Oh my God. Shoes.

So I'm obsessed with baby booties. I didn't really use them with Monty because, well, he's a boy. And, despite my best efforts to remain gender neutral, baby booties on boys just doesn't work most of the time.

However, totally awesome baby booties have gotten much more popular in the past year or so, so there are lots of super cute ones for boys AND girls. And etsy.com (of course) has lots and lots. I bought two pairs.

This one is for my soon-to-be nephew:


My sister loves her some monkey and I got him a little monkey outfit. So it should be very sweet.

And I had to get a pair for my little lady:


I love how they look vintage with the olive and white. SO cute. Let's hope I don't get all pink and purple clothes so she has something to wear them with.

Baby count down: 7 more weeks. Eek!

I'm currently making a rag rug for her room, so stay tuned for pictures of that. Also, I made a rag quilt for the nephew and am waiting for my sister to send pictures because I forgot to take some (woops!).

I'm beyond bad...

So, June's Daring Baker's Challenge was...challenging. First of all, it was hard. And I mean HARD. Lots of time. Lots of steps. Lots of ingredients. I can't even remember the name of this cake. (Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream) But I can tell you that it is SO SO SO good.

Although, my version is quite possibly the ugliest thing I've ever made.



See? It looks like poop with poop on top.

Here's more proof.


I made this cake for my dear friend Traci's birthday, which, sadly, was surrounded by some sad family news. Hence the terrible pictures.

My cake is so darn ugly, however, because I didn't get my Swiss Buttercream Frosting warm enough for it to be smooth. Also, the recipe called for a nut paste made in a food processor and all I have is a cheap blender. So it was a mite chunky.

C'est la vie. It still tasted SO SO good. I mean it. Like really good.

So why am I beyond bad? Because this was supposed to be posted on Wednesday and, instead, I'm not getting around to it until Sunday evening. I blame my pregnancy. And the fact that I was directing a play that had it's closing week/weekend, so I've been beyond busy. I know, I know...excuses. But, damnit, a girl's gotta have somethin'.

I'll have more soon. Hopefully prettier.

Strawberry Rhubarb Goodness

I know...I know...it's been forever. I'm sorry. Times have been busy! And being pregnant just taps the energy, which means the blog takes a back burner.

I made these delightful little empanadas a while back and they were SO good. A co-worker actually said, "It doesn't matter what you put in these little things. They are just GOOD."

It was pretty easy. I just mashed about a cup of strawberry and a cup of rhubarb (frozen...they weren't in season yet) and added some sugar and a little flour. Looks good, hu?



Then I made a pastry dough...which is exactly the same as my pie dough and it said to make it in the mixer, which I did...and it was SO easy. That probably means I'll be making more pies now that I've found a super-secret way to make crust! Yesss...
That's Mont's fingers feeling the dough. He loves to feel things.




Then you assemble. It's so easy. Just roll out your dough (I'll make mine thinner next time...you only need it about 1/8" thick even though the recipe calls for 1/4" thick). I cut little circles about 3" in diameter.



Then you fill each little circle with about a tablespoon of the filling. Fold over, press with a fork and glaze with some egg yolk. They look so pretty.



And then bake! See how mine are all open with the filling gooping out of them? That's why I'd make the dough thinner and maybe bigger circles. They were still super duper good, though. And I forgot to sprinkle them with sugar. Oh well. Next time they'll be even BETTER!





I found the recipe here: http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/05/18/rhubarb-and-strawberry-empanadas/
It's way easy and way good. You could easily add pretty much any filling to this and it would be wonderful. Perfect for a carry-in because they hold their shape and are a nice little bite-sized snack! Yipee!

Coming soon: The Ugliest Cake EVER. I'm not even joking.

My First Daring Baker's Challenge!

I was very excited when my good friend MS told me about the Daring Baker's Challenge. Of course, I requested to be part of this wonderful group (there's a link off to the side there, if you're interested). June marked my first month involved and, let me tell you, it certainly was a tough one.

Danish Braid was the challenge set by Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben of What’s Cookin’? .

When I was growing up, we used to call them Butter Braids and we would sell them as a fund raiser for the dairy 4-H project. They were always soooooo good. Cream cheese was my favorite. But they also looked soooooooo hard to make.

When the challenge was posted I let out a little sigh. Oh geeze. Of COURSE it has to be super hard for my first month. But I didn't let it get me down. I went to the store and found all the necessary ingredients and got started.

Here's the finished product. I think I left it in the oven a little too long...it got a little too dark on the top. But it tasted SUPER GOOD.



We were provided with a recipe for an apple filling, but my pregnant tummy needed not only my childhood favorite of cream cheese, but apricot as well. So I made up some filling. I couldn't tell you now what I put in it. It was awesome, though...if I do say so myself!



Of course I used a nice light glaze for the top. The Other and I ate it right out of the oven. Ugh. It was so worth all that hard work (it took an entire day to create this beast!)

And here is a delicious slice.



Sam and I both took the extra braid (it made two) into work and it was a big hit, so I'm pretty sure it will be a repeat recipe.

Actually, I have TONS of cherries ripening on my tree right now, so maybe I'll make some cherry ones this week to freeze for later....yum. yum. yum.

Thank you, Daring Bakers, for making my first month awesome! Can't wait for many more months to come :)

And just to leave on a good note...here's a picture the Other took of Mont and I a few weeks ago. You can see my baby bump a little (it's MUCH bigger now). This was in between a streak of many storms we've had around here. Mont LOVED the rainbow and watches for them every time it rains now.

My biggest challenge

So last February I promised a friend that I'd make her wedding cake. It was a fantastic experience, but I now have a complete understanding for why wedding cakes are so dang expensive!

So here's a play-by-play of the entire experience.

I made a classic white wedding cake with raspberry filling. I couldn't find a filling recipe I liked so I just took some frozen raspberries, sugar and a little corn starch to thicken it and put it on the stove. It was SUPER good. The entire cake turned out moist and wonderful. And, of course, I used my favorite buttercream frosting. Yum.


This is the top cake. Three layers with raspberry filling between each one (and a band of frosting around the edge to keep the filling contained.


Here is the top cake...four layers!


Both frosted. Fondant is icky so i worked hard at making my buttercream super smooth.


Eep! They're stacked....let me tell ya, I held my breath through this whole process. Bride wanted black ribbon around bottoms...which worked well for covering up the layer seam.


The final product! Those are fake flowers...but it still looks nice. I mounted it on a wooden pedestal at the reception and it looked very pretty.

All in all it it took close to 12 hours from start to finish. But, man oh man...it was goooood!

Baby Belly

So, I have lots of pictures of things I've baked. Really. I do. Just not with me right now. So you'll have to wait a little longer.

I noticed this weekend that my baby bump is poking out rather far. I noticed this because I got terribly hot sitting out at the lake in 90 degree heat. Ugh. But it was nice to get some sun, enjoy the water and watch Mont play and splash.

In other news, the biggest thing on my mind is what to do for Father's Day for the Other. I'm half inclined not to do anything because, well, he didn't help me celebrate Mother's Day. But that's a bad attitude to have and he's a great dad and should be recognized for that.

So, after much thinking and keeping in mind my very tiny bank account, I found the perfect homemade item for him. I'm SO excited I can't even stand it. I just hope I can do it. It involves Legos.

Cool. I know.

Out in the Boonies

Sorry for the delay in updates, everyone. We're without Internet and now that I'm down to part-time it's becoming increasingly difficult to update. But I assure you that a schedule will fall into place and I will have some productive updates soon! I have some excellent oatmeal muffins to inform you of. Lick your chops while you wait....

Until then, my friends...