Welcome Baby Cake and a Broccoli Salad!

Yesterday we celebrated the upcoming arrival of our family's newest member, a baby boy, due to arrive in mid-April. His parents, Jack and Kristin Bishop, are excited and ready to meet their little man. He will be the first grandchild for my sister Anne and her husband John, and this baby is already loved beyond measure by both families who can't wait to meet him!

To celebrate, we held a baby shower for Kristin. Baby Bishop has already had two parties in his honor! The first was in a restaurant in Brooklyn near where Jack and Kristin live, and was hosted by Kristin's Mom and three sisters. Yesterday's celebration was hosted by my sister Anne at her home, for those of us who live in the Saratoga Springs area where Jack grew up. It was a lovely welcoming party for the baby and a celebration for Kristin.

Kristin is an exceptionally beautiful mom-to-be, and she and Jack will be terrific parents, no doubt about it. I am so excited for my sister and her husband John, and for Kristin's parents. There's nothing like that first grandchild, and every grandchild thereafter, to experience again the beauty and wonders of the world, to see things with fresh eyes, things that may have escaped our notice as the demands of life and work have taken over. For me, becoming a grandmother was a life-changing experience, and continues to bring joy to my life that I never could have imagined. I so look forward to meeting Baby Bishop, and witnessing how his presence will bring that same joy to my sister and her family. Blessings to this little fella!

Below I share photos of the cake I made for Kristin's shower, as well as a recipe for the party. It's for a Broccoli Pasta Salad, and is so delicious, There were left-overs, so I had it for dinner tonight and didn't need another thing!

Two cakes, yellow and chocolate fudge, split and
alternately stacked to make a striped cake

I was up to 3 am working on the detail
for the fondant pieces. Labor of love!

Kristin loved it!

Aftermath!

My broccoli pasta salad!

Hope you enjoy the photos. Here's the recipe for the broccoli pasta salad - it was de-lish!!!!

BROCCOLI PASTA SALAD
Early in day or day before

• 12 oz. pasta, cooked al-dente and drained (I used gluten-free penne pasta but you can use anything you like)
• florets from one head of fresh broccoli, cut into smaller florets
• 4 slices of bacon, cooked crisp, and crumbled*
• 3 tablespoons very finely minced red onion
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Dressing (much like a cole-slaw dressing):

• 1 cup mayonnaise (I use regular Hellman's)
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup milk

In large bowl, toss together pasta, broccoli, crumbled bacon, red onion, dried cranberries, and walnuts.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over tossed ingredients, mix until everything is well-coated. Refrigerate overnight or for a few hours. Before serving, toss and if it seems dry, add some milk a bit at a time until it's moistened again.

ENJOY!

*vegetarian version - omit bacon and substitute pan-fried provolone cheese - slices are heated up on a sprayed skillet until browned on both sides. Let cool and break into small pieces. This provides the same smoky element as bacon.

June Showers, Baby Cakes, and Cookies!

Here in upstate New York, we won't let the almost certain chance of rain dash our plans. I've heard it said that, here, "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes!"After what seems like rain every day so far for the first two weeks of June, we seem to have turned a corner and the sun came out late Friday afternoon, all day yesterday, and this Sunday morning I woke to bright sunshine streaming through my bedroom window. What a nice surprise, especially after the forecasters advised to get any outdoor plans accomplished on Saturday. I haven't checked the weather for the rest of today, and this cheerful morning sun could go tuck itself behind some clouds later today, but for now, I'm enjoying it!

There's been a bit of baking going on in my kitchen over the past few days, which has been somewhat challenging given that I hurt my elbow the other day. In an attempt to fling a too-heavy bag of trash into the back of my son-in-law's truck (after emptying my refrigerator of out-dated items I'd planned to cook/eat but never did - heavy things like ricotta cheese, etc. -- a huge waste of money!!!) it happened. I didn't realize how heavy the bag actually was and how (apparently) weak my right arm is when the bag didn't quite make it up into the truck and bent my poor elbow back in the wrong direction! So, woe is me but I'm on the mend with good advice from Russ (chiropractor b'friend). Still, there were cookies to finish and a fondant baby to make for my friend Cindy's daughter's baby shower, and there was no way I was going to disappoint them. I tried to switch my brain to using my left hand over my right, and everything worked out fine.

Before the elbow fiasco, in addition to baby feet cookies, there was enough cookie dough left over to make a few chocolate-dipped cookies with toasted coconut. The recipe follows - it's the same sugar cookie recipe I always use, from Alton Brown. The only thing I don't do is refrigerate the dough as he suggests. Instead, I let it rest at room temperature for a few minutes and then roll it out without chilling. It always works very well so I suggest you do the same. Chilling made it too stiff to roll (must be all that butter!).

Baby Cake and Cookies!

And here's the easy recipe for those chocolate-dipped toasted coconut cookies:

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED TOASTED COCONUT COOKIES

Sugar cookie dough - enough for 2 dozen cookies
Melted chocolate (I used 1 cup of Wilton's Dark Chocolate Candy Wafers)
Toasted Coconut - about 1/2 -1 cup (you can save whatever you don't use)

Bake sugar cookies in 2-inch (or whatever size) rounds according to recipe directions. I used a biscuit cutter to make the circles.  Allow to cool on wire rack.

Toast coconut: In pre-heated 350-degree Farenheit oven, on ungreased cookie sheet, toast coconut just until it begins to brown. It took 7 minutes in my oven. Remove from heat.  Put toasted coconut in a bowl.

Melt chocolate.  I melted my chocolate wafers in the microwave for 1 minute. Be careful - the bowl gets hot. Remove from microwave and stir until it's smooth. If using chocolate chips, you can add 1 tablespoon of shortening to the chocolate before you melt it - thins it enough for easier dipping.

Dip one side of cooled cookies into melted chocolate.  Hold over coconut and sprinkle coconut over melted chocolate.  Allow to cool on cookie sheet until chocolate is set (you can pop it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to speed up the process).

Chocolate-dipped Toasted Coconut Cookies!

I hope you all enjoy this beautiful Sunday, and I wish every father, grandfather, and Godfather a wonderful day with those you love.

Enjoy!

Catching Up

From your perspective, nothing may look different as you read this post, but it is very different.  This post is being composed on a brand new computer, my macbook air, a gift to myself.  It's so pretty -- sleek, elegant, streamlined -- and light as "air" as its name implies.  This post has been a long time coming.  Through most of December we limped along with a computer that decided its useful life was pretty much over.  Some days it worked, most days it didn't.  So you can imagine my appreciation at sitting here on my couch, macbook on my lap, while I watch the latest episode of Scandal (!) tapping away at a keyboard that actually puts words and pictures where I want them!  Well, words for sure, but let's see if I can conjure up a photo...

It worked!  This is the fondant baby from last weekend's shower cake!

There's a lot to learn, going from a PC to a macbook, almost like learning a new language.  I have to get this photo thing down, and learn how to make the collages I always love to post.

This is a bit of a slow start, but I'll continue to catch up, and bring you stories of my cakes and other baking, as well as updates on my buddies Henry and Peter.

And here they are...

Oh, and I figured out how to make a photo collage on this computer, and here's the above-mentioned shower cake from start-to-finish! (one of my most favorite cakes yet!)

Pretty darn sweet, if I do say so myself!

And here's a cake I made for Finn, son of my friend Kim, for his 4th birthday party this past Monday (Finn LOVES fire trucks!)

Happy 4th Birthday, Finn!

For now, thanks for coming back, and I'll see you again very soon!