The REAL Thing

I just saw something funny that totally relates to my previous post.

• You: I'll take a Coke, please.
• Waiter: Is Pepsi OK?
• You: Is Monopoly money OK?

To top it off...

Yesterday, I was a bit frazzled and grumpy with my husband and children. Jason told me very nicely, that I needed to "go find my happy place." Code for chill out woman. You're being a bitch!

The problem was, I had already found my happy place... in this.... An ice cold Coca-Cola. A very rare treat for me lately. And my kids drank the whole thing! I had 1 sip in the car. I thought to myself I'd better savor every sip of this liquid gold 'cause it will probably send me over my points for the day. Then, I took another sip and set it on the table...and walked away. An hour or so later (because I had completely forgotten about the fact that I had this cherished beauty) I went to grab it, and it was gone. G-O-N-E.

Anyway, that's my sad story. I never replaced my coke. It's probably better that way.
So how about some Matchbox 20- If You're Gone. (yes, it's a stretch, but it's the first song I thought of when I typed the word "gone")

Doin' Time

Supe is a lyric magnet! She can pick them up, remember 'em, and even belt them out. Offen times, she surprises us with this uncanny ability!
A few nights ago, she did just that. To this song:

She sang it word for word until about :51 into the song where it says "I'm locked down like a penitentiary"
What can we say?
She has good taste? Yep. She does.
Should we be frightened? Probably.

Let's Call The Whole Thing Off

One Saturday morning, Jason and the girls were all still asleep, so I crept downstairs for some computer time. I had been on my friend Ginger's blog, reading about some chocolate cake that she had made, and there was a link to this other blog. So...I clicked. I was intrigued. Little did I know that this would be where I would spend the next four hours of my life! I saw this cute picture on her sidebar and Black Heels to Tractor Wheels and something about Marlboro Man. I had to keep reading.

Anyway, now I follow her blog. It's my new favorite blog....aside from yours of course.

So....Ree (the Pioneer Woman- or P-Dub as she sometimes calls herself) highlights a different recipe every Tuesday and takes pictures of all of the process. This Tuesday, there was a recipe that I couldn't pass up! Plus, I really needed an excuse to buy a bundt pan.
I won't bore you with all of my step by step pictures. Ree has already posted some gorgeous photos!
But here's my finished product:
If I remember; because I'm writing this the night before it's going to post, and because I don't want you getting all excited or discombobulated with all this posting; today's song will be Let's Call The Whole Thing Off by Ella Fitzgerald and Lois Armstrong. And, if you haven't already clicked on the links above, it may shed some insight as to what this cake has in it.

By the way, the cake tastes just as good as it looks. Better- even!

Can We Build It?

A bit ago I mentioned how Jason and I want to try to do as much of this wedding stuff as we can. We figured we should try to do Bridezilla's cake. Now, we've watched a few episodes of cake boss. We thought we can totally do this! We can mold play doh. Heck, I work with playdoh at least once a week with preschool! And Jason can build anything! This should be a piece of cake! No pun intended. So I began my quest for finding a good cake recipe (that does NOT come from a box).

I came across this "Black Magic Cake". De.lic.ious! It was perfectly chocolaty and smelled yummy!

We filled and frosted the cake with this butter cream frosting . Now, I don't know about you, but I love store-bought frosting. Not the kind in a can. Ick. But the bakery frosting. Mm Mm good. That frosting recipe is like the store's only better.

And last, but not least, we made fondant. Some of you may not know this, but fondant has a bad rep. Lots of people don't like it. Prince Charming doesn't like it either- which is exactly why we wanted to try to make it. You see, Bridezilla ONLY wants fondant. There's no way she's going to settle for butter cream frosting. NO WAY! So Jason and I have to come up with a fondant that we can not just work with, but also have it taste good enough that the Prince will like it. After all, it's his wedding also.

Anyhow, here's a bit of the process:

1. You have to roll and roll and roll the fondant. It's supposed to be 1/8" - 1/4 " thick. And the thickness matters because if it's too heavy, your cake will sink or fall. Not good. In this picture, Jason is using his expert measuring eye to test the thickness. And Rhino's on clean-up duty.
It took us not 1. Not 2. BUT 3 times to get that damn thing rolled to the right thickness AND taken off the counter and put onto the cake. I'll bet we spent an hour and a half rolling and rolling and rolling, and prying, and rolling again.

2. The rest is easy! You lay it on the cake and use a pizza cutter to trim off the extra fondant (so it can be eaten and /or played with later) 3. If you want your fondant colored, you just color a small amount of fondant, then knead it into the rest of the dough. Then, get out your fuzzy pumper and go to town! Ha ha! (you young ones will go what's a fuzzy pumper? Then I'd tell you that it was THE best Play doh toy ever invented.)

Conclusion: We loved making the cake and the fondant, but we're going to leave it to the professionals. I think we'd have to spend about $100 to buy the pans and all the paraphernalia for fondant. That combined with the stress of it all, means we need to find somewhere else to save money. Honestly, this cake making thing interests us a TON. We'd really like to get good enough at it that we could do it on the side or open our own business. We'd also like to do catering...which is our next adventure.

P.S.
Fuzzy Pumper:
Notice the yellow barber chair and crank on the side. Yeah. That's what I'm talkin' about!
P.S.S.

I am well aware that to actually sell our cake products we would have to be a lot better than this. It's just fun to think about!

How about some Cake? Short Skirt Long Jacket? Yeah, I'm glad you all agree.

I think I'm gonna cry!

Shrek: Ogres are like onions.
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes. No!
Donkey: Oh, they make you cry.
Shrek: No.
Donkey: Oh, you leave em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin' little white hairs.
Shrek: NO. Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers. [sighs]
Donkey: Oh, you both have layers. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions.

Loo wanted to help cook dinner the other day. I'm no dummy. I don't EVER turn down help in the kitchen.
Anyway, she asked if she could do the onion.
My response: Are you sure? ('cause I don't love cutting them and I want the kids to keep coming back asking if they can help)
Her reply: Yep!
Then I go about my thing and turn around and she's gone! Just like that. Gone. Oh well. I think to myself. I knew it was too good to be true.
A couple minutes later, Loo reappears. Wearing these:
Song: How about a little Funky Town today.

Kids say the darndest things!

I have to share something that happened yesterday. It's a story that every girl can enjoy or relate to, but my purpose for posting is twofold. #1 I want to remember and #2 I want all you moms of young children to know that you don't have to worry about your children growing out of the saying silly things stage.

Back story:
Tuesday ish Bridezilla (BZ) thought she found "THE" (pronounced thee) dress, but we didn't have time to wrap up the sale right then. BZ had to go to work. No worries. We have pllllennnnty of time. But the next day, Margo, our salesperson calls us and says "I forgot to tell you about the coupon we have online. It's for 50-150 off of your purchase, but the coupon expires on Saturday. And, we got some new dresses in." So we were like well, we better make sure we get there before Saturday then. Thursday, we looked into wedding dress rental. (Click here if that interests you. They have VERY good customer service and the dresses were CLEAN, which was something we didn't find at the other rental place in our area)

Anyway, yesterday, we went back to the place. Bridezilla had a new salesperson (lets call her Jane because I can't remember her name). Anyway, Jane encouraged her to try on a couple more styles of dresses. Because, at that point, BZ had only tried on the ballroom style. And, just in case you are wondering, there are 3 basic styles of dresses:
All wedding dresses fall into one of those categories. Whew, now that we got THAT out of the way....

So, to make a long story short, she ended up liking the style that she thought she was sure she didn't want. And after a long and drawn out (and by that, I mean, it's not exciting enough to tell you about) process of actually deciding on THE "THE" dress, Bridezilla has a brand new favorite. Something she looks absolutely stunning in. I almost choked up several times while she had it on, but I guess that isn't really part of this story. (Sorry. Sometimes I get off track)

OK- so we're talking with Jane about the coupon and the alterations. The coupon says that you have to buy your dress and 3 accessories, and depending upon the total, you get X amount off.

I promise the punch line is coming:

So, Bridezilla's new dress has a bit of extra room in the bust. Jane tells us it's no big deal, it can be fixed with alterations and some padding if she wants. BZ asks if there's any way she can put the padding in to see what it does. It worked wonders. So, BZ turns to Jane and says "Do boobs count as an accessory?" We all busted up laughing! It was pretty funny. And, in case you're wondering, no, "boobs" are NOT an accessory, they're an alteration.


I will not post pictures of the actual dress until the wedding is over. Sorry. But, I will tell you that she chose the sheath style.


Song: How about I Love You by Sarah Mclachlin (fantastic CD by the way)

Get me to the church on time!

So, the wedding plans are coming along quite well, I think.

Last week, we visited four different reception places (or places we could have a reception).

We went to Wheeler Farm- not going to do it there. It's a glorified cultural hall, and we could reserve the one at the church for free! Plus, at WF, they don't set up or take down. And, you'd have to rent all your linens (which means big bucks if you don't want the place to look like a barn!)

We went to This Is The Place- it didn't feel like Bridezilla* and Prince Charming**. I don't know what it is exactly. Other than the fact that it's very pioneer-y. Anyway, it was sort of like Cinderella's step sisters trying to fit the glass shoe on their foot. It just isn't going to work!

We went to Aspen Landing- Cute place. Nice people, but you have to use their catering, and we're on a tight budget. (which means, unless we have a naked bride and bridesmaids, no flowers, no cake, etc- it's not going to work)

The place we've decided on, is a secret. I don't want to say until we've officially booked AND I have Bridezilla's permission to tell the world. But it's quaint and beautiful! If I were getting married, that's where I'd do my thing!

I believe we've officially decided on a date! We even have the temple booked for that day already! This is HUGE people! We wanted the cream of the crop pick for times, and I think we've got it!! If you're interested in knowing the date, drop me an email (sorry, the paranoia is kicking in)

This morning, we went wedding dress shopping. Bridezilla thinks she may have found THE dress! I'm sure hoping so! Don't get me wrong, this dress shopping thing is fun! It's still surreal to see my baby wearing a wedding dress, BUT whenever I'm doing this kind of thing, it makes me a little sick to my stomach! We looked around for a bit after Bridezilla left, for a dress for Loo and Super. Now I know how my mom felt school shopping and Christmas shopping when I was growing up. Now I know why she reached for a cigarette after we left each store! Since I'm not a smoker, I dealt with the stress by delving into a big ol' slab of chocolate cake when we got home. And now, I totally have the jitters (too much sugar today). And, I don't think that slab 'o cake is very much of a help to my weight loss. I'm just sayin'.

*"Sue" will be referred to as Bridezilla- at least until the wedding. She's not being beastly, it's just a funny name for her.

**Sue's fiance will be referred to as Prince Charming because, well, he is her Prince Charming.

Now, for today's song: I feel this dire need to play a super sappy love song, BUT I think I'll refrain...for today. So how about Get Me to The Church on Time by good 'ol Deano! NOPE. Stupid Playlist! How about L.O.V.E (it says this is by Frank Sinatra, and I know I should know, but for some reason, it sounds more like Dean Martin than Frank. Sorry Hubbs if I got it wrong) and Memories are made of this by Dean Martin (this one, I'm sure of)