After a very crazy three weeks (the fair, having company, canning and freezing produce, feeding the soccer team…) I think life may get back to normal this week. However, normal for this time of year is still a little nuts. There’s still more canning to do. Matt’s soccer team is off to a great start and now our own boys will start soccer for the fall season. Justus has his first practice Monday.
After church today we had a big potluck to welcome the York College students. If you remember, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at cake decorating a little bit. Matt and the boys got me this for my birthday this month, so I played with it a little yesterday and came up with this:
It’s not perfect. It’s also kinda boring. I need to learn to make flowers or something so that I can do more than just make borders. I also need to figure out how to have nice handwriting with frosting. My “Y” is quite wobbly. But playing with my new toys sure was fun! AND I was excited to come up with a couple of recipes that I will eventually share. One is a cake recipe using whole wheat flour and sucanat. Also, I found that my butter (no shortening) frosting recipe worked just fine for decorating.
I am feeding the soccer team one last time tonight. This time they are all coming over to our house for a big “breakfast”.
Sunday, August 23
Oatmeal, nectarines
Potluck- Spanish rice, watermelon, chocolate sour cream cake, veggie tray
Soccer team- French toast, sausage links, homemade brown sugar syrup, grapes, fresh pineapple
Monday, August 24
Simple sourdough pancakes, fruit
Creamy mac and cheese, stir fried zucchini and carrots
Honey mustard chicken, baked potatoes, green beans
Tuesday, August 25
Scrambled egg sandwiches, oranges
Tuna salad, sweet red peppers, strawberry-peach slushies
Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas
Wednesday, August 26
Cinnamon swirl bread, cherries
Popcorn chicken, homemade fries, carrot sticks
Shepherd’s pie, tossed salad
Thursday, August 27
Fruit and yogurt delight, homemade oat cereal*
Salmon patties, hashbrowns, sweet bell peppers, carrot sticks
Homemade pizza, tossed salad
Friday, August 28
Peanut butter honey toast, apples with strawberry yogurt dip
Hamburgers, corn on the cob, tomatoes
Tacos, watermelon
Saturday, August 29
Homemade funnel cake
Taco salad, grapes
Tuna casserole, peas
Many of you have requested that I show you how to make cinnamon swirl bread. Be watching for that tutorial this week! I have a great giveaway for you this week too!
*I’ve had several requests for my homemade oat cereal recipe. You’ll find it in this ebook. The cereal is easy to make, SO healthy, and great for a snack or breakfast!
————————————————
Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning ideas.
I think the cake looks great! Learning new things takes time, especially since you don’t have food to frost everyday. :)
I would love to know how you make homemade brown sugar syrup.
It’s just a mixture of brown sugar and water. I’ll have to figure out the right amounts of each (I usually just eyeball it) and get back to you. :)
The cake looks great! I love to make cakes for our birthdays & other fun events, but I’m not brave enough to go the “decorator icing” route. I always make marshmallow fondant. It’s just like playdough, and so it’s almost impossible to mess up! The border on your cake looks really pretty!
I think the cake looks great.
I am completely impressed with your writing! Practice makes perfect and it’s looking pretty good given your limited practice! Way to go!!
Okay, I have a great compliment to give you.
I’m not one to be squeamish about potluck food, wondering if the mysterious cooker behind the casserole licked the spoon during the cooking process, but for some weird reason, I kind of felt that way today.
And I saw THAT CAKE on the dessert table and thought, “OH! This was made in a regulation bakery kitchen where the baker would NOT have licked the frosting spoon. I think THIS is what I’ll eat!”
And… I had a bite of YOUR cake!
So now I have to ask if you licked the frosting knife.
No I didn’t like the knife! I’m not a big fan of slices on my tongue. SO glad you liked the cake. Thanks for the great compliment!!
York College from PA??? I’m like 50 mins from there.
No, York College from NE! :) I’ve heard about York, PA before though. We had some friends move from here to there once!
Oh drat… I was just thinking what a small world! Until I moved into the area, I never heard of York, PA.
Well, now i know! There are York Colleges! (at least)
Congratulations on the cake. You did a great job Laura. God is SO proud of you :)
The cake does look yummy, btw.
I absolutely am blessed since my sister-in-law gave me many of her extra cake making toys and tips. When filling the icing place the container down in a cup with the open side slid over the edges. I have baked all my children’s birthday cakes, so they can help in the process! For Ex. my 5 year old just had a spiderman birthday in May. For the web we found a sparkly white tube of icing at Michael Crafts, so I used a toothpick and outlined a spiderweb on the cake, while he outlined it with the icing. He was so proud! and it didn’t matter that it was wobbly! Good Luck and keep practicing! A big tip is freeze the cakes as soon as they come out of the oven, keeps them very moist and easier to icing! and if you use a box cake mix add vanilla! I could go on and on, she was very helpful!
I just wanted to thank you for the funnel cake recipe! My daughter was requesting something sweet, so we made this for dessert tonight. It was so easy! I love feeding her sweets that will have some positive nutritional impact (and this was pretty low in sugar, to boot!).
Thanks again and many blessings,
Greta
Are you planning on having a Fall Giveaway carnival? Just curious… =)