Good one to finish the day . . .

Forming characters! Whose? Our own or others? Both. And in that momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of our existence.

- Elihu Burritt

Quilt in the making . . .

Since I was graced with leftovers for dinner, I had extra time to sew today. I went to my cupboard with good intentions - to get a long sitting quilt on the way to completion. Some fabric caught my eye and I now have two quilts that need help on the way to being done! I rediscovered the pretty angels, Jesus, and children fabric and noticed I had some pastels and muted colors that played it up well . . . and it was all over for the other quilt today! I've discovered I like working with curves in my patterns and enjoy top stitching. I got the twelve squares finished and two of them even have their borders sewn in already. The rest of the border pieces are cut and ready for next week. What? Oh, yes, of course, I PROMISE to finish both of the quilts before I start another one . . . probably . . . :-)

Crumb Cake in PIctures . . .

After posting the crumb cake recipe this morning, the timer went off and my actual rendition of said recipe exited the oven. I drizzled it with lemon icing while it was hot so it would soak in and (not shown here) dusted it with powdered sugar.

Halloween treats . . .

Celebrated the season a bit by making spice cupcakes with pumpkin orange colored frosting. Some black and orange sprinkles finished it off. My son ate three so I'm taking a leap of faith and assuming they are quite edible! This tray went to a friend who is having a birthday tomorrow. My first holiday baking of the season!

Using up cake crumbs . . . again!

It seems you have to make more cake in order to use cake crumbs. I still have a bag of broken cake from last week that I froze for future reference. Today was the day to give some of that crushed cake a new home. The thing is that in order to use the crumbs, I had to fix a batter for a new cake. This is the one I used and it seems to be a very nice vanilla cake that worked well to support the layer of cake crumbs on top.

Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. This recipe makes two eight-inch layers or one 11x13-inch baking pan. You might be able to get 2 dozen cupcakes out of the batter but haven't tried it with that yet. Use vegetable oil spray to grease the pans.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs. Add the vanilla and almond extracts. Mix together the flour and baking powder, put into the butter/egg mixture, add the milk, and mix until just combined.

Spread the batter in the pan of your choice. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes our until golden and top springs back when lightly touched.

If you want to go the crumb cake route, this is how I did it today.

2 cup cake crumbs
1 stick butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumble the cake crumbs into fine crumbs. In a mixing bowl or food processor, combine the butter, flour, and vanilla and mix to get rough crumbs. Combine this with the cake crumbs and mix with your hands to make large crumbs.

I found that using two 11x13-inch baking pans worked well for this amount of crumbs. Instead of making a thick cake, you divide the batter between the pans and then divide the cake crumb mixture over the top of each cake. Bake as directed.

When mine came out of the oven, I drizzled them with a thin glaze of lemon juice and powdered sugar. You can go traditional and just sift powdered sugar over the top, too.

A great find to begin the day . . .

Smiling is infectious, you catch it like the flu, When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too. I passed around the corner, and someone saw my grin-- When he smiled I realized, I'd passed it on to him. I thought about that smile, then I realized its worth, A single smile, just like mine, could travel round the earth. So, if you feel a smile begin, don't leave it undetected-- Let's start an epidemic quick and get the world infected!

Very Politically Correct . . .

When the political columnists say 'Every thinking man' they mean themselves, and when candidates appeal to 'Every intelligent voter' they mean everybody who is going to vote for them.

- Franklin P. Adams