Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

I have about a million things I want to write about-- our trip to Portland and the Oregon coast, Blaine's Back to School Feast, my new entry way artwork, what it feels like to have a Kindergartener...

While I work on pulling those posts together, here's the recipe I promised. It's from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes (my favorite (of many) cupcake cookbooks).

Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
6 oz cream cheese--room temp.
6 T (3/4 stick) butter--room temp.
9 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (I used semi-sweet choc chips)
3/4 cups sour cream

Directions:
Sift together powdered sugar, cocoa, and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese and butter until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add sugar mixture; mix until combined. Mix in melted and cooled chocolate and then sour cream; scrape down sides of bowl and continue beating until smooth. (Makes 4 cups.)

Egg in an egg cup

With my British-Canadian heritage, I was raised on soft-boiled eggs, served in the most charming of all dishes--the egg cup. I mention it now because this is the time to find yourself some darling egg cups--in the post-Easter sales.

This is Blaine's (and my) favorite way to eat an egg. Here's how you make it:

Bring water to boil in a pot
Gently set the eggs in the pot
Set your timer for 3 minutes
Pull the eggs out
Scoop the top off with a spoon
Dip your toast strips (called "toy soldiers) in and enjoy!

It can be a little messy, but it's the most fun!

And if you don't like runny yolks, well, I don't know what to tell ya. (And I hope we can still be friends!)

Oh and p.s.- My mom and I are convinced that you can never have too many linens or dishes. Egg cups are included in that. Ohhhh, are they!

Artists' Notes

#1. Yesterday afternoon while we waited for our pizza dough to rise, we painted.

Artists' mother: "Wow Blaine, that looks nice."
Artist: "Heavenny Father would say, 'Wow Bane, what are you painting?' And I would say to Heavenny Father, 'I’m painting a dinosaur.'"

#2. For Katie, and anyone else interested, here is a closeup of the egg. I put a glob of hot glue on the egg, stick both ends of the ribbon to it, and push a button on top. Make sense?

#3. Rog's art. Destroying all of his pants.
Time to become a bi-ped, buddy.

Happy weekend!

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Primero:

We had a pre-St. Pat's celebration this weekend. It was pretty much awesome. We found some sweet Celtic music on Pandora (raise your hand if you love Pandora!). I got out my nice napkins. Grandpa Dean brought me sunflowers for my green vase. I donned my kelly green (Whoa! Pretty sure the last time I described something as kelly green was 1994.) sweater and my black pencil jeans (nice and Euro).

We had the most scrum-diddly-umptious corned beef and cabbage meal I ever did taste. (Get your recipe right HERE!)

The experience was capped a little why later when I was driving down Talent Avenue. I saw a guy with long, fat dreds walking along in a kilt and knee socks. Perf. Gotta love Southern Oregon!

Segundo:

Speaking of Southern Oregon, I spent many a hot summer day in S.O. with Kate. We drove by the baseball fields to look at the cute boys, played Tina Arena (on casette) over and over in the T-top, swam for hours in my parents' pool, wove matching hemp necklaces, giggled incessantly over McDonalds Kiddie cones and a Blockbuster rental, and dreamed of marrying Mark and Taylor. (OK, so it was a different Mark and different Taylor that we ended up with. Ironic, huh?)

Today Kate is one year older. One year more blessed. One year more beautiful. Love you, girl.

I love vanilla

(**Image and following recipe from cupcakeproject.com)

For as long as Taylor and I have known each other, he has teased me about my vanilla preference. He cannot understand how I could ever choose vanilla ice cream over chocolate. But I remain firm.

So when Taylor came home with vanilla bean paste to make vanilla bean buttercream frosting for Grandma's wedding cake, I knew I was going to love it. And I did. Oh how I did!

I used the same recipe on Valentine's Day, too. I am not kidding here people, this is the greatest buttercream you ever will taste.

The recipe is:
Mix together 1 stick of room temperature butter and 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar until blended and creamy. Add 1 tablespoon milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste.

Notes:
1. Obviously you can leave out the vanilla bean paste for a plain buttercream frosting. This frosting has the BEST consistency, so I highly recommend it for all your plain buttercream needs.

2. Vanilla bean paste isn't in your average baking aisle. You may have to look around a bit. Taylor got ours here.

3. I like to add more than 2 teaspoons of the paste--it's all about how much vanilla you want.

4. You probably noticed that this recipe is pretty small. For a whole batch of cupcakes I would definitely double it.

Hope you love!

Yum-o

Hot dog! We got snow and Nanaimo Bars all in one Sunday!

Double treats! Recipe HERE.

(Sorry. Still not feeling "trivial.")

One Sunday last spring, I chatted after church with my friend, Cindy. I was lamenting our impending move--relating to Cindy how sad we were to leave such a wonderful area, ward, and circle of friends. "But Anne," Cindy said in her wise and nurturing way, "You are moving so close to your mother!"

I sort of got what she was saying, but not completely. My thoughts at that point: "Well yeah, that will be fun. I love my mom. I'm sure that'll be great." But, having lived hundreds of miles from her for nearly a decade, and still maintaining a great relationship with her, I didn't really see how living in the same county would be that big of deal.

But now I get it. Completely. And not just because Mom is absolutely the most fun person to bash around TJ Maxx and Macys' with. Nor is it because she makes a pot roast for all of us every Sunday without fail, even if she herself cannot attend dinner. And it's not even because she watches my boys so I can grocery shop, pick pears at our LDS welfare farm, or go on a date with Taylor. It's not because she calls to see if I need anything at the grocery store and when I say I could use a gallon of milk, she shows up with milk, strawberries, a meal she was going to put in the freezer (you guys might as well eat it for dinner tonight), and some homemade jam. Not because she volunteers to help me continue to pour through boxes that remain packed from our move 4 months ago. Not because she eagerly contributed all of the buttons, magnets, and postage for my auction efforts. Not even because every time Clinique bonus time comes around she calls to see what I need.

OK well maybe it is some of those things now that I read back over that amazing list. But sincerely, here's why Cindy was right. Here's why I love living close to my mother. Here's why it is such a blessing: Because every time I feel overwhelmed or frustrated with myself for being harsh with Blaine or inadequate, she puts her arm around me and says, "I think you're doing amazingly. You still have a little baby. You are accomplishing a lot. You are more patient than I was as a young mother. I think you are doing great." It's because when I don't believe in myself, she totally does. And she's always given me that emotional support, even from a distance. But there is something about seeing her almost daily, something about the physical closeness that seems to lend itself to an even tighter emotional bond. At least for me.

The tricky part is I feel constantly in her debt. She is always providing this tremendous support and doing 9 jillion acts of service for me and my little family. So when she mentioned the luncheon she was throwing last Saturday and that she was busy doing this and that, and decided she didn't have time to do rolls, I jumped at the chance to do something for her. I made the dough late Friday night, and even though I had a sick baby that didn't sleep well that night, I eagerly got up the next morning (well, after Taylor got up with the boys and let me sleep in a bit, bless his heart!) to start rolling them out. I love me a baking session, but I've never been more excited about baking anything.

And all the ladies loved them. And Mom was thrilled. Which thrills me to the point of a lump in my throat just writing about it.

I get it now, Cindy.

note: Incidentally, Cindy is the mother of Stephanie Nielson who I still cannot stop thinking about. I hope you will continue to keep Nie (and Cindy) in your prayers.


And, if you want it, my favorite roll recipe is as follows:

Combine 2 cups warm water (about 104 deg.), 2 tablespoons yeast, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Let sit 5 minutes. Add 2 sticks butter (melted and cooled--again about 104 deg.), 3 beaten eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 8 cups flour. Mix and knead dough. Let sit until doubled. Punch down.
(I let mine rise in the fridge overnight. If you do this, you have to get the dough to warm up a bit before rolling it out or it is too difficult to work with.)

Take a grapefruit-sized wad of dough and roll it out on a floured surface into a circle that is 1/4-inch thick. With a pizza cutter, cut the circle into 12 triangles. (You'll do this 4 times, making 48 rolls total.)

Roll triangles up from wide end. Place point down onto a greased baking sheet. (You've practiced this technique with Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, right?!) Cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes, until golden.

Mr. FYF Speaks

Guess who made us breffist yesterday morning? Get the whole wheat recipe here!

Domestic Week: Day Three

Here's a recipe for the tastiest spinach salad. I made it for a work party about a month ago and was thrilled to see our big glass salad bowl empty at the end of the night. Sorry I don't have a picture, but you all know what spinach looks like.

The important part of the recipe is this delish dressing:
3/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons Worcester sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Here are the things I like to put in the salad:
spinach
tomato
red onion
mushroom
hard-boiled egg
avocado
mango
cooked, chopped bacon

And, if you want to make it a meal, serve it with some cooked chicken on top and voila!

I recommend lightly tossing the salad with the dressing before serving it because I think it is much yummier to have your whole salad lightly coated with dressing than to have a pile of dressing on top, attempting to seep down to the rest and ending up with some spinach leaves that are totally plain.

Now listen here. I'm feeling like a bit of a poacher posting three whole recipes on my blog this week. Be a dear and click your mousie here to leave a comment for Mr. Feed Your Family and be sure and tell him his calzones sound delightful (they are).

Domestic Week: Day Two

Last weekend we went up to Riverton to be treated to a delish dinner by our friends Alicia and Brad. I used to teach school with Alicia so we share a particular type of bond that is hard to explain but has to do with lots of things like sharing art lesson plans (we like to pat each others' backs because we teach Matisse while other teachers are teaching their kids how to color with crayons), complaining about recess duty, gabbing about what a great book Stargirl is, and rolling our eyes about the wicked-legislation-that-must-not-be-named. After a killer meal of Cafe Rio-esque chicken salads, we ate our weight in these cupcakes: The following recipes are taken from Cupcakes by Pamela Clark.

Cream Cheese Lemon Cake

6 tablespoons butter, softened

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

2/3 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup self-rising flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12-hole standard muffin pan with paper baking cups. Beat butter, cheese, lemon peel, sugar, and eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add flours to cheese mixture; beat on low speed until combined. Divide mixture amond baking cups; smooth surface. Bake about 30 minutes. Turn cakes onto wire rack to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 tablespoons butter, softened

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter and cheese in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy; gradually beat in sifted powdered sugar.

Pretty simple. One trick I picked up on from this book is that you can make the presentation a little nicer if you bake the cupcakes in their paper cups and then put them in additional cups before serving them. This isn't the most frugal approach I suppose, but paper cups are pretty cheap to begin with, so I went with it.

We scarfed the dozen in roughly 8 minutes, so I think they were pretty tasty. Enjoy!

Domestic Week: Day One

It must be the endofthe3rdtrimesternestingtime, because I am in a domestic whirlwind. I am cleaning (even making my bed every day--that's big stuff, people!), prepping for baby (bought the cutest itsy bitsy diapers this weekend!), crafting, cooking, and baking. I'm having fun and trying to smoosh a lot in to the next few weeks because I am determined to not be depressed and stressed like I was the last time I had a newborn--worried that I was only nursing a baby all day instead of checking off various items from my to-do list. I am totally mentally prepared to pat myself on the back for feeding a baby and accomplishing a shower and change of clothes each day for the first two weeks. So anyway, like I said, I've been packing it in. Not particularly amazing things, but for a woman who is trying to domestify herself, big stuff. (I even had Taylor teach me how to make chicken stock today--and it looks beautiful!) So this week I'm going to feature some of my most recent projects. You already saw on Taylor's blog that I baked bread last week. Let me just say--that recipe is divine. It is muy delicioso and SO FAST. You should definitely try it. Here is something else you should bake: the chocolate cake I made for that funeral.

The recipe is from Julie Badger Jensen's The Essential Mormon Cookbook (by the way, I could do a whole post on "What exactly is 'Mormon food?' anyway, and how did some of these funny casserole and dessert recipes make it big in all of Mormondom?")

Moist Chocolate Cake
1 cup butter
1 cup water
3 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan bring butter and water to a boil. Remove from heat. Place baking chocolate in a small bowl and microwave for one minute. Add to butter and water. In a separate bowl sift flour, baking soda, and salt. Pour chocolate mixture over sifted ingredients and beat well. In another bowl cream sugar and eggs. Stir in milk and vanilla; beat well. Combine mixtures and pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 375 degrees F. for about 20 minutes. Cool and frost with...

Chocolate Butter Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup milk
2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium saucepan bring butter and milk to a boil. Remove from heat. Add melted chocolate, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Of course you can top this with chopped nuts if you like. The only funny thing is that--as I recall--my cake took a bit longer that 20 minutes to bake. So if you have the same issue, just keep it in the oven and keep your eye on it.

Happy chocolate-ing!