2011 Comes to a Close

I can hardly believe that today is the last day of 2011. This year has been a rollercoaster ride, full of lots of highs and lows. The lows have seemed to be worse this year than in the past, but because of those lows, this year has disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The major lows for me from this year have been the loss of my mother earlier this year, and my boyfriend moving to Northern Cali {7 hours away}.

My mom, Carol at our favorite desert getaway, La Casa del Zorro in Borrego Springs, CA.

The major highs for me from this year have been meeting some amazing new friends at school, finishing up my first ever semester of college with straight A’s, and of course, starting my blog!

My BFF, Jess, and I on my 22nd bday!

I am not usually one for “New Year’s Resolutions”, but this year I am actually making some. Unfortunately, I am going to be one of those people that has “join a gym/start working out” on my list, but I am in desperate need of it. This past year I’ve put on a lot of weight, which I think is partly due to me being depressed about my mom’s passing. Food has always been one of my loves, but my appetite has really grown this year and I find myself eating a lot more than I have in the past, a lot more than I know I should be. I’m by no means “fat” or “obese” but I’m getting a muffin top… and it needs to go away! I love me some muffins, but not when they stick above my pants!!!

Some of my other resolutions are to really keep up with my blog, especially with my Sweet Saturday/Savory Sunday/Musical Monday posts that I planned to do a few months ago.

I also wanted to spend today reflecting on this past year, and decided to share my Top 10 most visited posts from this year, so I hope you all enjoy them!

#10 on my list. This Creamy Peanut Butter Pie was baked back in August when Jennie, a fellow food blogger, lost her husband and father of her children. A bunch of people from the online food community came together and all baked pies in memory of her husband.

#9 on the list is my World of Warcraft backstory. I posted this back in August because I wanted to share with everyone how I got into WoW, where I meant the love of my life and boyfriend of 4 years, and what had taken up nearly 6 years of my life.

#8 on the list is my grandma's Angel Food Cake Frosting. I baked these cakes back in May for Easter. I absolutely LOVE Angel Food Cake, but only with this frosting. Every year on my birthday my mom would bake me two of these cakes, one for the family, and one for me because I'm a piggy *snortsnort*

#7 on the list are the delicious Individual Gorgonzola Beef Wellingtons. I made these in August for my Dad for Father's Day. These are so simple and are a real crowd pleaser. Plus, these are sure to make you look like you're the best cook in the world if you serve these!

#6 on the list is this sweet Mixed Berry Tart. I made this in late July for a family get together and everyone loved it to death. It is definitely a keeper recipe, and if you like berries, you should check it out!

#5 on the list is this quick and easy Southern Chicken and Dumplings. It has minimal ingredients, and feeds quite a few people. All you need is a crockpot and a few hours.

#4 on the list are my Mom's Sugar Cookies that I baked this month for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. My mom and I made these cookies for a lot of holidays, and are a family tradition. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

#3 on the list are the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcakes I helped crown by Cupcake Project. The other 49 Cupcake Explorers and I went through three rounds before we found this recipe, but it was well worth it. These really are the ULTIMATE Vanilla cupcakes.

#2 on the list are these moist Copycat Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcakes by Carrot Top Mom. I found her recipe back in January when I was looking for a Red Velvet Cupcake to bake for my mom's 65th birthday. She was in the hospital, so I wanted something small and portable, and these were just the thing! I love them, and I know you will too!

And finally, #1 on the list is this amazing Bacon-Swiss BBQ Chicken crockpot recipe. Like the Chicken and Dumplings {from the same cookbook}, it has minimal ingredients, and is a wonderfully simple summer meal.

Well, that’s it everyone! Those are the Top 10 posts most visited on my blog since I started it back in April! If you want to visit the post and check it out, you can click on the picture.

I hope that you all have a wonderful and safe New Years Eve tonight. And don’t forget, please please please don’t drink and drive tonight! Stay safe, and call AAA if you need a ride, they will tow your car and give you a lift FOR FREE if you need it!!

Stay safe, and I will see you all in the new year!!

 

♥ and harp strings,
Kate

Angel Food Cake Frosting

So, in my Easter Sunday post I mentioned how passionately in love I am with Angel Food cake. If you missed it, you should maybe go check it out to fully understand my love of Angel Food cake!

Or maybe I could just explain it here. Yeah, I guess I could do that.

It all started many birthdays ago (although in retrospect it’s not that many birthdays ago, I mean I am only 21!) when my mom made me an Angel Food cake on my birthday. Okay, I can’t actually remember when she started doing this… I just remember that any birthday I had she would make me two cakes. Why two cakes you ask? It’s quite simple really. I’m a pig when it comes to Angel Food cake, and no I’m not afraid to admit it! I will go back for seconds, thirds, fourths, probably even fifths if there is enough cake! No, I didn’t say enough cake for everyone, just enough for me.

Anyways, this started a tradition for my birthdays where mom would make a cake for the family, and one for me to gorge myself with (and yes, I happily did, thank-you-very-much!). However, there is a very important thing I haven’t mentioned regarding Angel Food cake. As much as I absolutely love it, I CANNOT STAND IT if there is NO frosting. The frosting makes the cake for me, so if there isn’t any, I won’t touch it with a 10-foot pole. Okay, I’ll probably serve some up for someone, but I seriously won’t eat it. It’s not Angel Food cake without frosting. Seriously.

It wasn’t just my birthday that we would eat Angel Food cake (although it really seemed like it was the only time of year I ever got it!), we’d eat it for Easter too. Even though mom wasn’t able to be with us on Easter (although I think she was in spirit), we didn’t let that stop the Angel Food cake tradition. I sent TJ out to the store to get boxed mix (OMG BOX MIX?!?! NO WAI?! Yes, I said boxed mix. It is so much simpler than home-made, at least according to my mom and my mom’s-mom. Their cakes always fell. And boxed Angel Food cake still tastes amazing. So back off. ♥) however, he ran into a snafoo. Apparently my family isn’t the only ones who do Angel Food cake on Easter.

This was news to me. And I seriously wondered if someone had sent memo’s out to everyone and their dog that TJ was heading to Stater Bros. to buy 2 boxes of Angel Food cake mix, because when he got there, they were completely and utterly OUT. As in none at all in the store. He drove a mile in the opposite direction (past our house) to go to Albertsons where he met the same dilemma. Thankfully, grocery stores in my town are kind of like Walgreens and Starbucks, they like to be across the street from each other, so he drove across the street to Vons (his 3rd grocery store visit this trip, just in case you lost count) and voila! he found 2 boxes. He snatched those suckers up like they were the winning lottery ticket for the Mega Million and came home.

I guess you can say that TJ saved the day with the cakes on Easter, because well, he did go out the day before Easter to get the mixes for me, since I was seriously lagging in that department lol Without TJ risking his life place to sleep for the night dinner, we would have been short a very tasty dessert for Easter. Thanks TJ, we appreciate it!

And without further ado, the recipe for the frosting! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!!!

♥ Kate

Fallen Soufflé Chocolate Torte

This cake was one of the first cakes I’ve ever made from scratch. I got an itch one day to make some kind of cake, so I started looking through my mom’s baking book, A Passion for Baking. It’s filled with all sorts of yummy recipes, but as I was flipping through it I stumbled upon this recipe and fell in love.

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love truffles. My favorite though is the Extra-Dark Chocolate Truffle (that I’ve only been able to find at Godiva, and of course we don’t have a Godiva nearby *pouts*). When I read the quote that was under the picture I knew that this was the cake I was going to make. It said “Digging into this cake is the closest you will come to eating a truffle with a fork” and BOY was she right!! Top this sucker with some cool whip and sliced strawberries (or pureed raspberries) and I can guarantee that you will be in heaven.