Spilling the Beans...

I haven't blogged in awhile. My cousin Kelly says I don't have a boring life, and that I should blog. Well I feel pretty boring lately, lying on the couch, feeling sick, exhausted... all those symptoms you might have when you are expecting! Yes it's true... Baby S+T is on the way!!!
I still find it hard to believe that I am preggers! It happened a bit sooner than expected, but we are thrilled nonetheless. I am almost in my 2nd trimester and finally feeling better. I was nauseous from week 6 on and now I'm started to get back to normal. So that is my big news, that is why I have been MIA. We aren't finding out the sex, but today I am feeling like it's going to be a girl. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel differently? I'm just excited to meet my little peanut! (sometime around May 11th!)
:)

Cruising...

Tuesday evening, my folks, brother & hubby headed out on the great Lake Minnetonka for a boat cruise. The weather was gorgeous, the company was sweet. My parents pointed out hot spots, their favorite memories of growing up on the lake, and all the happy times they had with friends and family. My mom pointed out her house, my dad pointed out his old house. I have vague memories of my grandparent's house. They moved not long after I was about 3 or 4. My dad said his dad, loved that house, and when he retired the taxes started to skyrocket and they could no longer to afford to live there. That made me sad.

But I loved hearing all my dad's hoodlum stories of the lake, him and his friends caused some ruckus!

On the boat, we ate pizza, chatted and danced. Of course we were the only ones, but we always march to a different beat anyway.

Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake

Glee!

I REALLY like the show Glee! Love the singing & dancing. The story lines often annoy me, unless it's Sue Sylvester and she just cracks me up. I find the best songs are the ones by the less popular characters. Like this Artie flash mob mall scene! It's my favorite! Right next to Britany S. Pears doing Britney Spears! WHOO WHEE!

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday Kelly!

Home Stuff

The Kitchen is Painted! The U.G.L.Y. wallpaper boarder is finally down! 2 years, 1 marriage & a husband later the kitchen is getting a make-over. So far we have new counter tops, sink & faucet, stove & refrigerator. This week we will put up a back splash, hang some shelves & decide what we are going to do with the cabinets. I love the idea of open shelving, but I've heard it's hard to keep the dishes clean from dust and grime. But maybe some pretty glass door on the cabinets would look nice? Maybe a combo? The kitchen is so tiny, so we really can only do so much to it. But anything is better than what it was!

We spent a good portion of Sunday in Ikea. That place sucks you in and dulls your budget senses. We went to get some dvd storage shelves and ended up with a entertainment center, dvd shelves, desk, chair & vase. But as we were going to check out I realized that we really didn't need all this stuff, so we left. This was over heard prior to check out:

Me: You know what, we really don't need this stuff.
T: None of it?
Me: Not right now, the living room is fine as it is.
T: Okay, let's go.
Me: Let's go hide our carts!
T: We'll just move it over here around these bins
Me: (loudly) We'll just leave it here and come back after we use the BATHROOM.
T: Why did you say that? We aren't coming back.
Me: Well they don't know that!
T: sigh

Tonight I am starting 5 nights of pre-planned dinners. I am so tired of not knowing what to make. So I made a menu and went shopping.
P.S. Trader Joe's has really cool pumpkins right now.

Monday: Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs, Salad & Crusty Garlic Bread
Tuesday: Quinoa with Spicy Chicken Sausage, Acorn Squash
Wednesday: Tortellini & Gnocchi with Mozzarella Chicken, Green Beans
Thursday: Chicken Tortilla Soup w\ Blackbeans, Bread & Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Friday: Flatbread Pizza & Salad

My other goal is to get the Halloween\Autumn decorations out this week!
Yippy!

TWD - Cranberry Upside-Downer

I am so excited to be the one to have picked this recipe for the week! I started baking with Tuesdays with Dorie two years ago around this time. At that time, it looked like it might be around 4 years before i picked a recipe. So to find out that it was my turn, I was ecstatic! I've had so much fun baking with all the great people who participate with TWD and have enjoyed making blogging buddies all over the country... and world!

This weeks recipe was actually partially picked by my Hubby. There are not that many recipes left! Can you believe that soon we will have made EVERYTHING in the book? But the Cranberry Upside-Downer was an easy pick, especially for this time of year.

I was able to find frozen cranberries, although I almost couldn't find them and almost went with cherries. This one was very easy to make, the only thing i worried about was flipping the cake. But alas everything turned out beautifully!! I love the color, the scent and look of this cake once flipped. We didn't' wait to long and the Hubby and I were eating it up! This was a winner!!!

I hope you all enjoyed making this one as much as I did!!

Cranberry Upside-Downer

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup minus 2 TBSP sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans…I used walnuts
2 cups cranberries-fresh or frozen(if frozen, do not thaw)I used fresh
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 whole milk
1/3 cup red currant jelly, for glazing the cake
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Put a 8X2 inch round cake pan on a baking sheet.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Melt 6 TBSP of the butter in a small saucepan. Sprinkle in 6 TBSP of the sugar and cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil. Pour this evenly over the bottom of the cake pan, then scatter over the nuts and top with the cranberries, smoothing the layer and pressing it down gently with your fingertips. Set aside.
Working with a stand mixer, preferabley fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the remaining stick of butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and continue to beat until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. Pour in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Mix in the milk, then the rest of the dry ingredients. Spoon the batter over the cranberries and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove it from the oven and run a blunt knife between the sides of the pan and the cake. Carefully turn the cake out onto a serving platter. If any of the berries stick to the pan-as they might-just scrape them off with a table knife and return them to the cake.
Warm the jelly in a small saucepan over low heat, or do this in a microwave oven. Gently brush the glaze over the hot cake.