Culinary Bliss...

If there is such a thing as culinary bliss - I experienced it today! With my hair in a ponytail, donning my favorite apron and my 10 year old sous chef at the ready, I set off on my cake making extravaganza! On the menu:


Cake #1: Chocolate Decadence


A 4-level square chocolate cake filled and frosted with a chocolate ganache and topped with shaved chocolate.

Before:

After:

Cake #2: Strawberry's Wild

A 4-level round yellow cake with whipped topping/cream cheese filling with strawberries on top and thinly sliced between each layer.

Before:

After:

Both cakes are for a wedding reception honoring Mark's cousin and his new bride who were married last month in Lake Tahoe.

Second only to watching my kids on the soccer field - baking the perfect cake is a joy that is truly indescribable!

Where the wild things are...

Lions, tigers and bears? Close but not quite. You just never know what you are going to run into in our neighborhood! Lions (well, mountain lions anyway) - yes. Tigers - not so much. Bears - well, it has been a number of years since one has been spotted. Over the past couple weeks, we have been visited by a variety of local wild life. Here's a glimpse of what goes on right outside my front door!

Snakes!

Why did the turkeys cross the road?



Peacocks!

Oh deer!

Three unidentifiable species!

Let Freedom Ring!!!

You know the scene - Kate Winslet is there, arms outstretched, on the very front of the Titanic. Leonardo DiCaprio is behind her. The wind is in her hair and she's saying - "I'm flying!" That was me yesterday when I dropped off all THREE of my kids at school! Leonardo DiCaprio was unavailable but with the cool breeze blowing through my hair and my arms stretched wide - the angels and I were singing rounds of "Freedom, freedom, freeeeedoooommm!"

Yes, Markie is feeling back to normal! No more fever. No more headache. No more staying home! My house arrest came to an abrupt halt yesterday at 8:30 a.m.! Can you hear it??? Freeeeeedddooooooommm!

Soup's On!

I might not be Julia Childs - thank heaven, given that fact that she is dead - but I know my way around the kitchen! With the temperature changing from insane heat to our 2 weeks of fall-like weather, I could hardly wait to dive into my recipe box to find something hearty and stew-like. With my Nani's Italian soup recipe in hand, I started chopping veggies with wild abandon!

While the finished product resembled a stew more than a soup - due to the fact that we had to leave for soccer and the rice sucked up all of the broth - all 3 kids actually liked it - a true miracle - and I LOVED it!

Vacation at Wal-mart?

Not quite the ideal vacation spot but after a week of being confined to the house to take care of Markie - I was willing to take whatever break I could get! After receiving a hot tip from a friend last week, Madison and I braved the elements (and I mean the scary people who frequent our Wal-mart) and did a little clearance rack shopping. We were on a mission to get some really cute but ridiculously cheap swim suits. Our mission proved to be a great success!

Madison scored and found 3 suits. I grabbed 2 pairs of swim trunks for Tanner and 1 for Markie as the selection for his size was minimal. All will be perfect for next summer. The damage done for 6 swim suits totalled $16.00 - the normal price for 1 suit!

While it was hardly a vacation, I did come home rested, relaxed and refreshed. Ok - that is stretching it a bit - ok, a lot - but the trip out did help with the cabin fever!

Soccer, The Incredibles and Saturday Night Fever...

With only one soccer game actually taking place today - the other two cancelled due to rain and illness - the responsibility of representing the Stephens family on the soccer field rested entirely on Tanner's shoulders. In a performance described as mirroring David Beckham, Tanner rose to the occasion and put away 6 goals. Despite the rain, mud, and wind, he led his Kickers team to a 10-4 victory!

After spending the day indoors, playing countless games of Battleship and "hand soccer" - since the kids aren't supposed to kick the ball in the house - we capped off the evening with movie night! After reading off the names of ALL of the movies in our cupboard, the kids finally agreed - and I use this term VERY loosely (2 out of 3) - on The Incredibles. Ice Cream sandwiches are the final stop for these kiddipoos before we ship them off to bed!

With Markie's Saturday Night Fever running full force - back up to 102 degrees, I can only hope that a good night's rest awaits us.

Cupcakes and fevers

Not that I am counting or anything but today is Day 6 of Markie's virus. With one whole week of school missed, we are entering the weekend pretty much the same way we entered the week. Not good! His fever is still sitting between 100 and 101.8 degrees and his mouth is so swollen and sore that it is hard to understand him but his spirits are up and he can still play a wicked game of Yahtzee! So far the rest of us have been spared and I can only pray that it stays that way!





On a totally separate note, Tanner, after having a hard day at school yesterday, finished off his school week on a high note! To celebrate, a batch of undecorated chocolate cupcakes awaited his arrival from school. Armed with their mama's cake decorating genes and an arsenal of sprinkles, Mark and Tanner launched themselves into cupcake decorating bliss. Here are the fruits of their labor for your viewing pleasure and their eating pleasure!