Carrot Cake

My dad's birthday was on Friday and we had a party on Saturday.  Surprisingly, I was nominated to bake the cake.  Dad wanted carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  The carrot cake recipe I had used before sunk something horribly in the center.  So, I tried a new recipe this time.  Glad it turned out fabulously!  I do have some pictures to add to this post, but I'll do it tomorrow!

Recipe comes from The best bake sale ever cookbook pages 245-246

Cake batter

2 c. flour

2 c. sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 c. corn oil or canola blend oil (I used peanut oil b/c it's what I had)

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 carrots, peeled and grated

1 c. chopped walnuts

3/4 c. canned crushed pineapple, well drained

Walnut Frosting

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, cut into pieces, at room temperature

1/4 c. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 c. confectioners' sugar, sifted or as needed

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c. walnuts, finely chopped

Coarsely chopped walnuts, for garnish (optional)

**I used the canned cream cheese frosting b/c I didn't want to deal with making frosting today. :)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray or grease and lightly flour two 9 inch round cake pans.  LIne the bottom of each pan with waxed paper.  DO NOT JUST SPRAY WITH PAM - IT WILL STICK HORRIBLY AND YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE ANOTHER CAKE...I PROMISE.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, and cinnamon into a large bowl, then mix with an electric mixer on low speed.  Beat in the oil, eggs, and vanilla.  Stir in the carrots, walnuts, and pineapple.  The batter with be thin.  I mixed it this way the first time I made this cake and I ended up with thick gobs on the bottom.  The second time I made this cake I did the eggs, sugar, oil, etc. and mixed that well and then added the flour.  This worked much, much better.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.  Bake in the center of the oven for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.  Cool the cake layers for about 10 minutes in the pans, then invert onto wire racks to cool completely.  Thirty minutes for the 9 inch rounds worked great.  When I put it in a 9x13 it was closer to 45 minutes.  And, the cake only sunk a tiny bit in the center and that was because I poked it to see if it was done at 35 minutes.

4. Prepare the frosting.  In a large bowl, using the electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until light.  Beat in the butter and then the sugar, 1 cup at a time, adding only as much confectioners' sugar as needed to make the frosting a spreadable consistency.  Mix in the vanilla and walnuts.

5. Place one cake layer on a plastic plate or cardboard round.  Frost the top.  Top with the second cake layer.  Frost the sides and top.  Sprinkle the sides or top of the cake with coarsely chopped nuts, if desired.  If decorating the sides of the cake with nuts, pat them gently into the icing so they adhere.  Store in the refrigerator.

Not for the faint hearted

Well, I can almost check "Make T Shirt Quilt" off my bucket list.  

This project has been a bit more than I bargained for.  Originally Renee asked me, "So, do you ever sew for other people?"  I told her yes and she told me that her son had been saving t shirts for years because he wanted them made into a quilt.  She teaches fourth grade and has decided that she's never going to get to this project because, "I'm not a seamstress."  I told her I had never made one before but that I was willing to give it a go.  She brought me all the t shirts back in about May and told me there was "no rush.".  I will admit, there have been serious delays in getting this done.  Partly because of the wedding cake I also agreed to do this summer that ended up being a month long project.  And, partly because I didn't have any idea what I was doing and needed my mother's input on more than one occasion!  And, since there was "No rush" why rush it?  So, I've had the t shirts for about three months or so and I've spent only $25.53 for the decorbond (of course, I ended up needing more and swiped what my mother had at her house).  I've put 14.5 hours into this little diddy as well.  I've finally got the top put together sans a sashing.  I'd like to make it an even 90x90 so that it's easy to find batting and a back for it.  As I've been sewing the rows together however, I've decided that this should be put on the quilt machine rather than be tied.  Obviously it's going to take away from the shirts if there's a tie in the center of each one.  But, if you haven't worked with decorbond before then you have no idea how stiff these shirts are now.  Generally, when you are sewing something the fabric bends and twists quite easily.  Well, because t shirts are made to stretch (and you don't want your squares to be uneven) you must put something on the back to keep them from stretching.  This in turn makes the t shirt fabric stiff and a bugger to maneuver.  I worry that putting it on the quilt frames and tying it is going to cause me yet another headache in this process.  The corners don't all match up because the squares aren't all the same size and where the corners do match up there is a lot of bulk to get through.  I'm hoping Renee will agree that it would be best to put this monster on the quilt machine rather than the frames.  I just don't know that she's going to want to drop another $85 just to have it quilted!  My goal was to have this ready to take to her at our first meeting this month.  Our first meeting is Monday.  Guess I better figure out that sashing soon....   

Cousins come to play

Today we had some cousins, Kash & Olivia, over to play.  I, therefore, learned what it would be like to have 1 year old twins, that don't nap, and that both walk would be like.  Let's just say I'm glad I don't have 1 year old twins!  Our cousins were good and my kids were too - it was just lots of little people who were kinda grouchy because they wouldn't nap!

Before Kash & Olivia came to play, Brookelyn decided she wanted to practice her piano skills.  Yes, she is in fact standing on the piano.

I was wondering if the girls would be as good with each other this time as they were last time.  Turns out, luckily for me, they were!  There were only a few times they got huffy with each other and wanted the toy the other one had.  But, for the most part, they were both pretty good girls.

This is the newest dress up that the older kids like putting on little sister.  It has a bunch of ribbon that trails forever down the back side.  Brookelyn thinks she's the queen of the house when she has it on and is sitting on her throne!

Liv liked my zucchini cookies :)

Nash is like a kid whisperer to these girls!  Seriously, for a kid that wasn't that excited about getting a sister for his birthday a year ago, he sure does like her!  He's the same way with Livi.  I wonder if it just carries over from being with Brookelyn all the time or if he just has a soft spot for little girls now.  He was so good to help them slide and swing.  He even got them toys and entertained them without me asking him too!

Nash's own little sister is quite a bit bigger than Kash's little sister!  Livi was much easier for Nash to put in the swing than Brookelyn was!

Brookelyn had a slippery bum and kept falling out of the swing.  It would take her by surprise each time and then she'd fuss until someone put her back up on the swing.

These two could have sat here for hours and been perfectly fine.

There she goes out of the swing again!

Livi checking out the picnic table

Having a snack of graham crackers.  Notice the phone in B's hand?  Yep, future texter I do believe!

Livi needed a cracker for each hand.  B was good as long as she had my phone.

The kids had a good time playing.  I was happy that the older boys included Caleb quite well all day long.  I think the girls would have been much happier if they had in fact taken a nap rather than be quiet long enough to drink a bottle!  Oh well, we had fun and that's what matters most!

Chocolate for breakfast & a new recipe

Today I get the vote for best mom ever!  Brookelyn had chocolate for breakfast.  Don't worry, we shook it up a bit - she had 2 kinds of chocolate!  

Oh, and we followed it up with some fruit.

Since chocolate for breakfast was such a hit, we had a bit more with dinner:

You would never know this girl gets two baths a day!

And tonight I decided to try a new recipe.  I think it's a keeper too.  A direct quote from Nash, "It might look disgusting, but it's really good!"  Well, what mom wouldn't keep that recipe?  I only did a half of the recipe because I didn't know how it would turn out or who would eat it.  I also used really big tortillas because that's all I had.  Since the tortillas were so big I only ended up with four of them.

Our Prefect Zesty Chicken Tortilla Bake

Prep: 25 minutes

Makes: 8 servings, 2 roll ups each

What you need:

1/2 c. Miracle Whip Dressing (I used Mayo because it's what I had in the fridge and didn't want to run downstairs to get something different)

1/2 c. flour

3 c. milk

1 pkg (8 oz) Kraft shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite size pieces

1/2 c. Taco Bell Home Originals Thick N Chunky Salsa (I just used the Pace Picante I had in the fridge)

1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley (I omitted this because I didn't have any)

16 flour tortillas (6 inch)

Heat oven to 375 degrees

Mix dressing and flour in medium saucepan with whisk until well blended.  Gradually stir in milk,  Bring to boil on medium heat, stirring constantly; cook and stir until thickened.  Add 1 c. cheese; cook until melted, stirring constantly.  Reserve 1 c. sauce.  Make sure you keep an eye on the sauce so you don't burn it.

Stir chicken, salsa, and parsley into remaining sauce; spoon 1/3 c. down center of each tortilla.  Roll up.  Place 8 roll ups, seam sides down, in each of 2 (13 x 9 inch) baking dishes sprayed with cooking spray; top with reserved sauce and remaining cheese.

Bake 25 minutes or until heated through.

The directions say you can make this ahead and just cover with heavy duty foil.  You can refrigerate for up to 24 hours or freeze up to 1 month.  If you refrigerate it bake it covered for 40 minutes, uncovering for the last 10 minutes of bake time.  If you freeze it it tells you to let it thaw out in the fridge before you bake it and then bake the same as the refrigeration directions.

I'm wondering if I could substitute the Miracle Whip/Mayo for something like yogurt??

Bubble baths, dancing and recipes

Last night I let Nash get in the tub with Brookelyn.  I left for a second to take care of Caleb and came back to a bath tub of bubbles.  Apparently, even Nash is quicker than I am!  Brooke was loving the bubbles though so I grabbed the camera and snapped a few pictures.  Nash was teaching her how to make a bubble beard.

Notice the expression on her little mug?  Yep.  Caught climbing again!

Nash getting his groove on with Brookelyn

 Tonight I was trying to decide what to do for dinner.  Nash & Sam were down at my parent's house so it was just me and the littles.  Caleb is one of the pickiest kids I know.  I finally remembered I have this giant cookbook of (what else?) mostly untried recipes:

In case you're wondering, it's 2.5 inches and yes, it's mostly full (as you can tell by the next photo).

It isn't like I've got a shortage of recipe books to choose from.  Everything on my shelf is a recipe book except that pile on the very bottom on the left and in the middle.

I couldn't find a recipe to use for pork chops that I thought sounded tasty.  So, I resorted to allrecipes.com.  I ended up making Honeyed Pork Chops.  Yes, I printed that recipe out for my binder as well.

Next time I won't cook them as long as it said to, they were a bit dry.

After realizing just how many recipes I had in my untried recipes binder, I've decided I need to set another goal for myself to do another month worth of new recipes every day.  I did have try 1 new recipe each week on my summer bucket list, but I've failed miserably.  I've only tried 3 new recipes the entire summer!  Be watching for new recipe posts to come!