Week in Review

The end is near. Ian and I are approaching our departure date for Chicago. This past week we spent some time in Lake Chelan and around town in Seattle. We had family down from Alaska including little man Laif (who is the cutest), so baking has taken a backseat. After our trip to the east side we came back into Seattle and poked around Pike Place to get some fish. My brother Andy bought black cod, and it was the tastiest, butteriest piece of fish I have ever eaten. Delicious! You can't leave the market without the obligatory picture, which Ian and I have demonstrated above.

Lightning Bolt

It was my cousin's birthday and naturally he asked for a cake in the shape of a lightning bolt. It turned out pretty well. We added some cupcakes as clouds, and cut a sheet cake in pieces to form the lightning bolt. My grandmother made the sheet cake and I made the cupcakes.

This may be the best yellow cake recipe I have made so far. Shocker, it was from Rose's Heavenly Cakes. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Recipe:

Mix in a separate bowl:
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons sour cream (from the 2/3 cup sour cream)

In the bowl of a mixer:
2 cup cake flour
1 cup sugar
Baking soda
Baking powder
Salt
2/3 cup sour cream

Betsy

It was a sad, sad day in July when I sold my car. She has been with me since 2003, and the memories are unforgettable. She will be missed.

Maggie

Maggie gets her own post. There are few words to describe her, but this picture explains about 90 percent of our relationship.

Around The House

Rarely do I get the opportunity to whip up a recipe with all the ingredients lying around the house. I usually make one, two or three runs to the store depending on how the recipe is going. Down in Portland, I found some blueberries and nectarines lying around so I decided to make a crisp. Crisps are just the best things on earth. You can ad-lib any ingredients and they are hard to ruin.

This recipe was found somewhere online and goes like this:

Filling:
6 nectarines cut into large pieces
2 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar

Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup oatmeal (you can never have too much)
5 tablespoons butter (room temperature)

The crisp went fast after two bottles of wine out on the deck on a warm summer night:

Fourth of July

Fourth of July was spent at the coast in Manzanita, Ore. There is nothing more American than strawberry shortcake, so that is what I made. The strawberries were from Ian's parent's yard and they were delicious. The recipe came from The Modern Baker and was very simple. I cut up the strawberries and let them sit in sugar for a few hours until ready to serve. The shortcake recipe was a cinch, and can be put together quickly with a food processor. All in all it was a fantastic Fourth of July.