Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Summer Days

We're only a few days into the school year and already my children seem more settled. They're in a routine, spending time with friends, doing brain work. I love it.

This past weekend Seattle got a sneak peek at autumn. Rain, wind, and a canopy of grayish blue skies encouraged me to rifle through my collection of sweaters and jeans for something just right. Something not too heavy, and not too light.

Mornings are brisk and now jackets are hanging at the ready near the front door. Summer appears to be getting smaller, much like the view of a tall building when driving out of town; after some distance, you don't even see it anymore.

I feel this way about vacations too. Vacations are fleeting, and I suppose, after wearing a sweater for two days in a row, it ignited in me a desire to reminisce. Our trip to Sunriver was only a month ago and yet it feels like an eternity .

Here are images from that trip:


 

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Pizza Cake


What do you get when you have an excited birthday girl and a very tired mommy? Pizza cake! Sammy had a few of her friends over for a sleepover birthday party and let me tell you, it was a hoot. And even though we had loads of fun, I didn't have the energy to put together a fancy birthday cake, so instead I made a basic round cake that I sliced in half to create a skinny round cake, topped it with cream cheese frosting {that I tried to dye red, but got pink}, then added yellow Startbursts candy for the pineapples, black licorice for the olives and fruit roll-ups for the pepperoni. Oh, and I grated white chocolate for the cheese. I think it turned out great. I served it on a pizza peel. HA!

Here's the recipe for the cake:

Yellow Butter Cake
from Martha Stewart's Cooking School
Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
3 cups cake flour, sifted
2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat over to 350, with racks in the middle oven.
Brush two 9-inch round cake pans with softened butter and line bottoms with parchment paper; butter parchment. Dust pan with flour, and tap out excess.

Whisk together both flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 6 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

Reduce speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, beating to incorporate fully after each and scraping down the sides of bowl as needed. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk and ending with the flour. Beat in the vanilla. The batter should be smooth and very thick.

Divide batter between prepared cake pans, smoothing tops with an offset spatula. Bake, until cakes spring back when lightly touched, and a cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

Transfer to wire racks; let cool 20 minutes. Carefully run a paring knife around the edge of the cakes to loosen.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans
Makes 3 cups

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powered sugar

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing.

Add the powdered sugar, mixing until smooth, about 1 minute, then beat on medium speed for 1 minute to lighten the frosting further. Add flavor or food coloring as desired.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Dosewallips State Park

Our family took a trip unlike any other. We went camping. Not the regular kind of camping where you wrestle with setting up tent, instead we stayed in a platform tent complete with electricity and heat.


We stayed for two long days in the wilderness, cooked over an open fire, and walked a few yards to the communal bathrooms. I'll admit that the outdoors was more pleasant than I thought it would be and it wasn't the least bit scary. We tried to give the girls a 'real' rustic camp experience despite the comfortable quarters.


It took us some time to understand what the heck we were supposed to do out there along the banks of the river so when we saw other campers hurling rocks into the river, we decided to do the same. Turns out, hurling rocks is fun.


Even though Jon and I told the girls not to get wet, Alex proceeded to pull up her pant legs and walk in anyways. Note to self: the girls have selective hearing in the wilderness too.

 

We were hoping for sandy beaches and instead got this. Beautiful, but no where near sandy. No matter, the girls still had a great time.

 

Ranger Eric taught us which plants were edible and which would kill us. After class, I let the girls know that even though we now know that Huckleberries grow on the tops of tree stumps -- because that's where Robins like to poop -- for safety reasons, we should never pick and then eat them. Huckleberries look a lot like other berries and we don't want to eat the wrong plant. Blackberries, good; everything else, bad. I certainly hope they didn't have selective hearing during this conversation.


We brought along Alex's bug kit and it certainly came in handy.

 

Water bugs are just as creepy up close as they are flitting around in the water.

 

I'm guessing we were the only ones out there toasting bagels over the fire.

 

We didn't need the bug kit for this guy.