Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Yes, you read that correctly.  Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting?  I made one such concoction recently.  Nom nom nom.

Chocolate cake recipe found here.  It was moist, flavorful, & easy-to-make (which is always a plus in my book).  I was hesitant to add coffee, but I highly recommend it - no coffee flavor was detected, but it gave a depth to the chocolate I think would have been missed without.  Peanut butter cream cheese frosting found here.  I had to add a bit of milk to make the frosting more spreadable for a cake.  The frosting had an amazing balance of sweet & salty.  I'm still partial to regular cream cheese frosting, but the addition of peanut butter was oh-so-delicious.

Put it all together & you have a combination made in heaven.  I took one bite & angels sang down from high.
Moist, rich, decadent, unique, sweet, salty.  Did I mention it was really tasty?

(Please note the thin slice.  This is not a diet-friendly cake.  All in moderation.)

Found the camera

A lack of posting with pictures is due to the fact we couldn't find our camera after travelling back from Piedmont a few weekends ago.  That's because we safely put the camera in the glove box in my car, only to forget where we safely stored it.  We're getting old.

As I uploaded recent pictures, I stumbled upon the pics below, taken while in Piedmont.

 Gidget refuses to miss any action going on around her, so she usually falls asleep sitting up.

 Oh, this table leg is so comfy to sleep on!

 Steve sets the trends for running attire in his Hawaiian swim trunks, knee-high compression socks, & neon yellow running shoes.  Gidget is digging it.  It's so amazing, he was bathed in bright light from behind.
(Or Steve forgot running shorts when we visited Piedmont & my dad lent him a pair.  Except Steve is quite a bit taller than Papa Ramirez - and these shorts were the only pair long enough & wouldn't have gotten the cops called on Steve for indecent exposure.)

Heaven in a bottle

*Drool*  One of my absolute favorite beers of all time.  *Drool*  It's summer in a bottle.  No, it's heaven in a bottle.  It's summery heaven.  Heavenly summer.  You catch my drift.

When Leinie's Summer Shandy hits the liquor store shelves, I'm like this guy (gal).  Total destruction to anyone standing in my way.  (Minus the 3 heads)


Steve was recently in Laramie & found Summer Shandy in a can.  Bottles always seem more official than cans, but Summer Shandy in a can was priceless.  I fainted from happiness.

Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my computer.  Good thing it didn't short out.

I'scream! You'scream! We all scream for ice cream!

If the world were ending & I was only allowed one thing to eat for my last day(s), it would be ice cream.  And cake.  And cookies.  And custard.

Can I just have "dessert" for my last day?

Now that we have an ice cream maker...and four hens that make eggs...what better to use up eggs than make ice cream?  The good kind.  The custard kind.  Early in my ice cream making days, I read the creamiest ice creams have a higher fat content because of all things physics and science that I don't understand.  Something to do with ice crystals & their inability to form in fat.  Is that why my layer of blubber keeps me warm in the winter?  Because ice crystals can't form?  Why didn't someone tell me I had to be a Rocket Surgeon to understand the delicate inner-workings of ice cream??

Last night, I made the most amazing ice cream I have ever tried.  It's a simple vanilla bean ice cream that can easily be used as a base for other flavors.

See recipe here.

It's still creamy, even after being in the freezer overnight.  I know because after lunch, I had a small scoop.  Or two.  Or five.

Who's counting?

I did make a small minor adjustment.  I didn't have 3 cups of heavy cream, so I used what I had - which is the one-pint container (equivalent of two cups, for those of you that reject the Metric system).  I adjusted my half-and-half to 2 cups & used 7 eggs.  Ahhhhhhmazing.

A penguin & a boot

I was reading an article on Runner's World and had to check out the video.  It made me smile.  And say "awwwww" out loud.  And provided a bit of restored faith in humanity.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother's Day to all the lovely mama's out there - you deserve a day dedicated to you!

These two amazing women are my favorites moms EVER!  (I might be biased - but it's allowed)

Jean, a wonderful mother-in-law that has shown me so much love & welcomed me to her fabulous family with open arms.  She raised four kind, intelligent & respectable boys (the eldest of which I am quite smitten) - that alone deserves an "Amazing Mom" award.

Linda, my mama, who has always been there for me & given me so much support.  She has the kindest soul & has never met a stranger - qualities I hope I can portray in my life.  She gives much & asks little in return, this day was made to celebrate women like her.  Mama, you deserve nothing less than the best!  (That gorgeous veil I'm wearing for our wedding?  She made it.  So incredibly awesome!)

One of these is not like the others

Upon quick glance, this looks like a normal dozen of eggs:

 From our lovely, albeit sqwuak-y, hens.

Until you look at the bottom green egg, second in from the left.  No?  Can't see it?  Look a bit closer...

GIGANTOR EGG!

 (That's not a real world.  I made it up.  But it sounded way cooler.  Like "gigantic" but with "or" on the end.)

This is GIGANTOR EGG compared to two normal eggs:

Apparently Athena, our "Easter-egger" hen, grew into a giant chicken overnight & began laying eggs the size of my hand.  We now have a chicken the size of a toddler stomping around the backyard & eating small pets that get too close.

Not really.  But wouldn't that make a good story?  "The Story of Athena, the Monster Chicken!"  We haven't cracked the GIGANTOR EGG, but we're fairly certain it's a double-yoker.  We kept an eye on her after the epic egg-laying, as we were worried it might have caused some damage & potential ensuing infection (even I cringed when I saw that egg - there's no way it didn't hurt when it popped out).  However, other than being extra hungry the next morning, she seemed to survive the whole ordeal.

I promise to post pics when we crack the egg.

The maple-flavored kind?

This is hilarious.  We think that's exactly how Brewer would sound if he could talk.

Thunder Thighs!

I was recently reminded of some Nike ads that caught me eye several years ago when they were published.  In a time when females constantly struggle with self-image (damn you media!), it was great seeing a well-known corporation promoting more "typical" body structures as a GOOD thing (let's not get into the fact that these women featured are crazy ripped & we all won't look like that either).

But my favorite two are below (it's a personal bias)

As I ran my 17-mile training run this past weekend, I kept thinking about my own pair of Thunder Thighs.  I try to remember to say a prayer of thanks for them every time.