Cake test results #5

I gave the coconut cake another try. The first problem was that the cake was too moist, so instead of using cake flour I used regular all-purpose flour. That worked out really well and the cake had a good texture, so I was happy. Don't mind the air pockets - I'm pretty sure I did that when the butter became too soft and so the batter didn't aerate properly. I'm sure that won't be a problem in Marquette where it's cooler than Madison.



I was feeling lazy and didn't want to mess around with the buttercream and oranges and pineapple curd, so I just filled the cake with cream cheese frosting and frosted it. I'm sure the fillings will be okay and now that I know the cake has the right consistency, I'm confident it will turn out okay.

I just made my ingredient list. I'm going to need:

• 5 pounds unsalted butter
  
• 2-1/2 dozen eggs
• 5 cups of buttermilk
• 16 pounds powdered sugar
• 5 pounds cream cheese

Wow!

So tonight I'm leaving for Marquette, then I'll make the genoise tomorrow and work on my fillings and frosting. Friday is the big cake-baking day and it will probably take all afternoon saturday to get it set up. No drinky until saturday night so I can be in top shape when baking and decorating the cake. :)

Random thoughts...

I am a little hung over today (a light dinner followed by three drinks = oops) and these are the thoughts that are flying through my mind:

• Akon is hot. I want to see him in concert. I love his voice and his accent (he's from Senegal).

• Today is the last day of work for two coworkers. Houjiang is going back to China tomorrow, and Nicole is transferring to a forest near Eugene, Oregon. I am going to miss them both so much.
• I think it is time to get over my anger and resentment toward my high school classmates. Kevin and I had a discussion about this last night. These are the people I grew up with and we will always have those experiences in common. I got teased in high school and often felt like an outcast, but everyone has had hormone-driven, angst-ridden teenage years.
• Something is wrong with my hormones. I've been experiencing cramping and spotting between periods, and the nurse at my doctor's office thought it might be due to stress and not taking my BC pill at the same time every day (sometimes 1-2 hours difference). I've been taking it consistently and my life is much less stressful, so why the cramping? Also I think it's affected my skin. It's been really oily lately and I've been having breakouts.
  
• Kitty has been cranky. The other day I was petting her and when I touched her cheek she tried to bite me. Maybe she has a bad tooth.
  
• My truck is hurting. First a rock cracked my windshield. About a week later I was opening the third door (to the extended cab) and the freakin' handle snapped right in my hand. Now I can't even open the door.
  
• Okay, enough whining. [think of something positive] Oh yeah! Kevin and I went to see Yellowman play last night. The coolest thing was the stage manager chick let us go backstage and get a picture with him. Some photos from the show:
  
  Yellowman is an albino black man who suffered from a life-threatening skin cancer
  
  
  Even though he is something like 50 years old, he had tons of energy and was all over the stage.
  
  
  And then after the show we got to go backstage and get a picture with him!
  
• A note about Kevin - when he talks in Jamaican I have no idea what he's saying. It's like he's speaking another language. He was talking to the stage manager lady, who is Jamaican, and I couldn't understand a word. Still speaking English, but with lots of slang and cut-off words. Just wait 'til he hears me talk in Yooper! Or Pilon family speak... we have lots of funny expressions and slang that I use here and people have no idea what I'm saying.
  

Today's Lunch:
The last of the white chicken chili
Two pieces of Trader Joe's seeded semolina bread with Smart Balance
Some Jamaican cheese that Kevin gave me

4th floor, northside

I work on the 4th floor in the north wing of my building. Lately there's been some activity.

The 5th floor conference room needs a method of egress to comply with building codes. So the facility managers have decided to connect the 4th floor stairwell to the empty office next door to extend the stairway up to the 5th floor.

Today the contractors began ripping down the wall that joins the two rooms. They've kept the doors closed to prevent dust from getting everywhere, but the hallway still looks pretty cloudy.



The door from the outside:


And when the door is opened... surprise!


I think it's so cool. Yes, I'm a total geek.

Packing list

My b-day is coming up, so if you need some gift ideas [*cough* - mom and dad] maybe this will help. I need the stuff in bold type.

Clothing/Shoes

• 10 pairs bras and underwear
• 3-5 cotton t-shirts (not white because it's hard to keep clean)
• One pair of shorts for sports
• Two below-the-knee skirts with pockets (maybe a sewing project over the holidays)
  
• One sweater/sweatshirt
• Three pairs cotton socks (not white)
• Dress and dress shoes for official functions
• One or two brimmed hats
• One pair of jeans
• Swimsuit (I don't think it's wise to bring my skimpy little bikini)
  
• Chacos
• Tennis shoes (yes, I don't own tennis shoes and am therefore a freak)
  

Personal Hygiene and Toiletry Items

• Thin, lightweight towel
• Nail clippers and file
• Hair scissors
• Three-month supply of prescription drugs
• Facial wipes/astringent
• Special soaps and hair conditioners
• Two-month supply of shampoo
• Earplugs
• Two pairs sunglasses with sturdy case

Kitchen

• Swiss army knife or Leatherman with can opener, bottle opener, blade, corkscrew
• Sturdy water bottles
• Spices for cooking
• Dry sauce mixes and instant drink mixes (a nice treat)
• Small and large plastic food storage bags
• Hard candies (chocolate melts, except for peanut M&Ms)
• Plastic containers (to protect camera, tapes, and food)
  
• Dried fruit/granola/energy bars
• Jerky and/or tuna in a pouch
• Pudding

Miscellaneous

• Sleeping bag (very light, compactable one is best)
• Pillow (optional) (hey, what about one of those camping pillows?)
• Sturdy but inexpensive waterproof watch
• Sturdy day pack/fanny pack
• Batteries for camera
  
• Alarm clock
• Backpack - internal frame, well-constructed, not too large
• U.S. and world maps
• Shortwave radio (also available in Niger)
• ... and the list continues with things like photos, hobby materials, games, stationary and stamps, duct tape, etc.

Don't Bring

• Too many clothes (I read that some people bring too much clothes/toiletries and wish they'd brought more personal things)
  
• Heavy coat
• Lots of cash
• Two-year supply of toiletries (basic products are available in Niger)
• Pots, pans, and kitchen utensils
• OTC medication, insect repellant, and sun block (Peace Corps will provide)
• Boots
• Rain gear
• Tampons
• Cellphones

Pretty white cat needs a new family

I posted this ad on craigslist today. It made me kind of sad. Kitty has been such a great cat. She's kept me company, kept me warm at night, killed bats and therefore saved my life... I'm going to miss her.

I'm leaving for the Peace Corps and unfortunately can't take Kitty with me. She's about 13 years old and in good health. She would be a great companion to a single person or older couple, but please note she doesn't do well with kids or dogs.

She's a relaxed cat and is happy spending the day sleeping in my closet. In the evenings she'll come out and sit with me, either on my lap or on the floor nearby. She loves to be petted and purrs a lot! She's a very sweet cat and has provided a lot of love and companionship to me. I'm sure she would be a good companion for you, too.

Today's Lunch:
Houjiang is going back to China. We're taking him to Tex Tubbs Taco Palace to say goodbye and celebrate.

Cake test results #4

My fourth practice cake (well, fifth if you count my failed genoise last week) was a success! I made another genoise, and thanks to this article I knew not to skimp on beating the eggs.

The cake is going to be called Raspberries 'n Cream Cake. Here's my little diagram:

• The genoise turned out much better when I beat the eggs for 15 minutes.
• The new raspberry filling (seedless raspberry jam) lent a delicious raspberry flavor
  
• Using all the Framboise syrup gave the cake a nice flavor and provided moisture
• The plain ol' whipped cream was yummy, but next time I think I'll lay it on a little thicker
• The cream cheese frosting does crust, you just have to use a paper towel instead of parchment paper to smooth it.
  

Some photos:

The cake looked kind of plain...*

*Don't worry Mary, your cake will look smoother on the outside. It's just that my 9" pans are fluted and I didn't take the time to trim the cake or apply extra layers of icing to make it look perfect. Yours will be perfect, I swear! And today I'm getting a book at the library called "Flowers on Cakes," so I'll have a plan for this weekend.

...until I decorated it with some roses!


The inside


Not bad for spending two days in the refrigerator.

I've also been working with gumpaste to make flowers for Mia/Abu's cake. So far I've practiced roses and made some daisies:


Tonight I'm going to make another ambrosia cake and if there's time I'll finish up the gumpaste rose blossoms (the pink shapes on the right edge of the above photo).

Peace Corps news

I'm going to Niger!

January 8th!





A few facts about Niger:

• It's big - almost twice the size of Texas
• One of the hottest countries in the world (avg 97°), the climate is desertlike with tropical conditions in the extreme south
• Only 11% of the land is arable (farmable) and malnutrition is a problem
• 80% Muslim, 15% local beliefs, 5% Christian
  
• According to the U.N., is the most underdeveloped (read poor) country in the world (177/177 on the Human Development Index)
  

My job:

1. Involve local communities in the sustainable use of their natural resources;
2. Demonstrate anti-erosion and soil conservation techniques;
3. Promote tree planting and tree tenure;
4. Raise ecological and environmental awareness for future generations; and
   
5. Provide opportunities for income generation based on natural resources.
   

Can't wait to get more info.

Today's Lunch:
Leftover white chicken chili
Plum

Peace Corps update

I'm so excited!

The other day I received an email from the Peace Corps saying my application status had been updated. I figured they were backtracking and "un-clearing" my medical clearance (I had to send in some forms about my LASIK surgery and the medical ppl said it may hold things up for a while) so I didn't even bother to log on to the website and see what changed because it would be too much of a bummer to get notification that they were medically "un-clearing" me.

Until today. There was an eensy weensy little chance that I had finally been invited, which means I would know where I'm going, what I'd be doing, and when I'd be leaving. So I took a chance and logged in... and yes! They notified me that my invitation packet had been mailed on September 14th and that I'd be receiving it in a few days.

Today is the 20th. It has to come in today. And they are sending it to my work address.

I seriously can't wait.

Update: the mail came, my invitation didn't. Maybe tomorrow.

Baking and other things

I'm a little bummed about the genoise cake I made last night. For some reason, the layers are too flat. Because it doesn't contain leavening, genoise doesn't rise very much in the oven. It depends on beating eggs to become fluffy. Maybe I didn't beat the eggs long enough. I'll have to see what happens tonight when I slice it open. The good thing about genoise is it only contains a few ingredients and is really cheap to make, so I don't mind tossing this one out and starting over.

I bought 7 cake mixes last night so I can make a practice tiered cake. I want to make sure I stack the tiers correctly so that at the wedding the cake doesn't fall over. That will be my weekend project (using cake mixes to save money).

Last night marked the beginning of my fall TV watching. I saw America's Next Top Model and Gossip Girl. Yeah, baby. Next week is the premiere of Grey's Anatomy, and I may watch Heroes and House to see what the big deal is with these shows. I will most likely become obsessed.

Tonight I'm making white chicken chili using a recipe from my Cook's Illustrated Best Light Recipe cookbook. Yum!

That's all for now...

Today's Lunch:
Whole wheat spaghetti with Smart Balance and salt and pepper
Plum

Considering...

I'm considering requesting a new phone number from AT&T. When people use the internet to look up the Charter Communications office in Madison, they get my phone number. Every day I have at least 5 voice messages, and 80% of them are hangups from someone who thought they were calling Charter. Some people seem to ignore my greeting, "Hello, this is Crystal. Leave a message," and leave a detailed message about how their cable isn't working.

But on the other hand, I'd have to change my phone number everywhere again - work, doctor's office, various insurance companies, etc. Ugh. And it's sometimes nice to listen to the crazy messages people leave thinking I'm Charter. Ha.

Today's Lunch:
Leftover whole wheat spaghetti with rosemary chicken and camemzola-tomato sauce
2 coconut-rolled date bars

My career options

I took this quiz using a link on Erika's blog.

Considering my inadequacy at hacking up chickens, maybe I shouldn't be a butcher. But I heard they use big bandsaws anyway, and I guess I can work with that.

I should look into what a Family and Consumer Scientist is.

1. Chef
2. Butcher
3. Cook
4. Family and Consumer Scientist
5. Sign maker
6. Auto detailer
7. Autobody repairer
8. Pet groomer
9. Fast food worker
10. Hairstylist

Fun evening

Last night was an evening off from baking.. well, from baking wedding cakes, anyway.

K-Mad (my new nickname for Kevin that I use in my head) came over while I was playing with my new gum paste flower kit. Gum paste is like edible clay that's used to make flowers for cakes and stuff, and I'd like to try it out on Mia/Abu's wedding cake.

Anyhoo, Kevin came over and we decided to make Jamaican Christmas cake, something we've been planning since the beginning of the summer. We had already soaked dried fruit in Red Label, a Jamaican red wine that I bought over the internet for $2.25 a bottle (score!). Kevin called his sister to get the family recipe while I cleaned up my gum paste.

Kevin mixed together the butter and brown sugar while I made an emergency trip to the store for flour. We had to chop all the fruit by hand since my food processor has been retired to my parents' attic. I mixed the dry ingredients while Kevin beat in the eggs, then we added our flavoring.

The problem was I don't have any browning (brown food coloring + flavoring used in Jamaican cooking) but the cake needed to be dark. So we added all of my brown food coloring, which helped, but still didn't make it dark enough (there was an incident where we added some black food coloring, but that just made the batter start turning gray and we almost had a heart attack).

The recipe was so huge that it made 3-1/2 cakes. And when we sampled it, it didn't taste right. It was lacking some flavor and it was too dry and fluffy. Maybe too much flour? Good thing we still have a bunch of fruit left so we can try it again.

Today's Lunch:
Leftover whole wheat spaghetti with rosemary chicken and camenzola-tomato sauce

Ms. Fluffball

Cake test results #3

I spent my day yesterday making an ambrosia cake as part of an experiment for Joseph/Mary's wedding. My goals were to:

1. Make sure coconut cupcake recipe can successfully be used to make coconut cake.
2. Use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour for said coconut cake (the coconut cupcakes always come out a little dry and cake flour may help with that).
3. See if almond flavoring in coconut cake recipe tastes okay with ambrosia cake fillings (orange and pineapple).
4. Get a general impression of the flavor of the ambrosia cake.

Here are the brief results of this experiment:

1. Cake too moist - use all-purpose flour next time or 2 extra tbsp cake flour per cup of cake flour
2. Buttercream too thin - don't melt in microwave
3. Pineapple curd too dry - don't overcook. Research pineapple curd.
4. Mandarin oranges were slightly metallic - rinse under water first? Look for mandarin oranges canned in glass jars?
   

Still interested? Read on!


I got the fillings for this recipe at cooksillustrated.com under "Ambrosia Cake." However, the people at Cook's Illustrated suggested torting an angel food cake into four layers, then filling with orange buttercream and mandarin oranges, pineapple curd, then orange buttercream and mandarin oranges again (see figure).

Angel food cake doesn't seem like it would work for a wedding cake. Angel food cakes have to be baked in a pan with a low surface area because the cake clings to the side of the pan for support while it's baking. Therefore, it's usually made with a tube pan and sometimes a loaf pan because they are small enough in area for the cake to rise successfully. And I can't use a tube pan or loaf pan because they wouldn't match the other tiers of the wedding cake.

So I decided to try my coconut cupcake recipe, which I think I found in Good Housekeeping, and just use it as a cake recipe. I mean, the way to make cupcakes is to use regular cake batter baked in cupcake tins, so why not the opposite? However, I made the mistake of using cake flour when baking the cake where the recipe calls for all-purpose flour. According to joyofbaking.com, when replacing all-purpose flour with cake flour, the ratio of all purpose flour to cake flour should be 1 C = 1 C + 2 tbsp. Yesterday the thought came to my mind to look up this conversion, but I didn't act on it. So the cake came out way too moist. Also, cupcakes are smaller than a 9" cake, so of course it's easier for them to dry out while baking. Therefore, I could have used the all-purpose flour for the cake and it might not have dried out.

I also messed up my buttercream. I had leftover buttercream icing from cake results #1, so I let it sit out on the counter to come to room temp... and it sat, and sat, and sat.. but it was taking forever in my 60 degree apartment, so I popped it into the microwave for 30 seconds (it was about 2 cups of icing). Well, 30 seconds later the whole thing was a puddle, so I had to stick it in the freezer and hope for the best. Even after it cooled, I was too lazy to bust out my hand mixer so I beat it by hand, hoping it would thicken on its own, and it did, but not enough. So the orange buttercream layer was a little watery and soaked right into the ultra-moist cake.

The canned mandarin oranges didn't exactly float my boat, either. I could've sworn I tasted a metallic flavor in them last night, but today when I sampled the cake again it was gone. So I guess that's okay.

Plus I screwed up the pineapple curd. You boil some pineapple juice, add it to a mixture of 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, and 1/2 C of sugar, stir it, then heat it up some more. It's supposed to heat up to a point where it sticks to the spoon, but for me that never happened, so I just kept stirring it until I got sick of it. And then, when I finished it and put it on the cake, it was too thick. What the heck? I'll have to try that one again and maybe do some research on making curd.

So yeah, the cake was too moist, the buttercream was too watery, and the curd was too dry. Plus I ran out of cream cheese frosting so the cake doesn't look as beautiful as it should. But it's just an experiment. Here's a photo:


I tried to redeem it in the looks department by putting this pineapple/orange design on top. :)


Too messy!


However, I will say that the combination of coconut cake plus pineapple and orange was delicious. And the almond flavoring didn't clash with the other flavors of the cake, so I will keep it.

So the next time I make this cake (next week? later this week?) I will be sure to use all-purpose flour and take more care with the orange buttercream and pineapple curd. And I will rinse off the mandarin oranges to avoid a metallic flavor.

Michigan quizzes

Congratulations, you are 90% Michigan!

Congratulations, when it comes to you and Michigan, you know your stuff! You must drink pop, vacation "up north", and enjoy the many special seasons Michigan has to offer. Maybe you should write your own Michigan quiz!

How Michigan are you?
See All Our Quizzes

You are 56% Yooper!

You are a Yooper, but not quite all the way. Maybe you should go kill something and get back in tune with your roots.

Are you a true Yooper?
Create a Quiz

Well, I have been living in Wisconsin for 4 years...

Today's Lunch:
Leftover whole wheat spaghetti with rosemary chicken and tomato-camemzola cheese sauce

Frying pan

My coworker Sam is married to the coolest chick ever, Kari. And she reads my blog and noticed I could use a frying pan. So they hooked me up with this great cast-iron pan with some goodies inside!



I told Sam that if they needed to get rid of any green tomatoes this year that I'd love to cook up some fried green tomatoes. Yum! And the cookies look delicious, too.



Thanks, Kari and Sam!

Peace Corps frustration

I haven't heard anything encouraging from the Peace Corps in so long that it feels like it's not even going to happen. I know this isn't true, it will happen, it's just a matter of when. And my recruiter told me I would feel this way. The time it takes for Washington to review my application and place me somewhere is eternal, and considering I don't have anybody there to keep in contact with me, it feels like I'm all alone. But again, my recruiter told me this is typical and to be expected.

I guess I'm just not as excited about it now that nothing's happening. But I know that as soon as I get placed and invited, I will be all gung-ho again and will be ready to leave. But it just would be nice to know ahead of time so I can plan and have something to look forward to...

Today's Lunch:
Leftover rosemary chicken sandwich on Trader Joe's seeded semolina bread with Light Miracle Whip and tomato
Plum
Hershey's mini chocolate bar thingy

Popcorn Day

It's the best day of the month, as far as I'm concerned. A little bit of popcorn, a little bit of socializing, a little bit of soda to wash it down... Even better, if you hang out with the popcorn people like I do, you smell its delicious aroma on your clothes and hair all day. Yeah, baby.



Today's Lunch:
Peanut butter (natural, creamy) and jelly (strawberry preserves) on Trader Joe's como bread
Popcorn

Missing kitchen items

I had 2/3 of a chicken in my freezer (a whole chicken minus the drumsticks and wings) and decided to make it into something.

Since I am insufficient at cutting up chickens, I just decided to make a soup or a stew so I wouldn't have to mess around with slippery raw chicken and could instead cook the chicken whole and just remove the cooked chicken from the bones. I had two bell peppers in my fridge, along with loads of canned tomatoes and some garlic, so I thought I'd make chicken cacciatore. I even bought fresh rosemary for it.

But yeeeaaah, things didn't go quite as planned. I couldn't find my garlic (I must have lost it during all my moving projects) and I don't have any garlic salt/garlic power/minced garlic. And then I couldn't find my can opener (must've left it at the first apartment), so I couldn't add any tomatoes. And then one of the bell peppers was moldy on the inside.

So my chicken cacciatore is now chicken with onion, yellow pepper, rosemary, dried red pepper, salt and pepper in my slow cooker. We'll see how it tastes when I get home tonight. And I still can't find my one and only frying pan. I'm afraid I left it at the House of Evil.

Today's Lunch:
Whole wheat penne pasta with veggies (broccoli, spinach, asparagus, edamame) with tomato pasta sauce
Slice of genoise with white chocolate-raspberry ganache and cream cheese icing

Cake test results #2

This morning I finished the genoise cake as part of an experiment for Joseph/Mary's wedding. My goals were to:

1. Determine the texture of genoise and see if it's a suitable wedding cake
2. See if the genoise can withstand being soaked in liqueur without becoming soggy
   
3. Make white chocolate ganache and see if it tastes good and goes with the rest of the cake (it would be part of the filling)
4. Use whole fresh raspberries as part of the filling and see if there's enough raspberry flavor
5. Frost the cake in cream cheese icing that is supposed to harden and can be smoothed in 15 minutes

I would've done this all last night, but at 9:30pm as I read the recipe for the ganache I realized it had to be refrigerated for a few hours before being used. That totally made sense, since I first boiled the heavy cream and then mixed in my white chocolate, resulting in a hot mixture. Cream can only be whipped if it's cold, so the mixture had to be refrigerated so it could cool off and then be whipped.

So anyhow, I leveled the cakes and lightly brushed on a raspberry liqueur syrup (made from simple syrup mixed with framboise). Following a recipe, I created an even layer of raspberries on the bottom layer and spread the white chocolate ganache on top of them. However, it was kind of hard to spread it over the raspberries without moving them around, so I ended up taking all the raspberries off the cake and mixing them into the ganache, then spreading that on the cake. But that didn't work out too well either, because the raspberries were not spread evenly over the cake and some of them became crushed. I finally just plunked some more raspberries onto the cream and called it good.

I frosted the cake with cream cheese icing...


And let it sit for 15 minutes, per the recipe for this "magical" crusting cream cheese icing.

15 minutes later I tried to smooth it, but it hadn't crusted yet and I really needed to head off to work, so I just said, "forget it." I took a slice of cake for myself, then brought the rest to work.

Here's how it turned out:




And at work:


I'm not really happy with the filling. First of all, raspberries go well with cream cheese and they go well with white chocolate, but white chocolate and cream cheese do not go well together. So I'm going to nix the white chocolate filling and just use cream cheese or whipped cream. Secondly, the whole raspberries didn't provide enough raspberry flavor. I think I will spread the bottom layer with seedless raspberry jam to get a more even layer of raspberry flavor. Plus, fresh raspberries won't exactly be in season at the end of the month and frozen berries taste nasty.

Other improvements: I didn't soak the cake with enough raspberry liqueur. Now that I know the texture of genoise (kind of crumbly and dense, able to withstand extra moisture), I am going to poke the cake with toothpicks to allow the raspberry liqueur to penetrate further into the cake. Also, I'm going to keep messing around with the cream cheese frosting to see how long it takes to crust.

Feeling better lately

I don't want to jinx myself (knock on wood), but it seems like things are looking up.

• I have a place to live with a real lease
• I'm no longer exhausted and stressed all the time
• I am excited to try out new recipes
• I've been eating more
• It's getting cool outside, which means I can take walks during the day
• I'm more able to handle the crappy things that come my way

The last month was pretty crappy for me, so I'm glad things are getting better.

Today's Lunch:
Japanese pan noodles with shrimp (from Noodles & Co.)

My good deed

Yesterday I did my good deed for the year. I was at the devil's asshole (which is what Mel once called the DMV, lol) and this guy next to me gave me this long sob story about how he's homeless and he just got out of jail because he wasn't paying child support, but how could he pay child support if he was homeless and didn't have a job? and he tried to go to a homeless shelter so he and his five kids (that he had with "his girl"), three of whom are 1 year old (I don't get it, they must be triplets), could have a place to live, but the homeless shelter wouldn't let him in without a proper ID, so he came to the DMV all the way from the east side of town and now he has to pay $9 to get a new ID card but only has $4, so could I just help him out?

He really didn't have to give me the story about his kids and his girl and his time in jail, etc., I would have just helped him out if he kept the story limited to the homeless shelter, but whatever. I paid the $9 and told him to keep his $4, fully realizing he may spend that $4 on crack and not on his kids (if they exist), but whatever. And it's not like I gave him the cash, I just gave it right to the DMV guy, wished him luck, and went on my way.

So yeah, that's my good deed for the year.

Cake test results #1

The White Cake

Last night I filled and frosted the white cake as an experiment for Mia/Abu's wedding. My goals were to:

1. See how the white cake tasted
2. Determine if the white cake had good texture
3. Make homemade buttercream for the first time
4. See how the buttercream tasted
5. See if the buttercream-frosted cake could withstand sitting out for an extended period of time

I began making the frosting at 11:00 (kind of late, I know, but I didn't get home until 8:30 and I was tired). It was really fun to make - first I whisked together 4 eggs and 1 cup of sugar in a heatproof (glass) mixing bowl. Then I set the bowl in a pan of simmering water, stuck in my candy thermometer, and whisked gently but constantly until the mixture reached 160 degrees (to cook the eggs). I removed it from the water, added some vanilla and salt, then began mixing the heck out of it with my hand mixer. Soon the mixture became very creamy and uniform. Then I added a pound of butter, bit by bit, and mixed the heck out of it until it thickened. Viola - I had my buttercream frosting.

I iced the cake...


And let it sit out all night to see if the frosting would slide off or anything. Fortunately, the cake looked exactly the same this morning.

I brought it to work and gave it the guys in the shops (carpenter shop, metal shop, forklift operator, etc.). They had once mentioned they'd be my guinea pigs and would eat anything... and I totally believe them. Of course, I had to take a slice for myself so I could do some taste testing!

The frosting rocked. It was light and fluffy and buttery and not too sweet. The cake had really great texture - nice, light crumb, airy and soft. However, I had forgotten to add vanilla to the batter, so it tasted a wee bit eggy. Oops.


My only complaint about the homemade buttercream frosting (as opposed to the overly-sweet, kind-of-gross Wilton recipe) is that it has a yellow color to it, most likely from the egg yolks. However, Wilton makes white dye that actually whitens icing, so I may give it a try some day. But Mia is having a fall wedding and wants her cake decorated with fall flowers (made with icing, yay!), so I think a yellowish icing base would look nice with that.

Patriot Day

"NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2007, as Patriot Day. I call upon the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Patriot Day. I also call upon the people of the United States to observe Patriot Day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and remembrance services, to display the flag at half-staff from their homes on that day, and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m., eastern daylight time to honor the innocent Americans and people from around the world who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001."

C'mon, Dubya.. just bite the bullet and make it a federal holiday!

Patriot Day

"NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2007, as Patriot Day. I call upon the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Patriot Day. I also call upon the people of the United States to observe Patriot Day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and remembrance services, to display the flag at half-staff from their homes on that day, and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m., eastern daylight time to honor the innocent Americans and people from around the world who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001."

C'mon, Dubya.. how 'bout making it a federal holiday??

Grrr...

Thursday I was driving back from Janesville when a rock was sprayed at me by a farm truck in the other lane. It made a loud "thunk," but I didn't see any damage on my windshield so I thought it just hit the hood or something.

Friday a little crack had appeared at the bottom of my windshield. It has increased in size each day, and now it's about 8" long. I called my insurance company, and I'll probably have to shell out the $250 deductible to get the windshield replaced. However, I'm having a company look at it tomorrow to see if it can be repaired. Just in case.

Also, Kevin left friday for a trip to California and won't be back until wednesday. I miss him!

Oh, and I ran into the creepy ex-landlord at the credit union saturday. I asked him how things were going (trying to be nice) and he said something like, "the FBI is after you because of the painting," to which I denied taking his painting. Then he started spewing a bunch of crap about my boyfriend stealing it and I was the accomplice. I just walked away.

Then, today, I received this email from my former landlord (okay, 3 landlords ago, but the most recent "real" one I've had (Buddy's parents)):

A guy stopped by this weekend and was asking about you- Annie talked with him. He said you applied to live at his apartment and was wondering if we had any complaints or police reports about you. Obviously it was the yahoo who threw you out on your backside a few weeks ago. What is he up to now? Anyway, we we told him how wonderful you were.

I love Mr. T (that's what I call him). He and Annie were the best landlords EVER.

Oh, and maybe this will help offset my whining (this cat looks just like Kitty):

Mouth is watering

I read last week's Isthmus and there was an article about a family who is only eating foods grown within 100 miles of Madison. They mentioned Willow Creek bacon, saying they "literally moan" every time they eat it. I am obsessed with trying this bacon! I am planning on getting my hands on some of it tonight. I'll let you know how that goes.

Speaking of food, my latest yummy treat is Camenzola cheese. I believe it's a cross between Camembert, a soft French cheese, and gorgonzola, an Italian blue cheese. It's yummy on crackers but I think I will make it into a sauce with tomatoes and basil and salt and pepper and toss it with pasta.

Also, I finally had some late-summer vegetables this week - cucumbers, tomatoes, and corn on the cob. I hadn't purchased anything local and in-season for a long time. The corn totally rocked my world and I'm planning on buying more. Even better, you can wrap raw corn on the cob in wax paper and nuke it for 2 minutes per ear. That makes it sooo easy to prepare.

Weekend

Friday night I relaxed at home and watched Shopgirl. I was really impressed with that movie! I could totally relate to the main character (Mirabelle) with her feelings of loneliness as a young person losing the protective blanket of college and family and entering the working world. There aren't a lot of movies that hold my undivided attention, but this was one of them.

Saturday I worked at a local event, the SoCo Music Experience. I originally wanted to attend because The Flaming Lips were playing, but then they needed people to work at it and the pay was $14/hour, so I went for it. Here's what I did: you had to be 21 to get in, so there were security people checking IDs at the door. After going through the security check, patrons would walk past my table, where I would ask for their ID and scan it through a little machine that took down information about them - name, address, birthdate, gender. The information was gathered on Southern Comfort's behalf for "marketing research." Then we were supposed to ask for the person's email address so they could receive junk email from SoCo.

I probably won't be asked to do any future event promotion work by this company because I kind of had a negative attitude about digging for people's information. The other workers would say, "I need to scan your ID," and the patron thought we were checking it to make sure it wasn't fake, so they'd hand it over. Then they'd say, "could I get your email address?" The lines were SOOO long and it took forever to punch in the email addresses on the little computer things, so I only asked for them when I felt like it. Plus, they were just going to receive SoCo spam, anyway, and who wants that? I didn't like the idea of misleading people in order to get their information, so I said, "could I scan your ID?" and if they asked why, I told them the truth - that it was for marketing research purposes by SoCo. Then I would say, "and if you want you can give me your email address but you don't have to." And usually they didn't.

When I finished working it was 8:30 (7-1/2 hours tax-free, not bad) and The Flaming Lips began playing. My favorite part of the show was hearing "Race for the Prize," the only song I recognized (I only own one of their CDs, The Soft Bulletin). It was fabulous. They had some really crazy videos playing on a large screen behind them, which were entertaining to watch. The lead singer had a little video camera attached to his microphone stand, which showed his face at a strange angle. And the onstage dancers were dressed like Santa Claus and fairies. All these things together made the concert very entertaining.

Sunday I baked. I made two practice cakes - a white cake (for Mia/Abu), and a genoise (for Joseph/Mary). The genoise was kind of involved, which made it really fun to bake. It involves beating together eggs and sugar over a pan of simmering water, then removing from heat and beating until they triple in volume (it was really cool). Then flour is folded in, then clarified butter is folded in. I had never clarified butter so that was an interesting experience. The recipe contains no leavening, which makes it kind of tricky- the cakes turned out a little flat, but that could just be the nature of the recipe... or I could have done it wrong. I guess I'll find out when I frost it and cut it tonight!

Kitty seems to like the new apartment. Whenever I leave the room and sit somewhere else, she'll come and join me (but still keeping her distance a few feet away). Oh, and I got a microwave, toaster, and table last week for $31. Now I just need a couch. I've been laying on the living room floor to watch TV and it isn't the greatest.

Today's Lunch:
Don't know yet! Need groceries, so will probably just grab something

P.S.

I'm running to the complete opposite side of town to look at an estate sale. According to the ad on craigslist, they will have household items like a toaster and microwave - things I need. I hope the drive will be worth it. Wish me luck!

Also.. for work, we were asked to provide some information to include on the webpage. They wanted things like our name, title, phone number, email address, and a few bullets describing the research we take part in. We could include a photo of ourselves, too. I don't really have a "posed office photo" so I sent a few of my favorites and said the website people could pick the one they like. Here are the photos I sent:









I couldn't resist sending this last one. :)

2%

My latest food obsession is my discovery of non-skim milk, particularly 2% milk.

When I lived with Dante he received a free half gallon of milk for getting a rewards card at a gas station. He said he never drinks milk and he doesn't like the cereal he has anyway, so I could go ahead and use the milk if I wanted to.

I was a little wary of using 2% milk in my cereal. "It's so fattening, do I really need to drink it?" I've always been a skim milk person (excluding my childhood but I can't remember what my parents bought). Skim milk is healthy, it's good in cereal, I can use it for baking, whatever. But all we had was the 2% stuff so I used it... and I was immediately hooked.

I loved how it was so white and thick. When I pour it on my cereal it actually sticks to the cereal rather than just settling in a pool in the bottom of my bowl. So this is how people get milk mustaches! Now when I think of skim milk, I think of its gray color, its watery texture, its boring flavor.

In my opinion, 2% is what milk should taste and look like. And since I hardly use it (only for my cereal), it's not like I'm getting that much more fat and calories into my diet by switching over to it. To me it's worth it.

Today's Lunch:
No food in the house. Will have to grab something while running errands.

Okay, fine

The dish on Kevin:

We broke up for a while after the big fiasco in July, but have since gotten back together. We are working through some of the issues we faced earlier and it helps to have heard his side of the story. Overall he's a great guy - a good communicator, romantic, adventurous, handsome. We could do anything and have a great time together. He understands that I'm leaving for the Peace Corps in a few months, so we are trying to appreciate each other as much as possible before I leave.

We were kind of keeping things on the downlow because I'm afraid his crazy ex-girlfriend will read my blog and start harassing us again. But I haven't heard anything from her yet, so I'm just gonna go with it.

Here's a picture for your viewing enjoyment (back off, ladies - he's taken!):


Today's Lunch:
Last of the Jamaican chicken foot soup
Baby carrots
Grape tomatoes

Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!

I have the hottest date with Kevin tonight, but he doesn't know it yet.

We're meeting at our park (it's where we always hang out). I'm going to surprise him by bringing him over to a picnic blanket behind the trees, where there will be chilled champagne that we'll drink out of real champagne flutes, candles burning, reggae music playing on my mp3 player, and food - coconut-date rolls, fresh strawberries, and pineapple.

Right now I'm waiting for the music to load onto my mp3 player. I wish it would go faster.

Can't wait!

Wedding cakes

I'm getting ready to make Joe and Mary's wedding cake (they're getting hitched in less than a month, so I guess it's about time!). First I need to test the recipes for the cake flavors they have in mind. Then I need to construct a practice cake (using just cake mix) to make sure the tiers will fit together and nothing collapses.

It's going to be a 4-tier cake for 250 guests and will have cream cheese frosting on the outside.

• Bottom tier - 18" - red velvet with regular cream cheese filling
• Second tier - 14" - white almond cake with raspberries potentially folded into the batter and some type of raspberry filling
• Third tier - 10" - ambrosia cake - coconut cake with alternating orange and pineapple fillings
• Top tier - 6" - anniversary tier - red velvet with regular cream cheese filling

The 18" layer is made with a special half-round cake pan because an 18" round pan is just too big to make a cake that cooks evenly.


So far I've made the red velvet cake a few times and we know it's a winner. I need to test the ambrosia cake and white almond raspberry cake recipes, so that's my goal in the next week. Then I'm going to buy the pans I need to make the practice cake.

I'm a little concerned about cream cheese frosting being on the outside of the cake, since it doesn't crust and smooth the way buttercream does. But I have a new "crusting cream cheese icing" recipe that I'm planning to try, so hopefully it will work.

As for the actual wedding cake, I'm going to take over Mary and Joe's apartment kitchen starting thursday before the wedding and I'm going to bake the cake there. Yep, it'll be crazy, but I want it to be as fresh as possible and their kitchen is bigger and nicer than mine.

Also, Kevin has a friend, Abu, who is getting married to this woman, Mia, who has since become an acquaintance of mine. I told Mia I'd make their wedding cake if she wanted me to, and as far as I know I'm still doing it. Making a Ghanaian-style cake will be interesting... I will be doing a practice cake for that wedding, too, and it takes place in early October. Looks like September will be a busy month of baking!

Stay tuned for future updates on the wedding cakes..

Today's Lunch:
Leftover Jamaican chicken foot soup (no feet this time)

To bus or not to bus?

My brain is working in overdrive. That's what it always does after a weekend.

I'm thinking about taking the bus to work. The reasons:

1. My workplace will reimburse me for the cost of a bus pass
2. I won't have to drive through morning traffic
3. One bus will take me from my apartment to my workplace. No transfers, no waiting around.
4. Less gas money, less wear-and-tear on my car
5. More chances to walk

The only bad thing about it is that the bus comes once a half hour. Better than once an hour when I lived in a different neighborhood 2 years ago, but still kind of crummy. Especially if you're me and you're always running late.

Debating..

I'm debating over whether or not I should get cable. My practical side says "no way, Jose! It's too expensive!" But my fun side is all, "dude, think of all the great TV you could kill time by watching."

I was spoiled living at Dante's house. I spent all day sunday watching reruns of America's Next Top Model on MTV. I caught an episode of Rock of Love and now I'm intrigued. And last night I even enjoyed watching Larry King with my dad. Two years ago I didn't even HAVE a TV and now I'm considering paying $50/month just so I can watch more crap.

[wailing] What's come over meee????

My laborious Labor Day

My dad came from Michigan sunday to help me move to my new apartment.

Yes, my new apartment. I found a 1-bedroom place that would offer me a 3-month lease.. finally. I didn't mind living with my roommate, Dante, but sometimes it's just nice to live alone.

I crashed with my dad at his hotel sunday night. Monday morning we were up bright and early (too early, in my opinion, but my dad's an early riser). And we started moving... furniture, box after box, food... it took 4 hours to get it done. But we managed. We were exhausted and hungry afterwards and had a huge lunch at The Great Dane Brewpub (bison burger with gorgonzola, fries, homemade coleslaw, and a glass of oatmeal stout). After taking a little rest, we did more stuff - went to Borders, saw a movie (No End in Sight, about the war in Iraq), and visited Whole Foods and ate dinner there. I ate more these last two days than I did all week. I stayed with my dad again last night. Even though we went to bed at like 9:30 both nights and I didn't get up until 7:00, I am still exhausted and wish I could take a long nap.

Now I just have to get my stuff situated in my new apartment. It's pretty nice - it has a balcony and a pool and a fitness room. I'm just bummed that I have to find furniture and certain appliances that I didn't think I'd need again, like a toaster and a microwave. But those things are cheap and easy to find on craigslist, and I don't want to have to move them to my parents' house this November so it's good to get something disposable.

Today's Lunch:
Going to Subway with Petra. Maybe continue my excessive calorie consumption and will get a BMT or something.