Red Velvet Cake Taste Test

 

The cake tasted good, but in our opinion it was nothing special.  The cream cheese frosting was great.  I guess one test should not rule it out, but in a rush I would definitely use a box mix.

Stop Reading, and Do Something!

I like to read everyone's blogs that describe how to do creative things: decorating, crafting, spray painting, baking...  Today I read a blog that described the rut I am in; reading and organizing and cleaning, but never doing some of those great ideas because the time is never right.

I determined that today would be different.  I finally had all of the ingredients to make a Red Velvet Cake on page 233 of Pioneer Woman's cookbook that I got for Christmas.  So I gathered  the ingredients.

Of course I did do some substitutions.  Nathan could not find cake flour when he did the grocery shopping last week, so I googled for a substitite and used 3/4 cup all purpose flour plus 2 TBSP cornstarch.  I also used milk and vinegar for buttemilk as suggested on page 40 of PW Cooks.  And I used much less red food coloring because I did not have 1 oz., but then added some water so the liquid would add up to 1 oz.

Renee made sure I followed the steps and that it looked just like the picture.

The batter looks quite red even though I used less food coloring.

I made quite a mess!

It looks a lot the the pictures in the cookbook.

We will have to give you the taste test results after we eat it for dessert.

Now I know why I rarely bake a cake from scratch, favoring the box cake mix:

• Using a box uses less ingredients 
• I usually have these ingredients on hand
• It takes less time
• Since it takes less time I have less interuptions
• It uses less dishes; this recipe had you mixing wet and dry ingredients in a bunch of different bowls
• I don't have to make substitutions, so it takes less time, ingredients, and dishes

The advantages of making a cake from scratch:

• More flavor choices
• You see the science that goes into baking
• More of a challenge
• I am hoping it will taste better (But I have never tasted a red velvet cake, should I have used all that cream cheese frosting the recipe made?  It just looked like way too much sweetness, so I had more than a cup of frosting left over.)

I will report back on the results.  I am wondering if any of you have made a red velvet cake from a box.  I saw it in the store once, but did not buy it, and now I can't find it again.  Let me know how you think it compares.

Projects

 

We have needed to repair the fences around all the pastures so the animals don't escape as they have in the past.  The grass keeps growing, but our days off were rainy, we were out of town, or Nathan was sick.  So I decided I had better help Nathan out last Thursday on a sunny afternoon.  I am willing but not very skilled.

  

Nathan cannot figure out how I can get a horseshoe nail in a fence post like this, and neither can I.  I am a better project cheerleader, gopher, and clean up crew.  I am also good at dreaming up projects to do.  My skills did improve somewhat after more practice, which is a good thing since we only have about 374 more posts to go.

Another project I tackled with a little more success was recovering these pillows.  I have been meaning to do it since we got these couches about two years ago.  I finally bought fabric before Christmas, and then recovered four pillows.

  

Here are the finished results.  I am hoping to do a few more pillows, with a little more creativity.

Sequoia Hike

Saturday we spent a beautiful afternoon hiking in the Sequoia National Park.  We to the road opposite the Potwisha campground and parked in that lot.  We walked to the river and crossed the suspension bridge.  We met a photographer out there and he suggested we walk up to the flume and continue to the beginning of the flume.  There was an easy to follow up hill trail, and then we walked on a path alongside the water flume.  It was a gorgeous walk.  The sun was shining bright and the weather was perfect.  Good thing we did it on Saturday because we have had rain since Sunday. 

We also took a little trail down hill by Hospital Rock.  The path takes you under some perfectly balanced boulders until you get to the river.  The entire day was a perfect display of God's majesty.

Lorissa is in College

Lorissa had her first college class this morning.  She is taking a Color and Design class.  This is her first formal art class and I am so excited for this opportunity for her.  She and Nathan have the same class schedule on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 8-11 AM, so they drive together.  Since Lorissa is still in high school she does not have to pay any credits or fees.  She has to buy some art supplies, but it is all stuff she probably will continue to use.  I am sure she will keep you updated on her blog.

Another Birthday Party

Keith and the kids arranged a birthday party for me on Sunday the 3rd.  It was a nice enjoyable time with family.  Little did I know that they also were planning a surprise party for me.  They had been planning it since about September and pulled off the big surprise without me even having a clue!

Keith bought groceries on Thursday and left them in an ice chest in the car.  On Friday, Janine said she was going to work for Jennifer as she has in the past, but instead she prepped all the meat and vegetables for a Dutch Gourmet Dinner.  Then she came home and said she really wanted to spend some time with me since she goes back to college on Monday.  She wanted to go shopping, but I protested that we had already been shopping and had done errands on Wed and Thurs and I don't like to shop just to shop.  She did convince me though, because she had to go to the bank and do a gift exchange.  Meanwhile Keith called and said he needed to shop for some boots for when he went to Deleware in the cold.  So Janine dropped me off at his office and we shopped for boots.  Every style he saw was either uncomfortable, not his size, or too expensive.  But he kept repeating how wonderful it was to spend time together, and didn't I want to browse in Michael's a little longer?  Even though I thought his shopping behavior was a bit odd, considering he hates to shop, I still was clueless.

We called the kids and told them to go ahead and eat without us.  We arrived home around 6:45, came in the back door and I noticed the table all set.  I asked the kids why they had not started eating and then I noticed the table was loaded with food, and it had both leaves in it.  Then our friends came out of the entry way and yelled "surprise."  I just stood there with my mouth hanging open, totally surprised and feeling really clueless!

We had a great tasty dinner, lots of laughs,  and fun fellowship.  Thanks to all for keeping the secret and to Jennifer for opening her kitchen so it would stay a secret, and to Keith and the kids for all of the hard work they put into this.  They all worked together to pull it off.

See Lorissa's blog for another perspective.

Pioneer Woman Cooks

I enjoy reading Pioneer Woman's Blog.  She blogs about her beautiful ranch, her remodeled guest house,  home schooling her kids, and cooking with step-by-step picture instructions.  The kids picked up on my interest and bought me The Pioneer Woman Cooks for my birthday.

Then they recalled watching the movie Julie & Julia, where Julie cooks every recipe in Julia Child's cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, some 524 recipes over 365 days, and blogging about it.  They suggested I do the same with this cookbook.  After paging through it they decided they did not want me to cook every recipe, suggesting I skip something like "Cheese Grits".  So I am somewhat challenged to try a lot of these recipes, but I will not promise to do all of them or within the next year.  I will try to blog about them and give my opinion of the recipe.