Confessions of a lazy wannabe homesteader
We’re on our way home as I write. It’s been a long, kinda chilly weekend but much loved as the Mr and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. It was a great way to celebrate. Pictures and more to follow as soon as I get a chance to sift through the bazillion photos we took. For now I leave you with a pretty waterfall we visited while in the UP.
I spent the majority of my Labor Day weekend rushing around trying to clean the house in preparation for Sunday’s birthday party for the teenager new adult in the family. I really need someone with me at all times to constantly remind me of how bad of an idea big parties are. It’s not that I don’t like people… it’s just that I really am kind of a crappy hostess. And I stress out way too much over trying to have everything taken care of.
Anyway. The party went along fine. The house was packed, we had good food, lots of cake, and I think the kid made out pretty well. I was so busy with everything that I completely forgot to take time out for pictures.
After the constant rushing around from the festivities I needed a break, so Monday I kicked back with some knitting. A little Baby Sophisticate for another friend expecting twins. It’s a really fast knit and really adorable in this yarn (Plymouth Encore Tweed Worsted in Grape Jam). I’ll have this one done tonight, then it’s onto the second one (in a pretty matching gray).
Most of us know the story of Rumpelstiltskin, yes? With the maiden whose father tells the king she can spin gold from straw?
Tonight we had a little family party at our house, and one of my nephews seemed fascinated by my spinning wheel and wanted to touch it. None of us were even sure he knew what he was looking at but he, very matter-of-fact, exclaimed “It makes gold!” To which I laughed and replied “Well, I guess that must make me Rumpelstiltskin!”
Never one to turn down showing an interested child how something works, I pulled my wheel out better and explained how it worked. I even let him treadle a bit with me. He so carefully worked with me to turn the wheel, watching the yarn uptake onto the bobbin. And just before he decided he was done with the process he looked up and asked “Where’s the gold?”
If only, little dude. If only.
I’ve had this bee in my bonnet lately over tiny cakes.
You see, I love cake like I love snow: It’s good for one day, and after that it needs to go away. Cake for a little celebration, whether it be a birthday or an anniversary or just as a special little treat, is fabulous. Cake the day after (or, as it happens around our house, for days and days and days) not so much. I just want my cake for the day and then I want it to go away. So, of course, I’ve been thinking a lot on baby cakes. Small little one-day affairs that are the perfect little treat, but don’t stick with you for longer than necessary. Bigger than a cupcake, but not so big as a regular-sized cake.
The universe and I were completely in sync today on this tiny cake thing. Out, I ventured, in search of something to bake tiny cakes in. And surprise! Tiny cake pans on clearance at Hobby Lobby! And, bonus, cute polka-dot plate – perfectly sized for a little cake – on the clearance shelf for $1!
I used what has become my favorite old-fashioned cake recipe and made a little 3-tier and decorated it special for my sister’s birthday (Just a silk flower stem, since my rose bushes aren’t doing so hot lately to put some pretty fresh flowers on, and a little decorative butterfly… I think, total, the stem and the butterfly cost me $5, but the butterflies were a pack of 6 so I have 5 left for future cakes). I didn’t have anything on hand to make frosting from scratch so I just used some plain frosting-in-a-can. Next time I’ll do Alicia’s Cloudburst Frosting, which is what I used on my own birthday cake last month and I definitely prefer it now to other frostings.
The tiny cake pans use so little batter, however, that I need to do a little math and figure out how to cut the recipe down. I think I only used about 1/2 cup or so of batter in each pan, and I had more than enough batter to make a single 8″ round cake AND I tried out one of my small glass Pyrex storage containers as a cake pan, too. So, essentially, I have 3 cakes out of one recipe. Which, now that I think about it, might not be such a huge deal – perhaps I should wrap the spares up well and freeze them for the next time I need a cake for a special occasion?
It appears as though my little house guest for the next week found a sleeping buddy. ♥
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