Celebrating With Chocolate Pound Cake

Friday was Mr. Picky's birthday. My Daddy turned 60 years old, and that sounds just crazy to me. Not that 60 is old, but looking back at my grandparents when they were that age, they just seemed so much older than my Daddy does. I come from good genes and a family that ages amazingly well, I can only hope that I age half as well as my Daddy and the rest of my family members have.

I suppose part of what made my grandparents seem so much older at 60 than my Daddy seems is that although graying my dad still has much of his natural hair color. But, beyond that, generation has a lot to do with it. My Daddy comes from the era of the hippie, so naturally his generation, for the most part, is a more relaxed and liberal generation than that of his parents. Maybe I'm way off base, but that's where I feel much of that comes from. Regardless of any of that, my Daddy is an amazing father and mother and truly the one person in my life who has always been there and supported me through the good and bad. He's the one person that without question will always be there and sacrifice for me. Sure, I've got other family that supports me and is there for me, and I've got a few close friends I know have my back and truly care about me, but he's my person, my real, true, always and forever best friend. We're a team. Even when I was a little girl, when it came to big life decisions for our little family of two my thoughts and opinions always mattered.

I know, I know, enough with the sappy stuff right? For the most part Friday was just another day, one Mr. Picky didn't even realize was any different from the last until he went to write the date out, then he realized he was another year older. It was no leisurely day of relaxation or fun filled activities for him. Nope, my poor Daddy was off building stuff, and although that sounds fun to lots of people out there, when it's your living it often feels more like, well, work. So, while he was off swinging a hammer and wielding a nail gun I was home marinating steaks and baking a birthday cake.

Mr. Picky is a man of simple tastes, and as much as it baffles my mind, he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth. I know, crazy right? Me, who can eat frosting by the spoonful, and will pick sweet over savory 99% of the time, I just can't imagine not wanting a cake filled with gobs of frosting for your birthday. I am so my father's child with many, many things, like for instance, I've got my daddy's tongue and temper. The sweet tooth though, I'm not sure where that came from, definitely not him. He would be fine without a birthday cake, but since that's completely unacceptable to me his cake of choice is a chocolate pound cake. I've been making the same cake for his birthday for about 8 years now. Sometimes I top it with chocolate ganache, which is how I love it. Mr. Picky prefers it plain. Not only does he find this cake to be acceptable, if he was going to love a cake, this would be the one. I remember once he tasted someone else's chocolate pound cake and told me it was good, but mine was better. That sounds like a minor thing, but trust me when I say that coming from him that's pretty much the equivalent of "Your pound cake is the best ever."

This isn't one of those super rich and fudgy cakes, but if you like chocolate and are a fan of pound cakes like we are then you should definitely give this cake a try. I've found that every time I bake this cake it spills over the sides of the pan a bit as it's baking, so this time I put a bit of the batter into a 6 inch layer cake pan, and it worked out perfectly. If you don't have a layer pan that small 4-6 standard size cupcakes should work also. My bundt pan is pretty vintage, so it's a standard-ish size, but if yours is a bit larger than normal you might not have any overflow, just keep an eye out while it bakes. And make sure that you grease and flour your pan very well, don't shortcut it and use cooking spray. One thing I always do when baking any kind of chocolate cake is to "flour" my pans with cocoa instead of flour. If you're frosting a cake it's no biggie, but I hate having little spots of flour show up on the outside of my chocolate cake.

The Bag Lady's Favorite Chocolate Pound Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 cup buttermilk*
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa and set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, shortening, and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla, then eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Add flour and buttermilk alternately to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 3/4 hours, or until cake is done. Remove from oven and allow cake to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto cake plate and serve.

*If you don't have buttermilk you can make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to a measuring cup, fill cup to 1 cup mark with milk (whole, 2% or skim all work fine).

Chocolate Ganache

4 oz bittersweet chocolate
4 oz semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Break chocolate into small pieces and put in a medium sized bowl, set aside.
2. In small saucepan, heat heavy cream over medium-high heat, bringing just to a boil.
3. Remove cream from heat, and pour over chocolate. Allow to sit until chocolate has melted completely.
4. Add vanilla extract and stir using a whisk until completely combined. Pour over cake.

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Birthday Pupcakes For Millie

So..it's been a while right? Yeah, I know. Feel free to call me a slacker because part of my absence has definitely been because I was unmotivated, or in less desirable terms, lazy. Mostly though, my absence started off because I had a lot on my mind. I was pretty stressed over a few family matters, but am happy to report that all is fine. Many prayers were said, and much thanks was given when those prayers were answered, you have my word on that. But, I'll spare you my saga and say that I will try much harder to share my projects, my recipes and my not so exciting life with y'all regularly.

Today is a pretty special day in our house. We celebrate my baby girl's birthday today. Millie is three years old today, and time has really flown by. Of course, since she is a dog and not a human child, and we don't have her birth parents she hasn't been with us since birth, so she hasn't been a part of the family for a full three years yet. I remember her entry into the family like it was yesterday.

After much searching online we found a liter of English Labs in the Asheville area of the North Carolina mountains that came from gorgeous parents and champion bloodlines, exactly what we were looking for. We knew we wanted a black girl, so we packed up the car with a new crate and plenty of toys and headed to the mountains in hopes of getting our girl. It was total love from day one. I won't like, she was H-E-Double Hockeysticks on four paws from the moment she got home and hasn't slowed up yet. She is absolutely the alpha to her two older brothers and the complete opposite of Duncan her yellow Lab brother, but she has a great temperament and the most amusing personality. I love watching her with Mr. Picky Eater. They have so much fun together and the most amazing bond. That little girl definitely has his heart.

She can be headstrong and frustrating when she wants to, but fuss at her and she turns into the most pitiful little girl ever. I've never met another dog like Millie and I wouldn't trade her for all the money in the biggest bank in the world. Along with her two brothers she's got my whole heart. I wanted so badly to bake my girl a birthday cake today, but her poor brother Duncan has so many allergies that I never get to bake goodies for them. His allergies are so bad that he's currently on a food trial, but that's a story for another time. When Duncan was a puppy, before we learned of his many allergies I did bake cupcakes for his first birthday, so I thought I would share that recipe with y'all in honor of my girl. These pupcakes and frosting are totally dog friendly, unless of course your dog has allergies to any of the ingredients. If your dog has a sensitive stomach or doesn't eat a variety of different foods I would start them out with a small amount, depending on the size of the dog, but since these are mild and not incredibly fatty you shouldn't have an issue.

Pupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
dog-friendly recipe

Yield: 20 pupcakes or 1 bundt cake

cake/cupcakes:
3 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup rolled oats (quick-cooking works fine)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix mashed bananas and applesauce together, then beat in eggs.
Toss in all dry ingredients and beat until completely combined.
Bake at 350 degrees in lightly greased muffin tins or bundt pan. (Approximately 25 minutes for cupcakes and 30-40 minutes for bundt cake)

frosting:
1/2 brick (4 oz) light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 bananas, mashed
small dog biscuits, candles or slices of banana for decorating

Beat all ingredients together until smooth.
Frost completely cooled cake/cupcakes and adorn with desired decorations

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Two Years Ago..

Two years ago today I officially became a homeowner. I can't say the journey to purchasing my first home was always easy because sometimes it was far from it. The process was by no means foreign to me as Mr. Picky Eater aka my Big Bad Dad and I have bought more than our share of homes and from the time I was a little girl he always fully included me in the process. It's always been the two of us, and I'm Daddy's Little Girl. Where he went I went, what decisions he made I was a part of. It has always been that way, and always will be.

I'm getting a little offtrack though. That does happen when I mention our relationship. It's such a huge part of who I am. Wait, what was I talking about? Oh, becoming a homeowner, right. At nearly 30 years old I was still living at home, don't judge. We lived in a beautiful house that had become our home more than any place we lived prior. It was the home where we felt we had finally really put down roots, but it was way more house than two people needed and truth be told, we felt we were at a place where we should downsize. After living with dear old dad for 30 years I decided it was time for me to call the shots. Just kidding, because really I've always called the shots. Okay, not really. I would say it's always been 50/50.

Truthfully, I wanted something to call my own. As much as every home we've had has been mine, his, ours, having my name on a mortgage, I just knew it would feel different. I knew wherever the move took us it would still be ours, but at the same time the next house would truly feel like mine, the place I put down roots of my very own.

The search for a new home seemed to take forever, and there was more than one occasion where my hopes were dashed and my heart a little broken. I started out with one real estate agent, and one finance company, both of which seemed like a good fit at first. You know how they say first impressions are everything? Well, sometimes they're totally wrong. I am not demanding and I don't have unrealistic expectations, but I give any relationship and every situation I'm invested in my all and I expect the same. When I don't get that in return I move on, which in short is why I ended up with a different agent.

Looking back, my vision for my first home changed quite a few times. I started out wanting a country home on several acres, then I wanted a home in the historic area of a local small town. What did I end up with? Something I didn't envision, but turned out to be exactly what I needed.

My house is a little 1950's brick ranch on an acre lot in a quiet little neighborhood in the city. Yup, no small town living for me as it turns out. The house is literally across the street from my Nana and Pop's old neighborhood, which was my second home as a little girl. I traveled the streets of this neighborhood everyday as a little girl, and my dad ran these streets as a boy. During my search I found several houses that I thought were great and could see us in, but none fit quite like this one. It was a freezing cold January day with snow on the streets and ice covering the backyard when I realized my dream. The house had been on the market just a few days. As soon as I walked in I saw my childhood and felt my Nana and Pop surrounding me. I knew I was home. The house was immaculate, and totally original. I wanted a project, no, I needed a project and knew I had found it.

After leaving, we were sitting in a restaurant minutes later preparing to make an offer. Little did I know that when I signed my name that day I was truly starting a new chapter in my life. The purchase process was not without a few bumps, mostly centering around getting repairs done before the closing date. But, two years ago today I signed my name, got a set of keys and started an amazing journey. The next day was the beginning of months of hard, dirty work that filled me with joy. I won't lie I cried a few times from the stress and dear old dad and I had our share of heated disagreements, okay, I'll be honest, they were fights. But, that's who we are, both passionate, strong-willed, stubborn people. What can I say? I'm the female Mini-Me of my old man, and I couldn't be more proud to admit that.

As I look at our home today, there isn't much that resembles the house I purchased two years ago. Sure the hardwood floors still look exactly the same, maybe a little worse for the wear of my babies running around on them all the time. Except for a new deck and some other changes to the landscape it looks the same on the outside. Inside? Not so much, and I love it. My Dad is an amazing carpenter and the muscle behind all the renovations. Seriously, except for a few plumbing and electrical things he did it ALL. He is the creativity behind the woodworking projects and even some of the paint colors. But, the kitchen and bath designs, those are my babies.

I intend to share all the changes with you. I'll give you tips and tutorials on many of the projects and thanks to my amazing Dad I'll do my best to provide easy to understand instructions for even the novice. Stay tuned! And along the way if you have questions on any of the projects or even things I haven't tackled but maybe you hope to do in your home let me know. I am no expert, but I live with one of the most skilled I've ever met!

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Snowy Days & Snow Cream

If you're a southerner you know snow days are few and far between. When one comes along it's a pretty big deal. If the white stuff falls on a weekday schools are almost guaranteed to shutdown along with many businesses and the grocery stores will be packed. Here in Charlotte some areas got a very minor sprinkling several weeks ago, but here at our house we saw next to nothing. Today has been a different story. I didn't know until last night snow was even in the forecast and being that yesterday was very warm for February I brushed it off as highly unlikely. I awoke this morning to a light sprinkle that lasted off and on through most of the afternoon, but never accumulated. So, I went about my business, headed out late this afternoon to run an errand and grab dinner, and was told while we were out that the snow would hit in twenty minutes. My thought? Yeah, right!

Sure enough, headed to dinner about ten minutes later and we spotted a few flakes mixed with a sprinkling of rain that turned to a total white out less than 5 minutes later. I prefer to have visibility while in a moving automobile, so we stopped at a drive-through for take out and before we could get home, not even ten minutes later, the ground was covered.

My babies are some very happy dogs tonight, especially my Millie girl, she's an active wild woman anyway, but she hit the yard running when she discovered the snow. My black girl came in white from rooting around and kicking up so much snow. I don't expect we'll have enough snow to build any snowmen or have any snowball fights, not that I would, but I think we have just enough to pretty up the trees for a little while. Hopefully, this pretty white stuff won't melt and re-freeze leaving us with tons of ice. The melting and refreezing to ice is the whole reason I dread snow. Not to mention I hate being cold, but I'll stop right there before I start to complain.

One thing I remember fondly from snow days as a little girl is Snow Cream. It was a rare thing, but such a fun treat, and it's so easy to make. I haven't made any this snowfall, but thought I'd share the "recipe" with you in case it's something you've never heard of or just aren't sure how to make. It is ridiculously easy to make and so good. There aren't really exact measurements, atleast there never were around our house. Just remember to add your liquid gradually and it should be the consistency of ice cream, not slush.

Snow Cream

a large bowl of clean white snow (no yellow snow, yuck!)
milk
vanilla extract
granulated sugar

Add a small amount of milk to the bowl of snow, starting with a few tablespoons. Gently stir, add more milk gradually until you reach almost ice cream consistency.
Add 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, more or less to suit your taste and depending on the amount of snow you are using.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, more or less to taste (I would go with more since I have a major sweet tooth.) Gently stir to combine.
Serve immediately, or if yours has gotten a little runny put it in the freezer for a bit to get to the ice cream consistency.

If you don't snow you can also used shaved ice to make Snow Cream, so if you have one of those fun snow cone makers, break it out and shave some ice! And, I have seen chocolate and strawberry flavored Snow Cream, although I have tried neither, but if plain of vanilla isn't your thing visit my trusty friend google and give either flavor a search. Let me know which flavor you try and what you think of it.

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Personal PSA - Computer Crisis

So, yesterday was a bit of a technological doozy to say the least, and I thought I'd use my experience to send out a little public service announcement. My computer apparently contracted a nasty virus at some point. I don't know if it was something that was picked up Saturday unknowingly or prior to that and the virus lay dormant for a time. There was an issue Saturday night with internet explorer freezing up briefly, but things like that happen from time to time even when a virus of some sort is not involved, so I can't say that's when the infection happened. All I know is that when I booted up my computer yesterday a "program" popped up at start up called "Disk Antivirus Protection" and automatically ran a scan showing all sorts of horrible trojans, malware and other nastiness. I was immediately alarmed and tried to exit the program because I knew it was nothing I opted to install. The only way to exit the program is to give your credit card number to "purchase" the program and have the files "removed". (I'm using quotations for all these terms because I seriously doubt it would have remedied the problem.

I'm not aware of the name of the virus, but it appears to be fairly new and is some form of ransomware, which means that it hijacks your system and won't allow you to do anything until you provide your credit card number and "install" the program. I reached for my Kindle Fire and did a google search of "Disk Antivirus Protection" and found a good many articles and message board postings within the last month. Not being a computer expert I was a little cautious of trying to follow the instructions I found online to remove the virus myself so I called the tech department of a big box electronics store and was told there was no option for me to remove something like this myself and it would be $200+ and I would be without my computer for two or more days. Now, I don't know about y'all, but this girl loves her computer and is on a budget so two days without and $200+ would have had to be a last resort. Of course, why did I expect them to tell me I could fix the problem myself, silly me! Luckily I have a wonderful and computer savvy younger cousin who was more than willing to help me out.

I called up T for a little advice and although he wasn't familiar with the virus, nor did he know how to fix it he offered to help immediately. So, I hoped in the car and hauled my distressed behind over to my personal tech support. Based his research this virus can delete and/or replace registry keys so that you may think you have removed the virus completely, but unless you know for sure which registry keys are missing you won't have fixed the problem completely. (And, forgive me if you're knowledgeable about this stuff and some of what I'm saying makes no sense. I don't totally understand everything about this issue.) Eventually, we decided the safest thing would be to do a system restore. Thankfully I was able to save my photos, music and other documents to a flash drive and they don't appear to be corrupted, so I didn't actually lose anything. And, my adorable little tech wizard claimed the experience was fun.

My point and PSA to all this is, be careful, make sure your antivirus is up to date, install atleast one additional program to check for malware/spyware and run scans regularly. I can't tell you how or when my poor computer contracted this virus. We don't visit questionable website, atleast I didn't think so. And, I'm the only one that downloads anything, and I never download anything that seems suspicious. I haven't tried it yet, but have heard numerous good things about the antivirus program Avast. It's free and supposed to be an excellent program, I plan to give it a try. For malware/spyware programs Malwarebytes Anti-malware is supposed to be very good, and T recommended Spybot to me, which I have used some years ago and also recommend. Yesterday's experience was not one I wish to repeat, but I know it could have been much worse. I could have had no help with the issue and been forced to pay a good chunk of money to fix the problem and I could have lost all my photos and documents. Thus, I just want to give everyone a heads up and a few recommendations so that y'all can protect yourselves from having the same experience, or worse. Good luck y'all!

I have to give a HUGE thank you to T, the best boy I know. You're growing up so fast, and I love you to pieces. Such a smart and wonderful kid. I tell ya, that boy is going to be some kind of computer genius when he grows up. He'll be the next Steve Jobs or somebody equally awesome. I just hope he remembers me when he's rich and famous for developing some awesome video game or computer system. I'll be telling y'all, "Hey, I know him!"

I have no affiliation with any of the above mentioned programs, they simply recommendations based on word of mouth or my personal experience. I do not guarantee them, nor am I being compensated for the mention of them."

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Taking a break in remembrance and giving thanks

Like many, I am with a very heavy heart after the news of the tragedy that struck the little Connecticut town and the sweet children of and staff of Sandy Hook Elementary School. Those children probably went to school this morning excited for the weekend, never suspecting that it would be anything but a normal school day. Parents never expected to send their kids off to witness what could arguable be the worst tragedy and hardest thing some of them will ever face. The parents of those other 20 children I'm sure never imagined this morning would be the last time they would hug their precious babies and get to hear them say, "I love you."

At this point, I have heard nothing about what could have possibly been a motive, I am guessing some sort of domestic distress since the shooter is said to have entered his mother's classroom, shot her and then 20 students, as well as a handful of other staff members. And, I have no idea what his background or mental state was, I'm sure that will all come out soon. But, regardless of what family problems or how mentally unstable someone may be, I can't imagine taking innocent lives, especially young children.

I say none of this in judgement, it is not my place to do that. I am a Christian and believe that only God has that right. I am heartsick for the families who have lost loved ones today, and my heart hurts for those little children who will carry the scars of this horrible day with them forever. A saying that I have heard is playing on auto-loop in my mind today, "Kiss your kids and call your Momma." That saying seems all too necessary today.

I thank the Lord that my family is so close at hand. My Daddy and my Momma, those are one and the same. I was raised by the best father on Earth and he has always been an amazing mother as well. It feels like an even bigger blessing than usual that he and my kids are under the same roof with me.

If reading this has saddened you further my sincerest apologies. My heart is simply to heavy today to continue with the 12 Days series. I felt that I just needed to take a moment to reflect, show respect for those suffering today, and give thanks for the many blessing in my life. My Daddy and my babies top the list of blessings, followed by the rest of my little family, my amazing friends, my health, the health of my loved ones and my overall wellbeing. So, go kiss your kids and call your Momma.

And because I have chosen to dedicate today to remembrance and my thankfulness and love for my family the photo above is of my beautiful girl Millie. She may be 4-legged and covered in hair, but she's just as much my child as if she were of the 2-legged variety and I had given birth to her. I adore any time that my babies come to me and want to cuddle, but as I was laying down for a nap earlier and she and Duncan, one of my sweet boys piled onto the bed with me, I cherished that moment just a little more.

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Showing Support and Serving Up Comfort Food - Deviled Eggs

I'm writing this with our neighbors in the Northeast, the victims of Hurricane Sandy, in mind. Food bloggers around the country have set aside today as our day to honor and support those who have been suffering and enduring the craziness of Hurricane Sandy.

My aunt and uncle planned a quick little get away to NYC last weekend, and despite the aftereffects of Hurricane Sandy they went anyway. I am sure they saw a lot of upset and things that were still not back in order for the Big Apple, but in hearing their recap of the trip it sounds like much of the city has bounced back and gotten on their feet again relatively well. But, looks can be deceiving, and when it comes to the aftermath and rebuilding from a hurricane I speak from experience. I was 8 years old when Hurricane Hugo took a very unexpected turn and hit my hometown of Charlotte on September 22, 1989. To say we were shocked and unprepared is an understatement. The entire city ground to a halt. We were hit in the middle of the night and miraculously my little body slept through the entire thing. I awoke to find we had no power, no running water because we used a well, trees were downed all around our house, including on one of our cars. At the time, we lived in a heavily wooded area on a gravel road and literally had to cut our way out to civilization. We experienced gas shortages, and long waits for groceries, much like the victims of Hurricane Sandy have had to endure. And because we lived on a little gravel road we were without power and running water for 14 days.

The experience was scary and surreal, but nothing compared to what some have endured at Hurricane Sandy's wrath. I thank the Lord we didn't experience flooding and no snowstorm or incredibly cold weather as we picked up the pieces. There are still many people without power, without homes and worst of all, dealing with the tragic loss of loved ones. There are victims that are in need of so much right now, and since I can do nothing else, I pay tribute, send out positive thoughts and well wishes.

I am not only honoring the victims of Hurricane Sandy, but I'm honoring my Dad aka my Picky Eater with this comfort food recipe. I will shamelessly admit I'm a daddy's girl and he is the best man a girl could ever call Daddy. He is the one person who has always been with me through thick and thin, he's been my rock and my voice of reason, giving me strength through so many tough times, and believe me I've had many. Haven't we all? He raised me all by himself, not because he had to, but because he chose to. Those who know me, I mean really truly know me, know most of my life has been "a long story", one crazy chapter after another. Through all the crazy, often complicated chapters Big Bad Dad is the one person who has always been there, living the wonderful and the challenging right along with me.

One of our favorite foods, a food that I have always associated with holidays and family get togethers, is Deviled Eggs. I can make a dozen and between the two of us somehow they disappear within a day or so. We have an amusing and ongoing disagreement when it comes to deviled eggs though. I say sweet pickle cubes are a must in deviled eggs, but to quote his paraphrasing of Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry: "Nobody, but nobody puts pickles in deviled eggs."

So for you deviled egg eaters out there I ask you, sweet pickles or no?



Deviled Eggs

6 hard boiled eggs
3 Tbsp mayo
1 good squirt yellow mustard
a splash vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp sweet pickle cubes (optional)

How to hardboil eggs:

Lay the eggs in the pan and add enough cold water to cover eggs by 1 inch. Set over high heat and bring just to the boil; remove from heat, cover the pan,and let sit exactly 17 minutes.

When the time is up, transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice cubes and water. Chill for 2 minutes.

Or try the baked method for hard boiled eggs.

After you have hardboiled and cooled your eggs, peel and cut them in half lengthwise. Remove yolks and set whites aside. Using a fork mash yolks into until there are no lumps. Add mayo and mustard. Blend with fork until well combined and smooth. Add a splash of vinegar and salt and pepper to taste, and pickle cubes if using. Put yolk mixture into a re-sealable plastic bag, using scissors, snip a small corner off and pipe even amounts of yolk mixture into egg whites. Store deviled egg in refrigerator.

Follow hashtag #FBS4Sandy to see everyone's posts in support of the cause.

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