Baking Day: German Chocolate Cake

When it comes to birthdays I am a die-hard fan of the birthday cake.  It's tradition and we have to make one from scratch for every birthday (they're so good).  My husband, Craig, is a big fan of coconut so when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted this year I wasn't at all surprised when he said German Chocolate Cake.  After the craziest Tuesday, and a Wednesday that took a close second, I finally was able to finish his cake on Thursday, two days after his birthday.  So sad, right?  I felt awful.  Thankfully, it was worth the wait. 

We tried this version from the Bridge Street Bakery in Vermont.  Instead of three layers I opted for two just to make things a little bit simpler.  I think it still has a stunning presentation.

Here's an interesting bit of information about German Chocolate Cake: it's not actually German.  In 1852 an employee of Baker's Chocolate Company, Sam German, created a new type of dark baking chocolate.  The company named the chocolate "German's Sweet Chocolate" in his honor.  Then, in 1957, a Texan housewife sent the recipe for a chocolate cake she had made using this chocolate in to a local newspaper, calling it "German's Chocolate Cake."  It was an instant success.  Since then, the possessive has been dropped but it's still a popular recipe today.

It's really rich and decadent and Craig loved it.  I think it'll be on the menu again next November.  Personally, I always choose carrot cake for my birthdays.  What's your favorite?

Happy 29!

Today is my love's 29th birthday.  Happy birthday, honey!  Would you all wish him a lovely day here in the comments?  Thank you, thank you!

Our boy and I love him quite a bit.  Can you tell? 

 

Halloween Costumes

Hello, my dears!  How was your weekend?  Did you do anything fun?  We had such a good time seeing friends, eating spooky treats and dressing up.  It was pretty much the Halloween pre-party.  And Friday night's costumes were 100% homemade.  Remember how we were dressing up as a tight rope walker and a circus bear?  Well, here they are. 

I should have taken the sweater off for the photo but it was cold and we were literally running out the door so I forgot.  My circus bear is pretty adorable, though, isn't he?  The slippers he's wearing are from Gap and we are both in love with them.  Such a great find.

Are you dressing up for Halloween?  What costumes will you be wearing?

{images by me}

Guest Posting

This week I consider myself a very lucky girl because I have the opportunity to be guest posting on Rachel's lovely blog, Black*Eiffel.  Be sure to drop by and visit!  Today I've shared some of my favorite reads for the fall season.  Leave a comment and tell me your favorite books.

Baking Day: Blackberry Turnovers

Hello, again, my dears.  How was your weekend?  What did you do?  I had too much fun reading through my new canning book searching for tasty recipes to try and shopping for goods at the farmers market.  The canning adventures are still underway, but I'll be sharing the results of my first few experiences later this week.

I also wanted to share the recipe for the treat I made my for my brother-in-law's birthday with you.  I opted to make blackberry turnovers because I know he's a fan of berries.  Plus, they seemed a little easier to pack, ship and share than a traditional cake (or even cupcakes) would have been. 

I made them by combining and altering little bits of two recipes: this filling and the crust noted below.  The only changes I made were to the filling, which went a little something like this:

Blackberry Turnovers

• 3 c. blackberries


• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all purpouse flour


• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon


• 8 tablespoons sugar


• This pastry dough


• 2 tablespoons milk

I followed all other instructions as written and was really pleased with the result.  The dough is a little bit sticky, but bakes up light and crispy. Plus, all this berry and pastry baking made my house feel and smell like fall, which I love.

What are your favorite things to bake in the fall?  What smells do you like to fill your home?

Birthday Party in a Box

This Saturday is my brother-in-law's birthday.  He's currently serving a mission for our church so we won't be able to celebrate with him in person.  Instead, I decided to send him a birthday party in a box so he can still have a fun celebration, no matter where he is. 

Inside the box are homemade party hats, birthday candles, blackberry turnovers (he's more of a pie person than a cake lover) and a tiny ping-pong game that can be set up on a regular table.  Now all he has to do is open it, add his roommates and enjoy.

Getting packages in the mail is always so much fun.  What are your favorite things to receive in the mail? 

A Peek at Our Living Room

This past weekend I took the time to restyle our bookcase.  It had been done, minorly, before but we'd since accumulated some new books, an unfortunate trophy (a fantasy football related mishap that must be displayed until a new "winner" is chosen), and a few other odds and ends.  The bookcase was starting to look a bit thrown together.  So I decided to try styling it by color and see how it looked.  I'm really happy with the results.   

My photography skills are still a bit lacking so please excuse the poor photos.  And the abundance of space on some of the shelves.  Someday they'll be filled with fun treasures.  All in good time.

Our DVDs used to be in plain view and looked a little out of place.  I purchased these DVD storage boxes to hide them in instead.  I also picked up a few magazine files while I was at it.  Everything is still easily accessible but out of sight when we don't need them.

Lastly, I finally got to hang my butterfly print from our trip to Maine.  I love it!  My boy likes to pick favorite butterflies from the print and ask what their names are.  Everybody's happy.

Would you ever style your bookcase by color?  There's an argument that it makes titles more difficult to find but I think its worth it for the overall appearance (we honestly don't go searching for titles too often and when we do, we know what the cover looks like).  What about you?