Let Them Eat (Red Velvet) Cake, Then.....

Ok, I know I'm late to the Red Velvet Cake party; for the last several years it seems every show I watch about "trendy" weddings, bridal showers, sweet sixteens, and baby showers always mentions how "in" Red Velvet Cake is. The truth is, being neither "in" nor Southern, I had never tasted a red velvet cake, and had no idea what to expect. In typical budget conscious Mama fashion, it never occurred to me to buy a red velvet cake until I received a coupon for one. Now, I don't usually fall for the "two cents off if you buy 500" coupon thing, but if it is a substantial coupon for at least a few dollars, and it's an item I either would be buying anyway, or an item I can substitute for what I would have bought anyway, I'll consider it. Since I was intrigued by the idea, and it was such a great Costco coupon; I brought home a giant, scrumptious-looking red velvet cake on Saturday. Oh my goodness! I think it was the best cake I had ever tasted! After doing some research on the so-called "authentic" red velvet cake, I decided to find a great recipe and make one for our twelfth anniversary, which is coming up on May 1st. After learning plenty of contradictory do's and don'ts; I found a recipe that is as authentic as I can find.

Food Network Recipe

• Vegetable oil for the pans
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows
• Crushed pecans, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour 3 (9 by 1 1/2-inch round) cake pans.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.

Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.

Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Remove the cakes from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. One at a time, invert the cakes onto a plate and then re-invert them onto a cooling rack, rounded-sides up. Let cool completely.

Frost the cake. Place 1 layer, rounded-side down, in the middle of a rotating cake stand. Using a palette knife or offset spatula spread some of the cream cheese frosting over the top of the cake. (Spread enough frosting to make a 1/4 to 1/2-inch layer.) Carefully set another layer on top, rounded-side down, and repeat. Top with the remaining layer and cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the top with the pecans.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.)

Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy (scrape down the bowl occasionally). Store in the refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Yield: enough to frost a 3 layer (9-inch) cake


Hopefully I can make a cake as gorgeous as the one in the picture! Unfortunately, I'm afraid that by May 1st, red velvet cake will be hopelessly outdated, and "out". Oh well, I've never been very trendy, anyway! 

Que Sera, Syrah....

Wow! I had such a great weekend! On Saturday; after doing my usual grocery store rounds and errands, I got to spend some time with my oldest friend. We've known each other since we were practically infants, and although distance and a difference in lifestyle have taken us apart over the years, she's one of those friends that you can not see or speak to for years, then resume your friendship as though you had just spoken the day before. She recently got married, so we've had fun rekindling our friendship by doing "wifely" and domestic things, like going to Costco together, or just lunch. When we were growing up, there was a little tiny, old drive-in restaurant in the town we lived in called "The Hungry Onion". I wish I had pictures, the old neon onion is still there, lit as brightly as ever. This place has been there since the fifties, and was a staple when we were kids in the eighties. I've enjoyed revisiting it over the years, and often take my boys in the summer, but my friend hadn't been there in at least fifteen years. So we packed up baby Elvis and went to the Hungry Onion. We had a great time, and Elvis even partook in the food (I know, bad Mama; but he wanted it sooo much!). We had a great, bad-for-you meal and then went back to her house for what was supposed to be a movie afternoon, but we ended up ignoring the movie and talking the whole time!

On Sunday, James and I had one of our rare "dates"; at a local winery. Ste. Chapelle. It's only about a 30 minute drive; through wonderful country scenery; including driving by the most wonderfully named road in existence: Chicken Dinner Road. That name conjures up a lovely Sunday family dinner, and is strangely poetic. At the restaurant we went to beforehand, they had some local info and I finally found out the secret to the prosaic name. In the 30's there was a woman who lived on the poorly maintained road who made a mean fried chicken dinner. After some town officials partook of her famous fried chicken; the road was fixed, and named after her best dish. So sweet! One of those local things you only find out about when you take the time to visit smaller towns. As always when James and I get a chance to go out together, we look at each other and remark that we forgot about being a couple, and are always pleased to find out that in addition to loving each other, we actually do like each other, and all the things we connected on when we were dating are still there; it's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day trials and forget to be great friends as well as husband and wife. We don't get a chance to go out often, but when we do it always helps us have a greater appreciation for the other person, and helps get us through those times when the stresses of the day overwhelm us.

Now, in case you were wondering; I do know that the song Doris Day made famous is actually spelled "Que Sera, Sera", the silly name comes from a wine we tasted on Sunday that I absolutely fell in love with, called Syrah; named after a particular dark-skinned grape, which are the type shown in the picture. I don't normally love dry red wines, but this particular one was divine. It reminded me of those old York Peppermint Patty commercials, where one bite would transport you to a whole different place. When I sipped the Syrah; I could envision myself in a bubble bath, with no laundry! I love coffee and dark chocolate, and this wine hit on all the same notes. James made a joke about the song when we were served it, and I've had that silly song in my head ever since!

I've got a busy week ahead of me, including having my carpet cleaned, which is my favorite thing ever.

Happy Monday All!

Potion, Potion; Make me a Potion....

As much as I like to smell nice; I am not a perfume-wearer. My allergies hate perfume; and I always seem to get a headache when I wear it. That's part of why I love to make natural soap and lotion; it leaves a nice scent without being "perfumey". But the other day, I was dashing around as usual and decided to use a little sample of perfume I've had hanging around forever; it was a freebie when I placed an order at a place that I can't tell you about; because its a "secret". Well, my husband couldn't stop raving about how great I smelled! He has similar feelings about synthetic fragrances, and loves that I don't douse myself in scent; but something about that particular silly perfume he loved! Honestly, he complimented me so much it was getting ridiculous. So, I had an idea: there's a wonderful shop on my Bath and Body team on etsy, Mermaid Lane Perfume, who makes wonderful, natural, perfume; a woman on the team got some samples from her and loved them! I decided to find out what was in the "secret" perfume and try to get a custom blend. It turns out this perfume my husband loved is described as a "fruity floral" and has jasmine, bergamot, and a million other things in it, so I decided to have a sample made with similar notes. The owner of the shop gave me some wonderful info; telling me that the perfume my husband loved is 99% synthetic, so the blend she makes me will smell differently, but hopefully better! She will e-mail me a questionnaire about my preferences, then for a few dollars, she will mix up a sample for me, if I don't love it, she'll try again. I have to tell you, I'm not getting anything for promoting this shop; I just think it's so wonderful to have the talent to create custom scents, and I'm so excited to have my own scent that is natural! Of course, it is not an inexpensive prospect, but she says with care, your scent will last a long time. I know some feminist-types would cringe to hear that I want a perfume mainly to please my husband, but isn't that what we all want as wives? Getting compliments and having your husband think you're awesome is certainly not without benefit on my end; so I'm willing to save up to make an investment like this. My 12th anniversary is coming up, I think this will be my gift to my husband! (or his gift to me?). I should be able to save a few dollars each week from the grocery budget, or my etsy money, to buy a bottle of lovely, natural perfume. I so wish I had a talent like this, although I think I have a good "nose" for scents, and work with essential oils and botanicals in my craft; I know nothing about the complicated process of top notes, base notes, etc. It's so wonderful that what she does brings people joy! And also, I'm a little bit obsessed with mermaids, so I love her shop name!

I'm starting my day in a very tidy house; courtesy of my husband, who stayed up until the wee hours folding laundry and cleaning; after my late-night sewing took it's toll and I was dead to the world! Tomorrow, I will be spending the afternoon with my best friend; revisiting a drive-in restaurant that we used to go to as small children, followed by watching the new 'Alice in Wonderland' movie. Such fun! 

Happy Friday Everyone!

Mr. Sandman.....

So remember my pledge not to stay up past midnight? We'll that's all gone out the window now that I realized I only have barely over a month until our vacation, and several pieces that are a must sew. The bathing suit pattern I cut out the other night is on the top of my list; I would hate to wait seven years for a vacation only to end up at the beach in a threadbare, stretched-out, five year old,  I've-worn-it-through-two-pregnancies-and-never-liked-it-anyway bathing suit!

So last night I buckled down (at 11pm) and got to work; movie on the laptop; boys and husband in bed. After all my enlarging/reducing/reducing I found that I had made the shorts gigantic! I mean, really big! I stitched them together as cut because I didn't want to lose the lines of the pattern; tonight (if I survive that long), I'll try them on and reduce by taking in the side seams. I have to adjust to the fact that they are meant to be rather flowy, drapey shorts, as was the style, and I don't want to lose that. However, I also don't want to be drowning in fabric. I think it will all work out; I did have to change the pattern size significantly, and it's natural for there to be differences in fit with a vintage pattern compared to modern expectations.

I hope, hope, hope to be back on track; sleep-wise soon, as soon as I catch up a little (promises, promises). For tonight, I feel rather exhausted, and may or may not pass out completely as soon as a finish this post!
I do have a great weekend coming up, and I'm excited about tomorrow being Friday!

Have a great night, everyone!

Dishes at Dawn?

I've posted before about the joys of late-night sewing; but this morning started out very differently. First of all, last night I fell asleep at 9:30! A far cry from my usual night-owlishness; I think all my late night shenanigans are catching up with me. After feeding Elvis at 5 am; I decided to get up and get some things done. I had already had nearly 8 hours of sleep; which never happens, and I also had a mountain of laundry that I had intended to fold. I was dreading another morning doing the digging-through-the-clean-laundry-looking-for pants-shirts-socks-no-not-that-shirt-where's-my-Perry-the-Platypus-shirt-those-aren't-my-underwear "thing" that I do whenever I get behind; so I put on another classic movie (thank you Mr. Netflix) and started folding. It would've been a perfect morning, except I didn't have any coffee, since I'm terrible at making coffee, James was asleep, and I was afraid to run the coffee grinder for fear of waking up some boys. I held out until 6:30; then woke up James, who made coffee, using his patented "coffee-grinder in between two couch cushions" method of noise-free coffee grinding.

I was thinking this morning about whether I need to switch from late-nights to early mornings, I just might be able to get lots of things accomplished, while still being able to spend the evening with James, and maybe, just maybe, getting more sleep, too! Or maybe it is impossible to "do it all"; I'm sure I'll keep trying!

On a completely unrelated note, I've been looking for a movie that I remember seeing when I was a teenager, it starred Van Heflin, who was famous for doing a coin trick while onscreen; it was his way of making sure the camera was on him and not his co-stars. I remember it was a Film Noir kind of movie, involving a lot of gangsters and a lot of drama; but it was also a very sweet love story. I remember one of the last lines in the movie was Van Heflin saying to the female lead "You're my good luck charm" or something similar. Either I have imagined a very plausible movie plot, or it's a rare movie, since I haven't been able to find it! I've googled, wikapedia'd, gone to the TCM website, read biographies of Van Heflin...what in the world? Any of you movie buffs out there that can help me; please do!

I Write with a Goose Quill Dipped in Venom

Isn't that a great line? It's from one of my favorite Film Noir movies; Laura. I watched it last night while working on my sewing since I just figured out how to watch movies from Netflix on my laptop. I know, people have been watching movies on their computer for centuries; but since I had no computer until last December, this is all new to me! I'm no movie expert, but I've been a fan of classic films since I was a little girl watching old movies with my mother. I'm like a kid in a candy store! So many movies I've never seen, or some of my favorites that are hard to track down. Since I have a laptop, it's easy to have it set up on my worktable, start one of the classics and get to work!

This was the view from my kitchen last night; I got to work resizing my vintage swimsuit pattern, a process I started the night before. Although when giving the resized pieces a second look last night, I realized that I had made them far, far, too big! It must have been because of the late hour, after taking a few measurements, I realized I made the swimsuit front several inches too big, the top picture shows the front piece, in a Junior size, and the white material is the pattern material, which is printed in one inch grids. You can see I had to add quite a bit, including adding length from top to bottom, for coverage and modesty. After I took this picture of the piece which I had just reduced in size, I still needed to remove a few more inches in width. I felt like Alice in Wonderland, trying desperately to achieve the correct size! The lower picture shows my workspace; the kitchen table, covered in sewing stuff; which is the worst part about sewing, at least for me; because I don't have a dedicated space, and have to carefully put away everything despite the late hour; otherwise my boys will have a field day in the morning! For some reason, my littler boys are fascinated by my sewing machine and equipment, and when I leave my sewing machine out, I always have to check it carefully; since they usually have changed all the settings!

A few weeks ago, a fellow etsian on my team did an interview with me about my shop; she published it today; check out her blog; By the Book Paper

It's a great Monday; since my boys are out of school for President's Day; I'm hoping to have a very laid-back day today; Happy Monday!

I Heart Free, Day-Old Baked Goods.....

My blog has a new look! It's totally revamped; I'm liking how bright and cheery it is! There's a not-funny story about that......*embarrassing*. Let's just say, I'm a bad, bad, blogger! So any of you tech-savvy people see me k do anything (else) that violates the Internet Laws That Everyone Follows Except Me, please let me know before I get into any <more> trouble!

Enough about that, look at the fun cake in the picture! It was free! Every week or every other week, we are the recipients of the baked goods from a local bakery; the ones they can't sell. There's a lady who works there that distributes them around town to anyone that can use them, and of course; we can use them! Some weeks it's lots and lots of bread and rolls, but my boys love it when there are lots of "treats". This being after Valentine's Day, there were lots and lots of treats; this cake, cupcakes, etc. It was a much-needed surprise, since yesterday I committed the capital offense of forgetting to make a dessert, and having a bunch of things in the freezer helps out immensely on days I can't get it together to make bread or rolls for dinner, much less a dessert. I've even come up with ways to use the items that are stale; I make garlic bread or little toasts with the baguettes that have seen better days; last time I was out of garlic and made an artichoke spread, then toasted the rounds in the oven. You can make French Toast with stale sliced bread; and for the donuts; James makes an awesome donut bread pudding that uses up tons and tons of stale donuts; although it is not exactly health food, so we save it for special occasions!

I have a hopefully productive weekend of sewing and soaping ahead of me; I've decided to switch my sewing strategy and start with the "must have" items for my vacation, since it's only a little over a month away! Aaak! I received that darling pattern I posted about earlier, it will make a great everyday dress, and I hope to use the fabric I already have for it.

Happy Weekend!

Grumpy Mama Creamy Pasta; or How to Feed a Tribe for $6.00

A few days ago, one of my favorite bloggers, Brittany at VaVoomVintage posted a recipe for Grouchy Girl Pie after a grouchy day. I had a very, very grumpy day today; where I started to think there was no way I could accomplish all the things I set out to do. I was very grumpy on the way to pick up my older boys, and then I decided to "get over myself" and just do what I had to do. I came home with a plan; after giving my boys their daily chore assignments and having no idea what to make for dinner; I decided to fall back on one of my "easy dinners" that just happens to be a very thrifty meal to make. Today I just happened to have about 1/2 cup of white wine that my husband poured me last night and I fell asleep before drinking, so rather than throw it out, I decided to add it to my recipe; but I normally make non-alcoholic pasta, so just substitute more milk for the wine in this recipe. As always, I'm a very "throw it in" cook, so these are my best estimates of what I use! And this makes a huge amount;  I will feed six people (plus Elvis, indirectly) with this and have leftovers for a lunch or two or three. I weighed the pot after I was finished; over 10 pounds!

Creamy Pasta in a Pinch

20 oz dried rotini or a similar shape pasta
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
2-3 cloves garlic
3-4 marinated artichoke hearts
1/4 cup butter or olive oil (or a combo)
2 cups milk
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the cheap stuff)
1/2 cup white wine
Your favorite seasonings, basil, oregano, or an Italian blend

The first thing I do is set a pot of water on the stove to boil, then I oil a glass pan, add the chicken breasts, salt and pepper them and put them in a 425 degree oven to bake. Then I chop the garlic while the butter and/or olive oil is heating up in a skillet. I add the garlic and saute briefly. I add the flour, stir to make a roux, then add the wine and/or milk gradually while mixing with a wire whisk. Stir until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat, add chopped artichokes, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste, seasonings. By this time the pasta should be ready and the chicken should be cooked. Drain the pasta, return to the pan, add the sauce, chop up the chicken and add that as well. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Simple!


I also serve this with a loaf of my home baked bread which I posted a recipe for earlier, salad mix, and broccoli or asparagus. Here's how I break down the cost:

Pasta $1.50
Chicken $2.00 (I have three freezers and only buy chicken if it's $2 or less)
Garlic, Seasonings, Oil, butter, and flour .25
White wine (doesn't count because it was re purposed)
Milk .25
Parmesan .50
Artichoke Hearts .10 (I got a great deal on a jar of artichokes, and just used a small amount)
Homemade Bread and one stick of butter (my boys like butter!) .75
Salad Greens .40
Asparagus .25

I may have under-or-over estimated a few of these things, but I think it all comes out in the wash; so I've managed to feed my hungry family for $6.00!

And it's delicious!

Flour Frenzy

This picture is a quick snapshot, of me, in my kitchen in all my red apron-ed glory....I wish! Ah, for those yellow dishes! I love yellow dishes! Unfortunately my kitchen is not as darling by half. Today is Thursday, which means that tomorrow my Andrew will be selling homemade bread for the mock economy in his classroom. My bread is in high demand there; probably because it is bought with mock money; so I try to make at least 6-8 loaves for him to sell. And that's on top of the bread I'm supposed...I mean am making for everyday use. I also am extremely backed up in the soap department, so today's tasks include one batch of Patchouli soap...which is done; and I have three loaves baking in the oven as we speak.

And it shows. I have developed a system for making the most of my tiny kitchen and limited mixing and oven space. I make one batch of bread which makes 3 loaves, using the recipe I posted earlier, let it rise in the mixing bowl for about an hour; then when it's risen, I take it out and immediately start another batch of bread in the mixer, then form the first batch into loaves, repeat until exhausted and covered in flour. If I do this properly, I should have one batch rising in the bowl, one batch rising on the baking sheet, and one batch in the oven.  Unfortunately I am terribly behind today, and at this rate will not be able to fill my kitchen from floor to ceiling with bread; although I am exhausted and covered in flour....

Off to bake more bread!

Happy Thursday!

My All-Natural Baby

I hate to say, I've turned into rather a snob about my all-natural little baby Elvis. He was born after a natural (hard) childbirth in an antique brass bed at a birth center, attended by wonderful Midwives. Because of his "all-natural" beginning; I have endeavored to keep him as natural as possible. Now, I'm not taking anything away from babies that were born in a hospital; I had my first three babies in a hospital and know that the "natural" route is not safe or desirable for everyone. But for myself, as someone with no risk factors and a good track record; a Midwife-attended birth was a good fit. Since I also decided to use cloth diapers for the first time, I think I've been even more careful with what I put on my baby. After the birth, I was given a sample of Calendula balm which is made by Sierra Sage, and let me tell you, that's the stuff! It's good for everything from dry skin to diaper rash, which is what I mainly use it for. After doing research on Calendula, I found that it is excellent at getting rid of even the nastiest rashes, and has natural antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. I also found that it was rather expensive, so almost as soon as I began to make soap, I bought some Calendula balm through my supplier, and have used it for everything from soap to lotion. I seem to have misplaced that jar of balm I've been using for seven months now, so I decided to use my new-found skills and whip up a batch of my own. I got a little carried away and didn't really measure, so I'll do my best to give the proper proportions, although it's not an exact recipe and is easily modified and customized.

Baby Balm:

You'll need:

Olive oil
Virgin coconut oil (unrefined, it even smells like coconut and has tiny specks of the "meat" in it)
Castor Oil
Shea Butter
Hempseed Oil
Caldendula Extract
Rosemary Essential oil

Now, I realize that this may be more of a pain than it's worth, as the average person is not likely to have these ingredients on hand, but all of these ingredients are good for all sorts of things and can probably be found at your local health food store or online.

You'll also need a small food processor, for emulsifying the mixture. I don't usually use my kitchen equipment for making my beauty supplies, but all of these ingredients are "eatable", or at least not toxic, so I felt ok using my food processor and washing it out well. Although I would certainly not recommend ingesting this mixture, no matter how yummy it smells!

I basically started with a "base" of olive oil, it making up the main portion of the amount I wanted to use; for a 4 oz container probably 2 ounces would be olive oil. I then added a scoop of virgin coconut oil, about an equal amount of shea butter, melted; only a smidge (maybe a few teaspoons) of hempseed oil, a little castor oil to make it smooth, a teaspoon or so of Calendula extract and a few drops of rosemary essential oil. All of these ingredients serve a purpose, and blend together nicely. I then pulsed the heck out of the mixture in order to emulsify and thicken it. I did this until the blade was hitting just air, because the mixture was stuck to the sides and thickened.

I used this on Elvis; note that this is not a zinc oxide cream, and doesn't make a thick coating, it absorbs really well into the skin; the only little issue I had with it is that there was a small amount of minuscule specks of coconut occasionally, but they are really tiny and didn't present a problem. I know that diaper creams are a no-no with cloth diapers; but I think this might be ok, because it absorbs into the skin so quickly, also all these oils are very washable and soluble. At least, I'm willing to risk my cloth diapers on this balm!

I've applied it a few times to Elvis; I guess I'll see how it works and whether I like it as much as the balm from Sierra Sage!