Fat Tuesday! And other recent baking adventures...

So in honor of Mardi Gras, John's office had a little lunch party. He signed up to bring dessert (of course :) and I had a hard time deciding what to make. I didn't really feel like doing a King Cake of a pecan pie, so we started tossing around the idea of a regular cake decorated Mardi Gras style. We discussed some design ideas and looked up some pictures online, and well, one thing led to another and here's what we ended up with:





I guess I got a little carried away...it's a monstrously large cake and there are 13 people in John's office. Heh. I had SO much making it though. It's my first tiered cake (and only my second attempt at fondant) so all things considered, I'm relatively happy with how it turned out. I could have easily spent another hour working on it, but John had to have it to work by 1:30, so unfortunately, some of the other decorations I wanted to do (such as a few bead necklaces made of fondant and some additional purple stars) didn't happen. I also seriously rushed through the top layer, which you can definitely tell. The cake itself was having issues, so the frosting and the fondant didn't adhere as well. So yeah, don't look too closely...there are some serious issues. The bottom layer (two 10" cakes) is a homemade funfetti cake (using my new favorite yellow cake recipe) and the top layer is a divine chocolate fudge cake. Yum yum yum. I'm happy to say that I've finally found a decent vanilla buttercream recipe, one that uses just butter (no icky shortening) and still manages to have the right consistency for layer cakes. And the fondant is a marshmallow fondant, so the taste is actually decent. I mean, fondant is still fondant, but it's the best I've tasted. John--who hates frosting--actually likes the fondant.

As I mentioned, I recently made my first fondant cake. I made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting for my boys, and I was rather happy with how my first attempt turned out.

It's obviously very amateur, but I'm working on it.

And since I was sorting through my Food folder, here are some more semi-recent pictures:

V-Day truffles that John took to his co-workers.

A couple of weeks ago for FHE Andrew wanted to make "pink cake." I was craving a nice yellow cake, so we compromised by using pink sprinkles. :) Andrew loves to help bake.


Ok, so this is really late, but here are my Christmas cookies. I made plates for friends and ended up making over 180 cookies. We had sugar cookies, iced pumpkin cookies, cranberry orange cookies, raspberry thumbprint cookies, Rolo cookies, and chocolate biscotti (which were not deemed worthy to be included in my cookie plates).



And last but not least, the cute tartlettes I made for my parents last time they were here. I of course didn't eat any, but I snuck some of the Bavarian cream that was left over--yum!

So I just saw this on Robyn's blog...such a cute idea! Remember, it is only the first 5 people to respond and you HAVE to post it on your blog. If you don't put it on your blog then you don't count!

So I just saw this on Robyn's blog...such a cute idea! Remember, it is only the first 5 people to respond and you HAVE to post it on your blog. If you don't put it on your blog then you don't count!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice, my gift...To you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It'll be done this year (might take a while).

4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? (Not you, that's for sure!)

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FABULOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Good luck!

It's that time of year...

It's Crunch Egg time, and not a moment too soon! My outlook on life is slightly improved.

Bovine Update

When we last left you, we hoped that Grant's presence would scare away the cow. However, yesterday Andrew and I were in his room when he grabbed his stick horse and started swinging it through the air by his window. The conversation that followed was priceless:

Kara: "What are you doing?"
Andrew: "I'm smacking the cow!"
Kara: "Why?"
Andrew: "Because the cow mooed at my feelings! And it made me feel sad."

So apparently the cow has moved on from scaring to offending. Poor Drewbie.

Holy Cow...or is it?

Andrew has something against cows. The disdain first appeared at the San Diego County Fair when Andrew was just 5 months old. We visited all the different animals and his interest ranged from mildly entertained to fascinated.

(mildly interested Andrew)

When Grandpa Jeff took him over to see the cows however, it was a different story. He suddenly became very agitated and while he didn't lose it, he came close. Tears welled up and his famous pouty lip kicked into high gear. His little legs began to kick wildly and he did all in his power to get out of there.

(Andrew and Cow face off)

Fast forward two years. We'd thought Andrew had gotten over his fear of cows. He plays with a few cow figurines and even has a stuffed long-horn from the Ft. Worth Stock Yards that he's named (very appropriately) "Cow." The feud, however, was simply building up steam. One day, out of the blue he came running out of our room screaming at the top of his lungs "Aaaahhhhggggg!!!! COOOOWWWW!!!" We believe the trigger for this event was the Chick-Fil-A TV commercial where the cows go through the office building at night. (Click here to go to the site, then click "commershals" to see the ad.)

It wasn't long after that we learned there was a "scary cow" that lived in Andrew's window. You could often hear him playing in his room only to yell out "Uh, Go Away Cow!" shortly followed by the sound of whatever he had in his hand hitting the window. It progressed to where he wouldn't even go in his room without first snaking his hand through the door to turn on the light, peeking in first, propping the door open, and then making sure we were in view (for a quick get away and/or rescue).

Grant recently moved into Andrew's room (yes, I've finally convinced Kara to move our poor little son out of the pack-and-play wedged in the bathroom). Andrew was very excited by this because the crib is right under the window and we told him that Grant would now be there scaring the cow away! We'll see how long it takes for the cow to come creeping back into the Nelsen home, if he dares show his face here again!

(Beware the Scary Cow...You Could be Next!)

Andrew, a.k.a "Drewbie"

Well, this post is a little late in coming, as it was supposed to be for Andrew's birthday...better late than never, though, right?

Anyway. I cannot believe that Andrew is 3! It seems like we've had him in our lives for so much longer than that, and yet at the same time, I can't believe how fast time has gone by. We love our Drewbert, he's a fun little guy. I've really enjoyed watching him learn and grow, especially this past year as he has learned to speak really well, read the alphabet and numbers, and express his emotions and desires. It's pretty incredible how much children learn in their first few years of life. Because of how much he has developed, I tend to treat him as though he's older than he is (which is probably a good and bad thing). But then I go check on him before I go to bed, and I see him curled up in his bed and he seems SO young and innocent. My angel baby, as I used to call him. Andrew is fun, smart, energetic, stubborn, loud, crazy, and most of all, sweet. Yes, he has his moments where I think he's a monster :), but he is also very caring. When one of us gets hurt or upset, he is so sweet when he tries to comfort us. I love him. So much! Happy 3rd Birthday Drewbie!!!

And now, pictures of Andrew from each birthday.

Brand new Andrew...not even a couple of hours old!

Andrew's first birthday cake...he loves it!

Andrew gets birthday pancakes on his second birthday.

Andrew gets a bike for his third birthday.

Oh Baby!

Let me give a quick shout-out to all of Kara's peeps! Since Kara has neglected y'all I thought I'd step in to fill the void. (That's right, I said y'all...we've been in Texas for over two years so that's how we talk now) FYI: "y'all" = singular, "all y'all" = plural.

Anyway...today's Andrew's birthday, and I've been thinking back over the past 3 years. Reflecting on it all, having kids has really made me appreciate the fun and funny moments in life and has really taught me to look on the positive side of things. (If you ever wondered about the cosmos being balanced I can tell you that they are, because Kara tries to shoot down all my sunshine with her pessimistic appraisal of our situations). So, in celebration of the funny moments in life I thought I'd share with everyone one of my hobbies. I like to collect funny pictures. In particular I really like to collect funny baby pics. Don't know why, maybe I just like to laugh at people who can't do anything about it. Whatever the case may be, here's a sample! ~John