Books Read In 2014

The Replacement Girlfriend by AubreyEatsHearts
A and D by Louisse Carreon
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Miles to Go by Miley Cyrus
Maid for Hire by demonicblackcat
The Quirky Tale of April Hale by demonicblackcat
Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
Tame by EmilyTheReader
Twilight Director's Notebook: The Story of How We Made the Movie Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer by Catherine Hardwicke
The Bad Boy's Girl by jessgirl93
Not Exactly Romeo & Juliet by kpgcatlover
Library Love by kpgcatlover
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
I'll Protect You by orangechicken
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
My Dark Knight by Sheriff Squinty
Twilight: The Complete Movie Companion by Mark Cotta Vaz
Four Paws from Heaven by M. R.Wells
Maybe Perfect by qinx1348

Operation Wedding Cake: The Dark Chocolate Cake | Recipe

I've never made a dark chocolate cake before. I've made Death By Chocolate cupcakes, but nothing labeled 'dark chocolate'.
This kind of scared me. All the dark chocolate cakes either have coffee, espresso, or fancy ingredients that seemed like a lot of hassle to make for the chance of it not coming out good.

For starters. I'm not a huge cake-lover. Strawberry, and vanilla are the only good cakes-oh! And funfetti! A cupcake now and again, sure, those Starbucks cake pops always catch my eyes. But I don't ever remember craving cake, ever. Pie is a different story.

Chocolate cake is definitely not on the list for me, and when you're trying a new cake recipe... somebody has to test it.
Which is where Mom and Pappap come in! Mom isn't a chocolate person, or a chocolate cake person let alone dark chocolate AND she liked it!! She thinks it's very good. Pappap agrees, he thought is could use more icing though. But that's a personal preference thing, the cake was the main subject.
And, my brother approved!





I seemed to have lacked on taking a picture but I can assure you that it smells like brownies, and it definitely looks like a chocolate cake, and it was fairly easy to make. Plus, no fancy ingredients. Completely coffeeless.
The batter is very thin though, fair warning. I almost chucked it because it didn't resemble any cake-batter I ever encountered, but it does turn out to be very moist and fluffy.
Don't let the vaking fairies tell you otherwise! Fight those fairies! (Anyone?!?! No? Okay...)

Side note: The recipe calls for Dutch/Dark Chocolate cocoa powder. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe Nestle Tollhouse is Dutch processed, but it's the one I used, and it turned out just fine.





This recipe is from Food.com by Marg (CaymanDesigns)

                                           [source]



Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 ³⁄₄ cups flour
• ³⁄₄ cup baking cocoa (dutch process or dark cocoa preferably)
• 1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• ¹⁄₂ cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ³⁄₄-1 cup boiling water (see note below)

Side note #2: I used a little less than 3/4c of the water.

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease and flour two 9 inch round baking pans or one 13x9 inch pan.
3. In large mixer bowl, stir together dry ingredients.
4. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in boiling water by hand (batter will be thin). [[Side note #3, because of the raw eggs, I added in the hot water slowly while mixing to temper the batter so the eggs wouldn't cook and get all gross in the cake.]] NOTE: I have tried it with 1/2 cup, 2/3 cup and 3/4 cup boiling water and we prefer it with less than 1 cup water. I usually use between 2/3 & 3/4 cups. The cake is still very moist but it doesn't seem to "fall" as much as it cools. This might have to do with our high humidity or brand of flour or other factors so I don't know if it will work for everyone.
6. Pour into prepared pan.
7. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round 9-inch pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (Do not use 8-inch pans or the batter will overflow.).
8. Because they have a tendency to overflow if you fill them more than 2/3 full, I usually get about 27-28 cupcakes per batch. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes.
9.  Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire racks.

Milton's Gluten Free Snickerdoodle Cookies | Review

Before you say it. I know, snickerdoodle's have cinnamon in them...
My Dad got these for me so I figured I'd give them a go, and I seem to be able handling only having one here and there.
These are super flavorful and not obnoxiously spice-flavored, soft, and chewy. They also are certified gluten-free, non GMO project verified, no high fructose corn syrup, kosher, rBST free, xanthan gum free, peanut and nut free, certified vegetarian, no trans fat.

 I'm unable to fish up the ingredients because I'd already thrown the box away, and the ingredients aren't list on their website. So I do apologize for that. But I do assure you, these are pretty decent. I probably won't be getting them again because of the cinnamon, however that's person preference, but if you're a Snickerdoodle-lover, I would certainly suggest them.

My Week pt.1 : Fishies, Fall, and Food | 9.21.15

Holy smokes! I still can't believe it's turning into fall outside!

The fish you see above with the black, that's Pouncey. He's hard to snap a picture of, he's like the Road Runner of fish. He's there one second and gone the next!

I've fallen inlove with them. It's hard not to get attached to animals.

Even though I'm much more of a summer kind of girl, it's flannel season. And hoodies. Oh, how I've missed them.

My mom got me these really cute blue mini ceramic pots from Burlington, they were supposed to be a Christmas gift but she said she wanted to give them to me early because she didn't want me to get them when we go back cause she wouldn't know what to say. I had planned on getting them too!
Originally, I had planned out to make oatmeal, and somehow that got turned into this and it was SO GOOD.
It was slightly just a little too much in one sitting though, next time I'll cut back on some of the pasta.

Ingredients:

1/3c gluten free pasta. (I used Sam Mills)
1/2 a can of Del-Monte Zucchini in Tomato Sauce
A Spinkle of Sargento's Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Over medium heat, bring a small pot of water to a boil, add pasta and let boil for 8mins. Drain pasta and add to ceramic pot, add a pasta, spoon over zucchini and tomato sauce, top with cheese and bake until cheese is golden brown.
Enjoy!

My Week pt.2: Starbucks, Doctors, & Ginger 9.20.15

Hello hello hellloooo, I... am your beloved Count Olaf...

Just kidding.

He scares me a bit...

It's just me. Amber, the actual author of this blog, I promise! I'm here to present a late night post of this past week. Hope you enjoy!


On Thursday, Mom and I went out for our weekly day out together. I had a few things I was in desperate need of.

Our first stop, Mom needed rocks for the pond.

We hit up a local place that is pretty much rocks-galore and Mom got probably six different large rocks to put around the pond. It's so exciting watching it all get done. She seems super excited about it too!

Since Burlington Coat Factory didn't open for about another half-hour we went to Starbucks.
Let me just state the fact that where we live, even though it's not, our town is considered 'country'. Therefore we are country people. At heart we certainly are, we just don't like on 5acres with a farm. So us in Starbucks is a bit of a train-wreck trying to get the lingo and everything down, it's quite funny.
The guy who served us was so incredibly nice, he even made mine specially. If there was a way I could get his boss to give him a raise, I'd try!
I ordered a Grade, which really should have just been a small, Strawberries & Creme Frappe but with coconut milk, it was soooo good! I always try to get something different when we do go.
Mom got their Apple Spice drink which smelled like apple crisp.

After sucking down our drinks Burlington opened and we were able to look for what we needed.

I was on the hunt for shoes for my brothers wedding. The dress code seems to have gone from semi-casual to all the guys wearing suits. So apparently converses won't do... -.-
So instead I got combat boots! [side note: I'll add pictures tomorrow, promise!] Along with a much needed 'winter' jacket that's faux brown leather, so hopefully it'll keep me warm. I freeze just from opening a freezer, so.
Plus I got a cute long sleeved night shirt for cheap. Another needed item is long-sleeved clothing.


On Friday...

It was a trip to the hospital for an Endoscopy for my stomach issues. My doctor seems to want to get this kicked in the butt.
I've had one done before by a very not-so-great specialist who would not listen to any of the problems once so ever, but thankfully this doctor was sooo nice! He listened and seemed to have checked over what the previous doctor had done, from what files were found. Sketchy, right?
So, as of now, nothing major was found, no ulcer or anything like that which is great, but also a little frustrating. He's gonna test for celiac, and depending on how the results come out I'll probably get the gallbladder checked next.



Lastly, today. It was nice outside and I had a bit of time to myself so I went out and snapped a couple pictures. This isn't all of them, but these are two of my favorites.

oooh-aahhh, so artsy.

While working on editing the photos I made lunch. Since the Endoscopy my stomach has been kind of touchy when it comes to food. It's probably a mind thing, but whatever. I've been really craving dairy lately, and I've been having ice cream on the mind for the past week and a half so I decided to cave but I made myself a salad first to get in something healthy. I used:
Mixed organic greens, organic kidney beans, organic ketchup, and a bit of lemon pepper. It's weird, I know. But it was surprisingly good. It was like non-spicey chili.

Lastly, hung out with this cutie. She plowed down a spot of grass to the dirt, silly girl. She really enjoyed it though. I've been wanting to get her outside. I don't like keeping her in so much.

Operation Wedding Cake: Numero Uno

My oldest brother is getting married in less than a month. About two months ago he asked me if I'd be interested in making him and his fiance's wedding cake, supplies paid, me paid. Of course I said yes because A) He's my brother. 2) An excuse to bake an unholy amount of things that would be considered 'too much' on a typical monthly/weekly basis. Blue Seventeen) This may have been a secret dream, to bake a wedding cake. It's as if I have my own business. Except I don't have 25lbs sacks of flour in a spare room, or those gorgeous fancy ovens. And Z) It would be a little extra cash in my wallet... that will probably have a hole burned in it by the following week.

The information:

The wedding colors are turquoise and brown.

THEE cake, the Groom's and Bride's cake, is going to be dark chocolate, with chocolate icing, two layers, with a possible ginache on the top.

She wants it to look like this, or 'whatever I'm comfortable with.'

I've tried hunting this cake down in Google Images Search/Pinterest for the source of information on it and have had no luck, so if anyone knows who this belongs to, please let me know so I can put a source link.

As far as I'm aware, this is piped with a French tip.


The cupcakes:

Chocolate & Vanilla. Two-toned vanilla icing. Possible filling.

                                           [source] 


Assuming it's either a #4B or #6B French tip, and another with a star #1M(?).
What makes me nervous about this is that I've never done two-tone before, or any of this spike like decorating.
What makes me even more nervous is that my brothers fiance want me to do what I'm comfortable with, meaning: the icing flavor and the possible icing flavor. I do better when people tell me exactly what they want, and me telling them if I can/can't do it. Not so much the 'whatever suits you' thing.
That sounds horrible, doesn't it? That should be a blessing!


The fact I can't figure out the exact tip number drives me crazy. Ugh, perfectionists.

Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow - Book Review

                                                 [source]

"Over the course of the last five years, Tim Tebow established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of college football and a top prospect in the NFL. During that time he amassed an unparalleled resume—winning two BCS national championships, becoming the first sophomore in NCAA history to win the Heisman trophy, and in the face of massive public scrutiny, being drafted in the first round of the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos.

Now, in Through My Eyes, Tebow brings readers everywhere an inspirational memoir about life as he chose to live it, revealing how his faith and family values, combined with his relentless will to succeed, have molded him into the person that he is today. As the son of Christian missionaries, Tebow has a unique story to tell—from the circumstances of his birth, to his home-schooled roots, to his record-setting collegiate football career with the Florida Gators and everything else that took place in between.

At every step, Tebow's life has defied convention and expectation. While aspects of his life have been well-documented, the stories have always been filtered through the opinions and words of others. Through My Eyes is his passionate, firsthand, never-before-told account of how it all really happened." -- Goodreads

This was such an amazing book! Tim Tebow is a class act, he is.
Hes a great writer, I like how he talked a lot about God, and his family. There's a lot of football talk, of course. Which I'm totally okay with.
I also loved how humorous some parts were, just little quirky things here and there throughout it that helped make it much more enjoyable and light to read.
He is sooo talented, I'm not saying that just because he is who he is, I'm saying that because he is TALENTED. Just knowing how much work he put into his football career astounds me, even days after I've read the book, I'm still in awe.
He's going far. He deserves every bit of it. He's a very blessed man, and I can't wait to see what else he accomplishes.