I was on the go pretty much all day and thought I would be able to squeeze in a at least an hour or two quilting. I was sadly mistaken, by 9 p.m. I was exhausted and called it day. But I did get a lot accomplished. As usual I took my girl Khaleesi for a walk and listened to an Audible book as we walked. Most of the the time when doing our daily walk I'm inside my head not paying much attention to the things around me, well other than the occasional car I hear coming. Today was pretty much the same but I came out of my walking coma long enough to take in the beauty of a couple pretty weeds.
You all know I'm not a big fan of purple but this lavender-ish bloom caught my eye. How gorgeous is this? I have to admit I thought about how pretty this would be in my flowerbeds but I also know it's not a good idea to plant weeds where you don't want them to choke out everything else.
Mother nature decided to reward me for being present. She tossed in a pinch of color. You all also know I'm not a fan of orange in my quilts but in nature it is stunning. We have some very colorful butterflies, moths and other bugs here in Podunk that all would have been stunning to see on this flower/weed but Mother Nature and the powers that be decided this was the perfect opportunity to work it's magic on me. I'm often inspired by the colors in nature. And it worked, I started dreaming up ideas for a quilt using more purple an orange. Sadly I didn't have time today to draw it up in EQ but the idea is still blooming in my mind. So don't be surprised if you see me working with purple and orange someday.
As soon as we returned home it was time to get in the kitchen and bake a cake. Mr. Podunk is having a birthday this week and his favorite cake since he was a child is a Red Velvet cake with Cream Cheese icing. I tried making one from scratch last year. It was good but it didn't turn out as red as it should have. And the red food coloring was a nightmare. Everything it touched it stained. This year I'm a little more pressed for time so I decided to buy a boxed cake mix. Cooking from scratch is always better but convenience sometimes wins the race.
Oh my goodness this looks like blood pudding. YUK! Red cake is just not right.
In my mind all I can think about is the Armadillo cake in the Movie Steel Magnolias.
There's no turning back now so Red Velvet cake it is. What a mess I made of this cake. A cake decorator I am not. The red cake was flaking off into my icing. So what's a gal to do but try to hide the problem.
The red crumbles on top are from the part I cut off to make the cake tops flat. It looked much prettier in my head.
The mushroom tops will not be thrown out. I've cut them up into chunks and have frozen them to use on the Fourth of July.
The plan is to make these really cute Red Velvet Parfaits. You can find the recipe where I borrowed this picture here. Lets hope my parfaits turn out prettier than my cake. I'm not holding my breath because I'll be using clear disposable party cups instead of fancy little glasses.
While the cake was baking in the oven I started another batch of canned milk. If you missed my post about canning milk you can find it here.
By this time the jars come out of the canner its about 3p.m. and I need to clean up the kitchen in order to start cooking supper. There's also laundry to be finished up...chores, chores and more chores.
Here's something some of you might not know. I don't eat sugar or grains of any kind. But today I decided to make an exception. I must taste this cake. If it's good I'll have a small slice a reward for having such a restrictive diet for what seems like forever. In order to eat a slice of cake I will need to take a pill to ward off the side effects. Just tasting one bite shouldn't cause a reaction.
One bite is all it took. This taste like a car engine smells. YUK! How did I ever eat this kind of food. Does it really taste this bad? Will Mr. Podunk like it? Something must be wrong with this cake mix. I can't serve this poison to my husband. What am I going to do? Should I run into town to purchase a deli cake at the local grocery? My taste has changed over the years since I stopped eating certain things but I can't see cake not tasting good.
Much to my surprise Mr. Podunk loved this toxic tasting blood cake. So much so he ate 2 pieces. He said it was DELICIOUS. It's official, my taste buds are broken, I'll never be able to enjoy a sugar treat ever again. How strange that he tasted yummy and I tasted motor oil. The icing was the worst. It's supposed to be cream cheese icing. I still eat the occasional sugar free homemade cheesecake and it's amazing. I did noticed the last time I opened a bag of sugar it smelled like a chemical but I thought it was the bag or the glue used to seal the bag. Nope it was the sugar.
That one bite caused more of reaction than I thought it would. And of course it happened in the middle of the night. I'll spare you the details but I'll tell you I spent a considerable amount of time in the bathroom.
My cake may not be pretty but it definitely looks better than it tastes.
My mother in law made the best red velvet cake from scratch. She tried to teach how to make it once! She even cooking the frosting on the stove! It was and still is my very favorite. She did teach my daughter how to make it though. It takes a whole afternoon too. So every Christmas I get to enjoy her cake even though she passed on.
ReplyDeleteI do cook everything from scratch, 99% of the time. I’m gluten intolerant (GI), and try to avoid sugar too, tho I need slightly sweetened non-milk products in my hot coffee or tea (lactose intolerant - and well, vegan too). I can’t stand the smell of cream cheese anymore, so it’s challenging to make my hubbies fav cake, his mother’s recipe, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. But, we do what we do for those we love (34 yrs)! Me, give me a berry pie or apple for my birthday, I’m in heaven! A have a quilting friend who made me one every year for my BD, before I knew I was GI. I’ve been perfecting GF crusts ever since, with great success. Your 4th idea for cake leftover as a parfait, is a brilliant idea!
ReplyDeleteThe purple flowers are on milkweeds -- butterflies love them - they also lay their egg which forms the crystalsis - for the new butterflies -- however, once you have them come up - they always do! I keep removing them from my flower beds!!
ReplyDeleteThe very first time I made a red velvet cake - I was 19 and it took 3 tries before I got it right!! First, too much coco powder and then the icing - I melted the butter (HAHA) - Second time still had icing wrong -- 3rd time I got it all right - but just don't like the homemade ones.
Sounds like the birthday cake was exciting! The top 'weed' is mullein. My Grandmother used to dry the leaves for winter. She'd make herbal tea and said it was good. I don't know, I've never tasted it. I'm looking forward to the new quilt, happy stitching!
ReplyDeletewow, just goes to show when you stop eating what's bad for you, your body can't handle it any more. I shudder to think of all the toxic stuff we ingest. And I often have reactions to food, after all it breaks down to fuel and chemicals in our body to use it for energy.
ReplyDeletemotor oil... oy vey! It's good you made dietary changes when you did, it feels like deprevation sometimes but now you know it's much healthier for you. Can you believe so many people subsist off fast food?
we have several of those enormous weeks with yellow flowers in our yard and left them this year to see if they look okay. I heard a quilt lecturer once say each quilt should have a little bit of an orange color somewhere as it adds sparkle. I have come to love orange tones especially coral. In your photo the proportion of orange is small in the composition but adds focus and sparkle.
Mullein and milk weed are rather mild mannered as weeds go. And at least they are native to the midwest, so that's a point in their favor for pollinators and butterflies.
ReplyDeleteI never did understand the fuss over red velvet cake. Give me good old chocolate, vanilla, or almost any other cake, any day. Your decorating efforts are fine (I wonder if the Cake Wrecks site is still going?), and bummer on the results when you sampled it, but at least Mr Podunk liked it. I'd say your taste buds are re-trained (educated?) not broken, not a bad thing when it can keep you from eating things that disagree with you.
I have the same cake stand! :-) It must have been what was on sale the week we got married, because we got 3 different items, all with the same flowers! :-) And orange and purple are my favorite color comination: throw in a little green, and you have a quilt that is stunning (at least in my book!) :-) your weeds are amazing: ours out here in the west are pretty scrawny!!! Thanks for sharing, even if it wasn't about quilting: we would all love to quilt all day, but real life takes over, and we are lucky to get a little quilting time in! Hugs, H
ReplyDeleteI find I do not like the fake taste of cherry in the red velvet cake. Give me any other chocolate cake that TASTES like chocolate!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh -- that was my absolute FAVORITE scene from Steel Magnolias!! Shirley Maclaine is so amazing. Happy birthday to your sweetie!
ReplyDeleteDo yourself a favor and get the Pepperidge Farm Red Velvet cake instead of making it. I'm getting one for my birthday in August and I've been looking forward to it for months! After waiting for it so long, I'll probably go into sugar shock but oh. my. goodness. I think it will be worth it. :-D
ReplyDeleteThere are 12 different varieties of milkweed in the U.S., they are crucial for the monarch butterflies survival. Instead of pulling them up in a garden, make a dedicated garden for them, for the butterflies. Check out the National Wildlife Foundation blog. We have Showy Milkweed where I live, I just found some. I have them on a vase on my kitchen table and will spread the seeds when they dry. And also we have Mullein, which I let grow in our fields. It’s also beneficial for bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects.
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