"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tightly closed in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to BLOOM…This is the Element of Freedom"

-Alicia Keys

25 November 2010

A Thanksgiving Recipe

Five years ago, someone left this magazine at the Starbucks that I was working at. It was on its way to the circular file when I rescued it.  With a cake like that on the cover, who wouldn't want to rescue it??? (Actually, the question should be: who would want to leave it behind at a Starbucks??)  I have had it ever since in my Dream Recipe File.  There are several recipes in it (totally including the cake recipe) that I really want to make.  Last year, I finally had the chance to make a stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving.  The recipe was created by Suzanne Goin, who created a holiday menu for Julie Powell, the author of Julie & Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes and 1 tiny apartment kitchenThis was before the book came out and the movie.  The stuffing that she made is one that I always thought sounded challenging, but fun to make.




This is the second year that I have made it and I think that I like the process of making it as much as I do eating it.  It is challenging because there are ingredients that I don't use very often and there are a lot of steps, but it is just fun to make.  The key is to buy good food.  I bought a really good bread from Whole Foods, the French Boule, and I used chicken broth that I made.  You know what the most important thing that you can do?  It is actually 2 things:  1.  SHOP AT NIGHT.  Not so late that you risk being the last one in the store, but late enough to beat the after work rush.  Whole Foods was busy on Tuesday night, but nothing like the frantic, nerve-fraying experience I had at another grocery store earlier that day, just to pick up a gallon of milk. 2.  Cook with love.  It will infuse the food with love and good vibes.
{Chestnut Stuffing with Fennel}: 

Ingredients

  1. 1 1/2 pounds country bread, crusts removed, torn into 1-inch pieces
  2. 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  3. 1 1/2 tablespoons fennel seeds
  4. 4 ounces pancetta, sliced 1/8 inch thick and diced
  5. 1 small rosemary sprig
  6. 1 dried chile de árbol or other dried red chile, stemmed and broken in half
  7. 1 small onion, finely chopped
  8. 1 small fennel bulb, halved lengthwise and finely diced
  9. 1 1/2 teaspoons thyme leaves
  10. Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  11. 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
  12. 3/4 cup dry white wine
  13. 2 1/4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
  14. 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  15. One 10-ounce vacuum-packed jar of chestnuts, very coarsely crumbled
  16. 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  17. 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°. On a baking sheet, toss the bread with 1/2 cup of the olive oil. Spread the bread in a single layer and toast in the oven for 15 minutes, stirring once, until golden brown. Let the croutons cool, then transfer to a bowl. Leave the oven on.
  2. In a small skillet, toast the fennel seeds over moderate heat until fragrant and lightly golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a mortar or spice grinder; coarsely grind.
  3. In a large skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the pancetta and cook over high heat, stirring, until crisp, about 3 minutes. Lower the heat to moderate, add the rosemary and chile and cook for 1 minute. Add the onion, fennel, fennel seeds and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are lightly caramelized, about 8 minutes; discard the rosemary and chile. Stir in the lemon zest and add to the croutons.
  4. Set the skillet over high heat. Add the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits. Boil until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Pour the hot stock mixture over the croutons and toss well.
  5. Wipe out the skillet. Add 3 tablespoons of the butter and the chestnuts and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the chestnuts to the stuffing, season with salt and pepper and let cool completely. Add the eggs and parsley and toss well.
  6. Transfer the stuffing to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and dot the stuffing with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until crisp on top. Serve hot.

Make Ahead

Bake the stuffing, covered with foil, for 30 minutes then refrigerate overnight. Heat covered until cooked through, about 20 minutes, then uncover and bake for 20 minutes longer.



I took the red chile out, as I couldn't find one anywhere and definitely use the jarred chestnuts. They are pricey, but much easier than steaming and peeling and roasting them on your own.  Enjoy the fennel and the fennel seeds, they smell divine!

Today is the day to be grateful.  Grateful for those we love, for those who love us.  Happy Thanksgiving!

23 November 2010

Pumpkin Pancake Recipe

This really is my favorite time of the year. I love the cold weather & staying inside more, which makes me want to make things & bake things.  I also think that the abundance of pumpkin and pumpkin-related deliciousness that seems to be everywhere helps me really love Late Fall/Early Winter.

One of my favorite things to make for my little family is pancakes.  I have a favorite recipe that I usually use, but I recently came across a new one, changed it to make it a little better for you & totally fell in love with it.  It makes quite a few pancakes, but I recommend doubling it, cooking all of the pancakes and freezing the leftovers.  Take them out, put them in the toaster and you have a quick breakfast! 

Also, use Whole Wheat PASTRY Flour when you make these.  It will provide minerals and fiber and is unrefined, unlike white flour. My family loved these!

{This photo is from Sunset, the recipe is not}

Ingredients
  • 2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry flour
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups organic milk
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons olive or grape seed oil
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar(white vinegar will work too!)

Directions

  1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
  2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

22 November 2010

Light as a Feather and as Free as a Bird....

{image from here}

I have been wanting to wrap up this post for a while now...in fact, I have been wanting to write this post for a very, very long time.  You see, I had a major life change back on July 15th.  I was released from my job of 3 1/2 years (I will be leaving out the details-out of respect and let's face it, this is the Internet, you never know who reads what!)  As I mentioned (many, many) times before, I was not happy at my job, it was the classic Round Peg, Square Hole phenomenon... but I liked the people that I worked with, making it difficult to leave.  Looking back at it now, I realize that what made it difficult to leave was that I was burned out, unsure what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go...I was tired of getting up, getting everyone off to work or school, rushing to work, struggling all day at a job that I pretty much sucked at, rushing to daycare, picking up my child, going home, making dinner, then to bath time, book and bedtime for Reese, a few hours of time with my husband or by myself, then to going to bed, only to start the whole process all over again the next day.  Sound familiar to anyone out there?  Most of you know what I am talking about, I am not trying to sound like I was the only one that felt this way because I know that I am not alone here.  I think what I needed was chance to catch my breath and that is what I got on the beautiful afternoon of July 15th.   As I walked through the lobby for the last time with my box of belongings, smiling the biggest smile ever, I felt  Light as a Feather and as Free as a Bird.... I don't think I will ever forget the feeling that I had that day...it is forever seared in my memory as a moment in which my life changed instantly and for the better...I could feel the adventure that was starting in my life as I walked out of the office building where I had spent approximately 6,000 hours of my life.  I got in my car and drove away, never feeling a moment of sadness or regret, only being aware of my new freedom.  The only way that I can begin to describe how I felt is this...

Take it away, Tom...



{Tom Cruise as Jerry McGuire via YouTube.com}

Tom Petty probably knew that he had written a good song with Free Fallin' but I wonder if he ever knew what a fucking great song it really is...

Anyway, I went out for wine with a friend that night and we toasted to a new beginning...there really is nothing like a good girl friend, good wine and good conversation. I left Kate's Wine Bar that night feeling more hope and excitement about the future than I had in a long time.

I woke up the next morning and realized that I was going to be able to spend the entire day with my daughter during her summer vacation...just the day before, I had dropped her off with my friend and her 5 year old daughter to go on an adventure to the zoo together.  I had felt sad that I wasn't able to go with them that day.  We ate breakfast and made plans for the day.  Reese really wanted to go to the pool up the street that has a huge water slide. So, we packed a lunch and walked to the pool.  I am not a huge fan of the swimsuit, especially after sitting on my ass at a desk for 3.5 years, but that day there was nothing that was going to hold me back.  We slathered on the sunscreen, ate our little lunch and got in the pool.  Reese was hesitant about going down the slide- at first.  Once we started climbing up the stairs to get to the top, she started to get excited.  While we waited at the top for the other people to go, I realized that I could see for miles around being up on top of the slide...in fact, I could even see my old office building, way out in the distance.  It was at that exact moment that I realized that I never had to go back there ever (ever) again...

Reese and I went down that slide at least 30 times. I loved every.single.minute of it!

21 November 2010

Before & After

 These pictures are some of the things that I refinished this summer.  The picture of the ship below was left in our garage by the former owners and was covered in about 2 inches of dust.  Nothing that a little cleaning and a fresh coat of spray paint won't fix!  The mat that I used is too small, but it was the only one that I had at the time, so I just used it.  I plan on having one made that is bigger, but for now it will have to do.

{Before}

{After}


This is my school chair.  I bought it at a second hand shop for $3.99 and we use it for our desk chair.  It was actually made here in Denver by the Majestic Furniture Company- I took a picture of the label, but I can't get the picture to rotate...my bad.  Anyway, I love this chair, especially the red paint.  I went through my fabric stash and finally decided to use this brown & cream hounds tooth, which looks good with the red.  This was super easy and took me about 30 minutes to finish.  I did use cotton batting over the original black vinyl to make it look a little more smooth.

{Before}


{Notice the little black cat...inspecting the situation}

 
 {After}


Love it!  I also love that I can change it so easily...but for now, I love the hounds tooth:)

18 November 2010

I Built a Bridge and Got Over It...

All I really want to know is this:  Why did I make a List o' Things To Blog About and then I haven't been able to blog about a single one?  It's like the list was made and then my non-Internet life took over, leaving my little blog with no new updates...I have to admit that this isn't a "life is so busy, I just don't have the time to blog" issue...it is more of a "life is challenging me right now and I need to take some time to breathe" issue.  I am trying to figure out quite a few things right now and the last few days I have simply felt overwhelmed.  So, I felt sorry for myself for about 10 minutes (okay, 15 or 20), shed a few tears of confusion & frustration (okay, I cried like a baby) and said some prayers...and then I built a bridge and got over it.



I am not facing anything that is permanent, terrible or hopeless...just some uncomfortable feelings, which I see now as my life making some changes and getting rid of some old, tired habits.  It is this distress of changing that often is more uncomfortable than the changes themselves, you know?  Sometimes it is realizing that you can't do it all, {REALLY, YOU CAN'T}and this means re-thinking the way that you do things...which sometimes just sucks.  But it ultimately feels good because you know that you are doing the right thing by making the changes that you know you need to make, even when it is hard.

I couldn't let today's post pass without this:  I have to give a shout out to my Momma... 
Happy Birthday Mom!  
You are a wonderful Mom and you inspire me everyday...I love your sense of adventure, your sense of humor, for the funny things that you always say {like when I was working at Starbucks and this Creeper Business Man in his Creeper Suit used to always ask me to write my number on his Starbucks cup and you told me that I should write: 303-Eat-Shit on his cup instead- I totally should have, that guy was a jackass!} and I love that you are such a fabulous Nana to our sweet little Reese.  I Love You!

14 November 2010

List o' things to blog about

Weeellll....it is Sunday night, child and husband are sleeping and I am watching the movie 27 Dresses for the first time...I know, I know, I am way behind in my movie watching.  I love watching girlie movies alone, because it is just more fun that way.  It is just what I needed...a movie, my laptop and a list of things in my head that I need to write down:
  • Write about the show that I recently won tickets to
  • Part II of the A Little Inspiration post: this post really needs to be wrapped up
  • My Wedding:  This is something that I need/want/can't wait to write about
  • The Formula: 40-30-30: an eating plan that I have been following and love with a capital L
  • My long list of Before & Afters:  I have a ton that I have never posted
  • Some of the pictures that I have taken over the last couple of years
  • Projects & Dream Projects
  • Some Product Reviews
There.  Now I feel better :)

    13 November 2010

    11 November 2010

    Say What?? Homemade Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts...

    This late night posting really has to stop...by the time I start writing, it is late and I am just not feelin' it, you know??

    Anyway, I just found this amazing blog, Joy The Baker...seriously, I am loving it.  Joy Wilson is beautiful, witty and the girl can bake.  I think that I bookmarked about 18 recipes, but when I saw this one, I had to share the goodness:
      
    {Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts with maple glaze}



    The recipe is quite lengthy, you can find it in its entirety here.  I think that this time of year, anything pumpkin pretty much rocks my world...
     

    10 November 2010

    I'm a winner

    I won tickets to see a concert in Denver tonight from a local TV station...it was awesome!  I will post more tomorrow...

    09 November 2010

    Snow!

    Welcome back Winter!  Today it snowed...not even an inch, but enough to make me happy.  I love the snow, especially when I am at home and especially at this time of year.  It was hard to remember that it is November when it is almost 80 degrees out.

    I am having one of those days weeks where I feel like I have so many things to figure out that even when I sit down to try and figure them out, I get distracted and end up doing something that needs to be done, but it isn't something that HAS to be done.  A trouble with prioritizing, that is for sure.  I think that it might be because I have our laptop on the coffee table, which is conveniently located in close proximity to the television.  I don't really watch it, I have it turned on for background noise, but I think that it is still distracting me....Jerseylicious reruns aren't helping either!

    Which might explain why I am posting at 11:36pm and I still have lunches to make for tomorrow.  Sooooo, tomorrow is a new day and I am going to start it off right by going to bed (after I make pb&j with my homemade bread!) 

    Here is a little snowman humor from Calvin and Hobbes:
     {image from here}


    08 November 2010

    A Night Owl


    I have always been a Night Owl...It really started at the end of high school and into college.  I majored in Interior Design {and partying! lol} and I had a ton of projects and nighttime seemed to be when I did my best work.  Looking back now, I think that the bad combination of Perfectionism and Procrastination was the major factor in my Night Owlism.  I also think that another major reason was that I seem to come alive around 10 pm and I love being awake and working on creative things, without the distractions of daytime life.  No phone calls or interruptions from other people, it was time for just me to work on things.

    However, I have recently made it a point to get more than the 5 hours a night that I was averaging every night.  I could just tell that I wasn't letting my body get enough rest, so I decided to force myself to go to bed earlier every night...well at least Sunday - Thursday nights.  It was hard at first, but I soon realized that I was feeling so much better and not as crabby...what a shock!  I have been blogging after I put Reese to bed at night and tonight I am really dragging.  I couldn't fall asleep last night and I can totally tell that I need to get some sleep...

    But don't worry...I will never go to bed at the same time as my kid...you can make the Night Owl go to bed earlier, but you can't make it an Early Bird!

    Good Night!

    07 November 2010

    29 ingredients? No, thank you!

    In the spirit of saving some dough {pun intended}, I recently bought a bread machine off of craigslist for $25.  It was only used a couple of times and it included The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook  {side note: when I was emailing back and forth about where to meet, etc., I thought that I was conversing with a man named Jay...we met in front of a store and it turned out to be a woman named Jay...you never can tell can you?  Truth be told, I was relieved to be dealing with a woman & not some creeper...} 

    I then bought some really good bread flour and a jumbo jar of bread machine yeast.  I highly recommend King Arthur Flours (I use their bread flour and whole wheat flour)


    {This is not a quote from me, but it should be!}

    I read the instruction manual, read through the book and got ready to bake my first loaf of bread machine bread.  I put water, olive oil, sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast into the bread pan, put the pan into the machine, shut the lid, set the settings to a basic, medium crust, 1 pound loaf (2 hrs, 50 min) and that was it.  I watched it knead and mix the dough through the little peep window and realized that I had made the right decision. An hour later, it was the heavenly aroma of fresh baked bread that totally sold me.  While it cooled,  I looked at the bag of store bought bread that  was already opened...it was a double-fiber conventional loaf of whole wheat bread that my husband had bought a couple of days earlier.  I read the ingredient list and couldn't believe what I was reading...29 ingredients & totally ridiculous.  I usually buy an organic loaf of bread, but at $4 a loaf and we go through 2 loaves a week, it is sometimes just was just better to buy whatever was healthy & on sale.  


    I sliced up the bread for dinner {good timing on my part because the very next day I was starting a new eating plan, which includes no bread} and the 2 bread lovers in the house were in heaven.  I think that my husband understood why I bought the machine and that it really would be a good way to save money after he tasted the deliciousness of the bread.


    If you are thinking about getting a bread machine and especially if you have kids or go through more than 1 loaf of bread a week, you should just do it.  Peruse craigslist or amazon for a good one, mine is a Welbilt and there are several reputable brands.  You will be amazed at how easy it is to use and really, there is nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread!

    06 November 2010

    It's Movie Night...

    Tonight my love and I are going to watch one of the movies that I checked out from the library...I was going to blog while we watched, but you know what?  I am actually going to watch the movie and not work on any projects...

    We are going to watch this movie:


    and eat popcorn.  He made it this time, because I always burn it.

    05 November 2010

    Girls Night, a Fort-Building necessity & a Moscow Mule

    It was Girls Night in our house tonight.  Reese and I went to a new library near our house.  The library is part of The Streets at SouthGlenn, a new shopping area that once was a small mall.  It is now a beautiful outdoor shopping and dining district.  We were there in the late afternoon and there were tons of people sitting outside, eating and drinking, walking around and enjoying the beautiful weather here in Colorado.  It is supposed be 78 degrees tomorrow and Sunday we could break a record...I love it, but I am ready for a cold & snowy day!

    We checked out some movies and some books from the library, enjoyed some frozen yogurt (pumpkin spice for me & chocolate for Miss Reese) and walked down to Whole Foods to buy some popcorn, macaroni & cheese (Reese) and Reed's Ginger Beer & some limes for me.  I wanted to try Oprah's favorite drink, a Moscow Mule. She made them on a recent show and I thought that they sounded delicious.

    After dinner, Reese and I built a fort in her room and if I must say, it was the best one yet.  Why?  We used a bunch of these:

    {an old-school wonder}

    Why I haven't thought about using them before is a good question. They really are a fort-building necessity!  Fort-building with kids is something that you should do & often. (My friend Maria & her husband are Pro Fort Builders & build them frequently). We put our portable DVD player in the fort and watched The Black Cauldron while we ate Newman's Own popcorn and I enjoyed a Moscow Mule...we had a great time & it was fun to spend some special time with just me & my little girl.

    As if I needed another reason to totally love Oprah, she now has me digging a new drink.  I recommend pouring it all over ice, adding the ginger beer last.  Also, I didn't have any simple syrup, so I didn't use any. Here is the recipe:

    Servings: Serves 1

    1 ounce vodka
    1 tsp. sugar syrup
    Fresh lime juice
    1/2 cup ginger beer
    1 sprig fresh mint
    1 slice of lime


    Directions:
    In a copper mug, pour vodka over ice. Add sugar syrup and lime juice. Top with ginger beer and stir. Garnish with mint sprig and lime slice.

    

    04 November 2010

    A little inspiration


    I have quite a few blogs that I follow that I have found via other blogs that I follow and one of them is fabulous k.  She is a graphic designer and I love her style.  I read an interview with her on another blog (although it escapes me at the moment) a few months ago and I started reading her blog.  She had this on her blog recently and I couldn't help but to put it on mine, too.  It was just the right thing to start this post...

    I wrote this post, {Waking Up and Being Grateful} back in March.  I think that I had reached a point where my life was literally telling me in so many different ways that I needed to make some changes.  I was miserable at my job, but I loved the people that I worked with which made it hard to leave.  The entire process of looking for a new job was so daunting and overwhelming that I continued to plug away at a job that made me sad.  I have to say that my job, the place that I worked and the people that I worked with did not make me sad (for the most part), it was the fact that I wasn't doing anything that gave me any joy at all.  I was on the computer all day, (which is how I found blogs in the first place) and that was what made me first realize that there was a place for me and somewhere & someday, there would be a job for me, too.

    About a month after I wrote that post, I went to visit my sister, Stephanie, who was graduating from the University of Michigan.  She was receiving her PhD & the commencement speaker was President Obama...you know I couldn't miss that!  My flight was that night and the day that I left was one of the worst days I have ever had at work.  So bad that I called my husband, sobbing and slobbering and asked him if he would be mad if I just left and never came back.  Basically, it was 3 1/2 years of trying to be good at something that was not me and I just couldn't take it anymore.  I didn't end up walking out.  I went back to my office, took my lunch break and bought a new sweater from Urban Outfitters for my trip...Sometimes retail therapy really does help.  Spending the next few days in a different place, spending time with my sister and having a little time away really cleared my head and my heart.  It was the first time that I had traveled without my daughter or husband...it was weird, but good.  The night flight sans interruptions and a new copy of Vanity Fair helped :)

    I re-read Waking Up and Being Grateful last night and I think now that it was a sign of what was to come...after I returned from that trip, I started to change my focus.  I took it off of my job and started to focus on the people and the things that brought me joy.  It wasn't that I didn't care anymore, but it was that I didn't care anymore, you know?

    I will continue this one tomorrow, Lovelies...I am off to bed.....

    03 November 2010

    Easy & Delicious

    My dear friend Andrea told me that I should put some recipes up on my blog.  Like a good girl who always does what she is told, that is what I decided to do today. I love to cook and bake and I have a passion for natural and organic foods, {but I rarely do as I'm told}...

    This recipe was featured on a morning news show in Denver, Daybreak on The Deuce.  The Dessert Diva, is on the show weekly and her recipes are easy and made with real ingredients...but they are not complicated to make.  I made this last week when my grandparents were in town on their way to spend the winter in the warm Arizona sun and out of cold Wisconsin.  My Grandfather, known as Poppy, will be turning 88 on November 17th.  He is not a dessert guy, but he loved this one.  He actually said "whoever made this knew what they were doing!"  Totally made my day.

    I changed a few things from the original.  I added pears in addition to the apples and switched the all-purpose flour out for whole wheat pastry flour to make it a bit better for you.  You can find the original recipe here.  The cinnamon glaze is what really makes it. If you don't like things really sweet, cut the glaze recipe in half.  This cake is really good the next day!

    APPLE-PEAR CINNAMON CAKE with CINNAMON GLAZE

    2 medium sized apples (organic Gala or Granny Smith), cored & chopped- they don't have to be perfect!
    2 medium semi-ripe organic pears, cored & chopped
    2 Tablespoons lemon juice
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
    - toss them in a dry skillet over medium-low heat.  Stir frequently. You'll be able to smell them when they are about ready.

    1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry flour*
    3/4 cup granulated sugar
    1
    teaspoon baking powder
    1/4
    teaspoon salt
    1
    teaspoon cinnamon
    6
    Tablespoons melted unsalted butter
    3 eggs
    1
    teaspoon vanilla
     
    *whole wheat pastry flour is soft and bakes like all-purpose flour, but is much more nutritious.  I use it in everything: pancakes, quick breads, cookies, etc.  They turn out a bit darker in color, but not enough to make a difference.  My husband hasn't noticed!

    preheat oven to 350
    8x8 square baking pan
    lightly grease or use parchment paper on bottom (this makes it much easier to lift out)

    chop walnuts and toast for 5-7 minutes, take out and set aside
    Core and roughly chop the apples. Toss with lemon juice and set aside

    In large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter, eggs and vanilla (batter will appear a little thick) until well combined.

    Fold in apples until covered with batter, Stir in toasted walnuts. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle top with cinnamon.
    Bake for 40-45 minutes, until top is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool. Prepare glaze. Take cake out of pan if desired and place on serving platter. Drizzle with cinnamon glaze and let set. Cut and serve. ENJOY!

    CINNAMON GLAZE

    1 cup powdered sugar

    1
    teaspoon cinnamon
    2
    Tablespoons milk
    combine and whisk until smooth. It will start out a bit lumpy, but keep whisking it.  This is a good project for kids 6 and up;) Pour milk in slowly.  You can add more if you prefer a thin glaze, less if you want a thick one.

    Enjoy!

    I have a picture of it on my blackberry...now, if I could just figure out how to upload a picture from it onto my blog...

    02 November 2010

    Eye Candy Tuesday

    Eye Candy Tuesday
     {Orange}
    image from here

     {Fuchsia}
    image from here


     {Kelly Green}
    image from here


    {Peacock Blue} 
    image from here

    {Charcoal Grey}
    image from here



    Okay.... I just got done with bath, book, bed and realized that I was still in need of a post for today... I'm a little rusty! So I thought that I would find some images of colors that I dig right now and it took me as long it would have for me to write an actual post.  But I had fun perusing the millions of images (and on a side note, has anyone else noticed that peruse seems to be a popular word now? maybe it's just me). My favorite is the orange cruiser.  I love that bike!

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