Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Someone at David’s lab had a birthday a few years ago, and to celebrate the lab worked together to have a little celebration. My task: the cake. This was an intimidating job, seeing as I have never really baked cakes before, especially for people other than David! So, I did what all smart people do when faced with a challenge that extended past their skills – I read other peoples blogs! One of our friends is a fan-freakin-tastic baker. It’s her hobby and it’s amazing what she whips up for other peoples birthdays, get-togethers, and any other excuse we can come up with to get together. I read other sites devoted to cake baking for recipes and tips too.

When I was looking around at these different sites I was also trying to think what would be a good combination. Vanilla? Chocolate? Whiskey? David had a brilliant idea for the frosting and I felt confident that I could pull off the cake batter recipe I had decided on. I felt that we had come up with a winning combination, and it’s the solution for when you need a chocolate fix and you’re shaking from coffee withdrawal: Chocolate cake and mocha butter cream frosting. Of course! These are two things that you can’t go wrong with.

After talking with David, we decided it would be best to go with a two tier cake using 12” cake pans since we weren’t sure how many people would stop in for the little celebration. So, I made one recipe of this batter for each cake pan. I only have one 12” round cake pan, so I made the tiers one at a time, letting each cool.

*This cake is VERY moist, so wrap it well if you’re storing it in the fridge!

Approx. 20-25 servings

• ·         2 cups sugar
•     1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1.     Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 12” round baking pans.

2.     Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3.     Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost the top of the bottom tier so it has like ½” frosting. Carefully place the second tier of cake on top of the frosted bottom. Gently press down so it doesn't slide around. Frost the entire cake now.

Mocha Buttercream Frosting

To be able to frost between the tiers and the entire outside, I had to make approx. 1 ½ recipes of this frosting.

*This makes a perfectly spreadable frosting. The nice thing about it is that you can put it in the fridge to make it a little more firm if you would like.

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons coffee grounds (ground finely) or instant coffee  

1.     In your mixer, beat the softened butter with the powdered sugar until it is creamy.

2.     Add in the cocoa powder, vanilla extract & coffee.

3.     Beat with the mixer until it's nice and fluffy (about a minute or 2)

The cake was giant. We had to put it on David’s professional sized cutting board to carry it into his work. In the end, it was a giant success!! Everyone loved it, and I think it made that person’s birthday that much better, at least that’s what I’m told J The cake is one of the best chocolate cake recipes I've ever had (that actually tasted like chocolate!), and it’s soooo moist. Delicious.

Even though it's been years, it’s stood out in David’s mind since this birthday extravaganza because every time there is an occasion for cake he requests this one – especially as of late! I may have to make a small cake at some point soon because he’s making me want some!

Local Restaurant Experiences

*I'm doing a lot of these because I have been to the places in my time living here and I want to make sure I talk about them before we move :)

Coca Café -  Lawrenceville

This was a new place we went to with friends to jointly celebrate birthday s and I have to say the food was tasty. They offered upscale versions of things like French toast and pancakes, typical breakfast foods served with their own flare. It is the type of place to have a line out the door waiting to get a table since it’s small though. We did get a table, and the goat cheese French toast I got was tasty, however the waiter we had left something to be desired. We received our water hwen we were seated, except I had something green in my cup. Not a big deal so I politely asked if I could get another glass of water. I then received a dirty look and poor service after that. Maybe he was a student worker and not a permanent fixture of the place, either way I would caution people about the service if they want to go. But the food is good. 

Meat & Potatoes – Gastropub, Cultural District (Strip District)

We can only vouch for brunch but it was a great place to get a hearty meal of craft food. It took 2 weeks to get a reservation so that was annoying, but it was darn good! They also have a bloody mary bar if that’s your thing – I don’t know if it was my thing or not so I tried it, found out its not. If you like them then they have a lot of fun choices to put into the drink and the alcohol itself has several choices they've infused different flavors (bacon, chili pepper, etc.) into the vodkas. The atmosphere was uptown yet comfortable and homey. The waitstaff was friendly and helpful. It was a pricey but if you like to spend on meals  out or you want to do something special I would suggest t his place for brunch, but I haven’t had other meals t here so I don’t know how good it is for them. 

Tessaro’s – Little Italy (Bloomfield)

·         There was a lot of positive hype that I heard building up this place, but that’s all it was – hype. I love me a good juicy burger, but I have to say this place was a severe disappointment. The waitress was friendly enough and the place was a bit too cramped homey for me but what really got me was the burger I ordered. When they asked me how I wanted my burger cooked I ordered a medium burger, because I like it when it is still very pink in the center. What I received was a burger so overly well done - to the point that it was practically sand in my mouth. For me, I can deal with a bad atmosphere or cramped space, but if a restaurant’s food is the crux of the problem, I can’t recommend that place. Even if my experience is an anomaly, it was still my experience at this restaurant.  

Experiences at Local Eateries

Pamela’s – Diner, Shadyside

Pamela’s is a fun blast from the past type place. Here they really stick with the old style diner atmosphere and food. You get huge amounts of food for what you pay, which is extremely satisfying. Although, if you are the type of person who doesn’t like diner food because it’s too liberal in its use of butter and grease, then this isn’t the place for you. Other than that it’s darn good. Beware though, since it’s very popular with the city you may have a line to wait in before getting a table. 

Toast - Wine Bar, Shadyside

I was excited to try this place, but I was let down. It’s supposed to be an upscale bar and restaurant, and I just got an appetizer, but what you get is WAY overpriced food with TINY portions. The bar is a typical overpriced bar, nothing special. I’m not a big fan of buying a simple mixed drink and paying $10+ for it in Pittsburgh, PA, even if that is typical in other cities. If I was happier with the food prices and portion sizes I would say this place may be good for a romantic evening out, but since I am unhappy with these things, I just can’t. In the words of a friend - this place is pompous, not fancy. 

Alexander’s – Italian food, Little Italy (Bloomfield)

This is a cute place that could be a nice night out. They have some lovely lights strung outside to make the mood. They have a wide array of pasta options and then you choose your sauce. The service was nice, and I believe it was very affordable. Overall, we were very happy with the place, but it isn’t a spot to go if you want to experience something new or exciting. The only thing different they have is the different sauces, but their standard dishes of pasta are tasty.

My Red Robin Homage

My friends keep asking me if I’ve started craving anything yet, strange things? Mundane items? Anything? To be honest, the only thing I’ve been wanting is just to have all my food spicy. I wouldn’t say it’s a craving since I’ve always liked spicy food, but I have to admit I do want it more frequently. So, to make a long story short after all this crafting work I've been doing David and I were discussing what we wanted to eat for dinner. My response – spicy burgers, like the Fiery Ghost style at Red Robin. Once I had that stuck in my mind I was done for and solely focused on reproducing a meal in this image.

I grabbed out some ground beef, a jalapeno and habenero, onion, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke and I started mixing the meat items together.

I grabbed some of the sourdough starter Liang so generously gave me and made some sourdough buns, and of course the toppings and fixings. I made steak fries that I seasoned with Old Bay, salt and pepper. Sorry, I was so focused and tunnel vision on reaching my finished product that I just threw things together and didn't really follow recipes - even when I thought I was apparently I missed steps. Next time!

By the end of the afternoon we had a tossed salad with preserved lemon dressing to start us off with, an east asian take on coleslaw that Liang brought over the other night when we did a BBQ night, and we set to constructing our burgers. As you can see we started off healthy with that salad and then (my meal at least) declined into just a burger lovers heaven.

It was no Big Tavern Burger in the Fiery Ghost Style, however I daresay it was just as good in its own right and certainly hit the spot for us! I can’t wait to have one for lunch today . . .

:D

Local Eateries

Girasole – Italian food, Shadyside area

·         This is a great little Italian place that I love. Their signature Girasole salad is delightful and their entrees are all wonderful. The only problem with the place is getting a  table, because it’s  a small place for how popular it is. Certain days they don’t take reservations (weekends I think) which makes the wait time not only forever but torturous. I still highly recommend the place just because the food  is delicious and perfect for a date, just be prepared to wait. I’m not sure if it helps to come very early at dinner time or not.

Orient Express – Chinese food, Oakland

 Good food for a decent price and good portion sizes. Their hot pots, chock full of several different meats (chicken, pork, shrimp, crab-meat, etc). The Orange Chicken was delicious and had just enough ginger to make it spicy but not overpowering. All in all it was a great filling meal that left us with plenty of leftovers for a great price. 

Skirt Making Shindig!

So, since we now know we’re having a little girl J I’ve dived back into my crafting after the holidays with renewed gusto! I found this tutorial for baby skirts you can pair over top a onesie and I just loved them. I followed this tutorial:

http://www.danamadeit.com/2012/04/celebrate-baby-tutorial-and-pattern-little-baby-circle-skirt.html

I was able to find a 5 pack of fabric at Michael’s when we were shopping Saturday of fabric pieces that were just right for the 0-3 month size (allegedly. We shall see if it fits a human baby though). But since the fabric was folded up into tiny tiny pieces I had to iron each one out.

Oh yes, check out that expert ironing ability. Score one for me. Then I used the tutorials pattern to cut out over top my fabric, which I folded into quarters (I nearly made the mistake of folding the fabric just in half and would have ended up with a half circle – NOT ideal ha ha). Just know that you need to put the patterns ends on the folded sides, not the cut ones. 

Then came the tricky part for me since I am no guru with a sewing machine – sewing a hem on a circular pattern. This took me some time. And LOTS of swearing pins.

    

The tutorial then instructs me to cut out 14-15” of elastic banding, which I had 2” elastic since I didn’t think myself capable of working with something smaller. I cut that portion out and sewed the raw ends together and then sewed the seam open so I didn’t aggravate my future Lil gal more than I need to with clothing.

At last I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I had a finished elastic waist band for the little one and a hemmed circle skirt. Now the only thing I had to do was connect them – easy peasy, right? Wrong. At least for me. I pinned and re-pinned that stupid band to the skirt I don’t know how many times trying to follow instructions. Eventually I had to do the opposite of what the tutorial shows and turned the skirt and band inside out and pinned it that way so I could see that I was actually sewing the skirt to the waist band instead of missing the fabric and having a hobo-esque skirt as a finished product.

 In the end I triumphed and ended up with a pretty adorable skirt after everything, but just for giggles I adorned it with a felt rosette pin I made with some scrap felt. When I saw this finished product I won’t lie – I was a bit giddy that I could make something so stinkin’ cute.

 At the end of the day I finished with two skirts, a pink and a yellow one, and a few felt rosette pins as well. Not too shabby (and yes, I definitely patted myself on the back for this). Now I have my fingers crossed this work isn’t in vain and they will actually be wearable, you know, for like a week ha ha.

Crafting Bonanza!

The last 12 months have been very busy, but productive. I didn't realize how many projects I've not only considered, but actually completed.

As I am no master seamstress they are by no means pretty or public/play date worthy- however I don't think infants care about looks.

5 soft ABC blocks
3 fleece hate of various styles and sizes
1 small bunny stuffed animal
1 large Walter the whale
2 small jelly fish stuffed animals
2 taggie balls
1 pair leather soled shoes ( unsure if usable tho)
1 car seat cover
3 (silent) rattles
3 soft grip sticks
1 large fleece blanket
6 crinkle squares
2 medium wet bags
2 light cotton receiving blankets
1 large play at with taggies
1 travel changing pad
4 bibs
12 burp clothes

Phew! What a load of work!! :D

However, since I'm not on top of my stuff and posting faster, there are a few items I need to add to this list. First, I have to throw out there that stuffed animals, no matter how elementary they seem, are NOT easy. Which is what I'm sticking with as my excuse of why mine look so...unique :) haha

Look! Walter the Whale is in the ocean! Just kidding..that's just my bed :P
But beware: all that stuffing can get to your head and it's intoxicating! I was so excited finishing Walter that I immediately thought t o myself, "Hey, I can make some balls that would be fun to play with too." I'm going to stop here and explain that it is NOT in fact a good idea to jump to making the balls. At least for me, I was in fact cursing the gods making these stupid things and I would have stopped after one but I had already cut out the pieces for three. Grrrr....

which try as I might I cannot get a picture of them to upload. Sorry :( Maybe another time.
They are cute and will be fun, but do not be deceived. The balls I made I stuffed with Tshirt rags because I had them. An unanticipated side effect of this is that t-shirt rags are MUCH heavier than polyfill. These suckers are DENSE. They will most definitely be used as weapons in their play lifetime, and certainly will break a lamp at some point. These were sort of my 'Everest', I needed a break after them.

After some time, I got my motivation back and I had a new idea to make something cute for my adorable little niece :D
I haven't delivered them to her yet, so don't tell! (I don't think her parents read this...)

What you see there are three headbands and three pins to go on a cute little girls sweater or outfit hehe. I loved the tutorial when I saw it and just HAD to make them :D

After I finished these I looked around my craft supplies and saw how well I'm doing with going through my craft supplies. That was my goal - to get through all my craft stuff (or most of it) before we moved. I wanted to at least move with useful items rather than a few bags of scrap cloth, random pieces of fleece or duck cloth, beads, etc. As I was looking at this I realized the one thing I still had a lot of was leather. So, of course I thought: Baby Moccasins! So that is what I'm working on now, hopefully I'll have that up for you soon :D

Happy crafting!