Look Good Enough to Eat?

Voila! It's a wrap! Man, am I glad that's done and with actually very little stress. The Bells of Ireland looked beautiful with the rich chocolate brown. Decorating with fresh flowers is the best - not only because it makes it super easy as opposed to piped doo-dads, but because it just looks so fresh and alive. Hope the bride and groom really enjoy their special day. I, for some inane reason, decided to make my own wedding cake. That was possibly the worst decision I've ever made, but apparently I was adamant about it. I remember trying to frost the buttercream in our very chilly house the morning of the wedding and it kept freezing up on me . . . ugh . . . talk about stress.

And while I'm on the topic of stress, we're feeling a bit more at ease now because we've decided to stay put in our house for at least another year. The thought of walking away from the house and neighborhood that we adore just to break even was pretty depressing. So now it feels good to be planting and fixing up the place for us - not just to lure potential buyers. And now I'm able to look into some jobs here that I've taken an interest in; namely, a postion teaching English at Desert Academy. My interview is this Tuesday at 8:45 am so please send out the positive energy my way - I need it.

Easy Peasy

Part two : fill and and crumb coat with chocolate frosting. Complete! As you can see I've delayed grocery shopping until next week so we can empty out our fridge to make room for the cake. If you're wondering, I made an extra 10" cake to make sure they wouldn't run out - second helpings of this cake are always likely. Tomorrow I load up and pray - transport is definitely the most nerve racking part.
I'm back on track now with the quilt-along ; all fabrics cut into nice neat 2 1/2 " strips. Hopefully I can get next week's task done before we leave on our trip - but hey, not that it really matters. I'm feeling all warm and cozy inside because when I checked my flickr account a lot of people had some very nice comments about my fabric choices.


Andy went on an amazing hike the other day and took some killer photos. Wish I could've been there - the trail descends from White Rock down to the Rio Grande. Gorgeous.

Andy is very into petraglyphs. This is just a sampling of the several incredible ones he was able to photograph (despite the rain).

We're headed to the circus tonite - hopefully it won't give my kids clown nightmares - or me for that matter.

"live your bliss"

It's so nice to see color in our yard again like this bright yellow Forsythia bush just below our front window. That yellow is just so sunny and happy. And all of a sudden there's some green here and there too. In Santa Fe, sometimes it feels like winter will never end - at least for me - Andy would say I have nothing to complain about; the weather here is unbeatable - and I must admit he's pretty much right (yes honey, it's here in black and white.)

So back to Finn's birthday cake. Everyone should have this recipe for chocolate cake. It is fast, easy, stays moist for days and needs nothing other than a tall, cold glass of milk.

To me, it is the quintessential chocolate layer cake - nothing too fancy or showy, just chocolate simple and direct.

Frosting:

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
9 oz chopped dark chocolate (at least 60% cacao and the best quality you
can find)
6 oz unsalted butter, diced
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS corn syrup

Cake:

2 cups granulated sugar
1 3/4 cup All purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened and also the best you can find
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder (high altitude = 3/4 tsp)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda (high altitude = 3/4 tsp)
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup whole milk
1 cup boiling water

Start the frosting first so it can have time to cool and thicken.
Combine the cream and sugar in a medium saucepan, stir, and bring to a boil.
Turn down to a simmer and cook for 6 minutes. Add the chocolate and butter and
stir until melted. Stir in vanilla and corn syrup. Let cool in fridge, whisking
occasionally, until it is thick enough to frost with.

Preheat oven to 350. Spray cake pans and line with parchment paper,
spray again (either two 9" or three 8" or one half sheet pan). Ina mixing bowl
combine eggs, oil, and milk and whisk to combine, In another bowl, mix together
flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Combine the wet and
dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Slowly add the boiling water - the mixture
will be somewhat thin.

Pour into pans and bake for 30 - 40 minutes until cake pulls away from
the sides of the pan and toothpick in center comes out clean (a sheetpan takes
about 15-20 minutes). Cool in pans about 10 minutes then turn out and cool
completely. Use a long thin blade to level if you feel like it then layer the
cake with the frosting, swirling it around with spatula to decorate.

Let me know if you try this out. Also, let me know if I'm not descriptive enough in my instructions - it's difficult for me to be objective about it.

On an entirely different note . . . I finished the Rail Fence quilt top. And honestly, I'm not too crazy about it. Several issues for me - partly it's my choice of fabric. My instincts were against the combo but I was really struggling to fulfill the class requirements which were to choose three fabrics - light, medium, and dark. For the life of me I seemed to only be able to pick out medium fabrics - I just didn't like the contrast so much. I think I like a more blended look. But I went for it ( and actually teacher Mary said I still chose three medium fabrics. Say whah?)

But the bigger issue is I don't like the pattern - that big zig zag just bugs me. So not my style - way too organized or something. I knew about half way through I didn't like it but decided to complete it for the class and then cut it up and change it all around later; add some other fabrics, curvy quilting - free it up somehow. I will say this - it was very fast. I came home from class last Monday and finished that night save about nine inches because I ran out of thread.

I am now in what I consider serious obsession mode with the quilting thing. And I tell ya it's great to be here. "Get obsessed. Stay obsessed" I think that's from Hotel New Hampshire, not Garp - ask my brother Mike, he'd know. The only problem is that it's become difficult for me to want to do much of anything else. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Balance, Helen . . . breathe.