Around the house...

Warm Greeting

My little garden has been ignored for a good month. Wedding plans, vacation, and life carried on. Today I decided to say "hello" and it greeted me with 25 little tomatoes and 3 beautiful eggplants!! Not to mention all the tarragon, basil, and oregano. Now that's my kind of gardening. ;)

Sweet Treasures in the Darkness

J.R. Miller said, "There are hundreds of Bible words which seem pale and without meaning in the time of earthly gladness, but which come out bright and shining like stars when the darkness comes on. You have no need for divine comfort when you had no sorrow; and a great part of the Bible was as yet an unopened book to you, for a large portion of it consists of comfort for those in trouble. But when the sorrow came, the words flashed. out like stars at night, unseen by day. Thus we learn the meaning of the beatitude, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. We lose some joys, but we find others that were hidden in the light of those we lost. Where earth’s tapers burned with only flickering light, heaven’s lamps now shine. Where the human face shone in its gentle grace, the face of Christ now looks upon us in its divine yearning. Where we leaned upon a human arm, often trembling, at last broken, we find now, instead, the everlasting arm. Thus when we abide in Christ the light of his love is revealed as human joys pale. The deeper the earthly darkness, the richer are the divine comforts which are given to us, enabling us to be of good cheer whatever the tribulation."

A pretty, felt-embellished Sweater

Go visit ABeautifulMess for the tutorial  

True Claim: The Best One-Bowl Yellow Cake Recipe

Last night my sweet husband wanted a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I found the following recipe via a trusty google search. CinnamonSpiceAndEverythingNice claimed it to be the best. I've copied her entire post (with the exception of all her pictures) below because I don't want to one day go to her lovely blog page and it be gone. Her description of ease and quickness are perfect. "It's a keeper" for sure! The only difference is our cake was frosted with Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting (recipe below). Delicious!! We sat in bed last night, eating our cake on heart shaped plates while watching the recent episode of Amazing Race. Romantic!! ;)

"This is a charming one-bowl yellow cake recipe that I imagine my Grandma might have made. The recipe comes out of a McCall's book published 100 years ago in 1910. A recipe with the far reaching ability to be viable a century later. The proof? Three people. In 28 hours. Decimated the entire cake. It's one of the best cakes I've ever tasted. If not theebest. Ever. 

Old-fashioned cake recipes hold a special appeal for me. They produce outstanding results without relying on bells or whistles. You can't go wrong with this one-bowl cake for it's ease, quickness and impressive outcome. It's a keeper. A good one to add to your recipe file. I believe everyone should have a good cake recipe at their fingertips they can count on should the need arise.


Typically yellow cakes are frosted with chocolate frosting, but being out of chocolate a cream cheese frosting was used, and very lightly. It's a well- known fact that I love frosting more than cake but for once I didn't mind the sparse amount of frosting. It just doesn't need it.The cake is truly the shining star, tender and billowy like soft, fluffy clouds, and perfectly moist even the next day. It is packed with flavor and just the right amount of sweetness. The fragrant scent of it alone made me swoon. Being anywhere in the vicinity of it will draw you like a spider to it's lair and keep you there enthralled. Totally delectable, completely irresistible and unforgettably delicious, it'll live in memory as the cake we ate devoured inrecord no time.


My Mom and I both agreed that whip cream frosting would compliment it beautifully so I've included the recipe for that along with the cream cheese frosting."


Old-Fashioned Yellow Cake
(adapted from McCall's Book of Cakes and Pies)

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 + 1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans. 

2. In a large mixing bowl sift flour and sugar, baking powder and salt.

3. Add butter, milk and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides of bowl. 

4. Add eggs, beat for 2 more minutes. 

5. Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally among both. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

6. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Turn out and cool thoroughly on wire racks. Frost with cream cheese or whip cream frosting. If using whip cream frosting the cake must be refrigerated.


Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup confectioners' sugar, plus extra if needed

In a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese on low until light and fluffy, gradually beating in the butter. Beat in vanilla. Add confectioners' sugar and beat until well blended. Add extra confectioners' sugar if needed to get it to the right spreading consistency.

Whipped Cream Frosting

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and chill with the whisk/beaters you will be mixing it with. Cover and chill for 30 minutes, then beat the mixture until stiff peaks form. 

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

2/3 cup hershey's cocoa powder

3 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. 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 of pretty frosting. 


Please visit CinnamonSpiceAndEverythingNice for more great recipes!! :)

Grand Finale

Our weekend contained chilly mornings, sleeping in, crocheted hats, school work, computer work, a special date night, worship, lunch with dear friends, shopping, home sweet home, more computer work, mommy.made chicken pastry, scrabble, new words - like diven and qe, cookies, coffee, lots of laughter... and cozy flannel sheets for the grand finale! I had much, much fun with my sweet husband. And per his late night request, I crawled out of my little cocoon this morning and fixed my love pancakes and scrambled eggs. ;)  

The Entire Week

We had a wonderful week-long vacation at the beach with family!!! Great fellowship, pier fishing, surfing, reading, crocheting, lounging in the sun, lots of yummy food, late night UNO attack, coffee, ice cream, sun rises, shopping, walking, and more. Oh, and Tony's mom gave me the cutest little squirrel cookie cutter (an early, early birthday present). :)

Family Time

The morning after the wedding, all the family gathered at my parents home for breakfast and final farewells. I am so glad that so many were able to travel in for Joey & Chrissie's special day!! All these pictures were taken with Brittany's camera!!


Back row: Matthew, Chrissie, Joey, Uncle David, Aunt Missy, Cassidy, Kevin, My Tony
Front row: Mimi, Chris, Brittany, Pepere', Memere', Mommy, Aunt Amy, Emily, Me, and Dad

 

Their first full day as husband & wife!!! They spent the morning

with family, opened all their wedding gifts, and in the evening

started their honeymoon drive to Orlando, Florida!!! :) 

Matthew's kitten rightly named "Mrs. BloodFang"

Their Wedding Day

Joey & Chrissie's wedding was quite the celebration. It had been nearly a year in the planning and everything came together so lovely. The theme was Fall. That meant lots of pumpkins, sunflowers, warm tones, long dresses, and candles. The bride and groom both looked amazing in their wedding day outfits!! The ceremony was beautiful. Shades of fall graced white tables, candle sticks, and arch ways. The words given by Pastor Travis and Pastor Danny were precious truths from God's Word. The slideshow of little Joey and little Chrissie growing into adults was so sweet and pulled at many heart strings. Their voices and expressions as they said their vows - priceless. And all the bridal party (me included) walking/dancing down the aisle to the tune of "Tonight's gonna be a good, good night." :) I am so grateful to God for the both of them and how He crossed their paths. Chrissie is already very much a part of our family - now it's just official with the last name and all. I couldn't ask for a sweeter wife to my dear brother Joey!!

The reception was amazing too! Lots of leaves and candles and flowers and food and music and dancing!! Lots of help from Tony's sweet sister, Shonda (she's amazing)! There was a perfect blend of two cultures represented. Chicken and steak fajitas, rice, beans, and rice water (tastes sooo good). Potato salad, copper pennies, pasta salad, chicken salad, veggies, crackers, cheese, sweet tea, and more. Live music from a meriachi band, awesome DJ, and Matthew & the Mountain. The sweet table was loaded with reeses pieces, candy corn, M&M's, fondue chocolate, apples, strawberries, marshmallows, trail mix, and punch. Mom did such a great job making the cakes ~ three pretty pumpkins and one chocolate grooms cake with peanut butter moose filling and chocolate frosting. It was all so lovely!! And when I say lots of dancing, I mean LoTs! We had so much fun!!

 

Event planner: The Couple, Family, Friends / Photographer: Chad @ Image Worx / Snapshots: Snapshots from family and friends  / Florist: Chrissie, Mom, Brittany, Shayna, Mrs. Hood / Venue: GWC and Herman Park Center, Goldsboro NC  / Catering: Torero's Mexican Restaurant & Family / Cakes: Made.By.Mommy / Music: Meriachi Band, LJ the DJ, Matthew, and Allen