The Birthday Cake

Well my birthday wish came true, just a day late.  Shawn was a trooper and helped me make my birthday cake.  And if you've ever baked with me I tend to take over and just do everything myself so he really was a trooper.  Anyways, it was a ton of fun except for the part when I sat and watched him frost it.  I really wanted to but with my right hand out of commission it just wasn't going to happen.  I must say I was pretty impressed for his first time decorating a cake, and doing 3 different colors is not easy. So without further ado...

And yes it was everything I dreamed it would be.  Although I did like it more the next day, Shawn's convinced its because I'd forgotten how long and tedious it was to actually make it.  He may be right.  And even though I was sad that I couldn't do much on my birthday it really was pretty great.  Mainly because of this.

Seeing this kid literally lick his bowl of frozen yogurt was priceless.

Devin got peanut butter yogurt and accidentally put Skittles on it, yuck.  I told him to ask me what things were first next time.  He was looking for the Reece's pieces.

I love doing out of the blue things like this on birthdays.  The kids get so excited and it makes the day so much fun.

A Sad Realization

Do you ever have those moments when you think,  "How did this happen?"   I had one of those moments today.  It occurred to me today while I was getting the boys a fudgepop and they were very rudely waving their impatient little hands in my face that my kids (generally with the exception of Caroline) are RUDE!  It wasn't just the fudgepop incident either. I can't tell you how many times Graham yells (yes yells not asks) "Mommy I need you to (fill in any verb here) me RIGHT NOW!"  I'm more than a little tired of it.  Devin is also a fan of getting louder and louder if I don't answer him right away even when I tell him I just need a minute.  And my biggest pet peeve of all, having my children shove things in my face that they need, or want right that second.
Behavior has also been an issue for Graham.  Yesterday at the store I was one of those moms you judge because her kids are out of control, the one that you see and think "man that lady has had too many kids, I wonder what  they're like at home if they're this bad at the store."  Graham was running up and down the isles like a maniac and when we were checking out he grabbed a hand basket put his foot in it and then ran around the checkout like it was no big deal.  Then when I told him to stop he put it on his head and ran into stuff or maybe it was a person.  I'm not quite sure when all this sass and misbehaving started but I think it's time to crack the whip and get them, ok really mostly Graham, into shape.  Wish me luck!

Frustrated

I have got to be the most accident prone person in the world. I know I should  be posting a picture of my beautiful birthday cake but its not happening.  Saturday I totally ate it while riding my bike and jammed my wrist bad enough to warrant getting to wear a splint for 2 weeks.  I am extremely mad at myself.  So for the next two weeks I can't wash my hair, do the dishes, cut anything with a knife which makes preparing dinner very hard.  It SUCKS!  I was so sad about not getting to wash my hair on my birthday I cried and then my sweet husband stepped up and washed it for me before he left for work so I didn't feel like a greasy slob.  It was the best present ever, and since I can't make my cake by myself he's going to bake it with me.  I'm even more excited to make it now.   Its going to be entertaining if nothing else.  I'll try an write more but this alone has taken me 20 minutes to write so I apologize if this has lots of typos.  So I'm going to stop before I get so frustrated I end up throwing the computer across the room.  

Cake on the brain

I feel like I've been in a daze lately.  All I seem to be able to think about is cake.  Not just any cake either, my birthday cake.  Which in my opinion is the most important cake I make all year.  Not that my birthday is more important but I let my kids choose their cakes so I don't think about them too much, but serious thought goes into the cake I have for my birthday.  This year I was debating between a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake ( I know not technically a cake), and a chocolate raspberry cake and then I stumbled upon this cake.  It was like I had found the cake of my dreams!  I love chocolate and raspberry but I really prefer white cake so with this I get everything I love.

And I'm going to be honest, I usually don't trust baking recipes that have been on someone's own website or blog.  There are some great food blogs out there but I've found that few bloggers actually make up their own baking recipes, they're usually from other places like Southern Living, Martha Stewart or Cooks Illustrated.  If you as me its kind of cheating but oh well.  Anyways this website is from a woman that actually went to confectionary school and her cakes look beautiful!  So beautiful in fact that I went out and bought 8in cake pans for my birthday because they are supposed to produce a flatter cake that is easier to stack and decorate.  I'm well aware that my cake will probably not look like the one I saw but as long as its tastes like I imagine it will I'll be one happy birthday girl.  And I really wish other people in my family like this combination of cake because then I'd get more comments like "wow that cake looks amazing but chocolate and raspberry, gross!"  Give in people raspberry and just about any dessert is amazing.

I can't wait to break these beautiful pans in this weekend!

Dear Mother Nature

I thought we had an understanding.  I thought you knew March weather was supposed to me sunny and warm, not cold, snowy, and rainy with the occasional bursts of sunshine like it as been.  Its just unacceptable.  I know I sound like a big baby but I don't live in freezing cold regions for a reason, I really don't like winter all that much.  I'll let it pass this one time because in the past every March has been spectacular, but if the weather doesn't warm up in time for my birthday I'm going to be livid.  Just giving you a heads up, you have 13 days to shape up.  I wish you luck.
Sincerely,
Carrie

Brigadeiros

I found the coolest website the other day.  Its one of the many websites run by America's Test Kitchen and has numerous posts about do it yourself things, how to improve your baking skills, which electronic kitchen devices work best and tons of other stuff and its free (some of their other websites are not).  I'm in love.  I started browsing through some of the articles and found one for brigadeiros.  Its supposed to be this kind of Brazilian candy kind of like a truffle but really has the consistency of brownie batter.  Anyways since my dad's birthday was yesterday I made them in his honor.  Happy Birthday Dad!  I'd be happy to make them again when you come visit.

Here are some rolled in toasted coconut.  It kind of looks more like a really yummy ice cream sundae but its not.  I have a point and shoot camera so this is the best I could get.

Here's what the look like all alone.   I tried some in toasted coconut, sprinkles, and cinnamon because someone said they were amazing that way.  Guess what, they lied, but the toasted coconut ones were my fav.  The next thing I really want to try are salted caramels, yum!  I just have to break down and buy a vanilla bean which is really hard for be because if you haven't noticed, I'm cheap!