Christmas Cakes Adventure or i bake cake, i did, i did!

Soooooooo, after numerous attempts to get all the photos on here in some sort of order (actually, after editing down the gazillion photos, from my phone, by the by) here's my post about baking Christmas Cakes!

It all started because our pal, bock, the robber did a post on The Mammy's Christmas cake (click on the link to read it, if you haven't already) and I thought, "Cool, that would be fun!"

Little did I know that there's a reason people only make these things ONCE a year! I thought  I had everything I would need, but nooooooo, there are certain parts of this recipe that are not available in the USA or for sure, not in Georgia! Anywho, here's where the stuff started getting crazy involved. 

Eggs and butter, no problem! At room temperature? Ok, well yeah, that caused a slight delay in my mise en place. So, moving right along I kept on assembling the rest of the ingredients...flour, sugar, almonds (more about them later), dried apricots (after the first of many return store runs), dried cranberries, raisins, and sultanas. Now, I know you see those 2 gorgeous green apples and might be wondering, why are those apples there? well , that's what happens when you look at 2 different recipes and forget which one you're really using. You have a few extra items at the end of the day. But no matter, this is where it started getting complicated.

First, I had to MAKE stuff that people in the U.K. and Ireland can just BUY in a grocery store. I made mixed peel! From scratch! That alone was a multi step process that involved more steps than I thought (those were some of the pics that were nixed), but now I have a bag of frozen mixed peel that I will probably never use again! (But, in all fairness, it is really, really tasty!) 

this was step 3 of 4

mixed peel after an overnight drying

Another thing that I had to make was mixed spice! Did I mention that I made a few runs to pick up items I'd overlooked? I had every spice that was needed except ONE and now, for the life of me, I don't even remember which one it was, but on that day, I had a list. I am now in possession of my very own plastic 2 ounce tub of mixed spice.

the ground ginger was on the other counter

I'm guessing at this point, y'all are starting to grow weary of this pictorial journey through hell baking and are wondering, hold on, are the butter and eggs still out? if the mixed peel has to dry over night what ever is she going to do? The answer is yes, she left them out overnight and what was supposed to be an afternoon of fun turned into something else.

blanched almonds and their papery skins

 I blanched almonds and peeled them. I ground up raw almonds into flour. I chopped up crystallized ginger into tiny pieces. I made lemon zest. I made orange zest. Not to mention having to juice all of those lemons and oranges! I chopped dried apricots into tiny pieces. Glace cherries. Have you ever had to quarter those things? I made a mess. (yes, I took a picture of THAT to remind myself.) All of this was before we even got to the whiskey!

see that measuring cup? at one point that seemed to be just the right amount for ME to drink!

my biggest glass mixing bowl!

Now the fun part began. I had to add the Jameson to the fruit and mix it so that "every bit had a chance to indulge in the liquor." That is exactly what the recipe said! This was another overnight bowl of fun. So now, a one day party has become TWO.

everything ready to go on Day 2

 Let's take a breather here because the telling of this tale is making me weary all over again! How about a peek at BBC and BGM?

BBC helping his Dad on Thanksgiving

BGM decided to be Anna Wintour instead of Sherlock for Halloween

Ok, I'm ready. Where was I? Oh yeah, Day 2 of my Christmas Cake Adventure!

drunken fruit

At this point, everything was ready for mixing/assembling/baking. Or so I thought. These cakes required parchment lined pans that had an exterior wrap of folded brown paper tied with twine! Fortunately for me, I had both a HUGE roll of brown paper in the garage (don't ask) and handy, dandy kitchen twine on the kitchen counter. That bit of a job done, which by the way, if anyone knows a simple way to line round pans, please let me know. But I digress (as if y'all weren't used to that by now)...

I left out the pictures of my standing mixer creaming the butter and sugar together and then the adding of the SEVEN eggs. And, of course, the adding of all the other ingredients to the biggest stainless steel mixing bowl in my pantry. The end result was the two cakes you see here. And then there was this...

But the cakes went into the oven at:
 

And two hours later, we still had this:

We also had 2 cakes that needed to be covered (no pic, take my word for it) and baked for another hour! I used the last hour to clean up, I promise! I have to admit the aroma was heavenly and when the cakes came out, it was all I could do NOT to cut a slice before they cooled!

 

 

they really do look better in person than in this photo!

I resisted, but the next morning was a different story! The cakes are currently still wrapped and being doused fed with whiskey once  a week until December 24th when I'll bring one over to my neighbor. The other cake? Well, the MITM has asked that I save that for his return! We'll see how that goes...

Just so you know

there are a  LOT of photos

the post is coming....i hope later today, but here's a sample.

i am so not a food photographer!

stay tuned...

THERE WILL BE CAKE.

Something to Remember...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAPTAIN CHAOS!!

it seems like this was just yesterday

today the captain is 43! the MITM and i picked these photos to share with all y'all today because they speak to who he is and what he's become....

a son

a man

a husband

a dad

and with a lot of style and grace!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAPTAIN CHAOS!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Now here's what's up with Hellboy aka Baby Boy Chaos

Here's the backstory from captain chaos:

"While helping me prep my duck boat, Hellboy (aka BBC) informed me he didn't want to take a bath. I asked him what he wanted to do and he said, "Stay in boat and eat ducks." There's a good lad."

These kids are just too funny!
 

Someone is working on her costume!

It's Friday!!

I know it's been a few days weeks since my last post, but what can I say?

I've been a bit busy. You know how it goes. A great idea for a post hits you, but you're looking at a stack of (fill in the blank) and you can't stop. So what happens? Well, I know what happened to me. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING was written. (but y'all already knew that.) 

Since my last post, I've decided to get healthy and so, I joined the Wellness Center attached to a local hospital, signed up with a personal trainer, saw a nutritionist and also signed up for a water aerobics class! Who knew, right? My sudden burst of energy and enthusiasm for pain personal fitness came as a surprise to me, too!  

So, that's what I've been busy with these last couple of weeks. I'm finally getting used to a real schedule and how to manage my time for fun things again. So there will be more blogging and less collapsing on the floor after class! (i'm kidding...sort of)

~~~~~~~~ 

The MITM comes home soon, so that's a good thing! He's been really, really busy and is really, really ready to be at home for a little while. It's always much easier being in the same time zone.

~~~~~~~  

Here in the USA, we're getting ready for mid-term elections, so the TV has been filled with political ads that once again make me wonder WTF is going on here. Proven lies keep being televised in ads, as if repeating them over and over again will make them true. Regional dialects have gotten thicker and thicker, again, as if to say, "I'm one of y'all, not one of themmm." (I want to say to the screen, "Dude, you ARE in Washington! You ARE one of "them!" And if Congress isn't at work at 11:00AM, why aren't you doing something about that?) Who writes these things? When are politicians going to realize we aren't ALL as stupid as they seem to believe.  We have elected officials locally who are stirring the fear pot and actively encouraging ignorance! What is most surprising to me is that when these officials are called out on it, they too start on their "right to free speech" totally ignoring what that means and the consequences that follow. I could go on, but I'm guessing no matter where y'all live in this grand world of ours, you're experiencing some variation on this theme yourself.

I have given up trying to explain or even discuss these issues with these chuckleheads. I'm leaving that up to others who have the energy and/or time. I no longer have either!

 ~~~~~~~~~

So, off I go to read all the blogs I've missed. I'll see y'all soon!

A couple of movies

i hope y'all are smiling!

This is what it's all about! Thank you, John Oliver

No, I didn't send you an email about losing belly fat!

*sigh*

it's happened.

my email was hacked and it seems spam has been sent out in my name.  DO NOT OPEN any emails that seem to have been sent by me. 

if i'm going to email you, you'll see this in the subject line:

(real)

i'm truly sorry and hope this hasn't inconvenienced any of you or spread this spam any further!

thank you, super nana and Mago63 for letting me know. thanks also to Mr Matrix for insisting i change all my passwords immediately!

images from the road OR be prepared when the MITM is at the wheel

we left the plantation at 06:00h on tuesday. the idea was to be up and about at 04:00h...i think we were lucky we left here when we did. i drove the first leg up to the ATL (atlanta, in case you didn't know its local appellation) which is a boring as hell 4 hour tour, but the MITM had some work to do, so i got us the hell outta dodge while he dozed worked.

(by the by, if by any chance you're looking at buying a chrysler 200, DO NOT DO IT! we rented one for the drive and it, while a smooth ride, was a drag to drive.)

moving right along, we switched drivers in the ATL and began the trek up to louisville, kentucky BECAUSE the MITM had a meeting on wednesday. yes, he could have flown up tuesday, met on wednesday and probably flown out that very night, BUT...we (read: he) decided to drive. all jokes aside, i'm glad for the chance to see more of the states and also, the MITM spends so much time flying because of work, this is a relaxing break for him.

the plan was arrive early in louisville so that he could be part of conference call in comfortable surroundings aka the hotel room, but that sooooo didn't happen. OH, the call happened, but in a corner booth of a mac donald's off the highway. sweet mary sunshine, if i EVER needed a reminder why i don't frequent mickey d's...unfortunately, i was hungry and the rest, we shall never speak of again.

the call done, we continued on.

we arrived in the city too late to wander around, so we had dinner in the hotel restaurant, Sway and decided on their delicious spicy shrimp and grits! yep, we stayed true to the south, sweet pea! and it was GREAT! (no food pictures because i didn't take any...most of the time i was too hungry to even remember to document my meal...)  the evening was slow and easy and dinner was served the same way. we easily slipped into the groove.

wednesday found the MITM heading off to his meeting that wasn't too far away from the hotel, but took long enough that the morning was shot for sightseeing. there were additional meetings and calls and emails to deal with, AND this was a business trip, so i took advantage of the downtime to just read/sleep/relax until he finished. then we had a wander around town. 

the first photo is the louisville slugger factory and museum. we bought a genuine louisville slugger bat for super nana (her request) with her name inscribed and her birthdate! we bought shirts for BGM and BBC because we're goofy like that! (there's no crying in baseball for BGM and the original louisville slugger logo for BBC.)

the last two are in the old lousiville historic district. we only touched on a little of the incredible sights in this city, but the bit we did see was for the most part lovely. the reality of life in the states is that it isn't all picture perfect so, we saw those parts of the city, too. poverty is always a neighbor to wealth, but there is always hope in the faces of children. we saw that in the children getting off their school bus in the projects. i see that everywhere because i look for it and because it is the one thing that keeps me from losing faith in my country.

but, i digress...

dinner our last night in town was at z's oyster bar!  if you're ever in louisville, make sure you have dinner here! service was warm and friendly, the food delicious, and it was the perfect spot to have dinner and watch a HUGE thunderstorm soak the city!

the next morning, we took off for our return home, this time at a far more leisurely pace, first stopping in nashville, tennessee.  we booked a regular room at lowes-vanderbilt (across the street from vanderbilt university) and were surprised when we checked in to find that we'd been UPGRADED to a luxury suite!! i'm only mentioning this because it was SPECTACULAR and totally unexpected. in fact, when we inquired as to WHY, we were told because it's your lucky day!   while we waited for our room to be ready, we sat in the hotel bar, Mason's. i think this sums up our thoughts...

i have to admit, i did take pictures of the two rooms and the balcony, but after looking at them i realized that because i didn't use the panorama feature, it just looked like a lot of furniture in an oddly shaped room (check out the hotel link for professional photos).
 
i know that nashville is known as music city and the capital of country music, and we did drive around, but that wasn't why we were anxious to visit. if y'all have learned anything about us, then y'all know we enjoy southern cuisine! stopping here meant we could get a reservation for the same night at Husk. check out their site because i can't even begin to do it justice. in fact, i'm sighing now just remembering the evening! the restaurant is housed in a re-furbished victorian house and is a grand, yet casual, dining experience! nothing stuffy or pretentious here, i promise you.

saturday morning and room service (because it seemed the right thing to do in a luxury suite) before hitting the road for chattanooga, made famous by a variety of things, but this is one of my favorites!

by the by, there's a sign on the highway/interstate that even tells you you're in the home of the chattanooga choo choo!

during our short trip, work reared its head more than once and sort of derailed excursions around Nooga, but we know we'll visit again. dinner our last night on the road was at easy bistro & bar.  we didn't take many photos this trip. . .but next time, we'll wander along the riverfront and really see the town!

BUT, the best meal of this trip? 

stopping at fresh market in savannah and picking up a baguette, some salami and cheese, and fresh flowers! 

we had the wine at home already.

on the road

...just wanted all y'all to know.

there will be pictures....


i think.

“What day is it?" It's today," squeaked Piglet. My favorite day," said Pooh.” ....or HOLY MOLEY, BGM IS TWO!!!

Yep, the MITM and I were out in lalaland because BGM is now TWO!!

we weren't out there for a whole month, just 4 days, but i've been a tiny bit busy. ok, maybe the MITM was busy, i've just been a tad lazy about writing. super nana asked me yesterday why i hadn't posted a birthday blog post for BGM (BabyGirlMatrix if you're new to the blog or forgot). so here are some pics!

dinosaurs ruled the day

yep, cupcakes must be eaten this way

tigger was a hit!

BBC claimed the pool early!

cali kids LOVE the water

we spent all morning saying BIG TWO DAY!!

even a loosely themed party needs theme specific plates (said every grandma ever!)

he's thinking "average speed" and she's thinking "go faster!"

cousins pausing for a very, very brief moment

super nana, BGM, and the chocolate cupcake

water tables have a very different meaning when you're 2!

best cupcakes EVER!

thank goodness for "Thomas, the Train" and netflix!

the winnie the pooh birthday party was fun, the kids had a blast and so did all of us! the last photo and video were taken the day before we left when we did our grandparents thing and watched the little ones for a few hours. (The Kid was with us, too, but she's a tween now, so i only post her pics when she says it's ok!) yep, ran them ragged (read: we were beat!) and then we all went to dinner at el cholo our all time favorite must visit whenever we're in lalaland restaurant!

right now, i'm sitting in a hotel room thinking how much i love air conditioning, so you can guess i'm somewhere in the south, just not at home! it's a work trip for the MITM and i'm the long distance driver, not in city, so i think i'll just mosey on down to the bar restaurant...and wait for him to return.

see you tomorrow back at the plantation!

it's wednesday and exactly 1 month since my last post!

big deal, right?

i started working on this post 3 days ago, but of course, it had a different name, but life intervened and here we are. a blogger i had just started reading a few months ago has thrown in the towel because some of his readers seem to have decided to be asshats (my choice of descriptor) and blogging stopped being fun as a result. i know that feeling! i remember when someone decided to disrupt my blog and attack me personally, and also my family. it was ugly and hurtful and we shall not revisit that time again. i still do not understand why some people feel the need to play that game and/or just be ugly, as they hide behind their computer screen.  i'll turn the page now...

i think it's time for good news.

there's a good read over at mr. moose's blog about books/literature/what you're reading. check it out when you have a moment.

the MITM is home and we're doing well here on the plantation. it's been mad hot here, but it is the Dirty South and it is summertime, so what else could it possibly be, right?  everyone around here seems to think he's on vacation, but that is so not the case.  in fact, he's sort of working right now...

The Boss

that's it for today, sweetpeas, BUT here is our moment of cuteness:

BGM is almost 2!

BBC enjoys his sundae!

xoxoxoxo for today! i'll see all y'all soon!