The cake (Emery calls it "Happy Cake"

The cake was a success. The lemon cake recipe came from Martha Stewart, as did the design. I did not use her frosting recipe, though, and the raspberry filling was my own idea as well.

Tender Lemon Cake
* 1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
* 2 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 3/4 cup buttermilk
* Zest of 1 lemon

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 6x2 inch round cake pan. Line with parchment; butter; dust with flour. (I did this three times for three cakes, splitting the batter in thirds.)
2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. With electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 4 minutes. Add sugar; beat well. Reduce speed to medium; add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Reduce speed to low; alternately add flour and buttermilk, starting and ending with flour. Stir in zest.
3. Pour batter into pan; bake, rotating halfway through, until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Remove; let cool completely right side up on rack.
The original website can be found here.

After cooling, I cut the cakes in half and filled them with raspberry filling. I piped frosting around the edge to keep the filling from coming out.

Raspberry filling

12 oz. frozen raspberries
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. corn starch
1/4 c. sugar

Combine in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and filling is thick. (this filling is tart, I like it that way, if you don't add more sugar)

Sturdy Whipped Cream Frosting


INGREDIENTS

* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups heavy cream
* 1/4 c. milk
* 1 envelope gelatin

DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve gelatin in milk. Cook over low heat until mixture is smooth and no longer grainy (about 4 minutes) Combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and milk mixture in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on medium speed until smooth. Whip cream. Fold into mixture and beat until thick and smooth.

This recipe came from all recipes, but I've changed it quite a bit. I was worried about it not holding up, so I added the milk and gelatin, and that helped a lot. It may be stiff enough without it, but I didn't want to chance it.

Original recipe can be found here


Keep in fridge until ready to serve. Refrigerate any leftovers immediately.

Chani's 2!

We celebrated Chani's second birthday last night. We had a great time opening presents, singing, and eating some super yummy cake! I only wish we had a picture of Chani's face when I set that pile of presents in front of her. She was so happy and surprised, it was perfect.

The cake was supposed to look like a tutu. It may not have, but it sure was delicious. Chani got several baby blankets and she has been wrapping her baby Ella a lot since then. One of them is smaller, and she folds it up and puts it on her shoulder for a burp rag. She also got some dress up shoes that Emery is convinced are for church. Every present we placed in front of her was a hit, she grinned from ear to ear. I made her a cute play dress that has matching brown leggings. I'm pleased with the pattern (that I made up) and think we'll get a lot of use out of it this fall.


Tasting the frosting before dinner. Yum!


Every present we placed in front of her increased the size of her grin!


Blankets for her baby.


A new play outfit.


Delicious cake

While we were in Idaho, Grandma and Grandpa gave Chani a present. She had a fun time opening it at there house. There's a clip of that and a clip of her opening a present at our house.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Capes and quips

My mind is full of random things:

I'm elbow deep in some really cute capes. They need to be mailed tomorrow.

I'm so excited for my Pampered Chef Party, I think it will be really fun, and we're trying a delicious looking recipe. You can place an order until September 5, if you need something.

Clint started school on Monday (sorry no pics) and while he likes it, he sure is busy. We miss you, hon!

My baby turns two tomorrow. I'm not handling it really well. No gifts have been purchased, no cake has been made. I think I am in denial.

She is big and sassy, though. Yesterday she came over to me with her purse slung over her shoulder. She climbed into my lap and said, "Bye, mom." She gave me a big squeeze and when I asked where she was going, she said, "Outside. Big hug, bye mom!"

Chani has this new habit that is totally annoying to me as the mom, but her dad loves it. She sneaks into my bathroom and stands on the little potty staring at herself in the mirror. All the while saying, "Hi, big girl. Pretty big girl." She just grins as big as she can. After a few minutes of that, she will climb up on the counter and say it some more. Then she gets into my stuff, and smears chapstick all over the bathroom mirror. See, it's not really cute! (But I will still try to catch her unaware to take a video of it.....)

Emery starts preschool after Labor Day. He's thrilled. I am excited for him, but can my baby really be old enough?

Funny moments

A couple of funnies from today.

This morning Chani was whining loudly. She wasn't getting any sympathy from Clint or I. She went back to Emery's room crying.
C: Emmy I crying.
E: I don't want to hear any whining. Go out of this room. No whining here."

This afternoon Emery was kind enough to share a yellow skittle with Chani. She chewed it up and then opened her mouth to spit it out. Emery reached over and stuck it in his mouth. Then at the same moment, they both said, "Thanks."

Pampered Chef Party

I'm hosting a Pampered Chef Party on September 1. If you would like to browse the catalog or place an order, let me know and I will e-mail you the information. They have some cool new things and great stoneware and bakeware items on sale.

Our Vacation

Wow! We had a wonderful time in Idaho and we are happy to be home. Here is a glance at our vacation in photos.


Chani's quilt

Uncle Dean's funeral. So glad we didn't have to make an additional trip to Utah.

Cute kids ready for church!

Yay for Jared and Crystal and Anya and McKenna! Thanks for coming out of your way to visit us!

Daddy and Chani camping

Chani love-love-loved the trampoline. Grammy was faithful at jumping with her daily. Thanks, Mom!

Cousin Wyatt taking Emery for a ride on the horse. Wyatt was great with both of the kids.

Holding baby Madilynn. Emery and Chani could not get enough of their sweet baby cousin.

The creek where we were camping was COLD, but the kids had a blast.

Our friend Gabe. Thanks for coming to see the horses, Williams family!

Did I mention how much they loved Madilynn? My sister Cathrynn is having twins soon (she is a twin to Charlynn, Madilynn's mom) and Emery asked more than once if there was a baby in my tummy. The answer is no, which I told him. He was awfully dejected after that. Chani kept lifting her shirt and pointing at her tummy saying, "baby in there." She'd giggle for a bit and then say, "Get out baby." I think that comes from this book that we love!

Thanks for the dress Grandma. Chani slept with it.