We eat a lot.

Hey there!

I do apologize for my absence during the later part of last week--things have been busy around here, as usual. This week we went out several times, and have lots of food pictures to show for it!

Thursday we had a work dinner at Maggiano's and even got to close up shop early.

Dinner was served family style, and unfortunately I was too hungry to pause for pictures. Luckily, by the time dessert came around, I was stuffed enough to wait.

Then, on Saturday, we went to dinner with friends at Flip Burger. We've been to Flip several times, and this time I decided to try a new [to me] entree, the turkey burger. I did stick with my usual side, onion rings, and I wasn't disappointed.

Thomas, ever the adventurous one, had the banh mi burger and fries.

Then, on Sunday, we used a Groupon (thanks to my brother's excellent Christmas gifting skills) and headed to Little Azio for dinner.

The meal included a caesar salad,

Two entrees: (I chose fettucini alfredo, Thomas chose a Napoletana pizza).

 And beverages. Look at this adorable mini carafe!

Overall, the weekend was full of relaxation, food, and friends. What else is a weekend supposed to be?

-Kinsey

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake for Breakfast? YES

Happy Labor Day!

We originally had plans to go to the lake today, but it's rainy here in Atlanta which doesn't mesh well with being on a boat. Instead we're having a nice relaxing day at home, watching Dexter and reading (some of us are also playing video games--you know who you are). 

Before we got word that the lake trip was cancelled, I had put a Chocolate Chip Pound Cake in the oven. For a second I freaked out and worried that we'd have a whooole cake to ourselves, but the day was saved! It worked out perfectly because we finally caught up on True Blood yesterday and were able to attend our first True Blood Party at Mari & Holly's house, so the cake was obviously welcomed with open arms mouths. We had lots of fun drinking, eating, and watching vampires do vampire stuff. Now we're looking forward to the finale next week!

It was hard for me to decide whether or not to blog about this recipe, because it's one of my favorite and most requested birthday/party items. I kind of feel like if I tell you all my secrets, no one will invite me anywhere because they have no use for me anymore...but then I realize that I live half a country away from most of you and the likelihood of me bringing baked goods to your parties is slim to none anyway. So I decided to share this amazingly delicious recipe with you, trusting that you will still want to hang out with me even if you know all my baking secrets.

The only real secret about this cake is that its base is a butter cake mix (meaning that it's easy). Even though I was the baker at a cupcake shop that truly does make everything from scratch, and I've been baking for my whole life...sometimes a cake mix (or brownie mix) really does the trick. One of the worst things in the world is a pretentious cook or baker, and I have no qualms about admitting that quite a few of my favorite recipes have a box base. I don't think it means you're a bad baker if you sometimes a mix. Really, it's ok.

I usually bake this cake in a decorative bundt pan like this one. Since the move, we have markedly less storage in our kitchen, and there are still quite a few boxes holding specialty pans and other kitchen gadgets in our sunroom. I looked for my decorative bundt pan, but sadly could only find my angel food cake pan, which is much less attractive. The good part is, the cake still tasted super yums and no one thought twice about eating it. 

Here's what you'll need:

First, I add the cake mix and the chocolate pudding to a bowl.

And I whir it up a little to get the initial chunks out.

Next, add the water,

And the oil. Then beat the mixture on low for a few seconds until mostly incorporated.

Next add the eggs. I do add them directly to the bowl, because I've cracked a lot of eggs and I trust myself, and because I'm a rebel. Beat them in.

Next, add the sour cream. I realize this may look and sound a bit unappetizing to some, but sour cream makes cakes (and donuts) unbelievably moist and tasty. You'll see.

The sour cream will really lighten the batter and make it fluffy and creamy. Beat everything until incorporated, leaving out only the chocolate chips. Scrape the sides of the bowl well.

Finally, fold in the chocolate chips just until incorporated.

Your batter will look like this.

Now pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan (as I mentioned, mine is an angel food cake pan with an attached bottom--NOT the removable bottom kind). Turn the pan while you're pouring to evenly distribute the batter.

Smooth the batter out with your spatula, then pick up & drop the pan a couple of times (from a foot or so off the counter) to get any air bubbles out. This will be loud, and your dog and cat will probably be scared. Do it anyway.

Bake the cake at 350F for around an hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. It will come out looking like this.

Let it finish cooking in the pan for around 15 minutes, then invert it onto your cake plate. 

Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting OR covering. It can be served with chocolate syrup and/or a sprinkling of powdered sugar if you want to get crazy.

This cake is unbelievably moist and delicious. Everyone loves it, and I've been guilty of eating it for breakfast regularly. Judge me, it is amazing.

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Ingredients:
1 Box Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 8 oz. sour cream
1 small box fudge instant pudding
6 oz. milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup water

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips chips. Mix well. When batter is mixed, fold in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased & floured bundt pan and bake at 325F for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

So there you have it. Not including the hour this cake takes to bake, I'd say prep time is less than 20 minutes. It's a really impressive cake, and I have yet to meet someone who doesn't like it. As Thomas put it, "it's good for people who like chocolate or cake." Pretty sure that covers everyone.

Earlier in the week I mentioned that we were extras in a movie. We went back to work on the same movie again Friday, and this time the day was longer and much more tiring. We did meet some fun people though, and we got paid...so I think it evens out. Hopefully I'll be able to give you more details about what we actually did pretty soon.

When we came home from a long day of work (7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m), we went to check on the litter box situation in the bathroom. Progress has been made! We discovered a strange, cat poop (from now on CP because it's less gross) like substance in the toilet! Since then we've seen the same substance 3 times--so we're hoping that's a good thing. We haven't even gotten to that point in the training--right now we're still getting Charlotte used to walking around on the open toilet seat, and using it to jump into the box--but we'll take what we can get.

The litter box has continued to get higher, and the next step is moving the box directly over the toilet. We'll be doing that early this week, and of course I'll keep you updated. We've now met/heard of at least two people who have really done this, so there is hope for us!

 Jack always brushes his teeth after eating cake!

-T, K, J, & C

Reception Recaps: Food n' Cake

After much planning and changing (and changing again) the official date of our Six Flags trip, I was able to get cheap tickets for only $21 and we decided to go yesterday. They're only open on weekends at this point, and Sunday is a better bet than Saturday. So after making this meticulous list...

And packing a cooler of stuff, my fanny pack (yes I really did) and icing down our water spraying fan, we headed out the door at 9:15 yesterday morning. 

We stopped at McDonald's on the way (they have a deal right now--2 bacon egg and cheese biscuits for $2.50) and grabbed a quick breakfast. We got to the park, drove under this awesome sign

and took a tram to the front gate where they had already opened, a little early. It was probably around 10:10 when we went in. 

Immediately we got a locker because some of the bigger rides don't allow loose articles. We then rode The Georgia Scorcher, which is a stand-up coaster. We were in the very front, which gives a great view of all the twists and turns. It was a fun ride...but I already felt sick when it was over.

I'm used to being motion sick, so I decided I'd just muscle through. We started walking towards the back of the park, where all the big rides are located. We passed the newest ride, Dare Devil Dive, which we noticed had basically no line...so we went ahead and decided to ride. We were in front on that one as well, which was really cool because it's sheer drop ride (it's actually more than a 90 degree angle) and it's really smooth and fast. There is a corkscrew though, which led to me being sicker.

We knew we absolutely wanted to ride Goliath, which is supposed to be one of the best coasters at SFOG. It was a great ride. We were in front again and it was really really cool. It was a longer ride though...maybe around 30 seconds, and it takes you over a large part of the park. It made me feel even dizzier, but I didn't want to give up. Although I did feel like barfing.

By this point it was getting really hot and humid, and I was having to sit down to rest/try to stop feeling sick between rides. We decided now would be a good time for a log ride, because they're usually gentle-ish and you get wet. We got on Log Jamboree (were in the front, haha) and thought it would just be no big deal. 

It wasn't a big deal, and we were pretending to be scared/screaming for fun because we were the only people on the ride. While we were on the 'big drop' of the ride, I was fake screaming when suddenly my butt kind of came up off the seat and I did get a little scared that I might fall out as we were plummeting into the [dirty] water below. 

I don't remember exactly what happened at that point, but according to Thomas I let out what he can only describe as "a massive wounded rabbit scream." (Note that the rabbit would have to be large, because the sound was deeper than the scream of an actual wounded rabbit). Apparently this isn't one of my many regular sounds, because he was absolutely shocked by it. There was also a guy waiting on the landing within view of the 'drop', and he looked at me and laughed hysterically.  It just so happens that they took the picture right as I buffalo screamed, and I had a hilarious look of sheer terror on my face. It's pretty funny that I can ride a million roller coasters without being truly afraid, but I turn into a terror beast on the log ride.

After the log ride, we trekked across the park to see what else there was to see. By this point, it was becoming unbearably hot, and more crowded. We rode a little kid coaster called The Dahlonega Mine Train, and the lap restraint smashed Thomas' legs. There were twin little girls behind us scream crying because they were scared, I felt suuuper sick, and over all the day was going down hill fast.

We took another break and I sprayed my face a million times hoping to feel better. 

 I didn't want to give up and leave because 1) This trip was expensive for us and 2) We had planned for sooo long. Thomas was of course supportive though, and there was really no point in staying if it was just going to be miserable (we knew it would get worse the hotter it got as the day went on). We decided to go ahead and leave. We saw some funny stuff on the way out though.

A weird skittles sign.

Tweety bird hats. This was a covert picture, so most of them are facing the wrong way.

 This isn't really funny per se, but I did think it was notable that we thumbs up in every picture.

On the tram on the way in, thumbs upping.

And finally, leaving--at 11:41,less than two hours after we got there--probably thumbs upping out of view.

Overall we did have fun, but I have been yet again owned by motion sickness. It definitely gets worse as you get older I guess, and I didn't feel normal last night until I went to bed. We did get to ride lots of the big rides we wanted, but most importantly, I didn't throw up in front of tons of strangers.

Now, onto the reception recaps! Today is all about food and cake.  Since we had a super non-traditional Sunday morning/afternoon reception--I know, you think we're crazy--we wanted to serve brunch food. Honestly, a big part of why we had the wedding and reception in the morning was because we love donuts and breakfast food, and this way we had an excuse to serve them without people thinking it was weird. The Holiday Inn had great food, and they were able to handle all my 'exotic' requests (i.e.pigs in a blanket and cake donuts).

I couldn't decide whether to put cake with food, with details, or on it's own...but it seemed to go best in the food category. We used Sweet Temptations for our cake, and I very much believe it is the best bakery in Lubbock--if not all of West Texas. Having worked at a bakery and being a baker myself, I am picky about cake, so that was one area I was willing to spend a little more of my budget on. Unfortunately Vida is closing sometime soon to move back to South Africa, but we're glad we got in when we did! We went with a traditional white cake with white (almond) buttercream and a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache. Vida makes absolutely everything from scratch, and I loved the look of her cakes and her willingness to do exactly what I wanted (which was all about simplicity...no fondant, pattern, etc.). Deana provided the flowers to use on the cake the morning of the wedding, which I'll talk more about in the details post. (Note: Unless otherwise mentioned, all photos below were taken by our friends at Cinderella Photography).

HAM!

 We do love mini quiche.

Chicken fangers. With honey mustard, of course!

Pretty fruit kebobs. 

The all important cake donuts.

Tortilla roll-ups.

Our hands down favorite, pigs in blankets.

We even fed each other pigs in the line (friend/family photo).

This has nothing to do with food, I just think it's really funny and have no idea what we were so outraged about (friend/family photo).

Ahh. My beautiful, simple cake. I made the cake topper myself, which I'll talk more about in the details post.

Cutting a cake is harder than you would imagine...

But we made it work.

There was no smashing, because that's probably my number one wedding pet peeve and Thomas is smart sweet and knew better.

LOVE this picture! Those flowers were absolutely beautiful (friend/family photo).

Delicious. We're both bigger fans of groom's cake, so we got a big one.

Again, pretty flowers (more about those in the details post).

It was too pretty to cut...but we did it anyway.

Yum. Good thing we cut a huge piece of chocolate to feast on.

This was one of Thomas' (and everyone else's) favorite things. Everyone knows Thomas' first love is chocolate milk, so we had a whole fountain of it at the reception.

 It made for a fun toast, even though I don't drink milk:]

Super cute!

Tomorrow we're talking about details. Woo! Love me some details.

Charlotte wears pants.

Jack's a snuggler (and a smuggler).

Happy Monday everyone!

-T, K, J, & C