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Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites have been Few and Far between (don’t you just love alliteration?).  With that, I’m here to share a few recent faves…

Favorite # ONE

CAKES

I’ve been busy making cakes in 2025.

Mama’s Birthday Cake,

Mississippi Mud Cake requested by my girls,

German Chocolate cake for LB’s birthday,

Rory’s Chocolate Stitch cake.

Speaking of Rory…

Favorite # TWO

Rory!

Happy Birthday to my favorite little 7 year old!

You’ve come a long way baby!

~

Favorite # THREE

SHOES

Monday was a delightful day off work, so LB and I went shopping for a pair of shoes I had been eyeing.  Sadly, they were not available at my local Target, but happily, I found these and liked them even more

~

Favorite # FOUR

EGGS

When you can’t find organic eggs, they quickly become a favorite!  This carton from Vital Farms was purchased from a store that we never visit… Publix in Avondale.  $11.  SMH.

~

Favorite # FIVE

Only 20 more workdays until shutdown!

Along with a photo of my team celebrating Christmas, I mentioned in this post that “it may be the last one”.  I didn’t elaborate, but I wasn’t talking about Christmas and I wasn’t talking about “this post” being the last one.  I’ll now share that we were called into a MS TEAMS meeting on December 13th to hear the announcement that our company has chosen to close our office.  We have all been impacted by a surplus.  Once the date of separation takes place, I’m sure I’ll have plenty to share about what we as a group have endured 😇

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

A February To Remember

February 2022 is developing into a February to remember!

The weekend before Valentine’s Day was especially memorable.

On Saturday we celebrated Rory’s 4th birthday.  She is the sweetest little thing you ever did see.

I was privileged to meet her on the day she was born. 

And I’ve been privileged to make each of her 4 birthday cakes.

For her 1st birthday, Emily aka Rory’s Mama, requested a Valentine [conversation candy/heart-shaped] cake.

When she turned 2, Rory was very much into “Toy Stoy” and Emily requested the Forky cupcakes, which were a hit.  For her 3rd birthday I attempted to make a Sleeping Beauty/Briar Rose cake, but I wasn’t sure how to make it look like it was being held up by a broomstick.  It wasn’t an exact replica, but Rory liked it anyway.

This year Rory is loving Paw Patrol.

Her Mama called it “the cake of Rory’s dreams”. 

And it was pretty cute!

While I’d love to take credit for the “artwork” I cannot.  I ordered the “frosting sheet” from CAKES FOR CURES and simply placed it on top of my beautifully constructed pink and white cake.

~

While the family sat together in the living room chatting, Mama took the opportunity to read us a story.  She had written the story herself and did a very good job.  It was well-written, entertaining, and mind-blowing.  I won’t be able to share it myself, but will leave that to her.  Maybe she will let me include it in my “Mary’s Musings” section of this blog

… some day.

~

Sunday was Super Bowl 56.  While I am not a follower of football, LB and I will get together with 2 other couples and watch while we parttake of the best tailgate food you can imagine.  This year there was just 4 of us, but the goodies were still plenteous

Not pictured are the ribs, wings, and pizza rolls. Mmmm Mmmm

We were hoping to see a victory for the Bengals, but it wasn’t meant to be.

~

Since it is typically a late night, LB and I usually take the day off after Super Bowl.  This year that day happened to be Valentine’s Day.

We spent our Valentine’s Day together running errands, but later that evening went out to celebrate!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

It’s Friday!

YAY

Someone suggested to me today, that Friday should be called YayDay.

Seems fitting to me.

Let me start my Friday Favorites with last Saturday.  We threw a BIG party for Mama’s 75th birthday.

Favorite # ONE

She seemed to have a really good time.

We had a band, a sing-a-long, a Mary video, lots of family, food, balloons… it was quite an event!

Happy Birthday Mama!

And on the subject of birthdays…

~

Favorite # TWO

Happy Birthday LB!

LB had a birthday Tuesday before last, and would have been in last week’s Friday Favorites if I had created a post to share.

Hoping to get me to spend more time on the back patio, he chose an outdoor heater as his birthday present.

We celebrated the big day by going to LaNopalera for dinnerand taking the next day off.

LB wanted to go to the beach for a cookout.

So we did.LB will always be my favorite!

~

Favorite # THREE

Carrot Cake

February 3rd was National Carrot Cake Day.

I asked LB to choose a birthday cake from my Southern Living Cake book.  Guess which one he picked.That’s right, he wanted a giant carrot cake for his birthday.

And on the subject of cakes, this week I recieved a request to make a birthday cake for our favorite soon-to-be 3 year old Rory.

~

Favorite # FOUR

A Cake like no Other

This is an example of the cake that Emily believes Rory will love, since she loves the story of Sleeping Beauty.

Reminiscent of the birthday cake the three fairies made for Aurora.  It looks like a mess, so I’m sure I won’t have any trouble replicating.

~

Although it isn’t always PRETTY, it is important to pass along information to people you care about.  Especially since it won’t be covered on News4Jax or any MSM.

Favorite # FIVE

Being Informed

Clearly you will see that this video was created prior to our 2020 Presidential election, however it contains information that everyone has a right to know.

https://rumble.com/vdkn0l-covid-911-learn-the-truth.html

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

The first full week of November began with a challenge from my November 1st  Birthday Girl

Stephanie

She sent me a pin on Pinterest which was a link to the current birthday cake of her dreams.

This qualifies as one of my Friday Favorites!

 🎂

Favorite # ONE

The Birthday Cake Challenge

I’m always up for a baking challenge and I’d likely be more successful if I’d follow the recipe.

The Frosted Animal Cookie Cake with four layers of cake, three layers of filling, and white chocolate buttercream frosting topped with pink ganache (pause to catch breath) took me three evenings to complete.

For the most part, I followed this recipe from lifeloveandsugar.com, however in order to finish quickly, I used a box white cake mix:I think she likes it!

Bonus information: 1,088 calories in 1 slice of a 14 serving cake

😱

Favorite # TWO

A

Birthday Dinner

with three of my favorite ladies

The family was scattered on Stephanie’s birthday and we weren’t able to gather together to celebrate.  In an attempt to make her day special, I had Mama, Stephanie, and Amanda come to my house for dinner.

We had something I never imagined I would include in my blog

🍟

Favorite # THREE

Poutine

It sounds weird and it is weird, but it was Stephanie’s request.

The meaning of the word poutine is from a Québécois slang word meaning “mess”.

It is fries with gravy and cheese curds and MUST be eaten with a fork.

THIS RECIPE is a good one!

~

Favorite # FOUR

Face-Time

While we were together, Emily and the baby girls face timed Stephanie to wish her a happy birthday.

We all enjoyed a teeny little visit together.

It is essential to stay in touch with family!

Moments after I left for work today, LB received the news that his Dad passed away early this morning.

For the past few years LB has made regular visits with his Dad, typically on Friday afternoons.  Although this is a heartbreaking time for him, LB is happy for making time to visit and maintain a close relationship with his Dad.

We have attended church with him on Father’s Day a few times and it was on one of those occasions that I snapped this photo

Favorite # FIVE

A picture is worth a  thousand words but the memories are priceless!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Low Carb Chocolate Cupcakes

Wendy has been sticking to her KETO diet lately, and I’m proud of her for being so disciplined.  Although she hasn’t cheated (as far as I know), she has talked so much about chocolate cake that it won’t be long before she does.  She has one specific cake on her mind.  The cake she is longing for is one that was brought into work several months ago by one of the managers at our office.

That cake had a special ingredient…

Zucchini

When Wendy admitted to not knowing that there was a difference between liquid and dry measurements, I knew I would need to step in to help.

I told her I would try to duplicate the recipe.

On Tuesday she handed over 5 small zucchini,a zip top bag filled with cocoa powder, and a bottle of Stevia concentrate.  Seeing that she was serious, I committed to create this cake for her.

My low carb chocolate cupcake recipe was adapted from Lisa’s Low Carb Yum Best Low Carb Chocolate Cake Recipe.

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes, contains 96 calories, and 2.5 net carbs.  It requires planning ahead because unless you bake low carb/sugar-free regularly, you probably won’t have all the necessary ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup low carb sweetener (1:1 sugar replacement)

1/4 teaspoon Stevia concentrated powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)

8 large eggs (beaten)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 cups zucchini (shredded)

Using my food processor I shredded 4 small zucchini which is apparently the secret to making this low carb cake recipe so moist.

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk coconut flour, sweetener, Stevia concentrate, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt.
  3. In a separate container whisk eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla until smooth.
  4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
  5. Stir in the shredded zucchini.
  6. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling about halfway.
  7. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
  8. Cool on wire rack.
  9. Once cool, frost with chocolate buttercream frosting, if desired.

I highly recommend frosting with chocolate buttercream frosting.  The recipe is from Lisa’s Low Carb Yum, is unbelievably tasty, and completely worth the extra calories!

 

 

Low Carb Chocolate Cupcakes

  • Servings: 24
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

1 cup coconut flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup low carb sweetener (1:1 sugar replacement)

1/4 teaspoon Stevia concentrated powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)

8 large eggs (beaten)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 cups zucchini (shredded)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In large mixing bowl, whisk coconut flour, sweetener, stevia concentrate cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt.

In a separate bowl whisk eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla until smooth.

Combine wet and dry ingredients.

Stir in zucchini

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling only halfway.

Bake for 15 18 20 or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack. Once cool, frost with chocolate buttercream frosting, if desired.

prettyis.me

 

 

Wendy had a happy day!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

LB’s Birthday Weekend

LB’s birthday is on January 26th.
January 26th happened on a Saturday this year, so I was able to be home with him and start his special day with  a special BREAKFAST.
Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes were on the menu.  Courtesy of Mrs. Butterworth’s and a can of Dole Sliced Pineapple!He loved his pancakes!
And he loved opening Birthday Gifts!He looks SMASHING in his new jacket…
And is very excited about his new GOOGLE Home Mini!The Birthday Boy spent his day playing with ‘Hey Google’.
I assumed we would go out for dinner and live music later that evening, but he didn’t want to venture out in the cold.  He requested homemade pizza for dinner.
And he chose the German Chocolate Tres Leches Cake from a list of cakes that “you MUST TRY”.
It is delicious!

I’ve included the recipe courtesy of Taste of Home so we can make it again:

German Chocolate Tres Leches Cake

  • Servings: 16
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 1 package chocolate cake mix
  • 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
  • 1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
  • 1/4 cup rum
  • 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions, using a 13×9-in. baking pan. Cool on a wire rack.
  • Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk milks, 1/2 cup cream and rum. With a wooden skewer, poke holes in cake about 1/2 in. apart. Slowly pour milk mixture over cake, allowing mixture to absorb into cake. Let stand 30 minutes. Refrigerate, covered, 8 hours or overnight.
  • In a small bowl, beat remaining cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners’ sugar; beat until stiff peaks form. Spread over top of cake. Sprinkle with coconut and pecans.

 

The LB Birthday Weekend theme song was When I’m 64.

It was completely appropriate for the occasion.

 

https://youtu.be/PbTXtWxsDjk

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

 

Chocolate Lava Cake 101

Chocolate Lava Cake is a dessert that I decided I wanted to learn to make.  A google search that began with “how to…” lead me to “how to learn something new everyday”.  I decided that learning something new everyday sounded like a good idea.  Do you know how much information you consume every day?  Today I read that we are constantly consuming information in amounts that can be measured in gigabytes.  In case you didn’t know, one gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Click here for a more detailed explanation.

To put this into perspective, 1 gigabyte equals an entire pickup truck filled with paper (source).  According to this site, we consume 74.92 gigabytes of data every day. That’s enough to fill 74 pickup trucks filled with paper (source).

Wow.

For LB the number is likely doubled.

“Boy Genius”

 

 

What does this information have to do with the [blog post title] Chocolate Lava Cake?

Nothing.

But it may appeal to any technical enthusiast that happens onto my blog.

 

Also it has everything to do with learning something new.

That said, welcome to

Chocolate Lava Cake 101

What you’ll need for class:

•             no stick cooking spray

•             cocoa powder (for dusting)

•             8 Tablespoons butter

•             2 ounces bittersweet chocolate

•             2 ounces semisweet chocolate

•             1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

•             3 eggs yolks

•             2 eggs

•             1 teaspoon vanilla

•             1/2 cup all-purpose flour

•             Recommended for topping: vanilla ice cream, berries, whipped cream

Here is how it is done

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Spray four ramekins with non stick spray and place on a baking sheet.

 Dust ramekins with cocoa powder.

Microwave the butter, bittersweet chocolate and semisweet chocolate in a large bowl on high for about one minute, until the butter is melted.

Stir until the chocolate is also melted.

Stir in the powdered sugar until well blended.

Mix in the eggs and egg yolks. 

Add the vanilla…

and the flour…

and wisk.

Divide the mixture among the ramekins.

Bake until the sides are firm and the centers are soft, 11-13 minutes.

Let cool 1 minute. Invert onto plates or serve in the ramekin while warm…

 with one or all of the recommended toppings.

And now you know about chocolate lava cakes as well as gigabytes.

We’ll be well rounded in more ways than one.

 

 

Chocolate Lava Cake

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

•             No stick cooking spray

•             cocoa powder (for dusting)

•             8 Tablespoons butter

•             2 ounces bittersweet chocolate

•             2 ounces semisweet chocolate

•             1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

•             3 egg yolks

•             2 eggs

•             1 teaspoon vanilla

•             1/2 cup all-purpose flour

•             Recommended for topping: vanilla ice cream, berries, whipped cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray four ramekins with non stick spray and place on a baking sheet.  Dust ramekins with cocoa powder.

Microwave the butter, bittersweet chocolate and semisweet chocolate in a large bowl on high for about one minute, until the butter is melted. Whisk until the chocolate is also melted. Stir in the powdered sugar until well blended. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolks.  Add the vanilla. Stir in the flour. Divide the mixture among the ramekins.

Bake until the sides are firm and the centers are soft, 11-13 minutes. Let cool 1 minute. Invert onto plates while warm and serve with recommended toppings.

prettyis.me

 

 

 

Special thanks to Lacie at easypeasypleasy.com for the lesson on “How To Add And Embed A Printable Recipe To Your WordPress Blog”.

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

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