Fruit Basket Cake

Mr. Hunky's birthday was yesterday! Yesterday was also the three year anniversary of our first date. Yes, our first date was on his birthday, and I paid! We still have the parking garage ticket from our first date/Mr. Hunky's birthday too. It's pretty cute if I do say so myself.

When I became a part of Mr. Hunky's family they introduced me to what is now my absolute favorite cake. Ever. Fruit basket cake. Never heard of it huh? That's not surprising, a lot of people haven't heard of it. Let me tell you about it now. It's cake, whipped cream, and fruit all together in one happy bite of heaven. I was in utter disbelief when my local Safeway had absolutely no clue what a fruit basket cake was, so I took it upon myself to make my own for Mr. Hunky's birthday....so here it goes!

For the Cake:

{Okay, don't judge me.}

~1 Box of Yellow Cake Mix (and the ingredients that it calls for)

~2 Round Cake Pans

Split the cake batter between the two round cake pans and bake as directed on the package.

Remove from the oven and let them cool. Once the cakes are cool remove them from their cake rounds and place them on two separate plates. You may need to put them in the refrigerator or the freezer to cool quicker depending on how fast you prep the other ingredients. 

For the Fruit:

~Blueberries

~Strawberries

~Banana's

~Lemon Juice

For the fruit you may use the desired amount of each that you prefer, add any that you may like, or take out what you dislike. These ingredients are extremely flexible! Slice your banana, cut your strawberries, and put all aside with your blueberries on a large cutting board.

Transfer 2/3 of the banana into a large bowl and shake drops of lemon juice over the top (be sure to stir!). This will help the banana's from browning. Once you have finished putting lemon on the banana's, add in 2/3 of the strawberries and 2/3 of the blueberries into the same bowl as the banana. 

You can then repeat that process again (starting with the banana's and lemon juice) with the remaining amount of fruit in a smaller bowl. 

Set the bowls aside for later use.

For the Whipped Cream:

~32OZ Container of Heavy Whipping Cream

~1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

~1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla

You will need either a stand mixer or a lot of patience for this one, it took a while for my whipped cream to form! Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl or stand up mixer and beat (with a wisk or wisk attachment) on medium until the whipped cream turns from liquid to whipped creamy fluff!

Assembly:

Using your big bowl of fruit, pour about 1/3-1/2 of the whipped cream into the bowl and stir the fruit into it. Make sure that the whipped cream is fully mixed in with the fruit! 

Next, take your frosting spatula and pour all of the fruit/whipped cream mixture onto the top of the first layer of cake. It will look like a lot of filling but just squish it down the best you can without any of it falling off of the cake! 

When your whipped cream layer is complete, take your second layer of cake and place it on top of the whipped cream/fruit mixture. It will almost look like a giant (delish) ice cream sandwich! 

Gently press the top layer onto the whipped cream/fruit mixture to make sure that it won't move as you are frosting the cake. You will then use your frosting spatula and frost the entire cake with whipped cream! Once it is as smooth as it is going to be, top with the remaining berries and enjoy!

My only word of advice with this cake is put the bottom layer of cake on the plate/platter/tray that you plan on serving it on, once you have completed the cake you will have a challenging time moving it to another plate if needed! Also, be sure to keep this cake refrigerated!

Baked Brie with Cranberry Chutney

This past Saturday I was at a women's pampering event held at my mother-in-laws church and there was this really good brie cheese there! They had recipe hand outs that I could take so I of course had to grab one! I am a huge Brie cheese lover especially when it is warm with nuts and berries!! If I make this at home though it will be nut free, as our daughter has a peanut & tree nut allergy!

Ingredients:
2/3 c. water
2/3 c. sugar
1 1/3 c. cranberries
4 tsp. cider vinegar
1/3 c. dark raisins
1/4 c. chopped pecans
2 tsp. brown sugar
Scant 1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
2 1/4 lb. wheel of Brie cheese

1 loaf French bread cut in thin slices or party loaf pumpernickel bread- or crackers of choice

Directions:
To make chutney: In a heavy saucepan combine water and sugar. Stir and bring to a boil. Add cranberries, vinegar, nuts, sugar, ginger and garlic. Boil slowly, stirring until thick, 5-10 minutes. Cool and refrigerate. It will keep in refrigerator up to 1 week or it can be frozen.

To Serve:
Place Brie in an ovenproof shallow dish. Spread chutney over top of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees 5-10 minutes watching carefully so as not to melt brie, just to soften it. Serve with slices of bread or crackers.

This is NOT the picture from the recipe above, but it looks very similar, except this wheel of Brie looks smaller! 

Recipe from the kitchen of Cindy VanArtsdalen (family friend).

Food Allergies & The Holidays

 For those of you who don't know, our 4 year old daughter has a severe life threatening peanut allergy. As the holidays are here we have to have extra precaution at all times, or that one time we turn our back she might intake a peanut butter snack/dessert and will go into Anaphylactic Shock. "The reaction may be fatal if emergency treatment, including epinephrine injections, is not given immediately". Our daughter is only 4 years old and does not fully grasp her allergy, so we have to keep a very close eye on her.

When we have family gatherings, there is no peanut anything around, which we are so thankful that family and friends understand her allergy and that it is air born. Proof of that at a baseball game last year. People behind us were eating peanuts and throwing the shell's on the ground. Halie was breathing in the peanut dust or whatever you want to call it and started getting woozy and falling over. :/ Needless to say, we left right away and she started feeling much better within a matter of minutes.

Our biggest thing is keeping an eye at her at church. We have only been going there for a little over a month now and not a lot of people are aware of allergy, however her Sunday School teacher is very much aware. We keep a snack at church in her classroom for Halie to eat at snack time, and the kids do wash their hands after they eat their snack.  Thankfully the teach doesn't bring peanut/nut products in but some items are still made in the same factory as peanuts/nuts.

Halie does wear a peanut allergy alert bracelet and knows to always ask me or daddy to have something if someone wants to give her food. AND we do practice with her to say that she has a peanut allergy and to ask mom and dad if she can have that snack. Thankfully the only reaction she has ever had was when we first learned of her severe allergy when she was around age 1.

 

Does your child or someone you know have a food allergy? What precautions do you take? What advice can you give us? Thanks!

My Song, My Strength

Thanksgiving & A Cider Recipe You Have Got to Try!!

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone! It was so nice to have my parents, brother and Sister-in-law and my hubby's sister over! It was our son's first Thanksgiving and he sorta slept through most of it :)

All of the food was amazing, I think pretty much everyone left stuffed and happy! We played games (Balderdash and 31-a card game). We watched football and the newer "Miracle on 34th Street". It was such a relaxing and fun day!

I wrote last week a "Being Thankful" post so I won't go into what I'm thankful for again, however, I have got to say that we are so blessed to have a huge meal like we did and a care free day with family, when there are a lot of people around the world who are lucky if they can get a bowl of rice for the day. Not wanting to bring down the mood or anything, just something to think about and give thanks to God for.

So my brother and his wife brought this amazing Mulled Cider! This is the recipe you have got to try and it will be such a crowd pleaser!

The Mulled Cider recipe from my Sister-in-law! It's really just guide lines, she played with it to get it to where she liked it, and it's really easily tweak-able. Here's what the recipe calls for:

Ingredients: 
2 quarts apple cider (My Sister-in-law used a little under 1 gallon jug)
2 cinnamon sticks (She used more like three)
2 whole allspice berries (She put in 3)
2 whole cloves (Again, she used 3)
1 orange, thinly sliced (I think this is way too much, she just used 2-3 slices)

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Divide among mugs and serve hot!

And that's it! So easy, but so good. After my SIL made it in a saucepan, she put it all in a crock-pot for easier traveling! This is great non-alcoholic drink for all ages, however if you would like it spiked with Rum, you can add a little splash (to adults ages 21+ of course!).

Enjoy!

Turkey Hand Craft! Not Just Your Standard Turkey :)

 

Today my daughter and I made 3 of the 4 turkey's shown above for our Thanksgiving guests this Thursday: Standard turkey, rocker and star trek! 

We had a lot of fun tracing my 4 year old daughters' hand and Halie adding her own creativity to the background. She of course wanted pink turkeys, so we traced her hand on pink paper, cut out the turkeys and glued them onto their own colored construction paper of a different color. After she drew and colored what she wanted in the background, we then glued on Indian corn onto the 4 fingered feathers! Last month when visiting the pumpkin patch, I made sure to pick up a few Indian corns! I knew I wanted some for household decorations and then could pluck off the corn kernels when we were done using them for decorations. 

*The process of plucking corn kernels off is super easy btw, if you never tried it before! You can use tweezers or just use your fingers*

I thought I'd share this fun and easy craft with you since Thanksgiving is just a few days away!! Most of you know the standard turkey, but I thought the other 3 turkeys are fun too, and with Indian corn it makes them even more festive! Take a look at Halie's cute turkeys for our family!

"Standard"

 "Star Trek"

 "The Rocker"

Hope you all have a Happy Turkey Day! :)

Being Thankful

Well it's that time of year when everyone starts talking about what they are thankful for! I wanted to do a 30 day thankful series, but clearly I am too late. So I guess I'll just talk about what I'm thankful for this year!

So let's see, this year our son Graham was born on May 9th! I'm thankful for him and that he was able to deliver him safely. At almost 8 months I was driving with Halie (our daughter who was 3 at the time) and we were hit by a car who "didn't see us". I was nervous wreck b/c one, Halie was terrified, two, my belly was swelling up from the seat belt strap tightening and my belly did hit the steering wheel (I had my belt under my belly and was wearing it properly, but still!) and three, I couldn't feel Graham move and to be exact it was for about 20 mins I didn't feel him move. I had never been in a car accident before so the experience was terrifying. We all walked away and the person who hit me totalled her car, but I'm so very thankful that Me, Halie and Graham were all okay. God protected us and conveniently placed my In-Laws at the scene not even 5 minutes after it happened (they were driving home from dinner). So yes, I'm thankful for a loving God and my healthy, sweet baby boy!

I'm thankful to finally be a Sophomore in college! hahah...only took me how many years! Well that's ok with me! I'm working toward my Psychology: Christian Counseling at Liberty University Online and I take 2 classes each of the three semesters and am slowly getting there! This coming Summer I'll finally be taking my Psychology classes and I cannot wait!!! Woohoo!!

Our daughter turned 4 this year! She is 4 going on 14 and keeps me very entertained- very thankful for her and her passionate self :)

I'm thankful for our home, electric and hot water! We lost power for 3 days when Hurricane Sandy hit so that always gets you thinking of the luxury of the things we have that others don't.

I'm thankful for all my family and friends! Their support and love is so important to me and I'm very thankful for each and everyone of them! My husband has been my rock for the past 6 years and continues to be so! I'm thankful for his love and that he cares deeply for me, even about the small things about me! And I'm thankful that he works so hard, allowing me to be a stay at home mom to our 2 kids! He knows that is very important to me and makes it happen.

The list really goes on! Maybe I really should have done a 30 day series!! Hahah...oops!

Making Baby Food ~ Green Beans

I did it! This was my first time making my son's own baby food and I have to say it was so easy and quick!

After feeding my son stage 1 baby food for about 2 1/2 weeks and knowing the consistency of the texture, I decided I was ready to make his own food. Wondering how to do it? Here's a step by step tutorial...