Cake
Rich Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
This cake is perfect! I’ve made a lot of cakes in my time, almost always from boxes. Over the last few years, I’ve searched for perfect chocolate and vanilla cake recipes, and this chocolate cake was my recent discovery. My former attempts have either been dry, or the layers fall in the middle. The January/February 2013 issue of Food Network Magazine featured two basic cake recipes. From these, bakers can add flavors, fillings and frostings to make a special cake for any occasion. And FN did just that – they printed recipes for 12 unique birthday cakes, one for each month. If you’re looking for inspiration, I would encourage you to visit the site.
Food Network Magazine 12 Birthday Cakes Jan/Feb 2013
Berry Ice Cream Birthday Cake – Food Network Magazine
This is the cake my grandson, Quinten, eyed as he was looking through the magazine. Isn’t this pretty?
I was also excited to find the chocolate cake recipe calls for sour cream. I love sour cream, buttermilk or yogurt in cake batters. They taste richer to me, and produce a moister cake. So, I’m going to copy the chocolate recipe with a link to the Food Network article (above).
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Cooking Tips
Orange, Lemon, Lime Zest
I always have fresh citrus fruits in the kitchen close at hand – you know, just a couple of lemons, limes and oranges. The juice and/or zest of any of these can be shaken into a fresh vinaigrette or sprinkled onto seafood or meat just before serving, or mixed with some yogurt, mayonnaise and a little sweetener for a fruit or vegetable dip. You never know when some fresh zest will come in handy as an addition for cakes, pies or frosting. As little as 1/2 of a lemon can make a big, wake-up-flavor difference. And a flavor enhancer to packaged food.
My husband, Richard, has been sick the last few days with a head cold. He’s knocked out and not terrible hungry, but I wanted to fix a quick meal that would have enough spicy heat to loosen up his 
congested sinuses and something pleasing and fragrant to give him hope he would recover. Normally, I don’t buy prepared, pre-packaged food, but Richard, in a weak moment, bought some frozen orange chicken at Costco. OK, not a big deal – heated the chicken in the oven according to directions, made the rice. In a small saucepan, I added the frozen, syrupy goo that was supposed to be the sauce for the meat. I dolled it up with zest from a fresh orange, squeezed orange juice, 1/4 teaspoonful crushed red pepper flakes, and about one tablespoonful of soy sauce. The orange and crushed peppers really came through in the sauce, and had the desired effect. For a little while at least, my husband was able to breath a little easier and enjoy his meal.
Decor & Remodel, Projects
I found this duvet online at Macy’s. I think it’s going to work perfectly with the fabric I bought in Pennsylvania. What do you think?
Master Bedroom Duvet
Master Bedroom Project – Fabric
Here’s a reminder of what my bedroom furniture looks like:
This is a sample of one of our pieces – Broyhill Sculptura
Main Dishes, Seafood
Salmon, Fried Potatoes, Broccoli
My husband and I love salmon, and since we’ve been married, salmon has become a steady part of our diet. Funny, I never ate much salmon growing up. We lived near Lake Michigan and there are lake salmon, but our fish diet was most exclusively perch. But my dad and I loved smoked salmon. He and I used to wrangle over the small jars my aunt would bring us from her fishing excursions in northern California – Aunt Jane and Uncle Lou caught, prepped and smoked their own. When we had a supply and just before dinner, my dad would retrieve the coveted jar from the refrigerator, and he would break off a chunk for us to share – wow – it was awesome! And, if you’ve never tried it, smoked trout is out of this world, too, but I digress . . .
When my children visit, we usually get a whole salmon filet, and either bake it or wrap it in foil to cook on the grill. But when they’re not with us, Richard and I buy frozen salmon filets from Costco. They’re good sized – about six ounces or so, individually wrapped, thaw quickly, and one bag is enough for several meals.
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Decor & Remodel, Projects
Master Bedroom Fabric
One of many fun things about visiting my sister is that we do shopping neither of us have time to do. Well, of course we shop, but there is so much variety as compared to what is available to me in Billings, that I jump at the chance for a shopping adventure. Carol is my willing partner in crime, and we were in the mood to shop for fabric.
Off we went to a couple of stores that had great selections, and the prices were unbelievable. I picked out a couple of remnants as samples for my master bedroom. I wanted to bring them home for my husband’s approval, before I bought more to finish my master bedroom project. We have very different tastes – he was not looking forward to pink, blue, green floral patterns, the girly stuff that I love.
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Family, Travel
For the first time in over 20 years, my sister, Carol, and I were able to spend an uninterrupted week together. Ever since she and I began our families, all of our visits surrounded holidays, family events, and vacations at our parents home in Northwest Indiana, her home in Pennsylvania, or at my home near Indianapolis. Rarely did we have a chance to just be together, just the two of us, to visit and do the thing we like to do.
Carol’s birthday is in February, so this year I decided to fly to PA for a visit. I’m so glad I did! For her birthday, she treated me to a Wine and Truffle Paring at the Paradocx Vineyard in southern Chester County. (What a great sister!) The business name is a play on words. The winery is owned by two husband and wife teams who are all practicing physicians. I thought the name was pretty clever!
At Paradocx & Neuchatel wine & truffle paring
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Asian, Salads, Spring, Summer
In the mood for something different?
I love this recipe originally from Ina Garten. My husband and I crave Chinese food and flavors, particularly this time of year. In the winter, I tend to stick to the old standbys: vegetable soup, chili, meatloaf, chicken and dumplings. All great stuff, but during the seasonal transition from winter to spring, I thought it was time to challenge our taste buds – what about something Asian? This dish came readily to mind believe it or not, because I had almost all the ingredients on hand. This is not a light dish, and not something that leaps to the fore when it’s cold. The noodles are served at room temperature, but I warmed up dinner with a couple of baked chicken breasts. There are lots of vegetables, is it healthy, well you be the judge. However, Crunchy Asian Noodle Salad is very satisfying.
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Crafts, Projects
I can’t believe it! I finished Jessica’s first apron today! It took me about three hours this morning, but so worth the effort. If I’d put my mind to it, I could have finished this in two days, tops. This is an easy pattern anyone could put together in no time at all. And the apron is nicely constructed. There’s a lining for the bodice and waistband. The waistband ties are long and wide. I strayed from the pattern instructions just a bit and lined the pockets.
The first thing I did was stitch the pockets to the front and then sewed the waistband and ties.
Then, I attached the bodice to the waistband, and voila! It was finished. Well, I still have to whipstitch the waistband lining, but that won’t take long.
I really like the fabric not only because of the color combinations but because of the quality. We chose quilting fabric from JoAnn’s. I washed and ironed the fabric before I started cutting out pattern pieces – a lesson I learned when I took quilting classes. I was afraid the fabric would become limp and lose its body, but the weight and feel pretty much stayed the same, especially after it was ironed.
I’m off to Pennsylvania Thursday, so I’ll take a project rest for a couple of weeks. I’m sure my sister and I will come up with several ideas. After all, we’ll be in Pennsylvania Dutch country, quilting capital of the world!
Can’t wait to share more ideas with you – Linda
Crafts, Projects
When I asked my daughter what she wanted for Christmas, one of the first things on her list was: “I want you to make me an apron.” No problem. I selected a couple of patterns in Billings as her gift, and told her that we would go out shopping so she could select the fabric. My sister was in Indy for the holidays, so the three of us had a great afternoon. We ended up picking fabric for two different aprons. The fabric for Apron Two is so cute – I’m eager to show you my progress for it, too.
It’s now almost Valentine’s Day, and Jess asked that I have her apron ready by then. I’m posting these photos as validation that I am working on Apron One. I’m intent on having it in the mail on Monday. Here are a few pictures of the project in progress:
Isn’t this pattern sweet? It gave the inspiration to use coordinating fabrics. I wish I could have found the chicken and egg fabric.
Here’s the bodice:
Here’s the skirt and pockets:
This is a very simple sewing project. I don’t know why I’m dragging my feet . . . An apron would make a good Easter or Mother’s Day gift, too.
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