Saturday, February 28, 2009

Daring Bakers Challenge #13



The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.


Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.




2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds.



Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C



9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet. I checked the cake at 25 minutes and it was very dry. I would begin chicking the temp at 15 minutes if I did it again.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.





Light, airy vanilla ice cream was the perfect accompaniment for this rich fudge-like cake.


Wendy's Ice Cream Recipe
Vanilla Philadelphia Style Recipe
Preparation Time: 5 minutes

2 cups (473 ml) of half and half (1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of whole, full fat milk)
1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
2/3 (128 grams) cup sugar
Dash of salt
1 (12 grams) tablespoon of vanilla

Mix all ingredients together (we do this in a plastic pitcher and mix with an emulsifier hand blender-whisking works too).
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer
Mix in your ice cream maker as directed.



If you have never made homemade ice cream and you have the ability, please, please do this for your family. It is so easy and it will make them love you forever. The above recipe is "Philadelphia-style", not because I'm partial to the city, although I am, but because it doesn't require you to make a cooked custard for your ice cream. Easy, easy, easy and very delicious. And please, I beg you, use real vanilla beans. But, you already know how I feel about that.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

A Few Random Things

As you can see our little window seedlings have grown into a veritable window jungle!
David is holding the pumpkin sprout and Dabney has the green beans. We also just got some more seeds~ broccoli, watermelon, corn, cucumbers, peas and zucchini. The kids have loved this so much. We can't wait until we can take them outside in a few months.



I broke down yesterday and bought one of those 6 cube wire organizers to keep my 12x12 scrapbook paper nice and neat and I am totally in love with the results!


I printed the color names on cardstock tags and then ran them through my laminator (because I am obsessed with my laminator) and then punched small holes in the tags and attached them to the wire shelves with pipe cleaners (although the label on the bag called them "chenille stems" and that makes them sound much fancier and much less kindergarten-ish).



As you can tell from the pile up above, I'm still sorting all of my lovely paper, but it is so great to know what I have and where I have it, that is to say, at my fingertips.

Friday, February 20, 2009

A Little Prenatal Bonding


Well, here we are 23 weeks along, and Sweet Little Guy is growing right on schedule. I'm full into my maternity clothes and visibly pregnant to the world. Unfortunately, when people hear that we have our 3rd boy in a row arriving in Spring, usually they offer me some sort of condolences, not to mention the just plain rude remarks. Even families who embrace lots of kids say something like, "Oh wow. Three boys... that's... exciting..." Which usually means something like, "I'm so glad that I am not you!" It's true that little boys take a special understanding, and that follows logically because well taught little boys turn into extraordinary men, so of course you will have to put in lots of work and prayer and discipline to reap wonderful fruit later.

Anyway, with all the hubbub about another boy, it brings me great joy to feel his kicks and acrobatics (mostly in the evenings and after I eat), to buy him little treats, and call him by his name~ which I might reveal to blogland later. Although he has a nice amount of hand-me-downs from his brothers, I feel like he still needs a few new things, so when I saw the little outfit last weekend at a store closing sale, I couldn't resist. I also have started and almost finished his baby quilt, which is made from little soft fabric remnants I've collected for a while. And since we will continue to cloth diaper, I made him a few dozen big, soft, turned and topstitched wipes. (It's the green spotted pile in the middle of the picture.) It is so sweet for me to think that in a few short weeks he will be here. His brother and sister talk about him all the time and can't wait to hold him. Some of my favorite baby memories of the others are at night, when the house is quiet and the big kids are in bed (I think this began with David) and our nightowl baby and I can snuggle together on the couch or take warm bath in the little tub in the kitchen by the heater vent. I'm so looking forward to meeting our Little Guy~ the eternal work God does in his life is so worth a few years of mine!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Valentine's Day Candy Massacre






"Can you please stop taking my picture now?"

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Dabney's Birthday

This picture is only to prove that yes, indeed we did go to the bowling alley again, like the last few birthdays. Although Dabney had the highest score (with bumpers) David was the crack up this time. Everytime he'd get his ball from the ball return, he'd say thank you to it. And I tried to get the look on his face everytime he's bowl his ball down the lane. He'd turn around and just have this serious game face on~ no smile, no jumping up and down like Dabney. Almost as if he wanted to say, "Bring it on!"


I wanted to get a group shot, but they kept giving me crazy looks. And after all, Josh just wanted to get down to the cake business.

But these two are always more than happy to oblige. David said, Happy Birthday, Dabney" all day long, and Dabney would just smile shyly and say, "Happy Birthday, David".


Five big wishes for our big girl!

Friday, February 06, 2009

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!


My dear Dabney,

Can five years really have passed since our sweet girl was delivered into our arms? It seems like the years have disappeared and here you are~ a big, beautiful, thoughtful girl big enough to have earrings and begin kindergarten.

God has blessed you so much, Sweetie. Your brothers love you so much and genuinely enjoy being around you. They love to play with you because you are kind and fair. In fact, you are so good to your brothers (even though sometimes they can bug you) that God has decided to bless another new brother by giving him you as a big sister! You have grown so much in your character: your patience is improving, your self control is developing (homeschooling is a huge help) and God has given you a beautiful heart for other people. It blesses me so much to see you identify obedience and disobedience, like what you said just last night when you knew you disobeyed, "I'm just like Eve, huh?"



You are a genuine help to you mom and dad, and we are thankful for you everyday. You are also growing in your practice of peacemaking and conflict resolution. This is a tough one, but for the oldest child this is especially important. We are blessed to be your parents, Dabney. We had no idea what we were getting into when we found out that we were expecting you, but God is so faithful and although we had some hard times when you were younger, the fruit we see in your life is remarkable.


We are so grateful for our Dabney. With our 3rd son in a row coming in June the thought can be intimidating, but we know this is God's blessing to us. And I know that God gave you to us first~ on purpose. You are a help already to us and you tell me everyday how you can't wait to help with your new baby brother. And I know you will.

May your heart grow in God's grace every day throughout your 6th year, and may He bless you one day with a daughter as delightful and beautiful as He has given to us.

With so much love,
Your Mama and Daddy


Thursday, February 05, 2009

Window Seedlings

I think every kindergarten classroom across the planet has something like this in their window.

We chose to grow the seeds in the canning jars instead of a pretty terracotta pot so the kids can see the roots develop. They are so thrilled every morning to see the progress in their tiny window garden.


Monday, February 02, 2009

An Addition for our New Addition pt. 6


Ok, welcome to our 4th bedroom. I've hesitated to do this post for almost a week, but the room really isn't done yet (will it ever be?) and I'm still lacking energy and motivation from the flu we all had last week. Our builder friends finished trimming and texturing last Tuesday and it looks pretty great~ as great as texture can look, that is, but that's another post. We also played musical beds with David this last weekend and moved him into a spare toddler bed we had in the crawlspace and moved his convertible crib into the new room. Ultimately we're looking for bunkbeds for the boys' room like this, hopefully with a trundle underneath one day to fit all 3 brothers in the same room.

So the boxspring is on the frame, but I'm waiting for the zippered mattress pad to arrive before I add the mattress and linens.


The crib linens are in the washer right now. See, I didn't even move my dropcloth out of the way for this picture. I think the books will be moving out of the room, but they're here for now. There you have it. I'll be working on it more this week, but the laundry really needs my attention today.
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