Happy Birthday Marge

Remember the Flat Stanley that went around the world with school children and their family and friends? Well, I'm also a Flat Debbie and still spend time with my friends many miles away. I'm so glad I was included in Marge's birthday breakfast celebration! I can almost taste the cinnamon rolls. Yummy. Thanks guys! The beauty of it all is that I haven't aged a bit in almost 6 years!

DC

I was in Silver Spring/DC this week for a workshop. Julie decided to join me Friday for a 24 hour vacation from Mommy hood. Urbane and Karen drove down from Baltimore to join us for dinner. Here we are at the Red Rock Grill. How fun to see Cakelove across the street! Julie, me, Urbane, Karen

Julie with camera in hand

Urbane and Karen

Looks like yummy cornbread

It was!

Cakelove!

And it was!

...and you could taste it

Our selections to take with us to devour

We hung out in downtown Silver Spring where there was music and kids playing in the fountain. The weather was beautiful.

Time to say goodbye. Urbane had a softball game in the morning and I had to go to work again. Julie on the other hand got to sleep until 0800.

Rainbows

The beauty of an early morning rainbow. We finally got a smattering of rain - a least enough to do a full arch of a rainbow. These are shots from our back yard.

Recipe for Julie

Cream-Filled Cupcakes

2 cups flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
3 large eggs

Filling & Swirl:
4 T butter, softened
1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
2 to 3 T milk

Glaze:
½ cup heavy cream
1 T light corn syrup
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Combine the buttermilk and vanilla.
Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time.
Add the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk mixture, starting & ending with flour mixture.
Divide the batter among the prepared cups. Bake until done, about 18 – 20 minutes.

Filling & Swirl: beat butter until light & fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar; add 2 T milk and beat 5 minutes until almost white, light & fluffy. Add additional milk if mixture is too thick. Spoon frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a medium-size plain round tip. Insert tip of pastry bag into top of cakes, about ½ inch deep & squeeze.

Meanwhile, make the Glaze: heat the cream and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips. Cover & let stand 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Dip the tops of the filled cupcakes into the chocolate glaze. Place on cooling rack to set for 10 minutes.

Change piping tip for vanilla frosting to a smaller round tip. Pipe decorative swirls on top of the glazed cupcakes.

I wish I could remember the magazine I got this from so I could give credit where credit is due!

Harvest

The beginnings of harvest at the cabin gardenbasil, rosemary and chives
We also found a great little shelf for the end of the newly renovated kitchen cabinet

Sunday Guests

Doug and Jenell joined us Sunday for a visit before flying back to Illinois on Monday morning. A relaxing afternoon napping and watching TV
Homemade pizza for dinner

DIY Project

The project of the weekend was to make the galley kitchen of the cabin a little more efficient. We had to replace the fridge and this one is a little larger than the one it replaced. The effect was that the kitchen felt even smaller. "Before"
"During" Kendall had the bright idea to move the fridge further into the kitchen, remove the paneling and recess it into the wall.

He's so good to have around!

The final effect. We got a new counter top - try matching one that is 30+ years old! I gained an extra foot of counter space and it looks so much better. I love the under counter lights - an extra bonus feature.