) of white chocolate chips

place the chocolate chips in a glass bowl and place on top of a sauce pot which contains some steaming (moderately boiling) water.
stir until well melted.
add food coloring and continue to stir.
remove from heat.
add honey and stir a bit more until combined.
cool a bit, so as not to heat up plastic wrap.
turn "dough" out onto plastic wrap and smash flat with plastic wrap.
wrap up and place into fridge for about 4 hours to overnight.

TADAH!

we used this recipe and found that it was a bit hard to work with, so i reheated and added another Tbsp of honey.  it blended well and it didn't curdle or separate.  we just had to put it back in the fridge for awhile.  you might have to work with the amount of honey a bit to get it the right pliability (is that even a word?), but if it gets a bit too soft, put it back in the fridge for a bit and pull it out again when it hardens.  also, you might try using a cold cutting board or cookie sheet to use as your table top so that it doesn't heat up to quickly.

for this beautiful cake, i swiped a GRAND recipe from one of the better recipe sites and i have officially claimed it as my own.  LOL  (the grandkids will never know.)

here's the link to give proper credit.
http://www.food.com/recipe/the-only-chocolate-cake-recipe-youll-ever-need-devils-food-26370

here's the recipe...in case that link ever vanishes.

cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil 
• 1 cup hot coffee
• 1 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add oil, coffee and milk and mix at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat 2 more minutes. Expect batter to be thin.
3. Pour into a 9" x 13" greased and floured pan or 2- 9" round pans. Bake 9 x 13 pan for about 45 minutes or 9" pans for about 30 minutes. Cool in pans for about 15 minutes and then cool completely on racks.
4. Frost as desired.

NOTE:  because olive oil is so darned expensive, i tried half olive oil (1/2 cup) and half applesauce (1/2 cup) the second or third time i made this cake and it turned out fabulous!   i even left the eggs out once by mistake and although the cake was a bit pitted in the middle, it STILL tasted fabulous.
 

for the mud, i used a simple chocolate ganache...the recipe is under my donut recipe at this link.

http://healthybratt.blogspot.com/2010/04/doughnutsdonutsoh-wow.html

we decided to really spruce it up with some canned cherry pie filling crammed between the layers.  this isn't a necessary step but it sure made it taste good.

for the barrel, we used, standard, toxic, get-em-from-walmart-for-a-dollar, wafer cookies.  we "glued" these to the cake with a bit of ganache and then tied a cord around when we were finished for extra support. once the cord comes off and you start cutting, it does get a bit flimsy, but nobody complained.

mother's day!

the family took me out on Saturday to have a juicy jalepeno burger and some sweet tater tots. they also took me to walmart where i had to wander around so they could shop for me (in secret).

sunday morning before church, they presented me with 2 fancy chocolate bars (cayenne & orange - my 2 favorites) and some awesome nail polish.

my son picked purple. my daughter, blue and green. hubs got me some glitter stuff (4th of July is coming up) and some new crackle stuff that looks like watermelon rind. cool stuff. and they all know how much i love to paint my toes.

what a blessed mother (and wife) i really am.

blogging groove

haven't really been a very consistent blogger. been doing some renovations and realized, i actually used to write about my life a bit. have been thinking it might be a good idea to get back into that groove. blogging started out for me a way to interact with friends. this was the time before facebook - wow! a friend told me about Xanga and i had a handful of friends, we read about each other's lives and as a bonus, we got a record to check back on and remember stuff.

i'm not really a very interesting person but i do find very interesting some of the older things in my blogging archive. today, i do most of my keeping up with friends on facebook or via cell phone or some other such mobile device - got my first cell phone for my last anniversary (2011)--but i think i'll revisit my blog a bit more and see if i can find that groove again.

this week in summary: sinus infection all week; boy had bronchitis but weathered it well. missed church last week, but am intending to make it tomorrow. hubs and the kids are scheduled to sing in the evening service with grandpa and the cousins. overall, not much happened beyond the normal grind. couldn't muster the energy to do more than exist. drank 4 gallons of mullein tea and still need a couple more i fear before all of the congestion is gone. i just praise God it wasn't any worse. it was draining and somewhat lingering, but it was an easy illness for the most part.

still need to get groceries this evening--that means a late supper. working on a new android (cell phone) application called toMarket (i think) for keeping and managing my shopping list. it's pretty cool - stores and sorts all items according to stores and individual store isles. i was using a paper shopping list of the "checklist" sort. i got the idea from jill on facebook. i really liked it, but was just a little unwilling to use up the paper and printer ink. this list works about the same way, but it's all digital and it's portable and i don't even need a pen to check the items off as i go.

had a lovely conversation with a lady friend from welltellme. she is now a llama farmer. how fun is that? welltellme has been good to me over the years. i've collected a few friends. can't wait until i have the funds and ability to travel around and hug them all in person.

not much else to report.

~be blessed

be blessed.

kitty dolls

hahahahahahaha!

i can't stop laughing at these pictures. this kitten doesn't like me. won't sit in my lap, won't allow me to pet or cuddle her but is the first to holler at me at feeding time. i take all of this in stride, because she is not my cat. i adopted her from the local animal shelter for my precious (hahahahaha) 11 yo daughter to love and take care of. this seemingly unfriendly and haughty kitten just adores (or tolerates) my daughter with the utmost grace. although i am somewhat miffed that this kitten just will not have anything to do with me - after all - i AM the one who feeds her (and decided to allow her to live in MY house.) and animals LOVE me (or so i thought until SHE came along), i am pleased, that she bonded so well with my daughter.

the other compensation for this cat's obvious lack of taste in human companionship (meaning me), is the things that my daughter can do with this cat because of it's obvious love of this very creative young girl. the proof is below. check out the photos and laugh with me.

hahahahahahaha!

is she gone? time to run.

ok, ok, i'll sit still, but i WON'T like it.

are you DONE yet?

this dress is so heavy. ugh.

yeah, i'm cute. DUH. what's your point?

can you BELIEVE THIS? look at this cat. yes, i can't help but "AWWWW" with the rest of you, but i'm still laughing. buwahahahaha. this is what you get when you don't make an ally of "the mom."

the Police in concert at my house!

the creativity of my children never ceases to amuse me.

(click to enlarge)

patriotic molars

my daughter lost a molar today at the rodeo, but that wasn't the best part. first she stained it blue with cotton candy. then when it came out it was--in fact--red, white and blue at the rodeo on the 4th of July. :D just wanted to share.

characature kids

my kids had their char portraits done today at the public library (for its 100th birthday). the boy told the artist, as he was working, that his head and his ears are NOT that big and his lips are not that girly.

7yo ninja boy

10yo reading girl

how does that work?

i'm on my knees in the bathroom scrubbing the tub.

daughter: mom, do you need help?
me: if you really wanna help, you can pick up the living room, so i can vacuum in a minute.
daughter: ok (then to her brother) get up and help me. mom says we have to clean the living room.

me: ahem. come HERE. what did i say?
daughter: if i wanna help i can clean the living room.
me: RIGHT!

mom is old but not THAT old

ROTFL...still laughing about what my son said.

my son was watching vintage electric company on tv.

son: mom, back when they first made electric company, did they have lights?
mom: what do you mean?
son: did they have lights, you know, like electricity?
mom: ROTFLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL yes ROTFLOLOLOL

score another one for mom

conversation upstairs overheard by mom downstairs...

son: aaaaaaaaaaaah!
daughter: what, i didn't do it that hard. i just shook your head a little. get to work.
son: but you did this and it hurt.
mom to daughter: you don't get to decide what hurts and what doesn't when it's not your body.
daughter: okaaaaaaaaaaaay.
mom to son: try not to be so overly dramatic.
son: okaaaaaaaaay.


mom to son: if you wanna go to baseball practice tonite, get up off your butt and clean your room.
son: how did you know i was on my butt?
mom: cuz i'm THE MOM.

polite dinner conversation

daughter says the word "fart" and then snickers. the rest of the conversation went something like this...

son: stop that!

mom: why?

son: she's pretending to fart on me.

mom: so?

son: she's pretending it's funny.

mom: well it is funny (daughter snickering some more.), and besides, you do it for real and think it's funny.

son: well, only 4 times.

mom: see?

daughter: yeah, but you fart and don't even know it and you're stinky.

son: yeah, but she's done it maybe like 2 million times.

mom: i don't think she's old enough to have said "fart" 2 million times.

daughter: uh huh.

mom: i think it would probably take you about 20 years to pull that off.

daughter: not if you went non-stop.

mom: *sigh*

fun puzzle

my father purchased a toy for my oldest daughter some years ago. she has since grown and moved out, but my younger children still enjoy playing with this wonderful find. i've had to repair one of the pieces multiple times and as i was making the most recent repair the other day, i just sat and wondered at how remarkable this toy really is. it has provided many hours of entertainment for the kids and the 'grownups' in the house.

i thought i would share. i have no idea what it's called, but my dad bought it on amazon.com about 6 or 7 years ago (maybe more).

the pieces all have a stick with a magnet in the end and the ball you see is also a magnet and serves as the hub which holds all the other pieces in place. the puzzle can be put together in many combinations, but the real challenge is to put it together without having any two pieces of the same color touching one another.



it also comes with a small black cup/saucer-shaped base to hold the ball up for assembly and display.

click to enlarge any of the above photos.

suicide by (friendly) dinasour

this was too good not to share...

i overheard my son talking to my daughter. he told her, his little army man ate two whole elephants. i asked him why his man would eat two whole elephants and the rest went something like this

son: because he was super hungry after being inside a dinosaur for 12 days.
me: 12 whole days?
son: i mean, 12 whole months and 2 days.
me: 12 whole months? how did he stay alive without food for 12 whole months?
son: he took food with him.
me: he took 12 whole months worth of food into a dinosaur with him?
son: i mean 11 whole months.
me: he took 11 whole months worth of food with him? that's alot of food. what did he carry it in?
son: a suitcase.
me: he took 11 whole months of food in a suitcase with him into a dinosaur? how come the dinosaur didn't chew him into pieces?
son: because the dinosaur was a friend of his.
me: (laughing) okay, so the man is friends with the dinosaur and the dinosaur ate him? why?
son: because the man didn't want to live.
me: (trying hard not to die laughing at this point.) so what you're telling me is that this man, wanted to commit suicide by being eaten by a a dinosaur that didn't chew him up. not only that but the man took enough food with him to feed him for nearly a year. why would he take food with him if he wanted to die?
son (with daughter in background in unison): in case he changed his mind.

of course...what else?

bday stands for birthdays and baptisms

i had the privilege of witnessing the baptism of my 2nd daughter and two of her cousins tonite. it was also my father's and my husband's birthday. what a delight to have so many blessings in one day. to celebrate, we did up the girlie's hair in a do that would be "dunk proof" and look nice to and we made the most wonderful 3-layer "death-by-chocolate" cake.










this style was called Elizabethan hair taping by the lady who gave the tutorial. we tried her version of the dutch crown which turned out lovely, but her hair wasn't quite thick enough at the bottom to make it look even on both sides. the taping is also much easier and there are no pesky pins to poke you in the head or fall out. my daughter has been wearing this "do" all week and has little loss of hair from the braids (a few fuzzies here and there).







Elizabethan hair taping video:


Dutch crown videos:





now, this lucious piece of art came from a recipe i found online at a site called Mom's Who Think
the frosting recipe is actually the ganache recipe that i used for my donut birthday cake.




Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups boiling water
1 cup (2 sticks) butter softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs at room temperature
2 3/4 cups all purpose (unbleached) flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. preheat oven to 350°F. grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans.

2. in a medium bowl, stir the boiling water into the cocoa until smooth, and set aside.

3. in a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and set aside.

4. at medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 4 to 5 minutes.

5. add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

6. turn mixer down to low speed. add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

7. stir in the vanilla, and do not over-beat.

8. pour an equal amount of batter into each of the three prepared pans.

9. bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

10. cool in pans set on racks for 10 minutes. invert pans on racks, remove pans, and allow layers to cool completely before frosting.

NOTE: if your cakes are not flat (level) then i would recommend frosting one layer and putting it into the fridge to chill for a bit to prevent the layers from slipping off. i used toothpicks, but this probably isn't preferable for public presentation.

i love garage sales

i took some pics of my favorite finds at the local city-wide garage sale this, last weekend.
(click to enlarge photos...for a better view)



a cute little tank for my SIL - her hubs loves his bikes! 25 cents






a new dress for...dressup...DUH! i love to dress up. $3






a scarf (head/neck wrap). don't know what i'll use it for, but it' gorgeous. 30 cents




my new favorite shoes. $3






a cute little pink, winter muffler. that's my daughter snuffaluffagus. 25 cents




an umbrella hat for my son. (snuffaluffagus broke his spiderman umbrella. this is the replacement) he's very happy with it! 25 cents




i also got a eureka electric broom/dustbuster thingy (for the kids), a stars and stripes fishing cap (new), an icetray (i collect these), 2 baseball batting helmets, 2 puzzles, 2 pairs of pants for hubs, 4 new glass coffee cups with little blue hearts on them, a decorator tin (for mil), 2 ties (for fil), and another shirt (autographed by local celebrity) for sil... we spent less than $25 for the entire day! i love garage sales.