One of the many great quotes from LDS General Conference...

Cake Idea

I pulled this from the facebook page for the One Hundred Dollars a Month blog, since I can't pin from Facebook, I'm posting this here so I can try to duplicate this cake... I've never used fondant, so I'm interested in how it will turn out.  There's also a tutorial for fondant pigs here.  I love the grass and flowers around the bottom.

Chocolate Oreo Cake

We're going to a friend's house for dinner tomorrow, and I volunteered to bring dessert.  I have fond memories of my parents' friends, the Kelly's, coming to our house for dinner and bringing the most amazing desserts, and since I didn't have much else going on today, I thought I'd experiment a little.  I took three different recipes from pinterest and a google search and combined them all. The recipes are listed at the bottom of the blog post for convenience. It seems a little complicated with three different recipes, but they all came together pretty easily.  You could simplify even more by using a devils food or some other chocolate cake mix instead of the Hershey's recipe.

For the cake, I used Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake.

It turned out really good, but it stuck to the pan really bad.  I greased and floured the pan, and I still broke the first cake in half with getting it out of the pan.  Next time I'd put a coffee filer on the bottom of the pan to help with cake extraction.

I got the idea of pouring chocolate over a rather lumpy frosting from this mint chocolate chip cake, although I didn't use anything from the actual recipe (this time, it's on my list of cakes, since my kids like mint chocolate chip ice-cream).

For the frosting (including between cake layers), I used Oreo Frosting with Cream Cheese. In the middle layer I left the oreos a little chunkier, but for the outside, I processed them until they were pretty fine.  I wanted to be able to pour the chocolate glaze over the top without having any problems with big chunks of oreo.  For a two layer cake, I doubled the recipe, just to make sure I could spread it thick since it's hard to spread this frosting thin with the chunks of oreo.

Oreo Cream Cheese Frosting

Make sure to get help licking the beater

For the glaze, I used a recipe I found on pinterest that went with a chocolate pumpkin cake.  I'd really like to make the chocolate pumpkin cake itself sometime, or at least pour this glaze over some other brightly colored frosting.  Make sure to chop the chocolate really fine.  Mine didn't melt originally, and I ended up have to rig a makeshift double boiler to melt it all.  I also waited too long to pour it on the cake, so it didn't spill over the sides as evenly as I would have liked it.   That's something that will come with practice, so I see more cakes like this in my future.  The glaze itself was actually really easy.

Chocolate Cake:
1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil 
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

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.

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. 

Frosting: 
8 oz package cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup crushed oreos

Whip cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
Mix in powdered sugar one cup at a time (until desired thickness is reached- I used 3 cups).
Add vanilla extract.

Gently stir in crushed Oreos. (I think it was around 9 oreos total)

Glaze:  

4 oz finely chopped bittersweet chocolate

1 tbsp cold unsalted butter

3 tbsp corn syrup

1/2 cup heavy cream

Place chopped bittersweet chocolate (I used semi sweet, and while I’m sure the end result is a different flavor than the original, it’s still very good), unsalted butter, and corn syrup in a medium heatproof bowl. 

Bring heavy cream to a boil, pour it over the chocolate, and let sit for 3 minutes. Gently stir, using a whisk, until smooth. Let sit for 3 to 5 minutes, until the glaze thickens slightly. Pour the glaze onto the center of the frosted cake and smooth out to the edges to allow the glaze to drop over the sides. Makes 1 cup. 

I topped the whole thing with a couple of oreos cut in half.  Not bad for a first try...

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Garden Resolutions: 2013

Our new house is getting closer to being done.  The drywallers have finished, the gypcrete has been poured on the main floor (gypcrete is a soupy concrete-like material that we're using under the tile on the main floor to add "thermal mass", thermal mass acts as a heat sink, moderating the temperature of the house.), and the next thing to do is paint and tile.

With feeling like we may actually be able to move in at some point, I've been getting excited and overwhelemed  at the idea of creating a garden from scratch.

My plan is to fill the south side of the house with raised beds.  The raised beds may have to be unframed and we'll box them up a couple each year until they're done.

The east side of the house is going to be my "forest" and maybe at some point there will be a pond in the corner near where we buried Taja.  The west side will be the grassy rectangle for the boys to play and run around, and we'll surround it with raised beds like we did at our last house- those raised beds will hold the grapes, strawberries, raspberries, and whatever else I can think of.

One side of the very long driveway will be our "orchard.  I'll probably plant a peach tree, an apricot tree, a plum tree, and a nectarine tree.  I'm debating doing some espaliered apple trees...

It's going to be a lot of work and I'm sure it will take several years to get things the way I want them, but eventually it will be great.

If I can manage to get anything done besides just getting things going, my plans for reclaiming my inner pioneer this year include:

Growing my own mushroom logs.

Trying round 2 with bees.  Try #1 didn't survive the winter (we may have squashed the queen...).

Try #2 with the potato tower (this time I'll make sure to get the right kind of potato).

Try artichokes again.  Last time, I was able to get one plant through the winter, and it produced several artichokes, but I'm thinking they would fit really well up against the house on the south side of the yard.  In between the window wells...

After Pants

I wasn't surprised to be the only woman in my ward in pants on Sunday.  I did see a bit of purple, and that was nice.  No one said anything unkind to me, and I think I felt like I got stared at more than I actually did.

The biggest thing I learned from this is that no matter what anyone else actually thinks of you, it's your perception of what others think that affects you the most.  I gained a greater understanding of what it feels like to not "fit in".  I hope that I can take that knowledge and use it to be more compassionate to others who, for whatever reason, feel like they don't fit in.

I was also thinking about the parable of the good samaritan.

Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?"
He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, [Deuteronomy 6:5]; and your neighbour as yourself [Leviticus 19:18]."
He said to him, "You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live."

 But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbour?"

 Jesus answered, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he travelled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, 'Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.' Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbour to him who fell among the robbers?"

He said, "He who showed mercy on him."

Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do." 

This past week, we've seen women (and men) who are in pain, hurting.  Some over things they don't understand.  Some because they've been treated badly by those who should love and support them.  Some over deeply rooted cultural issues.

The overwhelming response I saw, to this expression of pain was statements of, "well, I've never been treated as less than", or "my husband treats me like a queen".  I'm saddened that instead of trying to understand, and to offer help regardless of differing perspectives, I saw a lot of turning away, of passing on the other side.

What a missed opportunity to listen and comfort, and show mercy on a soul who was in pain.

On the other side, I saw many women find their courage.  Women who stood up for something they believed in, even though it was scary.  I also saw conversations happening that will lead to greater understanding down the road.  I saw sisters find others who understand their pain, friendships formed. My heart is happy.

Pants.

Last week some women on facebook got together and decided they were going to start a "wear pants to church day", this sunday.  I'm late to the party, posting about it, seeing as it's been all around the news and there are more blog posts talking about it than I can count.

I know that I have friends and family who are perplexed by the whole thing.  They've never felt treated less than at church, and don't get why some women want to be like men.

First, I want to say that I love each of you, and I don't care if you disagree with me over this one.  I'm used to loving people who disagree with me on various issues.  I do hope that you can consider a few points here.

1. These women are not trying to make women be like men.  I personally wear pants 6-days a week and have not yet actually turned into a man.  Pants don't make the man.  Pants are an item of clothing that come in many different styles.  Some casual, some dressy, some more masculine in design, and some very feminine.  
2. Some women do actually feel very real pain, and do actually feel like they are not treated equally at church.  (Some have had real-life horrible experiences with unrighteous dominion.)  Just because that is not your personal experience doesn't invalidate other people's experience.  (Likewise, their experience doesn't invalidate your own, so there is no need to feel defensive.  Nothing is under attack.)
3. When people are hurting, it is unkind for us to respond by calling them names (silly, stupid, ridiculous, dumb feminist b****- just a small sampling of things I've seen this week), or telling them that they shouldn't feel the way they do.  That doesn't fix anything.  What they need is for someone to say, "I don't understand why you feel the way you do, but I'm sorry you are hurting. How can I help?"
4. No one is showing up at church to disturb the meeting, or protest anything.  Most people who are wearing pants or purple to church are doing so to say, "here I am, in support of my sisters or brothers who are hurting, and maybe I hurt to, so I'm going to mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort, and hopefully someone will see that I could use someone to mourn with me, and to comfort me too."

Product Review Update: Lunch Containers

I wrote awhile back about my search for lunch containers that didn't leak, were easy to open, and weren't plastic.  I kind of failed to find anything, since glass wouldn't work, and all the metal containers seemed difficult for small hands to open (or they weren't water tight).  My mom introduced me to Preserve, she found a cutting board and brought it home from a trip to California.  I ordered a set of the Mini Storage Containers.  We've been using them for several weeks, and the kids haven't had a problem getting the lid off, they don't leak, they're the perfect size for yogurt or fruit, and they seem pretty solid- so they should last for quite awhile.

I'm not getting paid to say this, or being provided any free product, I'm just reviewing this item because I love it.  Check out the website, they have some neat products, all made from recycled #5 plastics.