How To Make "Perfect Pound Cake"

Today has been a day of new things for me. It was my first time at a real garden shop where I actually bought stuff. It was also the first time I baked something that turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. Before I left for the garden shop, I sat outside with Al while he smoked a cigar and drank sweet tea (which he had to re-sweetened by adding equal). The dogs were roaming, while I leafed through the May 2011 edition of Everyday Food. I usually find that I like 90% of the recipes in there, while Alex will only like 40% of what I like. It's not that he's picky, but he's not very food adventurous or necessarily healthy.  In this edition, I found a recipe for perfect pound cake. Here's what you do:

• One cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs, room temp
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly butter and flour a 4 1/2 by 8 1/2 inch pan. Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer on medium high until light and fluffy, approx. 7 minutes.  Scrape down the sides and beat an additional minute. Add vanilla and gradually beat in eggs. Set mixer to low, add salt, and gradually add flour. I subbed 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour. Once combined, transfer to loaf pan and bake for 65 minutes. Poke the center with a toothpick and remove from oven if it contains a few moist crumbs. Let it cool on a wire rack for an hour. Once cooled, the loaf can be removed from pan and sliced as preferred. Any unused portion can be wrapped in plastic and stored for 3 days. Here are some pics of the process: 

sugar and butter being beaten

loaf cooling

sliced…yum!

I must admit that whenever I bake just about anything, it is complete crap. However, this turned out to be pretty tasty! It's an easy recipe that anyone will be able to follow. It will be a fabulous breakfast treat over the next couple of days. Or, maybe I'll melt some chocolate and spread it on a slice for a scrumptious dessert. Who knows? All I can say is that it will definitely be eaten up! 

Happy baking!

--Am

How To Eat Spaghetti and Morph into a Baby

My nephew turned three weeks last Wednesday (5/11). Al and I offered to take them dinner to help make things a little easier (although they are doing fabulously)! I knew I wanted to make a spaghetti dish with grape tomatoes that I had used before in Everyday Food. So, I headed to the website and this was what I found. I followed the recipe to a T with the exception of using half whole wheat spaghetti and layering sliced, fresh mozzarella on top. It ended up being a light, summery spaghetti that made me smell like garlic for the next two days (I think the smell has finally left the body). At least it tasted good!

While we were sitting down to dinner, I looked over at the new little guy and noticed that he had started to look like a human. I know that sounds bad, but please don't take it that way. I said (out loud), "He's starting to look more like a human." My sister agreed. Relief on my end for just saying that my nephew looked a little alien-esque. And it's not just him, it's all newborns. They are wet, shiny, and haven't developed many features. Chance is really starting to grow into his features and the handsome little man he will be. I'm so glad and fortunate to be able to see him so often and experience his morphism from alien-baby to human-baby! I can't wait until we reach dinosaur-twos, mutant-teenager, and eventually, man-man. 

To all you aunts and uncles out there, live it up and visit often. These little guys and girls are often-changing and it's easy to miss something so big! I sure do love mine and wouldn't want to miss a thing! 

Happy Aunting and Uncling!

--Am

PS - Sorry there are no pictures…I'm terrible about taking my camera with me!  

How To Make a Pop-Up Mother's Day Card

While reading my May 2011 edition of Martha Stewart Living (thank you Aunt Becky), I saw a tutorial on making a pop-up bouquet that could be used as a mother's day card. Good thing I was actually reading this on time inside of month behind because then I never would have seen it, and my many moms would have received a store bought card. I find it more rewarding making something for someone rather than buying it. The receiver usually likes it more too!

I set out to make six of these cards. Fortunately, I had all the materials I needed at home, so all it took was my hard work and a Sunday and Monday evening. Each card required seven 4 inch squares of varying colored cardstock and a rectangular ivory or white cardstock cut to a size 10-by-6-inch. I think my rectangle was 11-by-4.5 inch. As long as the flower will fit in it, the size doesn't matter. As for colors, I chose pink, turquoise, gold, lavender, mauve, dark purple, and peach. I originally was going to cut leaves with the green, but later decided against it (because I didn't quite know where to place them).

Each square was folded twice to form a small square. Next it had to be folded into a triangle by folding one corner down, then my flipping it over and folding the other side down. Then half a heart was drawn on one side as a guideline for cutting. I had to be careful where I was drawing this as in some cases, I cut it and it became two pieces instead of one. This could also have been because I folded the triangle incorrectly. It might be good to do a couple of tests. Once I figured it out, it became pretty easy. I cut along the pattern and an eight petal flower was formed (see the gold, left). One petal was cut out and the gap was closed by overlapping one petal with another and gluing it tight. This formed the six petaled flower (purple).

This took a long time to get them ready. And by long time, I mean the length of A Walk To Remember on ABC Family, so commercials were involved. I finished the flowers and quit for the night. On Monday, I popped in Freaky Friday and got to work building the bouquet. There were seven flowers for each bouquet. I laid it out with six flowers forming a circle and one in the middle. Each flower was attached to three other flowers using double sided tape.

It took me forever to figure out how to put the completed bouquets inside the card. The first couple of times I tried, it wasn't folding correctly or sticking the way I had imagined, so I just stuck the flowers on the outside. Then I thought, "how the heck am I going to mail the ones that need to be mailed?" So, I worked a little bit harder and figured out how to get them to fit inside and be true pop-up cards. Here are the final products!

pop-up on the outside

pop-up on the inside

Visit here for the complete instructions on how to make this card. For all you mom's or soon-to-be-moms, Happy Mother's Day! I know I'm so very thankful for all the moms in my life!

Happy Mom's Day, 

--Am

How To Take Forever to Make a Very Wide and Very Short Scarf

Back in December I got very ambitious and decided to learn how to knit. I found some very informative guides on youtube to help me get started (and to finish). It took me forever to figure out how to do a slipknot, but I finally found an easy to follow video. I had to reteach myself this, as I already forgot, and I still found it difficult.  I can be so challenged at times!

I casted on 60 times (whoa!) and went through three rolls (which I later learned are called skeins) of yarn. All I learned originally was the knit stitch. So, I knit stitched 98 rows. Sorry if that terminology is wrong, I'm not an expert. During that time, my mother in law was over and taught me how to purl. She is so fast with the needle. She knits using a different technique than I do, but I can't remember what it's called (can you help me out Katherine?). It's so much easier to learn from someone in the flesh than it does from a video, so I'm thankful for her showing me the ropes!

For my second skein, I decided to change the pattern to knit, purl, knit, purl, knit, purl. The next six rows would then be purl, knit, purl, knit, purl, knit. This created rows that were flat on one side and raised on the other. There are 17 rows like this in total. For the final skein, I went back to using the knit stitch for the final 98 rows. At the end, I used this video to learn how to cast off.

All in all, it was pretty easy to do. Although there are some imperfections and it's an awkward width and length, I'm pretty proud of what I made! Take a look for yourself:

about two thirds of the scarf

wrapped around once

Happy knitting!

--Am

How To Become an Auntie

On Wednesday, April 20, 2011, at 4:09 pm Chance David Goben was brought into this world! He weighed in at 8lbs 5oz, was 21 inches long, and had a full head of hair. Good thing he was delivered via c-section because my poor sister would have an aching va-jay-jay with a baby that big! Both he and mommy are doing well. We had the pleasure of meeting him at only 4 hours old. Wow, what a sight! You hear 8 pounds and think that's big for a baby, but it's still oh so small.

My parents, Al, and I arrived at 7, but they weren't ready for us to come up just yet. We met Tony's parents (Miche & Jeff) in the lobby, stopped by the cafeteria, and chatted for a bit. Around 7:45, we headed up to the "baby" floor and waited in that waiting room for a few minutes until Tony let us in. Once in the room, which is totally gorgeous and huge, we all oohed and aahed over the baby. My mom (to be called Amma, Icelandic for Grandma) was the first to hold him. He was then handed to Miche (Mimi), who was on cloud nine! I was next to hold the little nugget. I always get nervous about holding the head properly and all that good stuff, but I was fine. After me was Jeff (papaw, I think), then my Dad (Grandpa). My dad was a little nervous to hold him, so he sat on the couch to cuddle him. And finally, Alex got to hold him. I don't know what it was with the guys, but Al was also a little nervous to hold him. Must be because they are so little and they don't want to break the baby. Oh well, we all took turns (some even had a second turn) and gave him back. Mommy and Daddy were tired from the day's offerings, so we decided to head out. 

I'm so glad to have been a part of the big day and happy to be one of the first to see him! It makes me even more excited for the time Al and I are able to experience that. 

Happy babies!

--Am

baby Chance "stop with the flash"

with Auntie Amber

with Uncle Al

the happy fam: Chance, Emily, Tony

i couldn't resist--this is Lincoln the Lion

How To Adopt Furry Family Members

In the post How To Be a Lover of Animals, I gave some backstory on our one and only cat, Hallie. Since we did very little this weekend and spent most of the time yelling at our dogs, I thought I'd give some backstory. Here's all you need to know about our eldest: Daisie.

 Daisie as a puppy, approx 3 months

Daisie today at 2 1/2 years

After I moved into the house and Alex was over a lot, he decided it was time I got a dog. He did a lot of the research and would constantly send me pictures of dogs. I specifically remember getting the picture of Daisie (who was actually named Ashley) and thinking she was like a little cub, furry and cute. It took a lot of convincing, especially since I was working a ton and I was worried about Hallie's feelings, but he finally got me to accept. He found her on petfinder.com, and she was the last of a litter of eight to be adopted. She was born in November and the runt, which I hear are the best! She was rescued by a group called Heart for Dog Rescue, and put into a foster home. I remember it was February 5, 2009, and Alex and I were going to meet her. The foster parents were super nice, and Daisie/Ashley was just so adorable! We took her home that evening. One look was all it took. On our way back home, we were throwing out different names. I have this obsession with names and with my female pet names ending in "ie." We went through everything, Rubie, Goldie, Blondie, Pansie, until Daisie. 

She was such an adorable little pup-pup that it was hard not to fall fast for her! We took her to the vet for all her checkups and everything was going smoothly until one day. She began acting lethargic and stopped eating/drinking, so we started to get a little worried. We called our vet friend in a panic and she suggested that if she didn't get back to normal after trying a few things, then we should take her to the animal clinic. Well, we freaked and took to the animal clinic. $300 later, we find out she has parvo (fatal in 80% of dogs) and has to have a sack of fluids put under her skin, so she doesn't get dehydrated. We could've left her there for observation or taken her home. We chose the latter. We cried on the way home and spent as much time with her at night. The next morning she was still a little slow moving and not ingesting anything, so I ran out to the store and grabbed some popsicles, hoping she'd eat them. Not only did she eat the popsicles, but she also ate some eggs and rice. She was getting back to normal and had survived the parvo scare!

    

where's that coming from?

As she was growing up, Alex was able to watch and train her during the days I was at work, and a friend would let her out on days neither one of us could. Alex spent a lot of time with her, which probably explains her codependency and obsession with him. She is in LOVE with him! But, she is also the best behaved dog we have. She is easily scared and acts like a good guard dog, but I think she would hide if push came to shove. She also has the largest, deadliest tail known to man! It hits everything and doesn't feel good when it does. No matter what, I'm glad to have her. She's sweet, loving, and a sissy, but I couldn't imagine not having her!

To all you dog lovers, 

--Am

PS - I forgot to mention how cute Alex was when we first got her. He was so excited, he went to PetSmart with his mom to pick everything out (ie bed, collar). It was so adorable when he brought home the pink collar with white daisies for our little Daisie. :)

How To Take Your Lunch To Work

As usual, I was running late this morning. I was going to workout, but decided to postpone it and sleep in. I can always workout tomorrow, right? I eventually got up an hour and fifteen minutes after the original alarm went off. Went through my usual getting ready routine and made it downstairs by 8:22. I need to leave by 8:35 to get to work on time. Sounds like plenty of time. Well, I still had to take the dogs out and pack my lunch. I started with the dogs. Daisie and Dodgy were good, but Diego was poop-hunting (courtesy of the neighborhood rabbit). It was hard to keep him focused on the task of taking a poo. I was outside with him until 8:33. Pain in my neck! So, I have two minutes to grab breakfast, brew some coffee, and make my lunch.

I recently attended a class that gave guidelines on how to eat better and prepare your body for the "future." In preparation for this, we had stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies. With that, I knew I wanted to have a fancy salad! Oh the wonderful, colorful ingredients that are to be included. We have green peppers, tomatoes, mini cucumbers, avocados, spring lettuce mix, chick peas, and sunflower seeds. As you can see, many of those items need chopped and diced. That would take forever! With time on my mind, I grabbed one pepper, six tomatoes (the size of cherry tomatoes, but not cherry tomatoes), one cucumber, an avocado, the boxed lettuce, a can of chick peas, and the full can of dry roasted sunflower seeds. I throw in a knife, baggie, cutting board, empty tuperware, and bowl. Let's not forget some dressing! I make my own using olive oil, red wine vinegar, and greek seasoning, then throw it in the bag. Since I had prepared to make my lunch at the office, I thought I could spare a few minutes to cut up some fruit (which I didn't even eat). Honey dew was sliced and combined with raspberries and blueberries. It will make for a good snack. And so will the flax seed crackers, nutella (for my almonds already at the office), greek yogurt, which made their way into the bag o' food. Yep, I took the whole pantry and fridge to work today!

With my decaf and banana in hand, I put the dogs in their cages and headed towards work. By now it's 8:49 and I'm definitely going to be late. Oh, it was worth a try. After I snacked most of the morning, I was finally ready to eat at 12:27. I trekked downstairs and started dicing. Mind you, I didn't want to bring a fancy knife with me, so I grabbed a steak knife. Not the best idea I've ever had, but it did the trick. :) All the extras went into the tuperware (pepper, tomatoes, cucumber) and baggie (half the avocado). The remaining chick peas will be mixed up tomorrow with the leftovers (sans the lettuce), and it will be tasty! Everything was thrown in the bowl and sprinkled with chick peas and sunflower seeds. Once back upstairs, I'm ready to eat my fabulous salad. Doesn't it look delish?

thank you to Allison Ackmann for the picture!

I poured on the dressing and devoured it! There's nothing like fresh produce, and I'm a true believer that avocado makes anything taste better. Delicious! Good thing I did all the chopping today, so tomorrow it will be easy.

Happy Salad Making!

--Am