Angel Food Cake with Hot Fudge Sauce

For our wedding we received the most awesome cook book ever - America's Test Kitchen. We love to cook. I love to bake. We aren't novices in the kitchen and even though this cook book is mostly basics, it's already become a favorite. There are techniques for everything from frying an egg to flipping a crepe. There are reviews on hundreds of products. So, if you're looking for the perfect gift for someone who loves to cook or is new to the kitchen - this is it!

This weekend was a big in the kitchen weekend for us. We were having both of our parents over for a fancy dinner and the pressure was on! I had decided to make an Angel Food cake because it's Justin's dad's favorite. I found several recipes online that looked pretty darn good and was all set to make this one from Joy the Baker when the America's cookbook arrived. I scrapped my previous plan and went with their instructions for both the cake and the fudge sauce. (If you can't get the cookbook though, give Joy's recipe a try. It's very similar to the one I followed and her recipes have never let me down).

Next, mix together 3/4 c sugar, 1 tsp cream of tarter, and 1/4 tsp salt. Turn your mixer speed up a couple notches and beat this in 1 tbsp at a time until the eggs form shiny, soft peaks.

While my cake was cooling I whipped up my fudge sauce which took no time at all and I don't think I will ever purchase it again.

Bring 1 c heavy cream, 1 stick butter, and 1/3 c light karo syrup to a boil in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat and stir in chopped chocolate. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt.

On the Menu: This Week

Every weekend I sit down with my calendar and do my best to plan out our menu for the week. It helps us to eat better, more balanced meals at home. It also helps us to cut down our spending - less eating out and fewer trips to the grocery store.

I have a great notepad that hangs on our fridge in that is just perfect for meal-planning. I got mine as a prize at my cousin's wedding shower, but I'm sure you could find one at Target or make one up yourself pretty easily. I love that it's always on hand for easy reference.

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Christmas-time is here!

I love decorating for Christmas. I love the tradition - unpacking my favorite ornaments from my childhood and re-telling the same stories about the time that Aunt Annie gave me a certain ornament or my friend Betsy made me another. This year, we're going a bit non-traditional in our house which is normally not my style, but with a tight budget and two dogs (one of whom is a bit rambunctious), neither a real tree nor an artificial one were in the cards for us.

We were thinking of picking up a rosemary plant/tree from WholeFoods to decorate/cook with during the holiday season, but since we already have rosemary planted in the garden it seemed like it might be a bit of a waste. They smell lovely but are only about 12" high and wouldn't hold many decorations in the end. I was a bit discouraged and thinking we'd have to be tree-less when I came across this brilliant idea on (you guessed it!) pinterest.com: Make your own Christmas tree out of a tomato cage!

So, $4 and a trip to Home Depot later, we have our own DIY Christmas Tree! We ran our lights vertically on the cage and that seemed to make it more tree shaped. All in all, a super simple project that helped make our living room full of Christmas cheer.

30 Photo Challenge

I recently stumbled across the idea of a 30 Day Photo Challenge. I think I first saw it on pinterest.com but since then, I've seen it on several blogs. October is going to be a crazy, crazy month, but what better month to document with all sort of fun photographs?

So, forgive me in advance if I do more than one picture on some days and none on others. It might end up taking me more than 30 total days, but I'm planning to cross the challenge finish line no matter how long it takes! Here's my 30 day list, heavily inspired by the blogosphere with a couple tweaks.

2011

I'm a task oriented gal by profession and I enjoy having goals to reach for at the beginning of the New Year. I think it helps keep me focused on what matters and trim the excess from my life. These goals aren't terribly specific, but they do represent some of the things I hope for in the new year.

Write a monthly Psalm I'm setting out on this adventure with some girlfriends. We are going to practice the art of psalm writing together. We already gather for lunch monthly and are hoping that sharing our poems, prayers, psalms with each other will help us to cultivate deeper friendships with each other and share our lives honestly and well.

@EngageScripture 2011 Engage Scripture is a bible reading plan developed by some guys at my church. I made an attempt to follow through last year, but life got busy and I dropped off over the summer. I hope to stick it out this year. If you're interested in joining us you can follow @EngageScripture for daily readings from the plan.

Be adventurous in the kitchen I am excited about this. Paté. Grilled lamb chops. Hosting a fancy dinner party. Cooking creatively on a budget.

Sabbath weekly I'm not sure what this will look like, but I hope to do a better job of sabbathing and establishing better rhythms in my daily, weekly life. Time to rest. Time to play. Time to work. Quality time with a certain gentleman and dear friends. Time away to pray.

Date well Speaking of a certain gentleman. 2010 brought a most welcome addition to my life - a pretty wonderful guy. I hope that we continue to date each other well. To set and follow good boundaries. To discover new things to appreciate about each other. To allow ourselves to be known by each other and our community of friends. To be bold when we need to be bold and patient when we should be patient. To have fun and glorify God in it all.

Take a vacation Yep. I want to go to the beach. That is all. I could find a way to fit Paris into my schedule if the opportunity arose. Just sayin'.

Think and speak I hope to be thoughtful in what I say and what I leave unsaid. To be courageous in who I am and who God has made me to be. To be authentic in my relationships.

Tasty Treat turned Perfect Gift

Thanksgiving is Thursday, this Thursday. I'm not sure how that happened. It really snuck up on me this year and, this year, is a big one. There will be the traditional afternoon eat-your-heart-out-two-turkey-lots-of-sides dinner at my mom's house and then it's time to hit the road again and head to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I'll be spending the majority of the holiday weekend with various members of a certain handsome guy's family. I'm really looking forward to it. There will be naps, walking around on the farm land and, I'm pretty sure, I've heard something about a trip to Jamba Juice (?). I'm also hoping to sneak in a trip to Topeca Coffee for a cup of Santa Ana roast. But, all this to say, that a girl shouldn't go meet the extended family empty-handed.

What does it take to turn a tasty treat into the perfect gift? The packaging makes all the difference. You could just stick some Holiday Pecans in some regular old tupperware or you could put on your crafting hat and snazz up a few mason jars.

What you need:

Mason Jars (I happened to have a few mason jars in the basement, but you can also pick them up at almost any discount or grocery store. They'll run you about $15 for a dozen, depending on the size and type you choose.)
White Shipping Labels or Craft Paper and Tape (You'll use these to make your own labels)
Ribbon or Fabric

I designed my stickers on the computer and printed them directly on the shipping labels. It takes a steady hand to cut them out, but creates a nice sharp look. You could also get extra-crafty with some markers (a great job for little ones if you're making this a family project).

Wrap some pretty ribbon around the body of the jar and fasten with your sticker label.

Next, divvy up your treat of choice (I'm using Holiday Pecans) evenly between your mason jars and be sure that the lid is sealed tight. Ta-da!

I kept everything pretty simple due to time and travel, but you can go all out with your jar decoration. They make great containers for any bite sized gift. Go. Bake. Decorate. Give.

Eiffel in love...

...with this super cute mug rug!

Do you not adore this fabric? I do. It combines so many of the things I love - Eiffel towers, pretty flowery patterns, teal, green. Really. I love it. It's just in time for winter, a.k.a. warm drink season and makes my desk feel so cozy.

It's nice to have a super crafty friend who is willing to share the pretty things she makes. Apparently mug rugs are all the rage these days. I had no idea, but now that I'm in the know, I'm jumping right on the band wagon. Check out some other great mug rug ideas here, here and here.

Evening à la Wonderful

Recipe for a pretty great evening.
Serves two.

First, make a yummy dinner using as many fresh veggies as you can. I suggest Lemony Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza from Smitten Kitchen and a fresh tomato basil salad.

Next, add in a boy you really like who brings you beautiful flowers just because.

Finally, snuggle on the couch and swoon over Don Draper and the magic that is Mad Men.

Go, enjoy. You can thank me later.