Abby's Graduation

Well, Miss Abby Kendrick graduated from Gulf Coast High School this afternoon! She'll be off to the University of Central Florida in the fall. The kids and I are going to miss her very much. She's been a great friend to me and to them. Her graduation party is tomorrow afternoon and this is the cake I made for her:


This is the 6-inch tier. That's Nutella in the middle. And it's a yellow cake.

This is the 10-inch tier. Once again, Nutella in the middle. I used some scraps of cake to even out the top. I don't really have the right tool for torting a 10-inch round cake. I need a 14-inch slicing knife (well, that's what I want anyway!).

Finished top tier. Sitting atop my new cast iron turntable by Fat Daddio's. The chocolate curls are made from Scharffen Berger 62% cacao semisweet chocolate. The recipe actually called for giandujo, but I couldn't find it anywhere local and didn't have time to special order it. I think it turned out fine anyway.

Top view of the finished product. Reagan helped me dip the hazelnuts in chocolate and put them on the cake.

So, I'll update later and let you know how it actually tastes!

Anita's Photoblog

I ran across this website yesterday. I don't remember exactly how I ended up there, but the photography is absolutely beautiful. Especially if you like flowers and plant life, as that is what Anita focuses on. The link goes to her portfolio page, but she also apparently posts a different photo every day under 'home'.

It's always neat to see how people with real talent can capture the beauty of God's creation.

Katherine-you should definitely check it out! She has an amazing photo of a gerbera daisy.

Random Morning Funny...

Earlier this morning I was sitting at my computer doing my morning reading when Sean came up to me and asked, "Mommy, may I order a book online?"

I said, "What book do you want and why do you want to do that?"

To which he responded, "Because it looks like fun to order things online."!

Fortunately he's in no position to find out how right he is....

Death by Chocolate

Well, my dear friend and former babysitter Sarah Teigen is getting married on May 17th! I still can't believe it. Anyway, her bridal shower was last night and I was asked to make the cake. Knowing her complete LOVE of chocolate, this is what I came up with:

The bottom is a 10-inch 4-layer tier, and the top is a 6-inch 4-layer tier. The cake itself is chocolate. The filling is buttercream flavored with creme de cacao. I also used a moistening syrup on the layers that was flavored with creme de cacao.

The chocolate frosting on the outside came from Recipezaar. It was really very good. I decorated the cake with some chocolate covered strawberries, which I did myself, and some chocolate covered coffee beans, which I did NOT do myself.

The cake was a huge hit, although we ended up not even cutting into the bottom layer. I think everyone had filled up on the other tea party treats that were there. I'm just getting started putting my name out there as someone who does party cakes, etc, so this type of thing is definitely good exposure.

That Blessed Dependency

I had the privilege to attend the Spring Concert at my father's church in March. The second half of the program was a performance of K. Lee Scott's new Requiem. Mr. Scott has been invited to conduct his Requiem in Carnegie Hall next year.

It was a beautiful Requiem, from a distinctly Protestant perspective. The movements incorporate scripture about death as well as quotes from John Donne and Timothy Dudley-Smith which tie Christ's death to our redemption.

My favorite movement of the Requiem is part 7 - That Blessed Dependency. It is a quote from one of John Donne's sermons:

"There we leave you in that blessed dependency, to hang upon Him that hangs upon the Cross, there bathe in His tears, there suck at His wounds, and lie down in peace in His grave, til he vouchsafe you a resurrection, and an ascension into that Kingdom, which He has purchased for you, with the inestimable price of His incorruptible blood. Alleluia! Amen."

I changed some of the spellings to contemporary English to make the quote easier to read. (ie. we instead of wee).

If I remember correctly, this particular sermon was the last one Donne preached before he died. Either way, it's a beautiful reminder of what we as believers rest in!

Cinnamon-Pecan Buttermilk Waffles

So, I have a bunch of pecans in the pantry and Damian wants to know what I'm going to do with all of them. I hadn't really decided yet, so he suggested making some Cinnamon-Pecan Waffles.

I knew I wanted them to be buttermilk waffles as well, since I love buttermilk pancakes and also happened to have some in my refrigerator. I did a search and came up with a few good looking recipes, but none of them had all three constituent parts I was looking for. So I compared a few recipes and saw that the main ingredients were basically the same, so I was able to combine the parts I wanted into my own recipe (which turned out really darn good!):

Cinnamon-Pecan Buttermilk Waffles

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 T brown sugar
1 1/2 t cinnamon
4 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (toasting is optional)

Preheat waffle iron.

Sift together first 6 ingredients, set aside.

Beat eggs in standing mixer until pale yellow. Stir in buttermilk, mix well.

Gradually add dry ingredients, mixing until smooth. Stir in butter until smooth.

Stir in pecans.

Pour into waffle iron (my iron takes approx. 1/3 cup of batter per side). Enjoy with syrup!

These were some of the best flavored waffles I've ever had. They weren't too sweet and the pecans really stood out.

Try them and let me know what you think!

Sean is 6!

I know this is a little late, since his b-day was March 8th! but better late than never...

The kids have been really enjoying soccer this year, so much so that Sean requested a soccer cake for his birthday!

My mom didn't even have to help with the cake this year! I actually had it completed the night before (if 1:30am counts as night!).


Sean insisted on the number 6 candle along with 6 regular candles.

The most anticipated part...

The kids always have 'help' when opening their presents.

Sean was very excited about his Star Wars Legos (and all the other presents as well).

Once we make some of these planes, I'll have to post pictures of them.

I think Connor has enjoyed playing with this gift as much as Sean.

The part was a fun time. The kids spent most of the time outside playing in the yard and woods. I can't believe Sean is 6 years old already. The time has flown by and he's grown up so much.