Birthday Girl Louise

Today my baby turns five. How is this possible? Wasn't it just last week that I packed my bag to take to the hospital?

Today Louise and I got to go out for a lunch date. She had already eaten at school by the time I was done teaching, so she was more than happy to order chocolate ice cream at Wise Acre Eatery while I lunched on a lovely salad with a poached egg on top.

We sat outside and enjoyed the sunny--and breezy day while she wrapped up in her nap blanket from school to keep warm.

Happy fifth birthday to my red-headed soon-to-be kindergartener who loves to sing, dance, color, dig for worms, eat fruit all day long and play preschool with her dolls and animals. I love you Weez!

The Birthday Boy turns FIVE

Yes, we have another birthday in our family this week. Gus and Louise almost shared a birthday. She was born 18 minutes before midnight, and we all sighed a collective sigh of relief. He has never minded sharing a birthday week with her... in fact, he loves the idea of having not one, but TWO cakes in a week.

Mr. Gus turns five today and we couldn't be prouder. It has been an exciting spring here with Gus making his mind up about wanting to ride his bike without training wheels. They were frustrating him and making bike riding not very fun. He ran up to me one day and said, "Mom, Berik beat me."

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"WHAT?" I yelped.

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Berik is Gus' cousin and best friend who is six months older than him and they often play rough together while they are having fun.

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"Berik learned how to ride his bike without training wheels before me," Gus lamented.

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I had forgotten that last summer we talked about learning to ride his bike without training wheels and that maybe he could beat Berik at the race. They're quite competitive and I figured this would be a little extra incentive.

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"Mom, can we still do it before my birthday? That way I'll still be four, but he was five when he learned."

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We got a tiny bike out of the garage and I showed him how to use it by kicking the ground, not using the pedals. He was so determined that he kicked up and down the sidewalk for about 10 minutes, then announced he was ready for my help. Within minutes of me running beside him holding the seat, he took off. Gus beamed.

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Happy Birthday, Big G. We love you for your giggles, hugs, and cuddles, your collection of findings, your intense love of your brother and sister, your passion for PBJ sandwiches and a glass of slurpy milk, your desire to sneak treats from the locked up cupboard, your excitement when you listen to music (Surfin' USA!), your constant need for 'notha hugkiss in the morning from Daddy, and your helpfulness to me, on your own terms. Gus... we love you! Happy number FIVE! You're off to kindergarten soon, big guy!

The Birthday Girl turns THREE!

May Day Parade 2010

May Day Parade 2009

What a difference a year can make!

Our little Louise is not so little anymore. She is turning three today and we're so proud of all that she has been doing lately. She wears underwear, sleeps in a big-girl bed, likes to help feed our dog Molly, wants to serve herself food from the freezer all day long, enjoys meat more than any other food (meat: want it!), loves singing, looks forward to visiting and cudding her five grand parents, gets silly with her brothers, could stay in the tub all day, thinks that dancing to "Put a Ring on It" with me is great fun, would paint her entire body if we let her, tells her Daddy "notha' hugkiss" several times each morning, thinks Barbie dolls look better naked, likes to dig in the dirt, can form a mean loaf of bread, and is not afraid to name all the flowers in our yard and make up names of the ones she doesn't remember. Weezie, you're quite a girl.

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Happy Birthday, sweet girl with red hair.

Birthday Cakes

I love to bake cakes. I look forward to family birthday parties so I can look up a new recipe and try my hand at creating something beautiful and tasty. For Carl's family birthday party last week, I found a fun recipe in the latest Bon Appetit magazine for a classic Chocolate Mayonaise Cake. Yes, mayo sounds a bit wierd, but I've learned throughout my marriage to Ron that mayo has its place in the kitchen besides in sandwich making. He has taught me that it is a killer secret ingredient, usually better left unmentioned. (He makes a mean pot of chili with mayo!) The mayo takes the place of butter or oil and brings a very nice moistness to a cake. There's no strange residual mayonaise flavor at all.

The cake was great, though I had to call in my baking-pro friend Janet for a little advice on the frosting. It called for bittersweet chocolate not exceeding 61 % cacao. I had unsweetened chocolate on hand. I couldn't figure out if they were interchangeable and didn't have the computer on to google it, so Janet was able to give me a few tips. In the end, I used mostly unsweetened chocolate but replaced 2 oz of it with semisweet chocolate chips. The frosting was really nice to work with and not too sweet.

For Carl's kid birthday party, a small affair during the day over spring break, he wanted to bring in the fun. He had seen a photo of a cake Ron made when he was single and a cat owner: a kitty-litter cake. You bake a spice cake and a white cake, tear them up into crumbs, mix them together with two small boxes of vanilla pudding colored with grey or black food coloring. Once they are mixed, you put them in a new kitty litter box and serve with tootsie rolls molded into you-know-whats using a new cat scoop. Ron was happy to be the one to make Carl's 7 year-old birthday wishes come true.

Happy Seventh Birthday, Carl!

Carl turns SEVEN today. Yes, that means I've been a mom for seven years too. Seven years ago today I went to work, taught a full day of classes and suddenly during my prep period at the end of the day, my water broke. Luckily I was prepared with extra clothes, but my adrenaline kicked in so much that I insisted on staying after with students to do detention and finish my sub plans. My brother drove me home from school and I sat down at the sewing machine in my underwear to finish sewing the curtains for the baby's room while I waited for Ron to come home. What? Yes, crazy. Crazy fun.

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These past seven years have been a lot of crazy fun. Carl is a fun-loving guy, always up for a new adventure or to learn something new. A project? Yes, please. A bike ride? For sure. Some Lego time? Uh huh. Algo en espanol? Por supuesto. An episode of This Old House? He'd slay a dragon to do so.

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I'm proud of you Carl. I love watching you with Gus and Louise. It is amazing to watch you take on new responsibilities like unloading and loading the dishwasher, vacuuming the basement, taking care of our dog. You impress me daily with your Spanish skills and interest in the world. You are a great cuddler, a super adventurer, a quick learn in the swimming pool, and a kind and thoughtful kid. You're silly, squirrely, and serious sometimes. You remember jokes that I forget one minute after hearing and love to tell (and listen to) stories. You can take a pile of nothing, and build it into something incredible. Like you. My Carl.

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Happy Birthday, Big C!

A birthday cake for Mom

My mom turned (shhhh!) 60 this week. She looks fabulous and no one would ever guess she has reached the big six-o. My siblings and I joined my parents at their house after surveying the storm damage and toasted to her birthday. She requested a fancy cake... here it is!

Notes on this recipe: Due to the volume of the baking powder and eggs, this cake rises like crazy! I used two 8-inch pans and one 9-inch pan and the batter began to flow out as they baked. I would recommend placing your cake pans on cookie sheets to prevent a big mess that theoretically could drip onto your oven coils and well, maybe catch on fire. :) Also, I couldn't find creme fraiche at my local grocer and didn't have time for the mock creme fraiche recipe I had seen previously, so I used whipping cream with 3 Tbsp. of powdered sugar and a cap full of bourbon. Yum. Yesterday morning this recipe for creme fraiche was in the Star Tribune's Taste section. What timing!

Ginger Pecan Cake(from Martha Stewart)

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 finely ground toasted cups (7 ounces) pecans, plus 9 toasted pecan halves
3 cups packed light-brown sugar, sifted
6 large whole eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 pint creme fraiche
2 teaspoons bourbon, (optional)
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, or more to taste

1/4 ounce crystallized, ginger, cut into thin strips

Glossy Caramel Icing

1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions for Cake: Makes one 8-inch round cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with two racks in center. Line bottoms of three 8-by-2-inch buttered cake pans with parchment. Dust bottoms and sides with flour; tap out excess. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and ground ginger into a medium bowl. Add ground pecans, and whisk to combine; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add brown sugar until fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Drizzle in eggs, a little at a time, beating each time until batter is no longer slick, about 5 minutes; scrape down sides twice.
With the mixer set on low, add flour mixture to sugar-butter mixture, alternating with milk, a little of each at a time, starting and ending with flour mixture; scrape down bowl twice. Beat in grated ginger and vanilla. Divide batter evenly among pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pans if necessary for even browning.

Transfer pans to wire racks to cool, about 15 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, and return to wire racks, tops up; let cool.

Meanwhile, place creme fraiche in a medium bowl, and whip with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks form. Add bourbon and confectioners' sugar; beat until soft peaks return. Cover, and refrigerate to firm, about 1 hour.

To assemble cake, remove parchment from bottoms of cakes. Set aside prettiest layer; it will be used for top of cake. Place one layer on serving platter, and spread with half the creme-fraiche filling; repeat with second layer. Top cake with reserved third. Chill cake while icing is being prepared. Pour the icing onto the center point on the top of the cake, and let it flow down the sides. When the icing has set slightly, 5 to 10 minutes, arrange the pecan halves and crystallized ginger on the top. Serve.

Directions for Glossy Caramel Icing: Makes 1 1/2 cups

Do not let the sugar get too hot while melting; the hotter caramel is, the more it will harden when it cools, making the cake difficult to slice.

Place sugar in a large skillet over medium heat. Let cook until it begins to melt and turns golden, 2 to 3 minutes. As sugar melts, stir with back of a wooden spoon if needed, until amber colored, and registers about 310 degrees on candy thermometer, 3 to 4 minutes.
Slowly pour cream into skillet; be careful as you pour, because it will splatter. Reduce heat to medium low, stirring with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring; hardened caramel will melt into cream and become soft and liquid. Change to a whisk; continue stirring slowly to minimize bubbles until completely smooth, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour icing directly onto chilled prepared cake. If caramel becomes too stiff to pour, warm over a double boiler.

Happy Birthdays to Gus and Louise

Gus and Louise will always almost share a birthday. Gus' birthday is May 12... the big 4. I remember being in the delivery room with Louise and asking the nurse if this baby was going to have its own birthday. She dared me to make it happen. A few pushes later, Louise was born on May 11th. Now she's 2. How did that happen?

We celebrated their birthdays together with our families on Saturday. More than anything in the world, Louise wanted a Dora cake. A Dora cake? Well, I am a Spanish teacher. She's wholesome and speaks Spanish, so I couldn't really complain. Gus wanted a robot cake, a natural extension of his robot building with Uncle Erik recently.
Instead of trying to integrate the two in one, I made two. I think it was 1:45 a.m. when I finally went to bed on Friday night. Oh well, these are the things that get my blood flowing. I can't stay up that late for some reason or another doing laundry. Wonder why?

Here's the robot cake. I attached the leftover parts from his robot part shopping trip at Axe-Man and stuck his robot in at the last minute. The grey frosting was a hit.

Here's the Dora cake, though it is a little tough to see the shape of it due to the angle of the photo. It is shaped like a hill or a mountain. I took an angelfood cake loaf pan and baked the cake in it, slicing it in half horizontally before I froze it for optimum decorating texture. The frosting is brown with chopped peanuts for the winding road, colored coconut for grass, and various chocolates and malted milk balls for rocks. She loved it. The hardest part was taking away the recently acquired Dora doll and Boots, hand-me-downs from a 6-year-old friend who is moving out of the Dora stage.

When we ask them how old they are, Louise promptly starts counting, usually finishing around seven. So she's seven but really two. Gus, however, claims that he is already four. We'll let him believe that... his birthday is coming soon.

Happy Birthday, dear Ronny

Today my husband turns 39.

He's not the mushy-in-public type at all, so I won't go on and on like I'd like to. (But I might...)

He was 28 when I met him on a cool night in Uptown Minneapolis. For those of you readers who know our story, skip forward to the photos. For those of you who don't, read on for a sweet tale.

I was supposed to be shopping at my local co-op just blocks away from my house, but it was late and it was closed. Instead I drove to Uptown Lunds, an upscale and hip kind of grocery store, where I picked up my bananas and headed to the yogurt section. There I encountered a tall guy, freckled faced and just my type, walking down the dairy aisle past me. We stole glances briefly, then I followed him up to the register with my yogurt and bananas in hand. He was buying milk, just a quart. Of whole milk. Hmmm. Who buys just a quart of whole milk?

In line behind him I quizzed him on whether or not he liked late night milk and cookies (thinking, why else would anyone be buying that milk at this hour?). He informed me that he didn't really like cookies, but that he bought his milk there a few times a week. Then he left.

I checked out and dragged myself to the parking lot only to find him there, slowly getting into his car. Figuring that there was nothing else to do, I hopped into my car and drove home.

Weeks later I was looking at the City Pages, a local Arts and Entertainment newspaper, and discovered the "I Saw You" section. There it was:

Lunds Uptown 3/24

You: yogurt and fruit. Me: milk.

Had to run, would like to talk.

I was at work and I think I screamed so loud that a few co-workers ran to check on me. I called and left a message on the paper's voice mail system that night. A few days later, he called me. The rest is history! Almost 11 years later, a house, a dog, a farm and three kids later, I'm sitting here writing his birthday message. I love you, tall Ronny.

The BIG 3!

The birthday boy with his Uncle Tieg and their Mexican lunch.

Gus and Louise almost share a birthday. They were spared this situation by a mere 40 minutes or so. I was in labor with Louise and Ron asked the nurse (at 11 pm), "What are the chances that this baby will have its own birthday?" She looked at me, looked at the chart and said, "Pretty good." Eighteen minutes later she was born. She must have known that Gus would really like to have his own day, but wouldn't mind sharing a party or two in his life.



Gus turned three this weekend. This is going to be a big year for him... a time for preschool, a time to have more big-brother time with Louise when Carl starts kindergarten and a time for him to snap out of the intense middle-child behavior we've been witnessing this year. This is his "sparkle" year. "Sparkle" is a word that was coined by my mom one day when I was at my wits end with something he was doing, maybe relapsing on potty-training or yelling at Carl. She described a sparkle day as one when he didn't have accidents, got along with everyone, and generally was more patient. He loved it. I ran with it, even going as far as creating a secret handshake for sparkle boys. It makes him feel like the coolest kid in the world and has the power to immediately snap him out of the worst behavior, catching his attention and his fist gravitates towards mine to bop fists and say "sparkles" while we wiggle our fingers. How can a secret handshake do so much? He's a new dude. And now, he's THREE!



Not my finest cake at all... but what was I supposed to do when the kid wanted a "candy cake, like a pinata, Mom." Hmmm... I think after this shot I added some Mexican wrapped candies on top to really give it the look. It was four layers high and didn't get attacked by our hungry dog this year as has happened in years past to my home made creations. Tasted great, made him happy, and looked spectacular next to the tulips on the bright yellow table cloth. Ole!

The local grocer Kowalski's gives free cakes to kids for their first birthdays. Couldn't pass that up. And it was SO cute!
The pinata Gus picked out. Spiderman... paper plates and all. It was so strong that the kids couldn't hit it with the wooden bat by themselves. Eventually Ron picked them up and swung them to attempt to do some damage to the pinata.

To my 2nd baby... Happy Third Birthday, Gus!