Why didn't I ever think of that!

I was watching some show on Food network the other day and the chef was making a cake with icing similar in consistency to the one I use on my chocolate layer cake. (The icing that creates a MESS because it's liquidy at first and it runs down the side and puddles at the bottom and gets chocolate all over the serving tray.)

However, the chef on the TV was NOT making a royal mess like I do. How did he avoid this? Why - he put the cake on top of a cooling rack to frost it! What a novel idea. All the extra icing falls down through the holes of the cooling rack and then you just move the cake to a pretty clean serving tray when you're done. Ingenious, I tell you! (And if you've been doing this for years feel free to gloat in your comments. I'm a little slow sometimes.)

Now to figure out how to get my cakes to not be lopsided. . . though asymetrical cakes ARE in style these days. . .

Accents

This is the "because it is my blog and I can post random pictures if I want to" post. They're all tangently related to the theme of my blog . . . at least in my mind!

First - a little figurine that I picked up at an estate sale a couple of months ago. She now resides atop my dresser. (The book that you can't see the title of is a 1908 English textbook. So cool!) Oh, and the candle is "Wicks 'n' more" kiwi scent. I love that candle! You get the scent without ever burning the thing. I'd like to order a couple more so that the scent will fill the entire room. I have one on my nightstand as well.



I also got a chair for my bedroom a few months ago. Here is Wilbur snoozing in his new favorite place. I need a side table, lamp, and to get my family tree framed for the wall above the chair - but that's going to have to wait a bit as those things are pricey! I do have all the stuff to start framing the old family photos - so hopefully those will be done soon and I can show ya'll those.

And here is Mishka on the small dresser. The frame behind her was originally the one for the family tree - - but the family tree grew to a larger size. So, that frame is propped up on the wall right now while it waits for an alternate assignment. You can't really see it well right now - but I'm collecting white and gold plates from thrift stores - there's two on the dresser there - and I have a few more to use as well. My plan at the moment is to hang the empty frame on the wall and then put some plates inside of that. We'll see!

Skipping "Baby"

Today I had to run into Toys R Us for a minute to look for something. I walked past the clothing section and saw an adorable onesy that had a cute turkey on it and the words "I'm stuffed." I smiled and thought, "I'll get something like that for my kid one day." Then remembered, "No, you probably won't." I know that just the nature of international adoption tends to decrease the likelihood of adopting an infant - and being a single person decreases it even more. Beyond that - I am convinced that the best thing for both me and the child would be for me to adopt an older child - but sometimes I just hate that I'm going to miss infancy. Sure, there will be plenty of cute clothes for older children. And, it's still entirely possible that I'll end up married and having biological children. Most adoption books talk about making sure you've mourned infertility before you proceed with adoption if that's the case for you - - that's not my issue - but on some level I'm realizing that as much as I want to adopt I still have things I need to make sure I "mourn" first. I feel a little silly saying that since it IS possible for me to still parent an infant one day - but, whatever, try convincing your emotions of rational things. ;-)


On another note I was listening to a podcast on adoption today and they mentioned the idea of having the birth mother or the caregiver in the orphanage/foster home make a hand print or fingerprint for your child. This way there is a very personal and unique connection for the child to have to their past and roots and who they are. I really love that idea so hopefully I'll remember it years down the road when I'm finally meeting my child. I was already composing some little poem in my mind about it and imagining it all framed up nicely.

Pillow Talk

I had this old skirt that I loved but the zipper broke. The fabric just happened to match my living room - - so I turned it into pillows. :)

Pillows are so easy and they make me feel like I've actually accomplished something amazing. ha.

My skirt gave me enough fabric for the fronts of four pillows and I backed it with some brown fabric that I had and then stuffed it with the poly-fill stuff you can buy at craft stores.

My mother has asked me to make a few pillows for her - but she's using the pillow forms which means I'm going to actually have to measure and make sure things stay the right size. And, rather than doing my poly-fill with just a seam opening - I'm going to have to figure out how to make the back of the pillow do the little flap thing so that you can take the cover on and off to wash. And, mother wants piping around the edges. So, it should be fun actually having to make a pillow that requires some level of talent. We'll see how it goes! ;)

I still have my curtain project to do for my guest room and some curtains for my mother's kitchen. I'm hoping to find some Christmas fabric on sale and make some re-usable cloth gift bags to sell in an etsy shop or something.

Robert Redford

When my grandmother made this dessert we called it "Chocolate Delight" - but when my sister-in-law arrived in the family she had a different name for it: Robert Redford. I'm not really sure WHY it's called that - but it stuck in our family. I made this dessert for a party the other night. (And we played Scattergories during the party and on the list that had "dessert" as a category our letter was "R" and I scored two points!)

So here is the very simple recipe for Robert Redford.

Crust:

One stick butter, melted

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Mix these ingredients together and spread in the bottom of a baking dish (9x13). Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool completely.

Mix 1 small tub of cool whip and 8 oz of cream cheese together until smooth. Spread on top of cooled crust.

Mix together one box of instant vanilla pudding and one box of instant chocolate pudding prepared according to the "pie filling' directions on the box. Spread on top of the cool whip mixture.

Spread one small tub of Cool Whip on top of that.

Top with a grated Hershey Bar or chopped pecans (or both!)

Chill overnight before serving. It will set and you can cut it like a sheet cake to serve.