Red Velvet

So in the midst of all this baby talk I forgot to mention that poor, neglected Nathan had his golden birthday last month. 28 on the 28th. I just so happened to be off work that whole day and decided it was my mission to become a domesticated housewife in the name of entering motherhood quite soon (see? there I am again with the baby talk).

No, I did not cook a four course meal. Puh-leez. As if I'm THAT crazy. I told him I would bake a cake for him in any flavor.....from scratch.

Please pause on those last two words for a moment.

Baking a cake from scratch is no freaking joke. Practically Martha Stewart material, right? If I could achieve this feat I would officially label myself 'domesticated.' Lots of pressure ensued especially when I realized that not only Nate would consume this project of mine, but my Whips-Things-Up-From-Scratch-Everyday-Like-It's-Nothing mother-in-law would also taste my attempt at domestication. Scary stuff, right?

Nate chose red velvet cake which is incredibly cute and a little touching, considering that my side of the family is all over this type of cake. Memaw makes it every single year for birthdays, my mom usually makes (or buys) one for me if possible, and I love that it's a little quirky and unique. Plus it's really pretty, so that's a bonus, but would it be easy to make? Hmmmm.

So I did what any wanna-be domestic goddess would do: I emailed Memaw immediately and asked for very specific instructions. And because she is the most bomb Grandma in the world, she emailed me back right away. Yes, my Grandma is the queen of internets, didn't you know? She's on Facebook, emails me nearly daily, AND she can cook literally anything in the world. I know, it's insane.

So I thought I would share this 'family secret' recipe with you lovelies today. Don't say I didn't warn you....I asked for 'details' and it was so worth it.


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1 package fudge marble cake recipe [18-1/4 oz]
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk [instead of buying buttermilk, add either 1 1/2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to the milk and stir] let set for about a minute [I do this before I start putting the cake batter together]

1 bottle [1 oz] red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla
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Preheat oven: 350

Grease[ or use a spray] and then coat with flour, 2- 9" cake pans.

Combine cake mix [there are two packages in the box] and baking soda and stir.

Add eggs, buttermilk, food coloring and vanilla
BLEND on low until moistened.
BEAT on high for 2 minutes, scraping sides occasionally

Pour into the cake pans [some people use a 9 by 13 baking dish, but the two layers are very pretty

BAKE 30-35 minutes [I check at 30, touch the top and if it bounces, it's ready to come out]

COOL for 10 minutes BEFORE REMOVING from pans

BEFORE removing from pans to a wire cooling rack, I run a sharp knife around the edge and gently turn onto the racks.

****While cake is baking begin making the frosting

FROSTING:
5 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk

1 cup butter or margarine [softened/ room temp]
[I zap in microwave about 10 seconds if I forget to set out the butter from refrig]
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla


In a small bowl, put 2 T. of flour, ADD enough of the milk to make a thick paste, stirring all the time. Add more flour and then more milk, continuing to stir and add till all of milk/flour are in the mixture. [Reason: the flour has a tendency to lump if put it and milk together all at one time]

Put in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil,[medium heat] STIRRING CONSTANTLY. It will thicken quickly and resemble a custard [ if slightly lumpy--not to worry:)]

Remove from heat. Stir. Cover. Refrigerate [ I put mine in freezer and stir every two or three minute till LUKEWARM to COOL.

WHILE COOLING:
in mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.

ADD chilled milk mixture and BEAT[ on high] 10 minutes, till fluffy.
ADD vanilla, stir

FROST between layers and top and sides. [I often frost only between the layers and top. Makes it very pretty by showing the "red velvet." Also, makes a thicker frosting between the one layer and the top.
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You guys. This took me literally 2 hours to make. No joke but it was pretty good. I'm critical of my own cooking but I guess if my almighty mother-in-law said it was good I should believe her palate before mine.

Here was the scene of the crime. Did I mention that I am in love with my KA mixer? I want to marry it.


When I saw the recipe called for an entire bottle of red food coloring I was a little scared. But oh, so pretty!


And the frosting? Freaking insanely difficult to make. Worth it but really hard. Not going to lie...anything that requires constant stirring over heat, then a freezer, then certain mixing techniques is way out of my league.


And don't make fun of me but we don't even have a real cake pan, so I used a circular pie pan instead. I'm such a newbie.


Isn't she lovely?


Happy birthday to you!


Mmmmmm. It was worth the two hours slaving away in the kitchen, I suppose.




So have you ever tried red velvet cake before? If so, are you in a southern state? My in-laws think it might be more of a southern thing because it is very uncommon up here....I'm not sure if that's right or not.

But if you are feeling particularly daring one day and have a few hours to spare, go for it. And take lots of pictures of this red beauty.

Fourteen Weeks

The big one four. A lemon. Almost 3.5 inches. Wow. Just wow.

And are you ready for this belly pic? (I don't think you're ready for this jelly)
Perhaps it's the fact that I was on an airplane for a few hours. Or that I had McDonalds for dinner, ice cream and pizza for lunch, and not a lot of sleep. But one way or another this is a certified bloat fest!

Also, if you look right below my waist band you'll see a true pregnant uterus sticking out through the all-powerful bloat.

Makes me want to look at all of my belly shots from the first trimester to compare....

I've already started my second tri grid...I have a feeling it will be a lot more impressive than my first.

Best moment of the week: Finding the energy to 'run' two times in three days. This is huge. I feel like I've returned to an active lifestyle and am less of a lazy bum.

Epiphany of the week: Next time I fly on an airplane I'll be almost 21 weeks. Perhaps the lack of personal space will bug me even more then than it did this time. And my belly might be huge.

Most entertaining statemet of the week: From Keri after I'd already seen her for two days: "OMG, you're boobs really are huge!" and earlier that same day: "Holy cow, I think I actually do see a little bump!" as she felt my tummy mid-stride, as we shopped at the mall. Perhaps it was just hitting her after two days of seeing me? :)

Obsessions? Eating poorly. Hence the pizza, ice cream, and Mickey Dees. Oh, but it felt so good (before I vowed to detox my body of all junk food over the next few days).

What I'm most looking forward to this week: Finding out the sex. I scheduled the appointment for the big US....October 28! Unfortunately the lady wouldn't schedule it any earlier so we have to wait until I'm 20.5 weeks. Ugh. I was so hoping for 18 weeks. Oh well.

What I miss the most: I missed partaking in the vino with my girls this weekend. But I made up for it in pizza and chick flicks....totally partook in those.

Symptoms: Nothing much other than gas and slight fatigue. And I got a killer headache one night when I didn't eat dinner right away. That was awful.

Milestones: Baby is sucking his thumb, wiggling his toes and making urine all while looking more and more human each day. Not only that but his body now boasts 'lanugo' which is a warm downy coat of hair for warmth. Aw, sweetie....grow some extra follicles if you can. You are being born during a Wisconsin winter.

So that's that.
But onto the weekend!
You've heard me talk many-a-times about Keri on this blog, and Allison was another one of my bridesmaids who just so happens to live many states away from me. All three of us went to PT school together and bonded through some major life challenges along the way. These girls are the epitome of true friends and even though we might only see each other once or twice a year it's never hard to pick up right where we left off.

So Allison lives in Maryland with her adorable four year old daughter, Madelyn. Keri and I have talked about visiting them since the day we graduated. We finally took the plunge and bought plane tickets this spring and I'm SO glad we did. What a fun weekend, albeit exhausting!

We played dress up with Madelyn's clothes...


and if you are wondering, 'How is Keri doing?' well here she is....getting stuck in a Kimono. Perfect:) Plus she's blonde again with longer locks and is incredibly happy.


And went to a nice 'Maryland style' dinner.


This means we had ginormus, shelled crab that required real physical labor to eat. Tons of fun but a lot of work and definitely not something us Midwesterners had ever seen.

See? You even use a freaking hammer. That shows just hard core these East Coasters are.


We got to see Madelyn play in her first soccer game and it was quite hysterical. Nothing like a bunch of four year olds running around and falling down and crying to entertain.


Isn't she beautiful?

So yeah, these pictures are awful and grainy and I hate that I didn't bring my SLR but the little point and shoot was all I could handle for this trip.

Whew. Lots of catching up on this post. Kind of makes me want a nap or perhaps a cookie...

And then come the nursery posts!

I think I've mentioned this a few times, but researching pretty pictures of nurseries is my new favorite hobby. Seriously. There are some majorly talented mommies out there decorating the heck out of their nurseries. So far I'm still on the 'I need to figure out my style' path and haven't committed to anything just yet. Since we will find out the sex of our baby part of me wants to wait to decide on colors until then, but the other part of me wants to get the show on the road and make the nursery mostly gender neutral, with a few gender-specific touches later on.

I've seen a billion gorgeous nurseries in my research but there is one that takes the cake for me. I would have never been brave enough to use this many bright colors (and I'll probably still chicken out) but please look at this awesomeness from Jennyology and tell me it's not the bomb. It's truly inspirational for me.

{All images posted with permission from Jennyology}

Those curtains! That apple green wall color! The touches of robin's egg blue! Handmade framed prints on the wall! I am truly in love, you guys. It's not too matchy-matchy, it has eccentric elements, and above all: NO PASTELS. This is a must for me no matter what. I'm not a fan, end of story.

This awesome nursery makes me want to use apple green, robin's egg blue, and maybe a touch of orange or pink for our colors. Thoughts? Maybe I'd keep the wall more of a neutral tone and then use these bright colors for other elements in the room (bedding, curtains, rug, chair, etc).

But here's the challenge, dear readers: we live in a duplex built in 1923. We have natural wood doors, frames, windows, baseboards, etc....plus lighter colored hardwood floors. Which is totally fine if you are into the traditional look and I can appreciate the fact that the wood is 'pretty' and all of that. But both Nate and I love modern and clean decor which includes bright white doors, baseboards and windows. It's ironic because the downstairs unit where my in-laws live has all painted white wood. We adore it and my in-laws despise it so much that they are currently HAND STRIPPING every last bit of the white paint. This means they detach the doors and strip all the paint off, then stain and polyurethane the thing. Repeat about a hundred times for the baseboards, windows, and other woodwork and you have two very determined in-laws to make the home more traditional.

So I guess painting the nursery woodwork is out then, huh? Like I'd even ask....we'd be written out of the will for sure.

This is the current state of the nursery. It's our second bedroom which is both our guest room and 'office.' I have come to terms with the fact that we will lose the actual bed for our guests (ahem, Missouri visitors always welcome!) and will probably stick with an air mattress in our family room. Or possibly a pull out couch but more on that later. The computer will be moved into our living room which Nate hates but hey---I want a REAL nursery. Not some half-arsed room that serves multiple functions. I'm not sure why but I really feel a strong need to make this nursery a true baby haven.


So please ignore the awful panoramic shot....I really need a wide angle lens, huh?

The room has potential, no doubt. I mean the adorable notched arch above the window seat? It adds unique character. The cute little window on the right? Love it. And I do love our hardwood floors. Sure the room is small and not totally our style but we can make it work without a doubt. Like a good friend said, if Manhattan-ites can have nurseries in minute apartments we can make a great nursery out of our limited space.

But do you think going with bold bright colors in such a traditional home with natural woodwork will look completely ridiculous? I want to make it very 'us' and don't want to force the nursery to fit the duplex style instead of our style. After all, we'll probably only live here for a year after the baby is born so it won't be the kid's long term room or anything.

Ah, the decisions. Thoughts much appreciated. And stay tuned for furniture ideas and more inspiration.