Operation Game Cake!

My father-in-law was recently diagnosed with cancer and since his birthday is coming up (on 7-11) and since we were going to have family in town this weekend from Utah my sister-in-law Dawna and I decided to make a cake for him. We knew it had to be something special, something he would always remember, and something that would help lighten the mood. We decided that no other cake would do except a cake that looked like the classic game Operation. So having never worked with fondant or gum paste before I set out to make a stellar cake that would be forever ingrained in John's memory. This is what I ended up with.

It turned out amazing not only on the outside, but on the inside as well!!! My sister-in-law made a chocolate cake with a hot fudge filling and chocolate brownie batter icing. Then we covered it in homemade fondant which tastes WAY better (in my humble opinion) than store bought fondant. When chased with a bite of vanilla ice cream, this cake was heaven on earth.

The second best part, besides eating the cake, was the look on dad's face when we came out with the cake singing "Happy Birthday to you". The cake and the early birthday party were a total surprise for him.
So Happy Early Birthday Dad! We really do love you lots and we are praying for you to make a quick recovery.

I'm So Vain...I Probably Think This Blog Is About Me

Because it is.

I have finally decided to follow the lead behind the amazing Misty and post pictures of myself. I didn't get dolled up on purpose; today is just one of those days where I feel good and that makes me look good.

So I grabbed my camera and I invited myself to a private photo shoot.
Because I think I am beautiful and I deserve to feel good about myself!

And now at 26 years old I am finally learning to love myself.

And it makes me happy. Really happy!! And I know that it makes my husband happy too.
Because he knows I am beautiful and it makes him happy when I smile.

So the next time the stars align and you just look good. Take some pictures of yourself and post them on your blog so we can all see your beauty.

Yep, I think this blog is about me. Who is your blog about?

18 Months

Trevor turned 18 months yesterday and what a difference a year makes!

Last year for his 6 month milestone we were celebrating him eating solid foods, discovering his toes and learning to scream.

A year later he is running around all over the place and saying little words and using signs to express himself. He loves to be outside getting dirty or inside playing with cars or reading books.


Yesterday he had a doctor's appointment and so on the way home I stopped and bought him some Play-doh for being such a good boy during his shots. And as he was sitting at the kitchen table pulling the Play-doh out of the container and then putting it back in over and over again I thought to myself that I need to slow down and worry less about the small things and focus on making sure that my family knows I love them and that I am interested in what they are doing.

Here is a video of Trevor enjoying the simple things in life like a small plastic pool in the backyard on a hot day and cool water running down your back. I sometimes wish I could go back to the time when I didn't care whether or not I had snot on my face because I was having too much fun to care.

Before & After: Front Porch

Our front porch badly needed to be repainted, so last night after we put Trevor to bed we got to work and it now looks much better. Here are the pictures.

Before:
And After:
It is much improved! Now all I need is a cute something to put in the corner in front of the tall, skinny window.

Before & After: The Garden!

Here we go again with another installment of Before and After!

Here is what the terraced corner of our yard looked like when we bought our house.
Now the lower level is home to our very own strawberry patch!
The corner of our yard that had existing garden boxes was the ugliest part of the yard. It was overgrown with blackberry bushes, littered with junk, falling apart, and the raspberry bushes were fighting for light and space. It wasn't until I saw these pictures again that I realized what a miracle we have pulled off in such a short period of time. Here is the before...
And now...the after!!!
This garden box was rebuilt by Darren and we are growing lettuce, carrots, broccoli, green onions, and potatoes.
This side of the garden has just been cleaned up and instead of growing blackberry bushes we are now growing bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and pumpkins. Next to the raspberries are the tomato plants and along the fence are snap peas and green beans.
I am so proud of our little garden. I love to be outside working in the yard and so does Trevor. He is happiest when he is outside digging in the dirt and making a mess. We are so happy to have our little house and for all the hard work we have put into it. Our first raspberry ripened last night and we feel so excited about our forthcoming harvest! Come visit soon and snitch a berry or two!!!

Wenatchee River!!!

I have been very fortunate this summer to go on two river rafting trips on the Wenatchee River. Both times my dad took Trevor overnight and they had a great time. Here are some pictures of Darren and I on the river. Enjoy the pictures, because we enjoyed the ride!!! (Click to enlarge the pictures and look at our facial expressions.)

Check out my strong, handsome husband on a CAT boat on May 30, 2009.

Mindy rafting through Rock and Roll on the Wenatchee River on June 13, 2009.
Darren as Lunch Boy (because he had the cooler with everyone's lunch in it) on the Wenatchee River on June 13, 2009.

Dessert for Dinner???

Looks like it, but take a look again and you'll notice that the cupcakes are meatloaf with mashed potato frosting and salt & pepper sprinkles. I know this is not a new idea, but it was a first for me and I loved it so such I'll probably add them to our menu. For the mashed potatoes I used instant potatoes from Costco because they are yummy and they have a really smooth texture. To make the potatoes look like frosting I put them in a 16" frosting bag and pipped them out with a large star tip (Wilton #6B or #8B). The hardest part was pipping the "frosting" while the potatoes were still hot. The potatoes had to be cool enough to handle, but hot enough to serve.

Now, maybe some of you are thinking, "Yuck, I hate meatloaf!!" and I can understand. I used to be in that same boat, but when I found a recipe from America's Test Kitchen I fled the "yucky" boat and I am now a proud member of the "yummy" boat. So here is the recipe that I love. Post a comment after you try it out and let me know if you are on your way over to the "yummy" boat or still firmly lodged in the "yucky" boat.

Meatloaf (from the Test Kitchen at Cook's Illustrated)

Ingredients:
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. Dijon mustard (yellow works too)
2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce (optional, I leave it out)
1/2 whole milk or plain yogurt (1% works too if you have it, but yogurt works great)
2 lbs. ground beef
About 16 crushed saltine crackers or 1 and 1/3 c. bread crumbs

For the glaze:
1/2 c. ketchup
4 Tbsp. borwn sugar
4 Tbsp. white vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat oil in skillet and cook onions and garlic until softened.
Combine all other ingredients including onions and garlic, minus those for the glaze, in a large bowl and mix well.
Now you can either shape the meatloaf into a 9"x5" loaf and place it on a rimmed cookie sheet, or you can place it is greased muffin tins.
Cook the meatloaf at 350 degrees until the internal temp is 160 degrees, about 1 hour for a loaf and about 20 mins for the muffin tins.
Cool at least 10-20 mins before serving with the glaze.
For the glaze, just mix all ingredients together and serve. (It is super yummy!!)

Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does. I'll be interested to hear how it goes in your kitchen.