"Happy Birthday to you.." Lordy, we've sung that enough this month! This week is Katie's birthday, Monday to be exact. We celebrated this weekend with Taylor here to sing along. I made Katie the cake she requested though I balked at first...All that butter! Well I checked my other pound cake recipes and realized my balking was silly. I'd normally use about that much fat in making a pound cake...I just don't generally do all butter. The cakes (I baked in loaf pans) turned out gorgeous and tender and lovely. Worth every single penny of the butter it took to make them.
I wanted to share the link to the recipe but I can't get it to load from any source on the icomputer though it comes up on my phone just fine. I went to the justapinch site Katie had sent me the link via text to try and pull it up and it wouldn't come up at all. The two recipes that did come up were nothing like this one. Then I typed in the link to the source of the recipe I used, The Irreverent Kitchen, and they don't even have a search feature on the site, sigh. Really folks...How much traffic is lost because one must sort through hundreds of recipes to try and find the right one? So I'll add the full recipe to the page here in the Menus section and save you all the troubles I've been through...
A quick review of last week: I did little in the yard beyond emptying pots of water from all the rain that fell and deadheading plants. And I did nothing else on my list either. It was just that sort of week...
I did all the stuff associated with pay day. I pieced together a couple of fresh outfits and did troll about on Pinterest looking at combinations to consider but didn't attempt any just yet.
I did work on the kitchen on Tuesday and got the space where the fridge sits cleaned. I have since dropped about 5 necessary container lids behind the beast and must move it out again to retrieve them. I loathe that my fridge must sit so far out from the wall and leaves that gap where things can fall...though admittedly it wasn't a problem until this past two weeks.
Did not touch the laundry or back entry areas. I'm telling you, it was just not a stellar week for productivity for me.
Meals: For some reason I failed to register that John was off on Friday...So I wasn't alone that day after all, which meant I had ONE day this week on my own. I can't even remember what I ate that day. Our deli meal stretched to cover two days, we ate out once and John picked up an item at the grocery that he wanted me to attempt to make a meal of so I did (and it was Dee-licious!). So the whole menu thing was off this week, too
The week ahead...Here's to a better, more productive one than the one behind me!
Work:
I have three full cans of paint and I plan to use them on something if we can get beyond these daily thunderstorms. I get into this 'matchy matchy mode' when it comes to things but I don't really want it matching. At this stage of the budget I am just going to go on and use what I have to do what I can. Ditto for potting up plants, etc. And I've at least three pots that I simply must dump out and begin anew with because not one has drainage holes and though I did put plenty of stuff in the bottom of the pots, the plants in them have nearly drowned this past week because of the rain we had.
I will play dress up with my clothes and try to come up with some extra outfits. I know I can do the current tried and true stuff but to pair up some new combinations will keep me from that stinking thinking that I need more and I don't.
I watched a tutorial on YouTube about how to make a kimono from a scarf and I have at least two I'd like to attempt to do that with. And if I'm at the sewing machine anyway, there is still that accent pillow to be made and put on our bed.
Monday I mean to go out on my own for a bit. I still have that gift card and I really do want to get edging materials for the yard and possibly a few more plants. And two cinder blocks to expand that new flower bed. With Taylor here this weekend I became aware that a dress up box is practically a necessity. She really does enjoy being 'beautiful'...Oh my list could go on and on and on. I will do what I can towards this goal.
John was suddenly full of meal ideas this past week. Good ones, mind, and we bought stuff to make those meals. I had a couple of recipes we've not used in a while that I bought stuff to make. Hence my overage of spending on food. Here's the deal: I am now at full (new lower) budget limit for the month. I want to make sure we eat meals that have been planned and make the most of our purchases. So I'm going to sit down and make a menu list and put down all these dishes we've planned to have and try to pull from that list over the rest of the summer. I borrowed from sub accounts to cover the overage for this pay period and I want to pay them back in full. I also want to start saving for vacation because that money has been borrowed from as well. I am gearing up for a special challege in July and this next week will be a precursor.
Zone:
Porches, patio and yards this week. I have at least fourteen ideas of things I can do to improve, add to, refresh etc. various areas and at least 9 of them require nothing but my getting off my tukkus and doing them.
Menus:
Beef Stew, Salad, Key Lime Pound Cake
The requested birthday menu
Cheesy Bread Sticks, Salad
We get these at Aldi from the fridge section where they have cheese and luncheon meats. For $3 or so they are a good meal option for John and I. And quick to heat up following church, which is the plan we had in mind when we bought them this past week.
on my own
Grilled Italian Sausages, peppers and onions, Chips
I need hoagie buns for these...I'll pick them up when I'm out Sunday or Monday
Black Beans and Rice, Pico de Gallo, Tortilla Chips, Green Salad
out with Mama
Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Mozzarella, Salad, Rolls
I'll wager we end going out...
Baking this week: Bagels for sure. I may make up a new batch of rolls. The brown and serve have mostly been 'brown and burnt' as I can't seem to brown them properly in my toaster oven. I think I'd rather have the already baked rolls frozen and just thaw and warm a bit.
Now for that recipe for the cake:
Key Lime Pound Cake with Key Lime Cream Cheese Icing
1 pound of butter (four sticks...)
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup evaporated milk (I used half and half)
1/2 cup lime juice
4 teaspoons lime zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
Oven 300F. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube or two 9 inch loaf pans. Have butter and eggs at room temperature. Zest limes and juice them. I used Persian limes which is all that was available in our market.
Cream butter until it's light and fluffy. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time and beat at least five minutes between each cup. I set my mixer on a low/medium setting. I figured slow and steady would work fine and it did.
Add eggs, 1 at a time and beat at least 2 minutes between each.
Add vanilla to the cream. Add 1 cup flour to the butter/sugar/egg and blend, then add about half the cream and blend. Add another cup of flour and a portion of the lime juice and blend. The third cup of flour and more cream, and then the rest of the lime juice and finally the last cup of flour.
Divide batter between loaf pans or pour into tube pan. Bake loaf pans about 75 minutes. The recipe says a 10 inch tube pan needs to bake 1 hour and 45 minutes. Be sure and test the cake. I had to bake one loaf five minutes longer.
Allow to cool at least 10 minutes for loaf pans. The Irreverent Kitchen says to allow 20-25 minutes for the 10 inch tube pan to cool. Turn out. When completely cool ice with Key Lime Cream Cheese Icing.
Key Lime Cream Cheese Icing
8 ounces room temperature cream cheese
4 tablespoons butter (I totally left this out and did so on purpose...I find cream cheese alone is just fine)
4 cups confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup lime juice
2 teaspoons of lime zest
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Cream the cheese until light and fluffy. Add sugar, zest, vanilla extract and begin to blend the lot. Gradually add lime juice. I didn't need quite a 1/4 cup to get it to a creamy consistency. This is thicker than a glaze and not as thick as a frosting.
Smiles and Gratitudes:
It was a difficult week in some ways last week. I had trouble sleeping and woke extra early every morning. Every task I went to tackle seemed to turn into a big deal and I was so not in the mood for big deals. However, there were moments to appreciate.
The pleasure of watching a big task dwindle down to manageable proportions.
John has been more than usually full of puns and jokes and has laughed more than in many months past. It's such a joy to hear him and I've been doing all I can to laugh right along with him no matter how groan worthy some of the puns are.
Giving a silly nothing sort of gift to someone just for the joy of seeing a smile.
Hearing some pretty good preachers. It was a stumble upon moment on Instagram of all places and I heard Steven Furtick, and Christine Caine, among others. The videos scrolled one after the other, just excerpts from recent sermons and it was just what my soul needed.
The first of the Asiatic Lilies bloomed. It's one huge white blossom.
Learning a new skill (sewing kimono toppers). YouTube is a pretty good place to learn things.
Time with the little boys this week was brief, but Josh came in quicker than the others (he ran all the way here!) and reached in his pocket. "I have somefin'...It's a sweecret" he whispered. He'd brought me a Bandaid from his mom's stash because I'd told him I didn't have any last time he was here. The bandage has been safely put away for future need.
God. My strength. My shelter. My comforter.
9 comments:
You just reminded me of why I put the toaster oven away. I mostly wanted it to heat rolls and it burns every kind I put in there. It can stay in the garage or maybe I will put it in the thrift store box.
Hi Terri,
I googled the cake and irreverent kitchen and got this. I don’t remember you saying anything about icing but is this the one?
https://theirreverentkitchen.com/2015/03/12/key-lime-poundcake-with-key-lime-cream-cheese-icing-omg/
Hi again Terri, I guess you found the recipe. I started to read your post and then got called away before I finished it and your search for the recipe stuck in my mind. When I got a chance to finish reading, I had already found it and sent the link. Aah, distraction!😀
I loved your Josh's "somefin' sweecret" gift for you. He is so sweet. I'd put that "sweecret" gift away as a keepsake (with a note to remind myself what that was all about).
The lime pound cake sounds delicious. It made me chuckle when I read your comment about the butter in the cream cheese icing. I love butter, but I thought the same way you did.
I often have days when I am continually dropping things or knocking stuff over. I don't know if I am distracted or what on those days, but it is annoying. There is a space behind our toilet tank that is a gap that stuff always gets knocked into, then I have to poke around and try to get it out from there. I have seen plastic strips advertised in some little catalog, that comes through
the mail, that is supposed to be a fix for that problem, though I guess it would make the refrigerator not get enough circulation if it was used there.
I used to always end up with flower pots that had no drainage holes because those were the pots in the size, color, or style that I liked. Usually I can drill a bunch of small holes in them with my little Dremel tool, but the last pots I got that didn't have drain holes, had plastic that was real hard and melted onto my Dremel drill bit. I ended up having to get my husband to drill the holes in those pots with the big heavy drill that hurts my arthritis thumbs too much for me to use. It worked out well because that big old heavy drill has a big bit in the set of bits that was able to drill better sized drainage holes than my Dremel ever could. I wonder why so many pots are being made with no drainage holes lately.
Lana, I finally figured out that using the toast mode and going for a medium brown would work beautifully for brown and serve rolls.
Dale, I am going to link that recipe into this blog post for those who want to see it. Thank you so much!
Susie, I expect those drain free pots are really meant for houseplants despite the fact they generally shove them into the outdoor pot section. I have drilled holes in most but didn't these and it was silly of me not to do so. I too use a big bit and a regular drill.
The recipe for the Key Lime pound cake and icing sound wonderful!!! I'll bet it was delicious! I have a toaster oven in my hall closet that I now only use for doing projects with Fimo clay. It was very nice reading about your week. Hope you have a nice and productive one this coming week.
I can't remember the last time I bought a brown and serve roll although I know you said you made them. It definitely makes cinders out of frozen garlic bread sticks and Sister Shubert's rolls which is usually what we have here. I had been wondering why I had put it in the garage and just could not think of why except making counter space.
That cake sounds incredible! I googled it so I could pin it and then saw someone else found it, too. The next time I see a good price on limes I'm going to try it. Yum!
I just put half a loaf of the cake in the freezer, one thing I do love about a cream cheese/butter cream frosting is that I can freeze iced cakes with that on. The cake is really nice and gets more moist as the days pass. Had I not found myself irresistibly drawn to have one more piece...So into the freezer it went.
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