Goldy's Dream Cake

This is one of my favorite recipes and is ALWAYS a hit at anything I bring it to. And really, you do need to bring this somewhere or you will gain 450 pounds eating it all yourself... trust me on this. I generally serve this as a coffeecake/breakfasty food, but would also be a wonderful dessert.

Goldy's Dream Cake
(from Catering to Nobody, a grrreat series!)

Crumb Mixture
4 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. butter, cut up

Cake
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
6 c. crumb mix
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c. sour cream
2 tsp. almond extract

Filling
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1c. raspberry preserves

Topping
2/3 c. raw almonds
2 c. crumb mixture

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 2 9"/10" spring form pans.
2. Mix flour and sugar. Cut in butter pieces to make 6 cups crumb mix.
3. Blend eggs, sour cream, and almond extract. Stir into flour/crumb mix until smooth and thick. Spread over sides and bottom of prepared pans.
4. To make filling, beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Spread half over each pan filled with cake batter. Top cream cheese with 1/2 cup (or more) of preserves.
5. To make topping, chop almonds and mix them with 2 cups reserved crumb mixture. Sprinkle over preserves, half on each cake.
6. Bake cakes for 45-55 minutes. Test with a toothpick for doneness (though this is tough with the filling!).
7. Cool cakes on racks, then cover with foil and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Max Attack

Ruby and I took Max to a local salon for a clip and curl (minus the curl) last Friday. I had originally told the stylist that I really wanted to keep some of the curls, but then I kept saying, well, maybe just a little bit shorter... I think we better take a little more off here... yes, I definitely want it short over the ears... You get the picture. Before long, I was no longer holding a baby on my lap, but this handsome gent!

It sure is hard to let go of all the baby stuff-- curls, cuddles, rocking together. But, then again there's always joy in the new stages. Max loves to sing ALL THE TIME. His favorite songs are "This Old Man" and "ABCs". He loves to wrestle, play chasing games, dig through Ruby's drawers and pull out all her toys. He can't get enough of his ball popper or his semi-truck. He's truly a joy to everyone he meets!

I had to include this picture of Jared and Max together. I was a bit surprised to find that Max had ended up with a haircut pretty similar to Daddy's! Both of them are wavy on top and just too cute! I sure am thankful for my two best guys!

Feeling Hungry Friday!

Here are a few fun quizzes to launch you into the weekend. We've got rain predicted here... Thanks Tropical Storm Hannah! Maybe we'll manage to get down to business shopping for new beds for the kids. And I've got a couple of sewing projects I sure would like to tackle!! Maybe rainy days aren't so bad after all...especially when Daddy's around to wrestle with the kids!

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

You Are a Ham Sandwich

You are quiet, understated, and a great comfort to all of your friends. Over time, you have proven yourself as loyal and steadfast. And you are by no means boring. You do well in any situation - from fancy to laid back. Your best friend: The Turkey Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Grilled Cheese Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

Opinions anyone?

I don't know if anyone ever looks at my Shelfari Shelf (on the sidebar), but if you do, you might have noticed this book, The Shack by William Young. I started reading it a few weeks ago and was bawling my eyes out from about page 2. The thought of losing one of my kids in some violent way (or any way at all) really challenged my thinking. How would I react to something like this. Would I blame God or lean on Him?

The Shack challenged a lot of gut feelings I've had about God. Am I going to keep God on His throne (where He rightly belongs) or allow Him to become intimately close to me (where He also rightly belongs!). I totally resonated with Mac's statement that he always thought the whole pearly gates, golden roads thing sounded a bit boring compared to the beauty here. God just did such an amazing job creating this universe that I can't imagine anything better. The explanations and descriptions given in this book, while not fact, gave me a different insight at what heaven might be like... totally amazing, never a let down, and most importantly a place where I'll be with Jesus. He'll always have the time for me personally that I need. While I know in my head that this is true now, it is harder to hear His voice and feel His touch here.

As much as I appreciated some aspects of the book, there were others that I totally disagreed with. As much as I believe that God loves and welcomes everyone on earth to come to Him, I do believe that it's explicitly clear in the Word that the only way to heaven is through Jesus (John 14:6). There are not many roads leading to God, only one.

This book has caused a lot of stir, all of which I was totally oblivious of until after I started reading the book. If you've read it, what did you think? If you haven't, what have you heard?

Our Goal...

Our goal for our weekend getaway was to make everyone think that we were on our honeymoon. I don't know what it is about newlyweds (excessive PDA probably!), but everyone just knows that you are on your honeymoon. I remember when we were on our honeymoon, it seemed like every other person was offering to take our picture. Alas, we weren't exactly able to recreate that, but we did make some great memories!

After a relaxing evening at the Providence Biltmore, we headed down towards Newport, stopping on the way for some miniature golf. They had this gas powered volcano that went off once an hour--it really caught us off guard the first time, but an hour later we were ready to snap a photo!

Here's Jared goofing around inside the volcano. He spent the time waiting for folks ahead of us by making crazy putts.

I had a chance to relax and look at a magazine while Jared enjoyed the driving range.

Jared and I on the Adirondack II. It was a really fun cruise and we were able to see a lot of Narragansett Bay.

Apparently I was enthralled with the crew raising the sails! I was glad we were just along for the ride--sailing is hard work!

Here's Chevy Chase's little dingy. Actually, it's enormous. The boat towards the back is your average speed boat, for scale. We both wondered how often he actually takes the boat out...

Clingstone, the House on the Rocks near the mouth of Narragansett Bay was built in 1902-1905 by Lovering Wharton, whose family summer home had been condemned in order to build Fort Wetherill. Three and a half stories tall and built for rough weather, Clingstone was damaged badly by a hurricane in 1938 and sat wrecked and forlorn for decades. In 1961 architect Henry Wood and his first wife, Joan bought the place as a renovation project for $3600. The place was a mess. All 65 windows were smashed and the roof was torn open. The house was far more than the couple could handle alone and friends, collegues and new aquaintances were recruited to help. Today you can rent the house for a huge fee. To learn lots more about this house and its history, check out this New York Times story.

There were many America's Cup 12m boats out for a sail. Apparently you can pay a heap of money to work your bum off sailing one of these beauties. Jared was wishing we could have done that, but I was just happy to take in the sights!

Castle Hill was built by marine biologist, Alexander Agassiz, in 1874 as a summerhouse. Today it is an inn, busy hosting weddings and other fabulous functions. To learn more about the inn and its history, click here.

This structure, designed by the young Jackie Kennedy, is part of Hammersmith Farm, her family's summer home on the bay. Jackie designed the building as a gift to her mother to use as an art studio. In the end, the top floor was used as a studio and the remainder of the house was used as a giant playhouse for Jackie! I think her playhouse is quite a bit bigger than our whole apartment!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few of the sights with us. Anytime you feel like visiting, Newport is just over an hour away!

Fish and Chips with Tartar Sauce

This meal is a guaranteed quiet one. In a house with two toddlers, this is a rarity! The only commentary I receive is, "Mommy, this is delicious! Can I have some more!" Music to my ears. I generally pair this with some kind of green salad and some cut fruit. Hope you have the same success that I've had!

Fish and Chips with Tartar Sauce

Fish Fry:

vegetable oil

3 c. shredded wheat, crushed

1 c. flour

1 packet Ranch dressing mix

1/8 tsp salt

1 lb. halibut, cut into 1"x3" strips

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Chips:

1 lb. frozen fries

seasoned salt

Tartar Sauce:

1/4 c. sweet relish, strained

1 tsp. yellow mustard

1 c. mayonnaise

1/2 lemon, juiced

salt

pepper

1. Mix all sauce ingredients and refrigerate until serving.
2. Heat oil to 350F.
3. Put crushed cereal in a gallon zip-loc bag.
4. Mix flour, Ranch mix, and salt in a shallow bowl.
5. Coat fish with flour mixture, then egg, then cereal.
6. Cook until golden, approximately 5 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, prepare frozen fries according to directions on package.

Serve and enjoy your peaceful dinner!

One Fantabulous Day

It's time I was getting dinner made, but I just HAD to share some pictures from our day at the beach. It was the perfect Labor Day retreat and we just had an awesome time...

Here's the location: Revere Beach! Revere Beach is the nation's first public beach, established in 1896. Around the turn of the century, the boardwalk was lined with shops and even a fairly large amusement park called, Wonderland. Today, Wonderland is a racetrack and there are many shops, but the beach is still miles long, clean, and beautiful.

Ruby, Max, and Jared spent hours building sandcastles. They made some "mud" and kept piling and piling it up. Then we decorated it with shells, bones, and seaweed. We even added a few live mussels and snails. Ruby had mercy on them though and threw them out to sea!

Another view of the castle while their building it. Ruby was ferrying buckets of water to fill a pit where Jared would mix up the "mud".

Guess who LOVED the sand this time!?! He was totally coated in sand from the time we got there and probably ate a fair amount too. It sure was fun having him enjoy it this time!

Ruby always loves the beach and today was no exception. She just didn't want to take time out for Mommy to snap a picture, so we got an action shot.

Mommy and Max hanging out under the umbrella.

Jared and Ruby had a great time swimming.

The castle decorated with Jared and Ruby in the distance.

Ruby riding the whale... I mean Daddy!

This was the first time we thought to bring our big umbrella and it made ALL the difference. We were able to enjoy the beach for almost four hours--definitely a record breaker for us.

Hope you all have enjoyed your day as much as we have! Tune in tomorrow for Tasty Tuesday...