5 favorite things...November 30, 2008

I haven't been journaling very much lately, so I thought I'd better get back in the swing of things. I missed posting my 5 favs last week so this post will cover 2 weeks. Things have been a little crazy around here. Trent is on a very busy rotation this month (up at 4am, home by 7pm, bed by 9pm...and the cycle continues, brutal). I've been busy with my new job, the kids have been off school for veterans day and thanksgiving break. Carley is cutting 4 molars, watch out! And finally, we are in the process of moving! More about that later. Without further adieu, drum roll please....

• a day totally devoted to giving thanks!
  
• a new home to decorate.
• pumpkin pie & sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top
• playdates at the park
  
• shopping for Christmas
• girls only movie night...Twilight

Daring Baker's Challenge - November

MAN O MAN, What A Day! I thought I was never going to get this posted!!!! I have had one thing after another go awry today....some days are just like that, I know, but I'm glad this one is about over.

This month's Daring Baker Challenge was this wonderful
Caramel Cake With Caramelized Butter Frosting!
Mmmm Mmmmm Mmmm, doesn't that sound super yummy!
Needless to say I was excited to give this challenge a go.
The recipe is a signature of Shuna Fish Lydon, check out her blog Eggbeater. You can also find her on Bay Area Bites.
I would also like to say THANKS to the Hostess' & Host'. Feel free to peruse their blogs as well. Dolores, Culinary Curiosity; Alex, Blondie And Brownie; Jenny, Foray into Food; and Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go!!!

Let me tell you, this cake made my house smell delicious! Every time I came in and out of the house while it was baking was pure joy to my taste buds and olfactory senses! The actual cake itself was very dense, which I like in a cake, but I wasn't a huge fan of the frosting. Burnt frostings in general are not my favorites, but everyone else who tried it really enjoyed the combo.

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan. (I used a bundt pan)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light


***I have to take back my comment about not caring for the frosting. This cake was sooooo much better the second day! The flavors were more subdued in the frosting and the caramel in cake really stood out much better***

Thanksgiving The Day After Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving a little backwards this year. While everyone in the country was eating turkey and watching football, my kids and I went to the park and hung out around the house. Trent had to work, so we decided to postpone the annual feast until Friday. So our Thanksgiving the day after Thanksgiving was wonderful! Luke made festive place mats for our table and Emry helped set the dishes out. I was about 15 minutes from serving up the bird when Trent arrived home and wouldn't you know it...the kids started acting up, something fierce! I felt bad, poor Trent had just gotten home and the kids are naughty. After we got all that sorted out, we had a very nice dinner, no complaints!

Earlier in the week, we had a play date with some friends in the neighborhood. We made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies...none made it home, we read a story about a Tom Turkey and we made these mayflower wall hangings. All in all it was nice to have the kids out of school for the week.

A "Matilda" Party

In her latest move, my sister, Maggie, decided to once again "down size" her possessions. So, one of the items we inherited was a most beloved children's movie MATILDA....hope you've read the book by Ronald Dahl, so wonderful! Anyway, my kids love the movie and have been watching it non-stop over the last few months. Currently it's in the car...and at our house, you know a movie has hit the big time when it has made it to the car's DVD player.

Emry, who more recently wishes we'd named her Matilda, asked me why we never have chocolate cake like in the movie. I told her that I didn't know she wanted one. She said she did, so we decided to make one. Her sweet declaration reminded me that my other sister, Ali, had recently made the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake off the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box...so the plan was born.

We put Carley down for a nap, tied on our aprons, retrieved all the ingredients, scooted a chair up to the counter and got to business! Luke and Emry are becoming quite the little kitchen helpers. I can hardly bake anything anymore without one of them offering their help. You might be thinking, "Wow, what nice kids." Don't be fooled, they are 100% opportunists! They know that at the end of the day, a bowl or spoon or beater or something always needs to be licked clean!
While the cake was baking we decided that we needed to share it's yumminess. We decided to invited Dylan & Charlie over as special guests at our Matilda Party. While the cake was cooling, the kids played inside and in the back yard. Then we frosted the cake and went to the park while it set up for a few minutes.

Dylan & Luke

Charlie & Emry (They are boyfriend and girlfriend, very cute)

Carley decided that she'd had enough of staying on the wood chips. So for the FIRST time, she climbed right up the playground toys, crawled over to the slide and down she went. I didn't have to coax her or anything, she just went for it! Headfirst it the preferred mode of transportation. It was pretty funny. I was in shock because she never wants to do anything but swing. Now all she wants to do is go down the slide over and over and over again!!

The "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

...don't tell Miss Trunchbull,
but we're going to eat some!!

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on med. speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into pans.
3. Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
   

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa.
2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add more milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups.
   

**for cupcakes: Line muffin tin with paper cups. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake at 350 F for 20-22 minutes. Cool; frost. Makes about 30 cupcakes.

5 favorite things...november 09, 2008

• time spent with family
• oatmeal raisin cookies
• spending time with my kids
• watching Carley explore the world
• a clean car...inside and out!
  

November, the month of giving thanks

Giving thanks is something everyone likes to receive, but at times can be hard to give. That's why I like November so much...it's a gentle reminder to get over your obstacles and say "thank you" to those you're most grateful to.

I've been thinking a lot about how to help my kids grasp this concept and today I got my answer while I was checking out the crafty crow site. I found the most darling activity for the month of November! This family hangs up one tree for Thanks and one for Giving and each day of the month they put up a new leaf that tells what they are thankful for or what they have given to help others. Wonderful! By the end of the month you tree is full of leaves and you have a visual representation of true gratitude!

I printed out the trees and leaves today and today after school we're going to start this activity! It's from the site, Chocolate On My Cranium, she's got a lot of great resources on her blog, so check her out. I'll update the project as the month goes on.

5 favorite things...november 2, 2008

Tonight I'm trying something a little different. I'm posting my 5 favorite things from this past week in photos! Here they are in alphabetical order.....

Airplane...so fun to play, if you haven't done it lately, go for it!

Fish faces...Carley has just started to make these, so adorable!

Handy men...Trent taught Luke how to use his power drill. Is he that grown up already?

My Man...he's such a hottie! Did I do good or what? Holla!!

Sister-in-law...meet Angela, she's the coolest! It was fun having her visit.