Please don't call A&E or TLC

Well my cookbooks are all out of boxes, my internet is back and it's time to start cooking again.  I'm still working on a few move-related things around the house so I haven't been spending much time in the kitchen but hopefullly I will get back into the swing of things soon.  I will admit that cooking is not as much fun when I have to wash all the dishes by hand but I'll just have to get used to that.
In the meantime, I thought I'd show you my cookbook collection.

This was my main shelf at one point.  When I bought this shelf, I think it fit all of my cookbooks, just about. 

However, I discovered my cookbook guy about that time and started acquiring more cookbooks at an alarming rate (they were so cheap!) I soon needed another shelf.  I brought this bookcase from my parent's house.  It's very sturdy.  Why can't they make solid bookshelves like this for a reasonable cost anymore?  Those shelves will never bow like the particle board shelves do. 

That shelf got filled up eventually too.  I had another small shelf that I had been using for books but I repurposed it when I moved so now I found myself with several boxes of books and nowhere to put them. I refuse to buy any more fake-wood assemble-yourself shelves if I can help it (although they usually look very nice they are no match for actual books).  I tried to be patient but that stack of boxes was starting to make me itch.  I finally picked this shelf up at a yard sale for $10. I would have liked something larger but this is nice and solid - all wood - and it fit in my trunk.  I will repaint it eventually.

The rest of the books ended up over my kitchen cupboards.  This isn't ideal but it does helps spread the madness a bit and that space really needed something.

I thought that was all of them but oh, then I remembered the books I put in the trunk that I'm using as a coffee table.

I thought that was all of them but wait! I spotted a the pile of children's cookbooks that I had separated from the rest (I need to find a special place for those since the boys like to look at those but I don't want them swallowed up with the other children's books). 

Okay, now that really is all of them.  That's 25 years of collecting cookbooks.  Having them all out in the open has shamed me into not buying more.  Well, I'm trying really, really hard not to buy anymore.  I don't want to end up on an episode of "Hoarding - Buried Alive" (Under a Pile of Cookbooks).

Waiting waiting waiting

Just to let you know that I'm still here and I'm anxious to start blogging again but I don't know when I will be able to, thanks to Verizon's ineptitude.  I am still without phone or internet service at home even though they were supposed to be turned on two weeks ago. 

I need an intervention

I am in the process of moving. Boy, do I have way too many cookbooks.

The good news is, I will be back blogging, in full force, soon. It will be just in time for my 6 year bloggiversary. Stay tuned!

Catching up

Lemon Sour Cream Cake
Reader's Digest Cakes 1,001 Classic Recipes from Around the World Copyright 2003

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
6 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, to dust

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 13x9-inch baking pan. Sifted the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until just blended after each addition. With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the dry ingredients, alternating with the sour cream. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a rack. Dust with the confectioners' sugar.
___________________________________

I have so many recipes that I haven't told you about. Here's one of them.

I made this so many months ago that if there were any details I wanted to mention , they are long forgotten. I  remember loving the moist, dense texture of this cake.  It's one of the better lemon cakes I've made and it would have been great with a couple of berries and some whipped cream but it was great plain too. I would make this again.

I wish I had more to say but I don't. Sorry.

Birthday cake

I like to record birthday cakes here on my blog, although I don't try new recipes out for birthdays. I used my all-time favorite yellow cake recipe this time. It's the reverse-creaming method that I use that makes this cake so good. I've tried to duplicate it a couple of times since that first time I made it, but I was always impatient and my butter wasn't soft enough so I didn't get those same great results. The butter needs to be completely soft which it was this time. It came out perfect again.

I made one and a half times the recipe for an 11x15-inch pan. I split the cake after freezing it (so it would be easier to cut). For the filling, I used this recipe, except I opted to leave out the Cool Whip at the last minute and I'm so glad I did. It was just what I wanted - a thick, creamy texture.  I also used Better Bowls pudding mix this time which I find superior to Jell-O or store brand. I discovered it recently when I bought the little single-serving bowls off of the clearance shelf. I thought it mixed smoother than boxed mixed and it tasted better. I have not been contacted by Better Bowls - this is just my honest opinion. I'm not sure about it's claims of being healthy, although I'm sure it's healthier than other pudding since it has some fiber.

Dan is a whipped cream freak so I used whipped cream to frost the cake. I used some gelatin to help stabilize it (it's debatable whether or not that is necessary but the whipped cream never weeped on the leftovers after days in the refrigerator). I added some food coloring and used powdered sugar to sweeten it. It wouldn't whip at first but I was just trying to whip too much cream at once (4 cups). I finally whipped it in batches but I was frustrated and tired so I didn't add any fancy touches (I was going to pipe a border).  Not the best decorating job (when I'm also cooking for a party - I can only do so much with the cake) but personally I thought this was one of the most delicious cakes I've made.  I guess I'm a bit of a fan of whipped cream too. In one of my most unselfish acts of motherhood, I let Dan eat the last piece of this cake.

My go-to chocolate cake recipe does not translate to cupcakes very well so I used this recipe for cupcakes with my Easy Buttercream Frosting. I didn't do a cream filling for the cupcakes and they were okay, not the worst chocolate cupcakes but not the best either. I should have used Duncan Hines.  I really never have much luck with cupcakes, especially chocolate.. No matter how hard I try not to overbake them, they almost always seem dry to me.  Since I decided to frost the cupcakes as soon as I mixed the buttercream,  I ended up with 'dots' on my cupcakes (the color didn't absorb evenly - I try to let colors sit overnight usually).

He knew just what to do with the candles: