The Finished Cake

Here is the cake Inside:

Look at those Layers!!

Man, did this taste Good!!!

Demolished and Devoured!

Spring Cake or the Finished R.S. Cake :)

I finished the cake this morning. I decided to go with Roses and Small Flowers with Grass. 

The Finished Cake:

  

This is the light Blue "Sky" background (all sides): 

Here are the Yellow & 'Blue' Roses to represent the Relief Society Colors:

Here it is with the Green 'Grass' to Finish it off:

 

I'll post what the inside looks like when we start cutting it tomorrow ........

See ya then ....

March Madness or a R.S. Cake!

So as you know, if you know me at all!, I love to bake! I usually bake a cake for your Birthday
(if you live close enough to me), I make desserts for pot-lucks, Diner's Club's,
and generally any function which needs treats of some sort. 

So when they asked for a volunteer to bring a sheet cake to a Relief Society activity to Celebrate it's Birthday my hand went up before I even knew what I was really volunteering for! 

What they expected was for that volunteer to "buy" a sheet cake from a Grocery store :( 

You should have seen the looks from the Sisters when I said I'm not buying one, I would just make one!! They really have no idea what is coming to them on Saturday!

I started with this recipe: Black & Raspberry Lemon Chiffon Cake. 

Then I got creative, as I usually do! The following is my Version of the above recipe:

So what you'll Need is:

2 9×3 inch rounds of lemon chiffon cake, cut horizontally
12 oz Lavender simple syrup
1 cup Black & Raspberry curd
2 cups Blueberry buttercream frosting, room temperature
Lemon Chiffon Cake **
(makes 2 11×17 sheets or 2 9×3 rounds)
14.5 oz cake flour
8.75 oz confectioner’s sugar
6.75 oz whole milk
6 oz canola oil ***
3.25 oz eggs
0.5 oz baking powder
13 oz egg whites
9.5 oz granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 oz lemon juice

Oven 375°F.

Prep pans by buttering bottom and sides ( I used Wilton's Cake Release - This stuff is AMAZING!!!!) .

Place parchment in pan and butter the parchment. Sift dry ingredients (except granulated sugar) into a large bowl. Mix all ingredients (except the 13 oz of egg whites and granulated sugar) in the large bowl until combined. Whip whites and granulated sugar to medium peaks. Fold into batter gently. Bake until set, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and remove from pan. Let cool on a rack. With a large serrated knife, cut four even layers (I went for 3/4 inch layers) from the two 9×3 rounds (or the sheets if you like quadrangular cakes). If cutting from the 9×3 rounds, you’ll likely have leftover cake from the tops.

** I made two batches for this, one as is, and one replacing the vanilla extract with Lavender Extract found at Sur la Table.
*** I also used Hazelnut Oil instead of Canola.

Lavender Simple Syrup
1 cup sugar
8 oz water
2 cups Lavender Flowers

Heat water and Flowers in a pot until fragment.  Strain the flowers, keeping the water. Add the sugar to the water and bring to boil heat until dissolved and turn off heat. Let cool.

Raspberry and Blackberry Curd
2 cups blackberries, fresh
2 cups Raspberries
1/2 cup water
1 tsp orange zest
1 cup sugar
2 oz. butter
4 tbsps cornstarch
4 tbsps cold water

Place the blackberries, water, and orange zest in a pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes. Press the mixture through a food mill or you can purée the berry mixture in a food processor and press through a sieve. Pour the berry liquid back into the saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 1 cup sugar and 2 ounces butter. Mix the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl. While whisking the berry mixture, pour the cornstarch into the pan. Stir until thick and bubbly and stir for another 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour the contents into a bowl or vessel and cover with plastic wrap. Let cool. Makes about a pint (and extra can be used as Jam for toast - Heavenly!!).

Blueberry Buttercream Frosting/Filling
2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter softened
4 cups Confectioner's Sugar (icing sugar)
6 tablespoons Blueberry Jam or Preserves
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Raspberry Extract

Beat butter on medium speed with a mixer, stand or hand, until fluffy - about 2 minutes. Slowly add 1 cup of the sugar, and beat until smooth. Add Blueberry jam, vanilla and Raspberry extracts, blend until smooth. Add remaining sugar a half a cup at a time, blending fully each time. After all the sugar has been added, beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

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*** Assembly: Set a cake base layer, browned-side down, onto your serving plate.

  

Cut 3-inch wide strips of wax or parchment paper and tuck them under the perimeter of the cake layer so that the edge of the entire cake is not touching the serving plate. 

Brush the simple syrup onto the cake layer (use about 2-3 ounces – use more than you think). 

Spread a layer of blackberry curd over the cake. 

Gently spread a layer of buttercream over the curd. Because the curd will move around, I was easiest to either pipe buttercream on top and smooth it over with a spatula, and carefully spread it out with an icing spatula. 

Place the second cake layer on top. 

Set the layer – browned-side up – on the cake and make sure all of the layers are lined up. 

Repeat the soaking syrup, curd, and frosting process. 

Spread buttercream around the sides of the cake for the crumb-coat and to fill in any gaps between layers. When the crumb coat is smooth, finish frosting the sides and top of the cake. 

Now for a Perfectionist like me the "Crumb Coat" is the hardest part of making a cake!!

New Haircut and maybe some venting .....

So since I cut bangs ... I thought I would just go all the way the & get 2 1/2" cut off
and get some graduated layers put in. 

The Results ........

Really cute, right???

I love it and if I do say so myself ..... I love pretty awesome for 39!!!!

Venting ..... Church was a great, we had Sister Allred from the R.S. Presidency speak to our ward and the MSA's today -- that was wonderful!! After church was a whole other story though!

As you may or may not know, I am the choir director for our ward. With this calling comes many smiles, beautiful sounds and a lot of headaches, many in the form of finding a room to hold a rehearsal in!

Today was like every other time! 

Question -- Why would the Lord and His presidency ask for choirs to be organized in His Church and then not provide, said choir, a room of their own to hold rehearsals in, have cupboards for music and, of course, have a regularly tuned piano???? My frustration grows every week. For those of you out there who only have two, 2,  wards meeting at your building - this may not be a problem, but for us we have four, 4, wards meeting in our building, so RS, PH, Primary rooms and the Chapel are all otherwise occupied. 

So where exactly should the choir have their rehearsals???

Sorry, that's enough, just needed to get it out of my head! Thanks for listening :)

missed a few months ....

I seem to have missed a few months in Blogging :)

So let's recap:

My 39th birthday was Awesome! I got a pasta attachment for Christmas from Victor Vaile and we used it to make homemade ravioli. All kinds I made several different stuffing options, including, sweet potato, butternut squash, Portabella mushroom, shallots, Italian Sausage, spinach, basil, mozzarella, Parmesan, Ricotta Cheeses.

It was so great, after we went for a little Karaoke until 3am.  Loved it!

Anyway the reason I wanted to post was ... I cut myself some bangs today:

I think may actually be starting to look my age! I love this picture!!

Here is another I really liked:

Also ... this one:

 

Anyway that's all for now ... I guess a short update!

Completly Stolen ....

Lovely Thoughts .....

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.                                                                           
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s - Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Play more games.
6. Read more books than you did in 2010.
7. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
8. Sleep for 7 hours.
9. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

1. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
3. Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
6. Dream more while you are awake.
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
8. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more.
14. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

1. Call your family often.
2. Each day give something good to others.
3. Forgive everyone for everything.
4. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
5. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
6. What other people think of you is none of your business.
7. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

1. Do the right thing!
2. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
3. However good or bad a situation is, it will change. 
4. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
5. The best is yet to come.
6. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Really LOVE this ...

Wow!! It's been a while .... Update

Well -- it's been since April that a posted and that wasn't even really that awesome! So I will try better this time. I started a new job last Friday, May 20th, at Capital Group Investments as a contract Front Desk Administrator. So far it's a good job, it pays well and the people are nice. Although I'm a little bored because all I'm doing so far is answering the phone and responding to emails but I hope it will get better after my Security Clearance clears. In other news -- I am still the Personal Progress Leader for the Westdale II Ward, no longer Choir Director -- Yaya, kind of happy about that one! Roommates: One is Awesome, listens, follows my crazy requests for cleanliness and keeps to herself mostly, the other does as well but has little smell issue -- she very rarely does laundry and isn't the cleanest person ever, but she mostly stays in her room when she is home, but also travels quite often and is away for weeks at a time -- so not so bad! I'm going to start my boxing class again in a few weeks which I'm really excited about 'cause the girl needs some weight loss!!!  Things are really good in general. I've got good friends, income and a great calling -- all around I can't complain :)

Blog Change Up's

So I've been having so much fun changing my Blog design!! I hope all my reader(s) love it.

I've noticed that I do not have any followers :( even I follow so many readers. 

Maybe some of you can hit the 'Follow Me' link on the side there, I would appreciate the love ;)

That is All 

~ Good-Night!

Found a Really Beautiful Dress ....

Really Pretty Dress .....

and the Back ....

Happy New Year!!

I thought I should start the year off right and post some thoughts.

I've been thinking a lot lately about change. I kind of afraid of it sometimes, and don't always embrace like I would like to. Last Sunday, Annelise gave a lesson on the importance of change and some steps for doing it 'right'. I only got to get the handout, because I had to race to Young Women's, as we had changed schedules this year. We had a hard time figuring out where we were suposed to be!! I ended up teaching a very quick lesson on Who God is and how we can recognize Him in our lives. Any way, it got me thinking about it. I usally don't make resolutions, but this year there are some things I would like to improve on, like my typing ability -- for instance!

So here is a quick list of 'self-improvements / changes' I would like to make this year:

1. I want to Pray / Write in a journal once a day -- even if nothing really happened. I would like to log my activities each day.
2. I want to Read my scriptures, at some point in the day, everyday. Whether reading the Sunday School lesson or the Book of Mormon, I what to read everyday!
3. I want to Learn to Enjoy Excersing. I want to walk for a least 30 minutes per day, not including shopping!
4. I want to Be healthy inside and out! I want to eat less sugary foods & more fruits and vegetables.
5. I want to Be more obedient to the teachings of Christ and need less forgiving!
6. I want to Watch less TV. I know this one will be the hardest for me, but maybe with all these other things keeping me occupied, I can accomplish this one!

I really think these are improvements I can accomplish. I'm going to amke this list pretty when I get home and post it on my bulletin board so I see it everyday!

Wish me Luck!

The Holidays are officially here!!!

Just put up the Tree and the Door Wreath.

 

  Pretty Huh????

Thanks Giving .... and other craziness!!

So yesterday I hosted a Thanks Giving Dinner at the apartment for the Ward and friends. 

It came off without any hitches, fires or fiascoes!! I had about 15 people and leftovers. 

The Bishop provided a Marie Calendar's Turkey dinner and ALL the fixings, which was great. 

I don't eat Turkey, so I made a Ginger Orange Ham. 

I also made sweet potatoes, improved the gravy, cranberries 

and 'cause I don't eat Pumpkin pie either,

I bought a honey pecan chocolate tart form Trader's Joe's. 

I attempted to make Apple Pie, twice, and lost the battle. 

The First one would have worked if I didn't put orange juice it! 

The Second one didn't work because I don't know!! 

The top crust cracked open and the bottom crust just didn't cook at all!

Apple Pie is HARD!!!! I will try again later when the pressure is off.

It was fun and tiring and educational!

In Love .....

With this bathtub ........

Wow .... long time, no write ....

So it's been a while since I've written here. Lots has happened, but I have no time to write. 

Just going to post some pictures ....

This is a beautiful Silver Satin Chair I saw at Z Gallerie. So Pretty!!

This I also found that day. It's a Pirate ship made out of Crystal Drops!!

This is bike I saw on 3rd Street Promenade, had to take a picture!!

That's all for now, I'll try to do more later :)

Weird Dream ....

Had the weirdest dream last night ..... There was a knock on the front door and when I opened the door I found the strangest thing I've ever seen. One of my roommates had ordered herbs, Lavender & Chives, in the mail. They were encased in these long, 2 feet x 3 inches, vellum envelopes. Somehow they had arrived in one piece and totally intact. Which I really believe would be absolutely impossible because seriously the mail system could never achieve this. Any way I woke up thinking about this and wanted to order some myself, then immediately forgot about it, until just now! How weird!!

Project ....

So ... I've been staring at the naked space above my keyboard:

So I decided to do a project. I got the idea from an Relief Society
Lesson that my friend Kristen Johnson taught last week.
I started with some really dark frames 

I found on sale at Micheal's Craft Shop:

I sanded them to rough them up a little so the paint would adhere:

Took them outside and painted them:

Then I washed them with a Lavender paint
and filled them my Favorite Hymns: 

O My Father,

I Stand All Amazed,

Be Still My Soul

I Know That My Redeemer Lives.

Here are the finished Products:

Here they are on the Wall!!

Nice, right?!?! I love them!!

Found this today ....

Here

Isn't it fitting for me??? Yeah, I thought so too ;)

Dream Rooms ....

Here is a picture of the a Kitchen I love and Would like to have someday!

Here is a bathroom ....

What a Great Door!!

Here is a great porch swing I found:

Aren't they so pretty and clean and white!!!

That is all !!