You are SO wishing you were at my house this week!

I mean. 2 CAKES.

Like THESE.

Where WERE you?

First, the Chocolate Layer Cake of Ultimate Awesome Strawberry Splendor.

The recipe I stole borrowed called it Eggless Chocolate Cake, but whatever.(Thanks to @Foodwhirl for pointing it out!)

My husband likes strawberry shortcake for his birthday.
Every year.
But I figure, this IS a cake.
It has a LOT of strawberries in/on it. It counts. The chocolate is a bonus this year.

Here’s what you do. Go follow the recipe from Passionate About Baking. (Or make a Betty Crocker, whatever.) But THIS recipe comes out not too sweet or overwhelming. The strawberries shine and the dark chocolate GANACHE (you must say that with a french accent btw, more like gaNAWSH) stands out as the big flavor that binds the whole thing.

A food writer I am not. But seriously, try the eggless thing. It uses vinegar/baking soda instead so you have a mini volcano on your hands. (Not really, but my 7yrold little boy loves that science-y crap.)

If I were doing it over the one thing I would change would be to cook 4 different cakes instead of trying to cut two cakes in half for the four layers. Not sure it would work better, but I would try. Her photos are much prettier than mine and all smoothy smooth on the sides. Yeah, I was just proud of my first attempt at the whole ganache/gaNAWSH thing, so there.

The strawberry filling is maybe the most amazing thing on the planet, at least the most amazing I’ve tasted THIS WEEK. And super duper easy. The hardest part in the recipe is figuring out what the heck 200 grams of strawberries looks like? HUH?

I just chopped up about 1 1/2 lbs of the things and said a strawberry prayer when I threw them into the pot with the balsamic vinegar and  a little sugar.

YEAH. I said BALSAMIC.
I know. That strange and wonderful thing that normally I like drinking a bit with some bread on the side. It’s Fabulous, trust me. You whip up some light whipping cream and mix into the cooled strawberry jam-like stuff.

If you feel like it, stop there. Eat the strawberry filling on scones or biscuits and pretend you are British at a tea party.

OR—

Spread it on the layers of cake.

And now the gaNAWSH.
I googled what 200 grams of chocolate means and google thinks that’s 7 ounces of dark chocolate. I agreed. I melted it with more cream and at first I didn’t think it was working. It was kind of still separated and not gaNOSH-y at all. But then a magical thing happened and it was smooth and creamy and dreamy.

I googled HOW to put a gaNAWSH on a cake and YouTube says just pour straight from the pan. Okay? I did it.

I was a beautiful site watching it flow all over the cake and down the sides of the cake (and off the plate and onto the counter). I looked back at the recipe.

Oh. She ‘reserved’ a bit for more decorations. Hmmm.

Nevermind. Throw some strawberries on top and call it a masterpiece.

Really, it was the most perfect, moist, strawberry-ific, and chocolate masterpiece.
I’m crying a little as I type this.

NOW to put the RAWR back in Birthday Cakes for 7yrolds

Each year my kids pick out and dream about and deliberate what we will make for their birthday cake.
Usually starting the day AFTER their birthday. Usually it goes through many revisions.

We’ve had iPods, ballerina slippers, igloos, castles and yes we make them ourselves.
Sometimes we give in and buy a store cake, but really?

Isn’t this so much more fun and memorable for the kids?

Tony the Tiger was chosen many moons ago from a book called: Classroom Treats.
And the list of ingredients is long. But the overall effort to make it: EASY!

Make a Betty Crocker: one round, 2 cupcakes. (Eat the rest of the batter or make a few extra cupcakes.)
Buy all these ingredients:

• Oreos
• M&Ms
• Red Licorice Stings
• Chocolate Sprinkles
• HoHos
• Pink Airhead Candy
• Frosting, dye it orange

Look closely at the picture and make a Tiger Face. (Eat all the leftover candy, it’s a birthday party after all!)

Next, post your photo on Facebook, and be prepared for HUNDREDS of people weighing in to tell you how awesome you are. Who knew Tiger cakes would get so much traffic? I’m making a hippopotamus next week.

But really, this was very easy. The hardest part was getting the little sprinkles into triangles around the cake.

What do your cakes look like?

Not just shoes, but a lot of things.

Are you like me, and tend to complete projects for your kids like getting their room all painted and decorated WAY before your own? We purchased matching beds and some other inexpensive furniture for our daughters years and years before we ever saved up to buy our own bedroom furniture!

And here’s the paint job in their new room. My room? Yeah, still have to get the wall paper down first! I have plans though. An apple green and white bedspread and one wall painted a fun color…

Clothes are also a funny issue. And yes SHOES too.

I have a theory. I figure, the kids are always growing and therefore need new clothing more often. And when you head out to buy shoes or a new church dress, you end up buying not necessarily the most expensive, but at least you buy the current trend, right?

And for myself, I’m not growing any more. (I’m not!) So I end up doing the practical thing and buying only when I need something and then tend to buy neutral items to match the most things. Black shoes and lots of jeans.

So who has the cuter shoes? My kids. Hands Down.

BUT. I’m dreaming a little here. Red Boots Anyone? Do NOT check the price tag. I’ve gotta find some red boots for less than $200! Sheesh!

It is SO Time for a Virtual ParTAY!!

This week I hit the 10,000 Twitter followers mark.
Now…  this is no big deal to many people. I know.

Those with 50,000 tweeps in their posse are laughing at me.
My mom who cannot grasp what Twitter IS, is also laughing at me. But…

COME ON!!

I’m having a moment here, YO!
A milestone.
A happy dance!

And you know what? I’m totally going to throw a party!
{Wanna come?}

Stay tuned, I have totally phun plans all next week. On Twitter (yes duh)… we are going to have an #UnHashtagPary or.. a  #MakeUpURownTag party!

• #I’maTENwhatRU?
• #CelebrateWMe!
• #SpringFling

Plus my birthday is next month, and I’m all about bringing everyone into this shindig, so if you have a spring birthday then DANG! Join us. Dancing. All that!

My pal @JulieFBT is always up for a fab b-day party. (And she’s helping out! Thanks Julie!)  She’s the queen of Free Birthday Treats after all? Hello… Denny’s on my birfday? Free Grand Slam! (I swear she did not pay me to write that, but she does have great freebies listed on her site. Go. Srsly. Get free stuff)

Oh.. that reminds me. (*FREE STUFF*)

I may or may not have contacted some really awesome companies to join in next week.
And there may be some really cool schtuff to giveaway.
And you may really want to stop in for all three.

Denny’s is not one of the giveaways. But they should be? If I say their name one more time maybe they will show UP to the party next week, ya think? Okay. Forget it.

Don’t forget. MONDAY. Serving FUN all week.

…And a Happy New Year!

It’s been WAY too long since I played along on a Wordful Wednesday post…
But I have a handful of pictures I want to share so it seems perfect to share ‘em this way!

I’ve been wanting to share my Nativity set for a while.
We traveled to Poland when my daughters were pretty young. And this is one of my favorite things I brought home (yes I have Polish pottery too!). But this is a hand carved wooden set.  Isn’t it gorgeous? The colors and detail are divine.

My husband keeps telling me he might have to travel to Spain in the near future (I’ll believe it when he has a ticket in his hand). I keep telling him if I don’t get to go with him, he had better bring me back one heck of an amazing present, (it’s only fair)? I’m thinking a Spanish nativity set would be just the thing to jumpstart my around-the-globe theme, don’t do you think??

Wait? Your Birthday is When?

Anyone up for Birthday Cake on Christmas? I sure as heck am not, but what do you do when your kid was born on Christmas Eve?? Improvise that’s what! We went out for her ‘birthday lunch’ to a great hometown BBQ place called (I kid you not) ‘Wubbas‘.

Deep fried pickles and cheese curds.
Oh my very yummy, yummy!

She got a giant brownie to go. And here she is devouring it all. (No I don’t want to share, it’s my birthday dangit!) At that point we switched gears from birthday to eve-ing it up… (she got breakfast in bed, opened her gifts, ate lunch out and that giant brownie, I think she had a great half-day!)

Moving on to our annual clam chowder Christmas Eve meal? I think there still might be leftovers if you want some??

Yes. The kids all got plenty of toys and gadgets.

Plus mom even went to great lengths to create ‘custom kits’ for the older kids who don’t really want toys any more. For the 13yrold I put together a ‘Cupcake Making Kit’. Lately her favorite show is Cupcake Wars on Food Network!
And for my new 10yrold an ‘American Girl Doll Clothes Making Kit’. She is over the top excited to make her very own doll clothes. I think she’s thinking about selling them!

But. Guess what MOM got?–>

An iPod speaker system JUST. FOR. HER. Read my whole story about how ‘Mom never gets the good stuff‘ over on MomItForward.com. Let me tell you. The Altec Lansing Octiv Duo is AWESOME.

All caps.
Oh yeah.

I’ll be in the kitchen chopping broccoli, to MYtunes for a change! YAY!

Unplug For All The Right Reasons

I’m joining Kimba today over at A Soft Place To Land.
My reason?
Today is my birthday.
Unplug computer? Check.
Eat plenty of my own birthday cake? Check.

…and I seem to get older and dumber.

2005.
Her grandfather taught her to play chess.
So of course. A chessboard for a cake!

2006.
She has found her true love. Dancing.
May she love it well past the boy stage and skip that part altogether!

2007.
They will tell you the breakfast in bed thing has been a tradition for birthdays for forever.
But I have the photos to prove that THIS was the first year.
That’s it.
ONE year = tradition.
I’m stuck with it for forever or until she turns 18 and moves out right?

Like Mother -Like Daughter.
A purse cake (of course) for 2007.

And….This weekend.
See what I mean?
One time = tradition, chained in for life.
Never let you forget it.

Happy Birthday to my 11yrold. You know this means I AM OLD now.

But the cake?
This year I won.
Instead of the ‘traditional ones’, I talked her into this awesome ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ Cake.
Did you know they make peppermint ice cream sandwiches? AND…oh my gosh!
we saw Eggnog ice cream sandwiches?

I found all sorts of recipes for different versions of This Amazingness.

Here’s what we did.

peppermint ice cream sandwiches
vanilla Oreo cookies
one candy cane

Frosting:
1 container vanilla store-bought frosting
1 small package white chocolate pudding mix
1/2 container small whip topping
mix together

unwrap 8 peppermint ice cream sandwiches
lay 4 side by side on piece of parchment paper
cover this layer with frosting mix
crush 5 vanilla Oreo cookies, and sprinkle on this layer

lay 4 more sandwiches on top of frosting cookie layer
frost the whole ‘cake’ with the rest of the frosting
crush a candy cane and sprinkle on top for Martha effect

put it all in the freezer, and enjoy 2 hours later!

I’m seriously using this frosting for like EVERY other cake I ever make. It was THAT good.

He is:

A fabulous Daddy.

A Disneyland Good Sport.

The most fun (and usually the only) Dad on Halloween.

He is:

My favorite person to hang with.

The one who ‘gets’ my jokes.

The funniest person I know.

And the love of my life.

Love,

She picked out these two fabrics and I made her a little tote! I wasn’t sure how much fabric to buy, because I wasn’t sure how big the tote wanted to be. After sketching it out, I have enough to make two more! It measures about 12″wide by 9″high.

It is completely reversible. And (a bonus) the little pocket holds a cell phone perfectly!

Well, my new internet friends? What do you think? Would you buy one of these? For now I’m just making them as gifts (don’t have enough gutz yet to try sales…) Watch out Etsy, I’m dreaming. I want to make a bag out of This fabric from Jessica Jones next…

And to complete the randomness. I’ve named this ‘Snowy’ my little daffodil.

And don’t tell me you can see it there in the front of the drawer. No.

Because that tape. The one clearly marked Mom’s is GONE. I mean you only want tape

Oh no. I have three.

What’s that? No one says Pot-Lickin’? When the dog was naughty my Grandfather would yell and say, “you little POT-LICKER”! And sometimes that’s exactly the right phrase to describe my sweet kids.

Happy Birthday to me.

I would truly love a set of these:
And of course if I have those I will need a new pair of these:

But you understand by now… all I’m really getting this year is…..

Picture curtesy of Xenia.com.br from morguefiles.com

Isn’t it nice? It’s just what I’ve always wanted. And really it costs very little to obtain. For the person who’s hard to shop for? The perfect gift.

This, this, and this are also on my list.