Pink Lemonade Cake (with Lemonade Frosting)

I haven't made this yet, but I want to.  (The frosting especially looks amazing.)

Pink Lemonade Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter

4 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
red food coloring
1 1/3 cups milk
1/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 tsp lemon extract

 

1. Allow butter and eggs to stand until room temp.  Grease 2 9x2 in. round pans.  Line bottom of pans with parchment paper. 
2. In a medium bowl mix flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 350.
4. In a large bowl beat butter, add sugar, 1/8 tsp of food coloring, 1 egg at a time, beating well.  In another bowl, stir together milk, lemonade concentrate, and extract; it will curdle, but that's okay.

5. Alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture to butter mixture beating on low.

6. Remove 1/2 (4 cups) of tinted batter and spread in 1 pan.  

7. Stir in 1/4 tsp of red food coloring in remaining batter and spread in other pan.

8. Bake about 35 minutes until toothpick is clean when inserted.

Pink Lemonade Buttercream Frosting

3 cup unsalted butter (6 sticks-at room temp)
2 -16 oz. jars of marshmallow cream
1/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate (thawed)
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp lemon extract

1. In a large bowl, beat butter about 30 seconds 
2. Add marshmallow and frozen concentrate.  Beat until smooth.
3. Add sugar, beat until light and fluffy.
4. Frost cake after it has cooled and the frosting is at room temp.

To make the different layers, slice the cakes in half with a serrated knife, sawing gently back and forth. Alternate the colors.
 
From Better Homes & Garden, via http://craftyc0rn3r.blogspot.com/2012/07/pink-lemonade-cakecupcakes.html.  

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And now I can throw away the issue of BHG that has been haunting my house since I took it (with permission) from the lactation store in July.  Success.

 

http://www.redheadcandecorate.com/uploads/1/0/7/3/10739775/6180973_orig.jpg

My son, right now.

Sunday Night Special

Some Sabbath day media I consumed today:

"Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread" by Elder D. Todd Christofferson
"His Grace Is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox
http://sisterbrinton.blogspot.com/ My beautiful sister-in-law Abby's missionary blog.
http://sallyandgregbrinton.blogspot.com/ My aunt- and uncle-in-law's missionary blog.
Alma 61:19-20 and Alma 60:33 (although I read them in hard copy rather than in digital)

The internets, it turns out, can provide many beautiful godly words.  A good Sabbath.

P.S. For a bonus, and for your Monday-day viewing, an oddly satisfying commercial. 

Fall Centerpiece Brainstorming

I'm not big on centerpieces--I think tableware and food done right are so beautiful that they are all the decoration a table needs--but weddings present specific design difficulties often enhanced by something going on.  So, for a dear friend (the lovely Rebecca R), I'm investigating possible (a) lovely, (b) possibly functional/tasty, (c) simple, and (d) cost-efficient Autumnal centerpieces for her October wedding luncheon in Portland.  Below is mostly just for me and her as I/we brainstorm, but if you are reading this and you want to chime in with a link or idea, feel free.

Note: I don't love all of these, but I love some, and I think the rest are inspirational in some way or another.

To learn how to make the cool effect on left, click here.

Instructions here.

Not a huge fan of the mirror or the candle, but I like this as a reminder that even super simple is possible.

I think this is especially beautiful.

I don't love candles, but this is cool as far as candles go.

Maybe with real apples instead of candlapples.

 

Super easy instructions are here.  (Note: I plan to make these sometime.  I think they are rockstar, even without the banner.)

Three Recipes: Two for Posterity, One for the Recipe Box

Forever Desserts
Ultimate Coconut Cake
http://reviewofrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/09/peninsula-grills-ultimate-coconut-cake.html
(I made this for Jed for our one-year anniversary yesterday; we haven't yet even finished our original slices of cake, it was SO rich--and so, so decadently, ultimately delicious.  Note: I added a sprinkle more of kosher salt to every component, I forgot the sugar syrup, and I doubled the cream cheese in the frosting.  Good decisions, all.)

Ruggle's White Chocolate Bread Pudding with Raspberry Sauce
http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/5473119/ruggles-white-chocolate-bread-pudding/ (I made this for a co-worker's birthday last year.  He'd lived in Houston, where Ruggle's is, and this dessert became basically the only one he likes.  I haven't stopped making it.)

For Me to Remember
Pan-Cooked Pork with Dried Cherry Sauce
http://www.food.com/recipe/pork-chops-w-dried-cherry-sauce-205368 (more for the pork than the sauce)

A really delicious casserole worth remembering.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Eggplant-Potato-and-Pepper-Casserole-347

I'd recommend George Foreman-ing the eggplant instead of frying it (less oil; delicious taste), but frying the onions, potatoes, and green peppers is a good idea.  I'm not sure if I have ever made this with actual thyme (maybe I used dried? maybe I used basil and/or oregano?), so feel free to season as you would.  It was surprisingly ridiculously delicious.

Oh, and we definitely layered in canned roast beef to make it an entree.  And we probably added cheese.  Awesome.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

The snow from last night is melting this morning, so the world outside is a mix of white snow, yellow and orange leaves, and a slick brown shininess to everything melting and being melted on.  Necessarily, I wanted pumpkin something for breakfast.

I'm a solid cook, but I am not a great baker.  These muffins, however, were fantastic and easy.  (Except--I put in more chocolate chips than was called for, maybe just 1/4 cup more, because why not?  And turns out, it was maybe too many chocolate chips.  I was eating the muffin wishing I could taste less chocolate and more pumpkin.  Weird, right?)

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cup(s) flour
• 1 cup(s) sugar
• 1 tablespoon(s) pumpkin-pie spice (OR some mix of ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon)
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt (kosher is my preference, always)
• 1 cup(s) semisweet chocolate chips
• 2  large eggs
• 1 cup (do not use pumpkin-pie filling) canned solid-pack pumpkin (OR maybe 1 1/4 cup?)
• 1/2 cup(s) (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted (OR 1/2 cup applesauce and 1 tablespoon melted butter)

---

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray muffin tins.
2. In large bowl, mix first six ingredients; add chocolate chips, tossing to coat. 
3. In another small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients; add to flour mixture and stir just until combined (do not overmix). Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until muffins spring back when lightly touched (or, as I did, until they mostly look done and the edges look crispy but the top doesn't quite spring back but you have to leave to go practice a hymn for church the next day). Cool muffins on rack.

Adapted from http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/paula-muffins

Recipes I've been a-using

This is mostly for my records, but feel free to look in.  Both of these are delicious for breakfast.

Chilled Raspberry Soup
(adapted by Sarah from Betty Crocker)

2 bags (about 4 cups) frozen raspberries, thawed overnight in fridge
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cranberry juice or orange juice
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
1 tsp vanilla (or to taste)

1. 1 Place raspberries, sugar, and juice in blender. Cover and blend on high speed until smooth.
2. Strain raspberry mixture through sieve into bowl. Discard raspberry seeds.
3. Stir yogurt into raspberry mixture.  Add cinnamon and vanilla; stir.
4. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or until cold.  Serve topped with fresh raspberries.

Pear Clafoutis

(adapted by Sarah from the Domestic Goddess)

4 large eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/3 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 large pears, cored, thinly sliced

powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously butter 9-inch-diameter glass or ceramic pie plate.
2. Beat eggs, sugar, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in flour. Add milk, butter, vanilla, and cinnamon - whisk until smooth.
3. Arrange pears in bottom of prepared plate (preferably in circular-fan pattern). Pour custard over pears.  Sprinkle additional cinnamon and/or sugar on top.
4. Bake until clafoutis is set in center and golden on top, about 40 minutes.
5. Sprinkle or serve with powdered sugar.

Homemade Caramel Recipe

The following is mostly for my own records, but you should feel free to use it too. It comes from this website.

CARAMEL:

3 c. sugar, divided
3/4 c. milk
1 egg, beaten
Pinch of salt
1/2 c. butter (cut up)

Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar in heavy saucepan; place over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar melts and syrup is golden brown.

Combine remaining 2 1/2 cups sugar, milk, egg and salt in a bowl, stirring well; stir in butter. Stir butter mixture in caramelized sugar. (The mixture will lump, becoming smooth with further cooking.) Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until a candy thermometer registers 230 degrees (15-20 minutes). Cool 5 minutes. Beat with a wooden spoon to almost spreading consistency and spread between layers and on top of cake.

Grandma Hoggard

This past Tuesday morning, at approximately 12:30 am, my Grandma Hoggard died. Mom and Anika were there with her, in her hospice care facility, and I had seen her earlier that evening, earlier that day, and for many hours on the previous two days. We had been praying she would die on Monday because she was so uncomfortable. It was such a blessing to have it happen when and how and as peacefully as it did. Grandma considered her death a graduation, and she requested we play "Pomp and Circumstance" at her funeral, which the bishop thought was "resoundingly appropriate." So on Friday, at her funeral, as the cousins pall bearered her casket out of the chapel, Cousin Stephen played a version of the graduation anthem. I'm sure she was 100% delighted about that.

At Uncle Rick's request, I wrote a tribute to Grandma, which was included in the program for her funeral. For posterity's sake--and to update this long-neglected blog--I post it here.

Grandma Hoggard, we love you very much. I miss you already.

* * * * *

As Grandma Hoggard Would Say, “We Just Had to Laugh”

I once won $1100 for an essay I wrote about Grandma and Grandpa, in which I essentially just wrote down experiences I’d had with them. I wrestled with not submitting the essay in the first place—should I make money on Grandma’s idiosyncrasies? Could it really be okay to share her foibles with the world? In the essay, I describe watching Grandma give herself insulin shots, poking a sharp needle into her belly, sitting alone late at night at the kitchen counter. And of course, of course, I expose her fridge for all that it is—a tattooed appliance, covered by a collection of quotes, handwritten by Grandma in black permanent marker. “Pornography is the literature of the devil,” the freezer says. “If jealousy were a fever, all the world would be ill.”

I shouldn’t have worried about sharing these things. When I showed Grandma the essay, she laughed at every page. “You painted me perfectly!” she said. “You got me just right!”

The perfect, shocking thing about Grandma’s willingness to laugh is that she was also so serious about so many things. The gospel of Jesus Christ, for one. Her family. Genealogy. Graduations, events, holiday decorations. New clothes for the grandkids, new shoes for the grandkids. Pretty much anything for the grandkids. Fudge.

With seriousness, she decried sin. (She once told me: “Rick bought his kids a poker table. Someday he’s going to call me and say, ‘Woe is me,’ and I’ll say, ‘Woe IS you!’”) She advocated for achievement. (She counseled a soon-to-be-lawyer grandson to take all 50 state bars at the same time, “just to get it over with.”) She loved buying things. (One day, after hearing her emit a string of gasps and “That’s darling!”s in the BYU Bookstore, I asked her if she saw anything she didn’t think was cute. She stopped walking, turned entirely around, and said brightly, “Nope!”)

And she gave, gave, gave. Gave. Gave more. (For instance, a former roommate of my sister’s recently credited Grandma Hoggard with helping her avoid urinary tract infections, so plentiful was Grandma’s supply of cranberry juice to Anika’s college apartment.) Grandma never stopped giving—she was giving the rings off her fingers for weeks before she died—and she hasn’t yet. (Turn an object over in Grandma’s house, and you’re likely to find a “Stephen” or a “Coco,” written in Grandma’s own schoolgirl cursive. She long ago began preparing to divide her possessions among her family.) My guess is she’s already finding ways to keep giving, both to us here and to our family on the other side.

Grandma Hoggard is one of the finest, funniest, most passionate, most loving people ever to live on God’s earth. We who are lucky enough to be descended from her by birth or marriage have been trying since our very first days to live with as much meaning, good humor, and generosity as she showed everyday.

She’d like that, I think, because she loves us. And because she has always, always enjoyed a good laugh.

Salad Crazy?

Me too.

Which is why Manfriend has made this:

sarahssalads.wordpress.com

He says he'll update it every time I eat a salad, which, it turns out, is typically at least once a day. But already we're two salads behind--a pork salad and a salad I ordered as part of lunch today at The Prime Rib, during DC's restaurant week. But he has an iPhone, plenty of access to me (hooray), and the desire to document our crazy salad eating.

Here's hoping even more attention to me and my salads doesn't go to my head.

(Manfriend, that pun was for you.)

Stay tuned.

Coolest (Thesis) Idea (Ever).

http://writemythesis.squarespace.com/

I haven't checked it out yet, but it is the brainchild of my friend Brittany Watson, who has better taste and more personal class/loveliness than just about anyone I know.

Academedia revolution! That's what I say.

Spread the (design/media/academic) word.

Do you ever have days

on which you want to be covered from head to toe? No skin showing at all?

I think it's my way of staying in bed. While going to work.

Hopefully it's not too hot today.

Question

Would you rather have your president be fat or your lawyer be a terrible speller?

Recipe: Soda Cracker Pie

Adapted from the recipe by Grandma George, heaven bless her.

In a cold bowl

• beat 3 egg whites until stiff
  
• then add 1 cup sugar
  
• then add the crumbs of 14 saltines (which you've procured from finely crushing 14 saltines in a ziploc bag)
• then add 1/4 tsp baking powder
• then add 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• and finally, add 1 tsp vanilla.

Fill buttered 9" pie pan with pie goop. Push the goop up on the sides.

Bake 30 minutes at 325 degrees, until it looks solid (not goopy) and golden brown. It will be puffy.

Remove it from the oven. It will fall.

Cool it. Slice fresh peaches or nectarines thin. Fill pie crust SO FULL. Add whipped cream (or even Cool Whip) to your liking.

Eat it before anyone else does.

Two Pictorial Updates

1. Le dessert du triomphe.
An impromptu dessert made for the birthday of one Jeff S., during a recent spur-of-the-moment, whirlwind weekend in Rochester. Ingredients: one half-gallon of vanilla bean ice cream; one half-gallon of chocolate ice cream; one layer of homemade whipped cream with lemon zest; fresh mango, blackberries, and raspberries; shredded coconut; and tall skinny candles that turned out to be almost impossible to blow out. Can I tell you the truth? It was amazing. We were all surprised.

2. Kayak thumbs.
The remains of a short kayaking adventure in the Chesapeake Bay, had as the capstone outing to a perfect Memorial Day weekend spent lounging around a house on the water with friends. In real life, the sores are pretty dramatic. And liquidy. (Are my hands really that sissy? I need to get out more.) But no regrets. The weekend was perfect.

Louise

It's been forever. And this comment isn't something big (it's small) or original (Louise wrote it). But I want to make it mine.

Louise wrote the following as a comment to her own post. Read the comment here: http://theapronstage.com/2009/05/14/in-a-panic/#comment-2678, and the post here: http://theapronstage.com/2009/05/14/in-a-panic/

To increase the likelihood you'll do one of the two, I'm reproducing the comment here. God bless Louise Plummer.

I forgot number 101: Learn to say no. You may have to practice. Never say yes right away. Say, “Let me think about it and I’ll call you back.” Then call back and say no. This is hardest to do when people you love ask you to do things you really really don’t want to do. “No, we can’t drive across country to be home for Thanksgiving this year.” “No, I can’t be on the R.S. enrichment committee.”"No, I’m not coming to choir practice at seven in the morning on Sundays.” I’m not doing anything early mornings. Get used to it.

Stand up for yourselves, anxious ones. Plan anxiety into your life. I need a long morning. Right now, I’m so nervous about my fiction writing that I have scheduled one hour a day to write (instead of four) and think I’m successful if I write one paragraph. But here’s the thing: books get written one sentence, one paragraph at a time, one hour a day. I can’t worry about those people putting out a book a year. I’m just not one of them. I can’t worry about anyone but me.

I think walking to the mail box is good exercise. Hot chocolate is good too–anytime.

Don’t you all see it? Most of the world is terrified. We’re rabbits on a chopping block. It takes a lot of faith to get over that view. It’s why people drink, smoke, eat too much, have unsafe sex and kill themselves. That’s why we watch too much TV, play too many video games, stay in bed. We’re scared to death. Recognize it, embrace it, expect to fail occasionally, and move on.

Decide to be a believer. Decide to be terrific in a doddling sort of way. When Jesus gets tired of crowds, he always walks away. Read the gospels and see how often he walks away. No THAT’s taking good care of yourself.

Saturday in Sunbury

I spent Saturday in Sunbury, PA, with the lovely Reija M. Turns out, Sunbury is halfway between Rochester and my house in VA, so we decided to meet there, to hang out in the middle. I rented a car, borrowed my roommate's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency book on tape, and drove the 3ish hours to mid-PA, where Reija waited for me on a swingset in a park built like a fort.

It was awesome.

We ate dinner at the restaurant in the first building in the world to have electricity. (Sunbury, PA, is the first town in the world to have been wired with electricity.) And we saw the Susquehanna (but only once we climbed over the flood wall); a 19th-century fort-like prison that is still in use (despite a lawsuit pending about the inhumane conditions for the prisoners inside); and rows and rows of houses and stores, all charming, sad, and/or cute. Sunsbury is definitely a place with history. Now for Reija and me, too.

Read Reija's account/see more pictures of my awesome Saturday here: http://reijagainsthemachine.blogspot.com/2009/03/on-meeting-halfway.html.

Having friends/Reija rocks. And so does America. And No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. I commend them all to you.

Lettuce Eat

Lettuce is my new favorite thing to eat. I crave it all the time. I don't know if it's the roughage, the wateriness, the almost entire lack of calories. Something.

I eat it under eggs. I eat it with grilled onions. I buy a salad and then buy more lettuce to add to my salad.

And I've been dreaming--for a week now, maybe two--about eating pizza on lettuce. (Not lettuce on pizza, as, I was told, is sometimes sold in restaurants like the California Pizza Kitchen.) But pizza on lettuce. A piece of pizza--pepperoni is my favorite these days--cut into bite-sized pieces and put on top of a bed of Romaine. Fresh, watery, piled high, topped with scattered pizza bites.

Oh man. Lettuce. LETTUCE.

I'm dreaming of lettuce tonight.

Today in Relief Society

Stephanie: (whispering) Sarah, do you feel like that?

Sarah: Like what?

Stephanie: Like what that girl just said? Like sometimes you're on a roller coaster--and you feel up because you're confident that God loves you and you're doing what's right but then you hit an obstacle and you feel down and everything is hard. Do you feel like that?

Sarah: Um. I don't know. In some ways, but not all ways. Do you feel like that?

Stephanie: No. (pause) But maybe I should. I like roller coasters. You know like when you're going up and then you come down and you're like whoo!