Cinnamon-Apple Cake

Whoops... I thought I had posted the recipe for the Cinnamon-Apple Cake I made last week. My friend, Kate, gave us a bag of apples a couple weeks ago, and I asked Jeff what he thought we (I) should do with them. His suggestion was an apple cake, so that's what I baked.

This Cinnamon-Apple Cake was very easy, very moist and very good... and with three cups of apples and not too much sugar or fat, I'd like to consider it to be a "skinny" cake as well.

Cinnamon-Apple Cake (from MyRecipes/Cooking Light)

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup stick margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened (about 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups chopped peeled Rome apple (about 2 large)
Cooking spray

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, margarine, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
• Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture* and apple in a bowl, and stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into an 8-inch springform pan** coated with cooking spray, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.
• Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife.
• Note: You can also make this cake in a 9-inch square cake pan or a 9-inch springform pan; just reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes.

*Another whoops... when I made this, I accidentally added all of the cinnamon sugar to the apples, so I didn't have any for the top. Actually, I think this added cinnamon flavor to the whole cake, rather than to just the top.
** I don't own an 8-inch spring form pan, so I used a 9-inch square pan, sprayed the bottom of the pan with vegetable oil and lined the bottom with non-stick baking paper... worked a treat.

Week 20 Bump

A picture of my (non-existent) bump has been requested. Honestly, I just look like I've put on a lot of weight, so no real bump is visible. I plan to post bump pictures on the 1st and 16th of every month, so hopefully I'll start to look like I'm actually pregnant in the next month or so. It's still early days, but I would like to look more pregnant so that people I meet aren't so surprised when I tell them that I'm pregnant if it comes up in conversation.

My grandpa, Avery Dean Marshall, passed away at the age of 96 two days ago. My wish for YEARS was to make him a great-grandfather. Even though BeeBee hasn't been born yet, my grandpa did know that I am expecting, and since we like to think of ourselves as parents already, that makes my grandpa a great-grandfather. Grandpa said to me on the phone when I told him I was pregnant at the beginning of September, which is the last time I spoke with him, that if BeeBee is a boy, I'd have to name him after him. Grandpa was very pleased to hear of my pregnancy and that's the treasure I'll hold onto.

Butter Cutout Cookies

The scent of cutout cookies is filling my kitchen at the moment as I bake trays of cookies and take them out of the oven to cool. This seriously puts a smile on my face. Cutout cookies bring me back to my childhood - the delicate process of not over baking them and getting them out of the oven at just the right moment and gently icing them so they don't fall apart in your hand. The past two springs I went over to our friends, the Lillies, to bake cookies with their daughter, Eve, who is now 4 years old. I even contemplated inviting myself over to our new pastor's house to make these cookies with their 3 kids or next door with their 2 girls. But then I decided that I just wanted to make them in peace and quiet and perhaps another time I'll bake with their kids...but I'm really looking forward to making cutouts with BeeBee and her eventual sibling(s).

My favorite recipe for cutouts is the one from Crisco, but since butter-flavored shortening isn't available in the UK, I've been on the lookout for cutout recipes that use ingredients that I can buy here. This one I found on allrecipes.com and it might just be a winner.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (my addition)
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

FROSTING (I just used a can of prepared frosting):
1/4 cup cold milk
3 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix
1/4 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Food coloring

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, sour cream and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
2. On a work surface that has been sprinkled heavily with confectioners' sugar, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately remove to wire racks to cool.
3. For frosting, combine milk and pudding mix until smooth; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter. Beat in pudding mixture. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, vanilla and food coloring if desired; beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Frost cookies.
   

BeeBee is a Girl!

We found out today that BeeBee is a girl, not a boy as I had thought! The sonographer lady said that she was absolutely positive we have a girl, so we'll be buying pink! Ah! We have a daughter!
The appointment only lasted 10 minutes or so, but BeeBee was very active - she even waved again, and her foot and little toes were even visible for a few seconds. We even got to hear her heart beating for the first time!

Jason and Angela's Wedding

After a year of planning, Jason and Angela's wedding, Saturday, October 1, 2011, day finally arrived!
The location: Club Campestre in Cali, Colombia. Due to the only downpour the whole trip, the wedding location was swiftly moved in doors at the club, instead of at the lakeside location. The reception was set up on a large, outdoor veranda complete with a large, billowing marquee.

The entrance to the veranda
Floral decorations lining the entrance-way

Tables set up in the marquee

Beautifully-set tables
Vibrant orchid and lily centerpieces

Pre-Wedding: taken in the hotel lobby during the downpour, but Jason was cool as a cucumber.

Jason and Matt, the best man, discussing the unbelievable weather
My dad and me
My family
Cousins
Scott, Jason and Matt
Scott, Emily and me
Gretchen and Matt
The indoor wedding location being set up

The Wedding

Reciting the vows. Angela's aunt was translating into English.
Exchange of the rings!
First kiss as husband and wife!

The Newlyweds

Family Photos

The parents

The lovely Mercado family
My family

The Reception

Enjoying lulata (drink), beef empanadas and fried plantain-wrapped mozzarella

The wedding favors

Alvaro giving his speech

Angela thanking family and friends for coming from near and far

Jason's impromptu (brief) speech

The Cupcakes: orange cupcakes filled with arequipe (dolce de leche) topped with real orchid.
Salsa and Dancing:

The first dance
Jason and Mom dance
Pretending we could salsaDancing during "Happy Hour" that started at 11:00pm complete with bazookas, bow ties and neon glow sticks
and the dancing continued until 2:00am... and we actually stayed to the end!

BeeBee's 2nd Scan

Yesterday afternoon, Jeff and I got to see our baby for the second time. Luckily I wasn't as nervous as I was before the first scan, in fact, I was hardly nervous at all. This scan is considered to be the "20-week scan" and is known as the anomaly scan that looks for any abnormalities in the baby; although I am only 18 weeks, it can be done any time between 18 and 20 weeks.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw BeeBee's heart beating. The sonographer explained everything she was looking for and at during the scan. She started by measuring BeeBee's head and showing us that the spinal cord is developing correctly. She moved down to the face and said that there is no sign of a cleft lip. Looking at BeeBee's beating heart, she showed us the four chambers and even the properly opening and closing valves. Just below the heart the diaphragm is just visible. The small black circle was BeeBee's stomach filled with amniotic fluid (yum). She pointed out the three bones of each arm and the three bones of each leg. She was even able to show us the three veins in the umbilical cord... it's simply amazing what can be seen with the ultrasound machine. The sonographer was happy with everything she saw and said that as far as she could tell, we have a healthy baby.

BeeBee had his/her hands tucked up by his/her face the entire scan and we had a great view of his/her whole body... until it was time to take the picture. Naughty BeeBee then flipped onto his/her side to lay on Mommy's back and to face us, so we couldn't get a cute profile picture. So what you see in the picture is an outline of BeeBee's scull and a slight outline of his/her body. The picture doesn't matter too much; at least we know that BeeBee is developing healthily.

We still don't know whether we'll be buying pink or blue, but we will know this time next week. Next Wednesday, I have an appointment at a clinic to do a "sexing scan", since the sonographer couldn't possibly tell us yesterday (not allowed on the NHS). We will also get pictures of the scan, so hopefully BeeBee will cooperate this time, so we can get a cute profile picture.

Scalloped Rhubarb

I get a real kick finding recipes that use up foods that have spent way too long in the freezer, such as the white rolls and rhubarb I used in this recipe. The rhubarb came from Jeff's aunt's garden in Northern Ireland back at Easter, so yes, it has been in the freezer too long. I have to admit, this was a very simple baking recipe this week, but now I have slightly more room in the freezer. Oh, AND the aroma of the cinnamon and rhubarb cooking and baking was simply wonderful.

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
2 cups diced rhubarb (mine was just in chunks from when I cut up the rhubarb)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
6 plain rolls or buns (I used 2 large white dinner rolls)
1/2 cup white sugar (I used "only" 1/4 cup here)
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.
2. Stir together 1 cup of sugar, rhubarb, and cinnamon in a saucepan over medium-low heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook the rhubarb, stirring frequently, until it breaks apart, about 10 minutes. Pour the rhubarb mixture into the prepared casserole dish.
3. Cut the rolls up into cubes and spread over the rhubarb. Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar over the bread cubes; pour melted butter over the sugar.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the bread is lightly golden brown and the rhubarb is bubbling, about 35 minutes.