Another Day, Another Cake

So, most of you have probably experienced my Chocolate Pistachio Bundt Cake- it is typically the only "party" cake I make, because it's so easy and I typically just keep the ingredients around the house so that I can throw one together on a moments notice. The recipe for that cake comes from The Cake Mix Doctor. I received the book as a gift from my sister at my bridal shower. She would make the Chocolate Pistachio Bundt Cake from it as well, so I knew it was a good one. Well, another recipe she used, but actually used in our WEDDING CAKE (she slightly revised the recipe from a bundt recipe to use as a layered cake) was this one:

The Fuzzy Navel Bundt

Last week I just made two of the Chocolate Pistachio Bundt Cakes (CPBC for short) - one for a work party, and another I brought to community group. Well, tonight is the party at PJ&DJ's place for KW's going away party. How could I bring another CPBC to a community group / church gatering less than a week later? The answer is, I couldn't. Well I could, but Tm and I have been wanting a taste of the Fuzzy Navel cake ever since I rediscovered half a bottle of Peach Schnapps when we were unpacking. This is left over from the last time I made this cake.

Now, don't worry here - the alcohol bakes out of the cake, so I'm not going to be getting the babies liquored up by having a piece of cake. But - I am looking forward to cutting into this beauty, and I hope everyone else likes it as well.

I must note, that my dear husband put a lot of work into this cake too. The recipe calls for fresh orange juice, which usually I just replace with some from the carton (store bought). But it also says for a more flavorful cake, to add the zest of 1 orange. Well, if I was going to buy an orange for zest, I might as well just buy 3 oranges to make make fresh orange juice. Which, in our household, juicing citrus is Tm's job. (He also had to juice limes in the same day for our dinner, Pan Seared Pork Tenderloin with Garlicy Lime Cilantro sauce, YUM).

All that said, we didn't get as much done around the apartment (unpacking) that we would have liked to yesterday, but we did get a lot accomplished:

1) I found a Sesame Street mobile on craigslist the day before, we arranged a meeting time and met to exchange the cash for the item. So cute!

2) Went to the Verizon store to check out new phones. I then spent 90 minutes on the phone with Verizon signing up for a new contract (we've been with Sprint for the last 3 years) and following up with paperwork to prove where I work for the awesome corporate discount we got.

3) Tm did the dishes, which doesn't sound like much, but there was about 3 days worth of dishes in there.

4) I unpacked ONE very large box containing towels and linens. We put clean sheets on the bed.

5) Cooked a yummy tasty dinner out of Cook's Illustrated - which, it just so happens that they featured the same recipe on their show "America's Test Kitchen" yesterday, I caught the 2nd half of the show while eating a late lunch. Some of you might be familiar with this recipe, I made it way back when for a Welcome Team event (Spring Thing - Guess Who's Coming To Dinner). Yum!

6) Tm went to the store to pick up the ingredients we would need to make the Fuzzy Navel Cake.

7) I baked some cookies (from a mix) and washed up the dinner dishes.

8) Tm returned with the wrong pudding mix for the cake and without complaint went back out to get the right thing.

9) I did some more dishes.

10) Time to make the cake! Tm got a great arm workout juicing the oranges, I slightly injured myself grating the zest, but we got the cake into the oven then relaxed the rest of the night. So you know there's a lot of love put into this cake!

When I put it that way, we got a lot done! Time to get ready for church and eat some breakfast.

The Amazing Disappearing Bellybutton!

Let me give a little back story here.

I have always had an innie bellybutton (BB for short), and quite a deep one at that. In September 2001 I had a laparoscopic surgery which resulted in a small scar that ran along the bottom edge of my BB. This scar decreased the elasticity of my BB where no matter how much I stretched or pulled, I could not ever see the bottom of my button. I mean seriously, I had to dry it out with a q-tip after showers to keep mold from growing in there (that part was a joke).

Imagine my amazement at 14 weeks of pregnancy, upon looking down to see - what's that? The bottom of my bellybutton!! At that point it was still fairly deep, but more rounded and definitely "open". I'm now 23 1/2 weeks along and what was once my BB is no more than a shallow divot with my bellybutton's private parts exposed. You know, that little nub of tissue in the very depths of your BB? That's what I'm talking about here.

I forgot to mention, I also have a BB piercing, along the top edge of my BB. I've had this piercing since I was 19, and it hurt A LOT to get, so it is my intention not to lose it because I don't think I could ever get it done again. A few weeks ago I purchased a specialty jewelry that is basically a piece of flexible medical tubing with a decorative "stopper" inserted at each end. So - no worries about having a hard piece of jewelry tearing out as my belly grows and stretches, but now it is starting to look like I just had a piece of my belly pierced, as it is indistinguishable as the actual "top" of my bellybutton. And, what was a tiny scar along the bottom edge of my BB is now about an inch and a half long smiley face. I will spare you by not posting a photo here.

I knew I was a smart gal for never getting any tattoos on my belly. Aren't the changes of pregnancy great? Some are amusing, to say the least. Until next time..

Catching Up

I realize I haven't written to my blog in almost exactly one month. In that time we started (and are soon to finish) our childbirth / infant care classes, went on vacation back home to Seattle, have been working on getting settled into our new apartment, among other things. I of course have the continued job of growing our two baby sons :) I don't have much energy to type tonight so I'm just going to lead you through the last month in whatever photos seem appropriate from that time. Thanks for reading / looking, I'll write more soon!

Hershey found what he thought was a comfortable spot to rest - in the sunshine, on top of miscellaneous odds-and-ends that weren't packed at moving time.

Yes, these are my feet and ankles (what's left of them) resting on my carry on luggage on our way to Seattle, during our extended layover in Dallas. Yes, we had to fly to Dallas to then fly to Seattle. I resolved 1) never to fly that pattern again (and) 2) never to fly pregnant again. It took about 3 days for my ankles to return and for any of my shoes to fit.

The day after our arrival, we spent the afternoon with some friends and had some professional black and white "pregnancy" photos taken. This one was particularly fun to do, although I somewhat resent Tm for having a bigger pregnant belly than me!

These are my parents! It just so happened that the timing of our trip was perfect so that we could attend my cousin's wedding. It was a great opportunity to see a lot of my extended family and to see my parents get dressed up. Don't they look cute?

Here I am at my very first baby shower. The chocolate brown outfit was a gift from my mother-in-law - she thought I should have something sexy to wear while pregnant. The top probably won't fit for very long, as these aren't actually "maternity" clothes, but the pants are super comfy (gauchos) and I think I'll be able to wear for a long time, during and after the pregnancy. We had a great time with everyone, and got lots of cute outfits and baby stuff. It was a lot of fun.

"The Farmboy" is a little restaurant just south of where Tm's parents live that serves GREAT breakfast. We actually went there twice with his Dad for breakfast in the 3 days we spent with Tm's family. The first time I had eggs, hashbrowns, biscuits & sausage country gravy. The second time I had a huge malted waffle with strawberries and whipped cream, and scrambled eggs. Mmmm... Yum! And, the coffee was always hot (more on this later).

I'm lounging at the in-laws place with Isabelle, who is a Devon Rex, just like Hershey. She is an old lady (18 years old!) but she still gets around alright, despite her cataracts and partial vision loss. Just like any other Devon, she loves to spend time on your shoulder. She has always been very skiddish, so it is an honor that she chose to sleep on me. She does interact with us more each time we visit.

This picture was taken at IHOP: International House of Pancakes - which USED to be my favorite breakfast spot. It is tradition that I look forward to every time we go home to visit, that we have a breakfast date at IHOP with our friends JB & DB. This visit was no different. I ordered (decaf) coffee, and of course IHOP brings out a cup and a "hot pot" of coffee. First off, the first cup was cold. So I asked for new coffee - which came out piping hot. By the time I drank the first cup and attempted to refill from the "hot pot" the coffee inside was certainly NOT "very hot coffee". I was inspired enough by the experience (and, I must say it is ALWAYS like this) that I wrote a comment card to our good friend Dave (the IHOP guy). I even included my address, I wonder if he'll write me back..

This is just prior to our leaving Tm's family to head back up north to prepare to fly back to Boston. I thought it would be a great idea to get a picture of the babies with their Grandpa Y while we were there.

That's all the pictures (and time) I have for now. Thanks for looking and take care!