Beyond a Cake Mix

I love it that Matthew loves new recipes as much as I do. 

I love that he sees beyond white or chocolate cake.

I love that when I ask him what kind of cake he wants for his birthday, he wants to browse through my cookbooks! 

I love that he knows that cake goes beyond a boxed mix!

So, this year it was White Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting -- straight from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. You know, the red-and-white checkered cookbook that includes recipes that stand the test of time. Recipes that have been filtered through the test kitchen at BH&G.

Gotta tell you -- this cake was delicious. The cake was super-moist, and you can't go wrong when you smother cream-cheese frosting all over it, right???

So, here's the recipe, in case you want to go beyond a cake mix for your next special occasion! 

White Chocolate Cake

4 eggs, separated

1-3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3 ounces white baking bar, chopped

3/4 c. half-and-half, light cream or milk, divided

1/3 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

4 egg yolks

 

In a bowl, allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

Grease and lightly flour two 9-inch round baking pans; set aside.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt the white baking bar with 1/4 c. half-and-half over very low heat, stirring constantly. Immediately remove from heat; stir till bar is completely melted and smooth. Stir in remaining half-and-half; cool.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until combined. Add the dry mixture and the white baking bar alternately, beathing on low to medium speed after each addition just till combined.

Thoroughly wash the beaters. Beat egg whites with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Spread batter into prepared pans. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes, then remove from pans to cool on wire cooling racks.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Beat together two 3-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened; 1/2 cup butter, softened; and 2 tsp. vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in 2-1/2 to 2-3/4 cups of additional sifted powdered sugar to reach spreading consistency. Cover and store cake in refrigerator!

A Milestone Birthday

I used to think 40 was old. Seriously old. It's not so old anymore. At least, it doesn't feel old.

So, Matthew hit the milestone last month, and I will reach it in a few months. And the good news is that we will be running in the Masters divisions in some of our favorite local races!! We have an excuse for our graying hair. And, I think being 40 gives us the green light to begin stories with "You know, when I was a growing up . . . "!! (Insert rolling eyes by our beloved children!)

Thanks to a thoughtful sister-in-law to dropped off this sweet surprise! What a fun idea! It only took a few days to reduce this beautiful arrangement to a pile of empty cans and wrappers!

We celebrated with white chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting -- Matthew's choice!

We had to improvise with our candles because we didn't have a "4" candle. And we didn't have 40 of any candle. SOOOOOOOO, we used a 20 + 10 polka dot candles + 10 primary colored candles. Apparently, our cakes promote addition!

WinterJam Date Night

WinterJam. A four-hour long worship service with the most contemporary music with some of your favorite groups. In a packed arena! For only $10.

We traveled to Peoria, IL (along with every junior high and high school youth group in a 150-mile radius) on Sunday, March 29 for a special BIRTHDAY date night!

WinterJam is great, but here is what you need to know if you plan to attend a WinterJam. Unless you become a member of JamNation, get to the event early. Especially if you have a large group to seat. We jumped in line about 4:30. The doors opened at 5. We got in the building about an hour later, and felt very fortunate to find two seats together.



NewSong opened the night of worship and prayer. 

This is my favorite song from NewSong. God IS faithful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=542VnRcq4ak 

Many great testimonies of God's faithfulness were shared along with amazing music!

For King & Country. This group is very entertaining! And LOVE their music. You may not recognize the name of the group, but if you listen to Christian radio you will recognize their music. Follow these links to hear some of their music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wNa9CrzSAY

This is one of my favorites, perhaps because it begins with my very favorite psalm:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfiYWaeAcRw

Jeremy Camp

Matthew's FAVORITE artist is Jeremy Camp. He gives a great concert, full of scripture and encouragement and great music. He has a new album, and the girls LOVE it.

Check out Jeremy's music here:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsccUg4TDd8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8AB0vUU038

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wThyGZXJDYo

Francesca Battistelli was there with her sweet voice. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWNwQg3xoJw

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsQu4wOVxNM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6LVkcfgmnc 

Family Force 5 got the crowd dancing. Not our style of music, but it was entertaining to watch FF5 enthusiasts dance in the crowd!

I didn't get a photo of Building 429, but they were one of my favorite groups there. You might recognize some of their songs. Great message in their songs!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDYWOH-q-RI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pv5wVS7yzk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqd32qjJElw

Closing the night of worship was Skillet. The more I listen to them, the more I see them in concert, the more I love them and their music! Even our girls will hear Skillet on the radio and say, "Mom! It's Skillet!"

Check out their music here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qnck1lFwjs 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGcsIdGOuZY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aJUnltwsqs

Special thanks to Grandma Kathy who kept our short people overnight so we could enjoy the evening together. 

Seriously, a great night. Great music. A great date!

B-Ville Easter Egg Hunt

Thanks to all who helped with the egg hunt at the Blandinsville park this afternoon. It is always a fun day for the kids and it is great to see so many people enjoying the park!

A New Way to Cook Hash Browns

Who doesn't love hash brown potatoes? I love them, but I don't love to fry them in grease. So how do you cook perfect hash browns without the grease? Get out your waffle iron, of course!

These really are good! And quick! And -- bonus -- no splattering grease! Simply heat up your waffle iron, spray with a little cooking spray and pile on the hash browns. A few minutes is all you need, until they start to brown. Then dump them in a bowl and serve them up!

You have to love that!!!

Riding Lesson

Emily is in heaven at her first riding lesson. She was so excited to ride Fleet! And she is counting the days until her next lesson!

Whoa!

A Lesson on Investments

How do you teach your children how companies were formed to fund expeditions to the New World? You give them some money and show them how to buy "stock."

The girls LOVED this activity so much! I wanted them to understand what it would have been like (on a small scale) to become an investor in a voyage or settlement in the Americas. We read about it, but that didn't feel like enough to explain how this worked. So, with about 10 minutes of planning we took the words out of the books and made them real!

What I did: I put "treasures" in 6 gift bags. I didn't buy anything for this activity -- I just used what we already had around the house that may or may not have had much value. Use anything -- marshmallows, nickels, apples, pencils, a juice box -- really anything! I made sure that some bags were more valuable than others. 

Each gift bags represent a different voyage. The girls are offered the opportunity to invest in the voyage by bying a stock certificate. This makes them an investor in the "company." Whatever was in the bag (whatever gains resulted from the voyage) are divided among the shareholders. The gains could be valuable, or the finds could be fairly fruitless. In one instance, the ship was lost at sea in a storm and I didn't reveal the contents of the bag. However, the investors lost all their money!

This REALLY didn't require much work, but the girls had a blast and learned several things:

Investment comes with risks.

The more shares you own in a company, the greater the gains AND losses.

Explorers and colonists had a lot of pressure to find valuables to send back to their investors.

History can be fun!

Spring Scramble

Who is up for a windy race? Second year in a row that God provided a little extra resistance on the run back to the high school! 

My suggestion: start at the high school and end at Lee's Bakery. Um, I think Amish doughnuts would be a good motivator for me!! This route just might motivate runners to sign up for the extra mileage and boost the 10k registration. :)

Pre-race. Everyone bundled up for the cool morning run!

It is always good to have someone point out the finish line. Thanks, Gordy, for taking care of pre-race business!

And the race is on!!!

Just another country run!

And, Matthew scored a medal to add to the collection.

We seriously need to find a better way to display these medals before the dresser mirror falls over! :)

St. Patrick's Day 2015

St. Patrick's Day.

The color green.

A pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. 

Shamrocks.

Leprechauns.

Ireland.

Corned beef and cabbage.

But, wait, there's more! There is actually a great man who lived to spread God's love and earned the respect of generations of Christians for his great sacrifice. Yes, check this out: http://www.st-patricks-day.com/about-st-patrick/

We started the day with green clover-shaped pancakes. Yes, you can't tell from the photo, but they really were green. Honest!

For dinner I decided to give the family a taste of Irish food -- corned beef and cabbage with rye bread. 

Ok, this was my first attempt at this meal and I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I have to tell you that it was very easy because the slow-cooker did all the work, and the house smelled amazing all day!

 

The kids loved the meat. But I was fairly certain that the kids would turn their little noses up at the cooked cabbage and onions. So I made potatoes to go with the meal. Matthew and I ate the beef and cabbage on rye bread, but the kids liked the bread buttered.

We learn about a lot of different cultures and countries. One of my favorite ways to learn about a new culture is to try some of their recipes. Although this was FAR from authentic, it gave us a chance to try something new. And that is how we connect and learn!

Morning Smoothies

I have been getting into the habit of making fruit smoothies for breakfast. I usually consume about 2/3 of the smoothie before our little guy finds it and finishes it for me.

My sister-in-law is a smoothie expert. I am jealous of all the fresh ingredients she throws in her smoothies, and even more jealous of her high-powered Vitamix that could probably mulch a tree! Our little personal-size mixer stumbles over frozen fruit but it is getting the job done.

I throw in a mix of fruits -- fresh or frozen. Just about any fruit goes into this. Although I have heard of many people adding kale or spinach, I haven't gotten brave enough to add it in. One day . . .

Then I dump in some ground flax seed, because I love to add in Omega-3s wherever I can. Top all that with Greek vanilla yogurt and sweeten with a dallop of sweet honey.

Mix it up and it is ready to go!

I love how Megan tops it. So pretty!