Sunday Selections

“The best and most beautiful things in the world

cannot be seen or even touched.

They must be felt with the heart.”

- Helen Keller

Saturday Sweetness - Nutty Spice Cake

If I've never mentioned it before, we had cupcakes at our wedding reception. 300 cupcakes to be exact. 300 cupcakes that I personally baked two days before the big event.

To top it off, we ended up having a "Frost Your Own Cupcake" dessert table due to the fact that everything fell apart the night before the wedding. My friend brought up all sorts of sprinkles and fun decorations the morning of. Between a forest fire, blown tire, cancelled rehearsal, unfinished dress, no flowers delivered, etc. etc. etc., it is a miracle that the ceremony took place at all. But it was perfect, it was us, and we're happily married! (And everyone says they had a blast..)

My point is that one third of those 300 cupcakes mentioned above were from my favorite cake recipe of my grandmother's. She made this wonderful spice cake for me all the time growing up and I couldn't imagine not having it at my wedding. The directions below are exactly as she wrote them for me over 20 years ago and are how I make mine still today.

Note: One of these days, really really soon I hope, we will unearth the camera from the moving boxes and I can provide you with real photos again. My cell phone camera just won't cut it..

Gramma's Nutty Spice Cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup shortening

3 eggs

1 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour baking pan, 13x9x2" or 2 round layer pans (8 or 9x1 1/2"). Measure all ingredients into large mixing bowl. Beat 30 seconds on low speed, scraping sides constantly. Beat 3 minutes on high, scraping occasionally. Pour mixture into pan(s). Bake 40-45 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out of center clean. Cool on rack. Use choice of frosting and sprinkle finely chopped walnuts on top.

While you can use any frosting you want, in my humble honest opinion - the one below is the absolute best frosting, ever. I can eat this simple buttercream frosting on graham crackers, out of the bowl, off my fingers, etc. I highly recommend it for this great cake. (You can find it and other variations from C and H Sugar Company . They also have it printed on the boxes.)

Simple Buttercream Frosting

3-3/4 cup (l lb. box) C&H Pure Cane Powdered Sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup butter or margarine (2/3 stick), softened

Combine all ingredients in bowl. Beat until smooth and creamy; scrape bowl often. If too stiff to spread easily, beat in a few drops of milk.

You can vary this recipe by adding chocolate syrup, peanut butter, orange peel, etc. Lots of ways to customize and really experiment with changing the taste to suit you.

Enjoy your Saturday!

My Big Mouth

I posted Wednesday about 80s rockers Night Ranger still being one of my favorite bands. I thought I would share one of my not-so-impressive moments regarding them. I was lucky enough to meet these guys back in 1988. They were doing a charity gig in Modesto, CA and I was fortunate to win tickets to a meet & greet before the concert.

I was really jazzed & couldn't wait for my chance to talk to them and get their autographs. The guys were all really nice and pretty cute too.. Being that I was a (then) cute little 20 something, I got to spend extra time talking with each of them and taking photos. (I wish I could find them after all of these years, but I think they may have given up the ghost during all of my moves..)

Anyway, I was really excited when lead singer Jack Blades asked my opinion of the new album. I had been listening to the CD day & night so I felt that I could give him a pretty good appraisal. We chatted about it for a few minutes and then he asked me about one song in particular. I told him that it was not my favorite, in fact my least favorite on the disc but it was ok. He asked why & I explained that the words just didn't mesh with the tunes as well as some of the songs for me. He was so cool, thanked me for my honesty, and said that it was refreshing to get an frank opinion instead of just a bunch of trite comments. He gave me a hug and kissed my cheek (whoo hoo) and I moved on to talk to one of his band mates.

As we drove over to the concert venue, I looked over what the guys had written to me on my CD insert/cover. My euphoria took a very quick nosedive when I came to the list of tracks. By each song is the name(s) of the songwriter.

IMAGINE how I felt when I noticed that the song Jack Blades had asked me about was one written solely by him. I felt so BAD! I don't like to hurt people's feelings if I can help it at all! I wouldn't have been quite so brutally honest with my critique if I had known it was his sole creation. He was so gracious and sweet though, I was very impressed (and mortified after the fact). Maybe that is one of the many, many reasons I still enjoy the heck out of these guys after all these years.

YOU CAN STILL ROCK IN AMERICA!!!

Go here to learn more about this great Bay Area band.

Shop til you drop (the plastic bags)

During our recent move, we had to empty out and clean (ugh) two refrigerators and a large freezer. Since we weren't very bright at the time and chose the hottest few days of the summer to move, quite a bit of the food became spoiled. (Actually a lot of the freezer stuff thawed out & we couldn't use it up quick enough - dogs loved it though!)

The point to this whining is that hubby & I had to go on a MAJOR grocery store trip this week. I have been slowly phasing out any boxed mixes, processed foods, etc. that we should have never had in the pantry to begin with. So this was a re-stocking and changeover type of shopping spree.

I was actually very proud of us as we followed my list almost exactly and didn't stray too far from what I had budgeted for this adventure. Our fridge is full of fresh fruits and veggies (that we don't grow ourselves) and the pantry is now stocked with lots of new basics such as brown rice, wheat flour, and rolled oats. (I've always had rolled oats, just needed lots more since Christmas cookie season is fast approaching.)



The other good move on our part was that we BOTH actually remembered to take in all the fabric bags from the truck. ALL 15 of them! No plastic bags for us now! Our grocery store gives you a 5 cent credit for each bag you bring in to use. Might not seem like a lot, but it does add up over time, especially when you think about how many plastic bags you DIDN'T use.

The bag pictured above is the one that started it all for me. I won it in a drawing from The Green Bag Lady a while back. I have collected and made several of my own since then to come up with our grand total of 15.

Teresa aka Green Bag Lady is amazing. She has organized the stitching of and distributing of over 6500 bags and counting. That is just through her own site and events. She has her entire family involved in this wonderful endeavor and the project is dedicated to her late mother who taught her to sew. Teresa has inspired many others to jump on the bandwagon and do the same with their extra fabric and time. She offers a free video tutorial here and the free bag pattern here so that the rest of us can start doing our part in reducing and ridding the world of the dreaded plastic bags.

One of the other great aspects of Teresa's shopping bag blitz is that the bags are made from donated materials and recycled/re-purposed fabrics such as curtains and sofa covers. She also supports local animals shelters by making pet beds from the scraps and materials that are too heavy for the bags. What a great way to help our environment and our animals.

Green Bag Lady's motto is "When they ask Paper or Plastic? Say Fabric!" Pretty good words to live by huh?

Top 100 Songs of 1984 - Rocktoberfest!!

* 1. When Doves Cry - Prince
* 2. What's Love Got To Do With It - Tina Turner
* 3. Say Say Say - Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson
* 4. Footloose - Kenny Loggins
* 5. Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) - Phil Collins
* 6. Jump - Van Halen
* 7. Hello - Lionel Richie
* 8. Owner Of A Lonely Heart - Yes
* 9. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
* 10. Karma Chameleon - Culture Club
* 11. Missing You - John Waite
* 12. All Night Long (All Night) - Lionel Richie
* 13. Let's Hear It For The Boy - Deniece Williams
* 14. Dancing In The Dark - Bruce Springsteen
* 15. Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
* 16. The Reflex - Duran Duran
* 17. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
* 18. Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters
* 19. Talking In Your Sleep - Romantics
* 20. Self Control - Laura Branigan
* 21. Let's Go Crazy - Prince & The Revolution
* 22. Say It Isn't So - Daryl Hall & John Oates
* 23. Hold Me Now - Thompson Twins
* 24. Joanna - Kool & The Gang
* 25. I Just Called To Say I Love You - Stevie Wonder
* 26. Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell
* 27. Break My Stride - Matthew Wilder
* 28. 99 Luftballons - Nena
* 29. I Can Dream About You - Dan Hartman
* 30. The Glamorous Life - Sheila E.
* 31. Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry
* 32. Stuck On You - Lionel Richie
* 33. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues - Elton John
* 34. She Bop - Cyndi Lauper
* 35. Borderline - Madonna
* 36. Sunglasses At Night - Corey Hart
* 37. Eyes Without A Face - Billy Idol
* 38. Here Comes The Rain Again - Eurythmics
* 39. Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
* 40. Sister Christian - Night Ranger
* 41. Drive - Cars
* 42. Twist Of Fate - Olivia Newton-John
* 43. Union Of The Snake - Duran Duran
* 44. The Heart Of Rock 'N' Roll - Huey Lewis & The News
* 45. Hard Habit To Break - Chicago
* 46. The Warrior - Scandal
* 47. If Ever You're In My Arms Again - Peabo Bryson
* 48. Automatic - Pointer Sisters
* 49. Let The Music Play - Shannon
* 50. To All The Girls I've Loved Before - Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson
* 51. Caribbean Queen - Billy Ocean
* 52. That's All - Genesis
* 53. Running With The Night - Lionel Richie
* 54. Sad Songs (Say So Much) - Elton John
* 55. I Want A New Drug - Huey Lewis & The News
* 56. Islands In The Stream - Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton
* 57. Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar
* 58. Infatuation - Rod Stewart
* 59. Almost Paradise - Mike Reno & Ann Wilson
* 60. Legs - ZZ Top
* 61. State Of Shock - Jacksons
* 62. Love Somebody - Rick Springfield*
* 63. Miss Me Blind - Culture Club
* 64. If This Is It - Huey Lewis & The News
* 65. You Might Think - Cars
* 66. Lucky Star - Madonna
* 67. Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
* 68. Cum On Feel The Noize - Quiet Riot
* 69. Breakdance - Irene Cara
* 70. Adult Education - Daryl Hall & John Oates
* 71. They Don't Know - Tracy Ullman
* 72. An Innocent Man - Billy Joel
* 73. Cruel Summer - Bananarama
* 74. Dance Hall Days - Wang Chung
* 75. Give It Up - K.C.
* 76. I'm So Excited - Pointer Sisters
* 77. I Still Can't Get Over Loving You - Ray Parker Jr.
* 78. Thriller - Michael Jackson
* 79. Holiday - Madonna
* 80. Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us - Ollie And Jerry
* 81. Nobody Told Me - John Lennon
* 82. Church Of The Poison Mind - Culture Club
* 83. Think Of Laura - Christopher Cross
* 84. Time Will Reveal - Debarge
* 85. Wrapped Around Your Finger - Police
* 86. Pink Houses - John Cougar Mellencamp
* 87. Round And Round - Ratt
* 88. Head Over Heels - Go-Go's
* 89. The Longest Time - Billy Joel
* 90. Tonight - Kool & The Gang
* 91. Got A Hold On Me - Christine McVie
* 92. Dancing In The Sheets - Shalamar
* 93. Undercover Of The Night - Rolling Stones
* 94. On The Dark Side - John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band
* 95. New Moon On Monday - Duran Duran
* 96. Major Tom (Coming Home) - Peter Schilling
* 97. Magic - Cars
* 98. When You Close Your Eyes - Night Ranger
* 99. Rock Me Tonite - Billy Squier
* 100. Yah Mo B There - James Ingram & Michael Mcdonald

I'm sure you're wondering WHY I would give you this great list? Well, as I mentioned during my KEVIN BACON / FOOTLOOSE lovefest, my 25th High School Reunion is in 2 weeks and on top of all of the other THINGS going on in my life, I'm on the committee! I am currently (during the wee hours of the morning) working on our music list for the evening and thought I'd share some nostalgia from the 80s with all of ya! I took the liberty of highlighting/bolding the artists and their songs that I was fortunate/unfortunate as the case may be, of getting to see live in concert.

I will admit that Night Ranger is still, to this day, one of my favorite groups! What is fun about this is that I saw them, Pat Benatar, and Rick Springfield all last summer in concert (along with several others that aren't on this Top 100 list). They were mostly all still great.

Long live 80's Music..