Friday, May 22, 2009

Sweeeeeep

Tonight starts interleague baseball play, which I think is good fun. I like the randomness of the match-ups and how it gives territorial rivals a chance besides the world series to duke it out. Like tonight the Cards will be playing the cross-state Kansas City Royals, who are actually a good team for the first time in recent memory.

But, before we move on to this weekend, we just need to celebrate one thing from this week first.

Tuesday May 19:

Cardinals 3, Cubs 0

Wednesday May 20:

Cardinals 2, Cubs 1

Thursday May 21:

Cardinals 3, Cubs 1

And that, my friends and fellow Americans, is how you sweep the Cubbies right outta town.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Magical Mystery Cake

YOU GUYS. We need to talk. I baked a cake this week. A very special cake. Oh sure, at first glance it is just a delicious chocolatey concoction. See?

But I have to tell you how triumphant I feel that inside this cake is a secret ingredient. A secret HEALTHY ingredient. And just eating this cake you would be none the wiser. You would never know unless I tell you. Which I am going to. Right now.

Baked inside this cake is... BEETS. Yes, that's right, these:

I'll wait until you stop gagging. There, better?

Now let me start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). We are participating in a CSA program this year. This stands for "community supported agriculture" or some people also call it a co-op. Basically we bought a share in a local farm (Beaverdam Creek Farm) and so from now through September we will get a basket of fresh local grown fruits and veggies every week. The biggest catch is that you don't control what you get; you just have to find a way to make it work. So if you get, say, a bunch of beets, and you've been told (having never tasted them yourself due to lifelong pickiness) that beets are exceedingly gross, well tough for you. You've got these beets and you better find a way to use them.

I determined right away not to rest until I had found a way to disguise the beets in some baked goods. You can do it with other veggies like zuchinni and carrots and what not. So I ask you, why not beets?!! And lo and behold, I came across this recipe. The reviews looked extremely encouraging, and aside from the beets all the ingredients were simple and things I had on hand.

So, without further ado, I present, in pictures, my journey in baking a beet cake.

First step. Boil the beets until they are tender, and then puree them in the blender. While baking, the beets mostly smelled like a very strong earthy potato smell. Nothing too terrible. And the color is really quite beautiful, like a rich rasberry purple. But I'll admit beets in a blender can look kind of gruesome.

Here's all the other ingredients you will need. Really a very simple list!

Next you start the batter. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, etc.

Now the chocolate... mmm... chocolate...

Blend in the chocolate along w/ the beets. Let me interject the only change to the recipe I made. When I pureed the beets (I had four medium sized ones) I didn't end up w/ quite the two cups that was called for. I made up the difference w/ canned pumpkin. So that worked well if you run into the same problem. The batter turns into this really cool purpley brown.

Grease and flour your bundt pan - for most chocolate cakes, here's a fun hint. Instead of flouring the pan w/ flour, use cocoa powder. It will taste yummy and also look prettier on your finished cake. Pour in the batter... looks cool huh?! Into the oven it goes.

Now is a good time to clean up your kitchen. Get rid of the beet evidence.

Ding! Time for cake! Oh, look at you, delicious and normal looking cake. What beets? Beets in this cake? You must be crazy... (laugh and distract).

The recipe doesn't call for it but just in case I made a chocolate glaze frosting to drizzle heavily over the cake. You know, just to be sure. And it makes it look extra pretty!

Now you have a splendid cake, very lovely, and YOU know there are beets in it and I know there are beets in it but NOBODY ELSE HAS TO KNOW. Your secret is safe with me.

So what are you waiting for? Make your own magical mystery cake today!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Thanks for the Memories!

Well, as many of you know, I became one of that elite society this week: the unemployed. GMA, like so many companies in the music industry, had to make the difficult decision to make cutbacks, and thus me and three of my wonderful co-workers had to be let go.

So that's the bad news.

The good news is this: I'm really, truly, 100% okay with it. I just know everything will work out fine, and I am so excited to have the chance to do something different! I don't know what that is yet - and I'll entertain all ideas - but it's going to be awesome. I'm just sure of it.

I have loved working at GMA. My coworkers over the years have been some of the most wonderful people I've ever met, and I'm SO blessed to call them my friends! I just wanted to end by posting some pics of all our fun times. I love you all!