Tonight's Accomplishments

Since I got all my cleaning done last night I was able to go grocery shopping and bake tonight. The in-laws are coming over for dinner Friday before heading to the city festival to see a great band! Picked up some good lookin steaks for grilling- I'll have to remember to post those later. Tonight I made the cake- a birthday cake since we're celebrating both my in-laws' bdays Friday.

Nothing too fancy - I haven't started building that skill yet. I have a friend who makes the fanciest looking cakes ever! I'll have to get her to teach me. Anyway, tonight was a Devil's Food cake with Cherry Vanilla frosting. I like to mix things up- and it doesn't hurt to be a little healthy either- so this cake is a Diet Coke cake. Did you know you can make a cake with just cake mix and a can of diet coke? Well, you can. Although you can technically make a cake with any type of pop I've heard that diet coke is pretty much the only one that tastes decent. All you do is mix 1 can (12 oz) of diet coke with 1 cake mix, use your mixer to get all the lumps out, pour in whatever your baking- tonight I made two round cakes. Bake according to directions on the box. From the crumbs I ate it tastes pretty good and you can't taste the coke, although I kind of wish I could. I used two different round pans- 8 in and 9in - I was hoping for a layered look but it just didn't really turn out that way. Looks find but not like it did in my head.

The frosting is amazing! Duncan Hines has these new frosting creations where you buy plain frosting and a mix and mix your own flavor. The flavors they have are sooo fun! Tonight I used the cherry vanilla- not only does it taste great but I love the color of it. Kind of a muted pink. I get so excited when I see all the flavors - I can't wait to try more!

To get the fun sprinkle star I traced a cookie cutter on wax paper, cut it out, placed it ever so gently on the cake and filled it in with sprinkles. If that sounds challenging its because it is! I have read about doing this sort of thing and there must be an easier way. I will need to do some research and try again.

For Saturday:

The second part of my kitchen escapade tonight was prepping for Saturday afternoon. My best-est friend and fellow foodie is coming over in the afternoon. We are going to eat and make fun smoothies and soak up some rays.

Pasta salad- easiest in the whole world to make!
Chop up strawberries, rinse some grapes, open a pack of pre-cooked grilled chicken breasts, cook some pasta, mix 'em all together in a bowl and squirt in enough poppy seed dressing to coat. Yum! Light and refreshing!
(sorry no pic right now, maybe when we're eating it!)



Ugh, getting late and another day filled with meetings tomorrow. Good night!