The Tale of a Cake

One night I thought to myself,

Chocolate cake.

That sounds good.

Maybe this weekend I could make a cake.

Then later another thought came.

What if I made the cake now?

I probably have everything I would need.

I might as well just look.

Then I found this recipe.

I had put it in my recipe file for a rainy day.

Chocolate and tea are always good,

especially together.

So why not marry them within another fabulous treat:

Cake.

It was on this day

(A Thursday actually)

there was born into this world a cake.

Delicious and beautiful.

Birthed by an oven that didn't over heat a summer house.

With the help of a twenty-something with a chocolate problem.

And with this birth there came the inevitable death.

The cake served wonderfully in life

(note the adding of powdered sugar for the pretty factor),

and lives on in the memories of those who delighted in meeting such a slice of joy.

I will end my story with an invitation.

Go ahead and put this recipe if your pile,

or perhaps you have a file.

Save it all the same.

Keep the idea roaming around the back of your brain,

until such a day arrives that you too crave a bit of chocolate cake.

Then pull it out on a whim.

You too might have the ingredients needed.

Give it a try.

I guarantee you're gonna like it!

Madison's Farmers Market

I had a free Saturday at the beginning of this month

and mom and I stole the opportunity to head to Madison.

We walked in a large circle and bought all kinds of really cool things!

These are the funky carrots we got right before we took a detour to see cows!

Seeing cows is a thing that people in Wisconsin do all the time but it still deserves signs and crowds.

We're strange and proud of it.

Anyway, most of what we bought was eaten up before I got a chance to document that is existed at all.

But this garlic and herb goat cheese was amazing.

Especially paired with Trader Joe's pita chips.

Even better when those chips are in my new bowl from Anthropologie!

So that is my really late post about the yummy fun time mom and I had in Madison.

Inspiration Grabbing

My wonderful neighbor is really into Stampin' Up!

So she got me their new catalog

and I've been gleaning inspiration from their color ideas and their layouts.

Here are a few results:

The second one was a layout for a wedding card

that I changed some colors on and made a Father's Day card.

Hope you enjoy!

Green Cards

I've noticed a pattern in my card making.

I pick a color scheme,

sometimes intentionally,

other times I do it at random by picking out paper that I want to work with.

Then I make a card:

After said first card is made I want to try a variation on afore mentioned color scheme.

But I end up with the same color for the majority of the card.

It's not always because that's what's cut.

(For those who don't make cards on a regular basis;

a regular card is 5 1/2 inches unfolded.

So when card stock is cut-it's cut in half and you can make two cards with one piece of card stock)

I do it because the color intrigues me or something.

Whatever it is the rational is mysterious and unintentional.

I noticed it especially when I did these two cards because I realized I didn't really want to work with green.

I still don't even know if I like the color.

But I felt it necessary to make not one,

but two cards from the same card stock.

In a color I don't like.

I am puzzling.

Birthday Cheesecake

I took my aunt out for her birthday dinner a few months ago,

when it came time for dessert

(something I rarely indulge in)

our waitress rattled off the choices and I caught mention of a key lime pie cheesecake.

My aunt and I both love cheesecake so after a look was decided to go for

but we'd share-of course.

I was decadent.

Light were it should have been rich,

and rich were it should have been too sweet.

There were bubbles and velvet blending to make-out on my tongue.

(Not the just-wed-polite-long-kiss but a full on whos-saliva-is-this-mouth-on-mouth combination)

So I decided I had to make it.

I didn't know how.

I'd never done anything with limes before

(gin and tonic mixing doesn't count!)

much less key limes!

I mean what even is that?

The first step was finding a recipe on Tastespotting.

Step two was promising my sister a key lime cheesecake for her birthday.

Step two insures I will do it.

Because Claire never forgets-and never forgives when it comes to cheesecake.

Then, after finals were done and Claire's birthday had passed I whipped up this beauty.

It wasn't hard and I will do this again for sure.

I mean it's a cheesecake with fruit so it has to be good for you!

Right?!

Baking Potatoes

Sometimes a girl needs a big breakfast.

Like the greasy kind you get in a restaurant with a steaming cup of tea to wash it all down.

So sometimes a girls go to do what a girls got to do

and go all out!

 I've been working on this potato idea for a while.

I knew what I wanted but I didn't know how to get there.

I think I may have figured it out!

I thought they should be fried.

Like in a skillet or a nice big cast iron pan.

When I tried that though, they weren't exactly what I wanted.

So this time I got the super bright idea to roast them.

You know like in an oven,

like most people would do right away.

Well guess what-it worked!

I felt kind of dumb because it took me so long to figure out the simple way of doing things,

but sometimes you have to take the long way round.

Baking with my Bestie!

A long time ago,

a day after I made a ton

(pretty much literally a ton)

of cookies for Dad's birthday,

Allie came for a visit and we did what we always do.

BAKE!

Everything but cookies.

So this is the late update on the goodies I made with a life-long friend,

who I'm missing today.

We made some fresh strawberry scones.

I lost the one recipe I had that used mascarpone cheese,

but this one is almost as good!

Then Allie made Scotch-a-roos.

I've never made them and only eaten them once or twice.

I was pleasantly surprised at how simple they were

and how fast we had a finished product we could dig into!

Allie's spending the summer in a different state taking summer classes.

I will miss her silly stories and amazing giggle,

but I will see her again before the summer is out.

Perhaps then we can make some lava cake!