Corolla, North Carolina

My girlfriend and I went to Corolla because I wanted a glimpse, and hopefully, a photograph or two of the wild horses. I decided that I wanted to have a picnic, so I knew the cake would have to be travellable(I know, I know, no such word).

There was buttermilk in my fridge that needed to be used, so that ingredient in the recipe was a must. No frosting needed and moist without it, most definitely! Since I had been craving cinnamon, it had to show up, otherwise it would just be thrown in. Looking through Tish Boyle's The Cake Book I came across her recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Buttermilk Pound Cake and found it to be the perfect take along dessert.

This pound cake was so moist that I could eat piece after piece and not need to down a large cup of ice milk(yes I have to have ice in my milk to drink it). I think the next time, though, the cinnamon portion will just be cinnamon sugar instead of the flour, butter, cinnamon sugar mixture.

All in all, this recipe is a picnic must. Oh, who am I kidding, it's a must no matter the occasion.

4,6, and 10

I am planning on entering another cake competition this year, but this time I am entering the wedding cake part along with the tasting(again). This cake was a practice run for two recipes and decorating. I tried a Swiss White Chocolate cake recipe, for the second time I might add, and it helped me to finalize the fact that white chocolate has no flavor. The crumb of this recipe is unsightly also....see below. Give me some bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate in cooking and it's excitement, give me white chocolate and I wonder, WHY?!

I'm sure there are recipes out there that have white chocolate that are fantastic, maybe. Anyways, the other cake was Martha Stewart's Buttermilk Blackberry cake and since I had made some berry slick'em, which is like a blackberry syrup, I stirred some in the batter and spread the rest between the cake layers. I cut this recipe in thirds because I didn't need 18 cups, and it was enough for a 10" round.

The frosting was Elisa Strauss' Swiss Meringue Buttercream from her Confetti Cakes book. The fondant was marshmallow fondant and the flowers were real.

Thanks for looking.

Spongebob for my nephew

My nephew's birthday was June 29th, but all my baking supplies were in storage so I couldn't do his cake. He told us that his birthday was going to continue until he got his cake. This cake was a little less than a month late, but better late than never.

The flavor he wanted was the same as last year, banana strawberry, and I wanted to try a different recipe so I used Dorie Greenspan's Lots of Ways Banana Cake. I boiled some strawberry jam with a little water and spooned it over the cake. The icing was strawberry flavored, so he was able to have both flavors.

My girlfriend ate the scraps and said the cake was good, hopefully my nephew did too.

Happy 5th Quantay!

The garden

My parents are from Alabama and have grown up around gardens, on a much larger scale I might say, so it comes as no surprise when my father started a garden. This year, the garden included some items I started at home from seeds. As you can tell I am excited since I have never done anything like that.

I always thought that you needed a yard to grow anything since that's all I saw growing up. Wrong! There is this wonderful book called Grow Great Grub by Gayla Trail of www.yougrowgirl.com that shows how to grow fruits, vegetables, plants..... in small spaces. After hearing about this book I knew that I could do this. My mother said, "I didn't know you had a green thumb." Read on!

Before all this, though, the story goes back a little further. Back in middle school...the 80's...I, for some odd reason, decided that my science project was going to involve acetaminophen and a pothos. I wanted to know the affect Tylenol would have on the plant so of course one plant was fed the drug along with water and the other was just plain water.

I am in my 30's and my parents still have those plants and they are growing, growing, growing. Needless to say, I had to remind my mother of these plants and the crazy idea I had for a science project.

Most of the photos are from my father's crop and one is of my tomato plants, while the sage is my nephew's. It feels good to grow your own food without all the "extras" the grocery stores have.

Oh, yeah, I am already planning more for next year since I know it can be done.

OKRA AND CUKE
THE GARDEN

CORN STALK

SUMMER SQUASH

CANTELOPE

MY FATHER'S TOMATO

BELL PEPPER

MY TOMATO PLANT

MY NEPHEW'S SAGE

OKRA FLOWER

Even though I can't get in the kitchen like I used to

I still try to take my camera with me everywhere just in case I get to catch something. Enjoy!

Mt. Trashmore in Virginia Beach

Leaves from a tree in Downtown Portsmouth

Mt. Trashmore Virginia Beach

My niece in Norfolk

My nephew in Chesapeake