Give Me S'more Cake

Tonight I tried a recipe from my Taste of Home magazine - Give Me S'more Cake. They had this big feature last month on the winning cakes from a contest they held. It was pretty cool b/c they provided these nice cut-outs for eight different cakes! I was excited to try this one b/c I love s'mores with all my heart. Side note: As a child, I was always resentful that my family never went camping. As an adult I realized I hate camping (almost as much as I hate hikes), but S'mores almost, ALMOST make camping worth it!

That's why I was so disappointed with this cake. I am a huge cake lover. Some may call me a Cake Eater. This cake turned out beautifully... but tasted so...

bleh.
Completely un-camping-fantasy-like. Boring! It was so so-so, I actually stopped eating my slice! I thought to myself, "Why even keep eating it? Empty calories, Leslie! Empty calories!"

Dave, on the other hand, loved it. He had two slices. This news is big news because one would not call Dave a Cake Eater. He admitted it did not taste like S'mores, but he liked it nonetheless.

Anyway... since Dave liked it, maybe other people will like it. Here's the recipe:

Give Me S'more cake
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
2-3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tsp baking powder
1 can (12-0z) evaporated milk

Marshmallow frosting:
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips, divided

Line two 9-in round baking pans with waxed paper and grease the paper; set aside. In a large bowl, cream the shortening, butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. combine cracker crumbs and baking powder; add to the creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition.

Transfer to prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes (I found it took a good 28 minutes to fully bake) or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

In a large heavy saucepan, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar over low heat. With a hand mixer, beat on low speed for 1 minute. Continue beating on low over low heat until frosting reaches 160 degrees, about 8-10 minutes (uh... I just stopped after about 4 minutes). Pour into a large bowl; add vanilla. Beat on high until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.

Place a cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 2/3 cup frosting and sprinkle with half of chips. Top with remaining cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake; sprinkle with remaining chips.


Dave actually voted for this dessert when I gave him a choice of three desserts I could bake today. I wanted him to pick Chocolate Ginger Cookies. I think I'd be happier tonight if I'd made Chocolate Ginger Cookies. I'd feel fatter tonight if I'd made Chocolate Ginger Cookies.

We also watched Julie and Julia. It was a great movie! I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. I love, love, LOVE Meryl Streep. Dave won't let me name our future daughter Meryl. I really want to though.

Dave gets sick to his stomach when he looks at this picture.

the BEST hot chocolate!

NaBloPoMo's theme for the everyday blogger in January is "Best." You don't have to write on the theme, but it's supposed to help on farty brain nights.

As it is 8:27PM, and I am ALREADY tuckered out... I thought I would take a picture of the BEST hot chocolate I'm about to consume.

You see, you start out with a large mug - preferably one that says "Hawaii" on it. One that says "San Diego" is also acceptable. You empty one of those cheap-o hot chocolate packets into the mug - Sunny Select if I had my druthers. Pour boiling water over the top of it, but people... only fill the cup about 2/3 full... else wise your hot chocolate is way too watery! You then pile HEAPS of mini-marshmallows on top.

Voila! Consume while your husband is playing DJ Hero and dominating the only television in the house.

If you had to roll around naked in food... this dish would be what you choose.

Holiday Chex Mix is what I call it. I felt it needed a better name than "Cereal Treat," as my grandmother had christened it. I know the holidays are technically over, but we missed Christmas morning (you know, what with being in Hawaii and what not), so we're headed over to Dave's parents tonight to exchange gifts. We are dirt poor right now (you know, what with being in Hawaii and what not), so I thought I would distract attention from our chintzy gifts by making my favorite holiday candy-ish type of stuff.

The following ingredients combine together in a celestial way:

8 cups of Corn Chex
Gluten free!

The most delicious of cereals.
9 cups please.

2 cups of Flaked Coconut - sweetened. Did you know that coconut isn't actually that sweet? All my life I've been thinking the coconut that comes out of bags like these is what coconut tastes like! But my friend Gloria taught me that it's not! This stuff is sweetened! Some real light bulbs went off when I learned that little secret.

The recipe actually calls for slivered almonds, but I think sliced almonds are prettier. You're technically supposed to put one cup of almonds in, and this bag is just barely over half a cup. But nuts are expensive. And as mentioned in paragraph uno... we're poor as ish right now.

Dump it all together in a big fat bowl.

Then mix it up - don't be lazy.

This cellulite-ridden concoction includes the following three ingredients: 3/4 cup butter, 1 cup Karo Syrup, and 1 cup sugar. Stir it together and make it boil for two minutes.

Then dump it over the top of the cereal mixture. I dump a little at a time, stir, little at a time, stir, little at a time, stir.

Then spread it out on two cookie sheets to "cool." Or become crispified... whatever you'd like to call it.

And then eat. And thank the Lord. For he is indeed risen. This treat is proof of that.

Will I be pretty? Will I be rich?

Someday when we're rich... I'm going to buy all the most awesome camera lenses out there. First and foremost - a macro lens. A macro lens will enable me to take super-duper up close pictures... you'd be able to see the pollen stuck to the legs of this bee with a macro lens!

However... a Janome serger costs about the same. I plan on becoming an expert clothes maker this year, and a serger would really help me with those seams.

Which hobby will win?

I finally organized my sewing room today (the sewing room quadruples as the office, the second bedroom, and the work-out room), and I plan on sewing tomorrow... so that might answer my question. I'm breathing a happy sigh just thinking about the joys I will encounter tomorrow while sitting at my sewing table!

Christmas in Hawaii

I'm staring January 1st off with a blog... I'm SO getting back into it! I'm going to try the whole post-every-day-for-a-month thing again. Last time I flunked after the second day.

We spent Christmas in Hawaii this year, specifically in Kailua, Oahu. Obama was less than a mile away! (But we didn't see him... there were patrol boats in the canal, and the neighborhood was blocked off with cement dividers!) It was different spending Christmas away from home... not bad... but different. I must say, I like my traditional Christmases with cold weather. So sue me.

It was hard to leave our little poopsies... the first time we ever have! Luckily we had a good friend who also has chihuahuas and works for the SPCA... so I felt pretty comfortable... sort-of. I was absolutely certain that my shmoopers were miserable without mama's warm bosom to keep them comfortable.

Anywho, here are some of my favorite pics from our trip:

The Dole Plantation, and Lucy's excellent photography skills...

Mother again... hit with a wave of artistic emotions.

We made it to the top!

The Valley of the Temples... and me and Dave.

And that's all I feel like posting for the time being. Happy New Year everyone! I read you're supposed to say "Twenty Ten" instead of "Two Thousand and Ten." But the article kind-of annoyed me. I've never liked anyone but my parents telling me what to do, so I think I might say "Two Thousand and Ten" just cuz...