Well, I made it on Monday in time to actually post on Tuesday. (Disclaimer: I am no longer an official TWD-er as I far too frequently did NOT make/post Tuesdays…so I am officially the renegade TWD-er…but they inspire me…) Partly because I’ve had my eye on these for a long, long time…

On to the meat of the matter…no, the cake of the matter.
Yesterday I called these rum-soaked, but Dorie calls them so much better: Rum-drenched Vanilla Cakes. I had almost all I needed for these basic-but-delicious cakes…including two vanilla beans that I had to help rehydrate by soaking them….okay, in rum, I admit it..and it worked.

I scraped out the two beans AND I added some vanilla (worried a bit that the beans may have been to old to pack needed punch)…I was a bit shocked, shocked! I tell you by the amount of melted butter added to these..

But…oh. my. These? These are the kinds of cakes I love…dense, full of flavors–both rum and vanilla, both favorites of mine and very straightforward. I really don’t like fluffy, whipped cream covered, frosting layered, nut-filled…much of anything. Favorite sweets always tend to be shortbread. Pound cakes…creme brulee…pure, simple flavors…

I had to break out my mini-bundt cake pan, since it doesn’t get a lot of use and it is SO CUTE. But I’d also better learn to fill it…fill it less, that is…look at all that wasted cake that overflowed…

Next time I’ll know better…this made six overflowing mini-bundts (oh, those crumbs won’t go to waste, don’t you worry) AND a mini loaf…Simple to soak with rum syrup afterwards and the rewards are fabulous…I HAVE to give these away or I really will eat them all…

Head over to Tuesdays with Dorie to find other results. The chooser of the week and recipe printer is Wendy from Pink Stripes.

Do not ever buy store-made pound cake again. There is no reason to…this goes together in minutes (if you don’t have vanilla bean, use the tablespoon and a half of vanilla extract…) and the results will make you want more and more and more…mmm. You know what this would go great with? A scoop of good vanilla ice cream…

I’m hungry…

Well, I made it on Monday in time to actually post on Tuesday. (Disclaimer: I am no longer an official TWD-er as I far too frequently did NOT make/post Tuesdays…so I am officially the renegade TWD-er…but they inspire me…) Partly because I’ve had my eye on these for a long, long time…

On to the meat of the matter…no, the cake of the matter.
Yesterday I called these rum-soaked, but Dorie calls them so much better: Rum-drenched Vanilla Cakes. I had almost all I needed for these basic-but-delicious cakes…including two vanilla beans that I had to help rehydrate by soaking them….okay, in rum, I admit it..and it worked.

I scraped out the two beans AND I added some vanilla (worried a bit that the beans may have been to old to pack needed punch)…I was a bit shocked, shocked! I tell you by the amount of melted butter added to these..

But…oh. my. These? These are the kinds of cakes I love…dense, full of flavors–both rum and vanilla, both favorites of mine and very straightforward. I really don’t like fluffy, whipped cream covered, frosting layered, nut-filled…much of anything. Favorite sweets always tend to be shortbread. Pound cakes…creme brulee…pure, simple flavors…

I had to break out my mini-bundt cake pan, since it doesn’t get a lot of use and it is SO CUTE. But I’d also better learn to fill it…fill it less, that is…look at all that wasted cake that overflowed…

Next time I’ll know better…this made six overflowing mini-bundts (oh, those crumbs won’t go to waste, don’t you worry) AND a mini loaf…Simple to soak with rum syrup afterwards and the rewards are fabulous…I HAVE to give these away or I really will eat them all…

Head over to Tuesdays with Dorie to find other results. The chooser of the week and recipe printer is Wendy from Pink Stripes.

Do not ever buy store-made pound cake again. There is no reason to…this goes together in minutes (if you don’t have vanilla bean, use the tablespoon and a half of vanilla extract…) and the results will make you want more and more and more…mmm. You know what this would go great with? A scoop of good vanilla ice cream…

I’m hungry…

A friend writes about 5 things she thinks about during her morning run. I always (almost) am thinking about food and what I have to cook, and her posts often make me comment back with 5 things I’ve thought about since waking up:

1. I just checked in at TWD…Tommorow’s cake is rum-soaked vanilla cakes…

2. I like rum.

3. I love vanilla.

4. Totally making this today, even if there is no one in the house to eat it.

5.  Spent yesterday evening at Charlotte’s Symphony in the Park at SouthPark…absolutely fabulous–musice, weather, company. Thanks for the invite, Lauren.

A friend writes about 5 things she thinks about during her morning run. I always (almost) am thinking about food and what I have to cook, and her posts often make me comment back with 5 things I’ve thought about since waking up:

1. I just checked in at TWD…Tommorow’s cake is rum-soaked vanilla cakes…

2. I like rum.

3. I love vanilla.

4. Totally making this today, even if there is no one in the house to eat it.

5.  Spent yesterday evening at Charlotte’s Symphony in the Park at SouthPark…absolutely fabulous–musice, weather, company. Thanks for the invite, Lauren.

I have a running list of kitchen things I want. Badly. But they are really really really not in the budget these days…but they remain short-listed for the day I get to celebrate a big check or new writing gig…hey. A girl can dream.

And so, in no particular order, 5 Things I Want for the Kitchen (yes, more than clothes, shoes or a car) (and in case you care):

1. New 6-quart professional KitchenAid. I use my 4-quart tilt-head Kitchenaid to DEATH. And by death, I am very close to the actual truth. These days when I use it to knead dough or paddle a particularly heavy batter, the motor really starts to strain. whirrrWHIRRRwhirrrrWHIRRR. And kneading dough? Practically walks the mixer off the counter. The bigger mixer has a raise/lower bowl, a bigger motor…I am tempted to give this away to a friend so I can justify a new purchase. (About $500)

2. New glasses. Slowly, over the years, we’ve broken all our matching glasses. What’s up with that? You know how you start married life with GREAT STUFF? All those gifts, so appreciated? I think there needs to be another shower…how about a 25-years-of-marriage-you-need-new-stuff-shower? Truth is I really love the French-style marmalade-jar glasses I find that are incredibly inexpensive and I SHOULD just go out and replace them. But I LUST after things like these “Goto Venetian Wine Glasses” I just found on Uncommon Goods–I clicked on them, ready to buy because I just LOVE them. GAK. 6 glasses for $300. I still can’t cross that bridge, but these would SO be on the 25-year shower registry (oh, yes, since I’m dreaming of a shower, I get to say I will register for gifts!

3. New food processor. The one I have is 25 years old and I use it more than I ever thought I would. Recently, I decided it should stay on the counter, that is how much I use it (although it’s going back in the cupboard. I live in a very small-kitchened apartment…place is big, but I think they don’t think apartment dwellers cook that much..)..Now Cuisinart has come out with a lust-worthy model that…frankly, I just want. (For the record, the bowl part of my processor is chipped and broken and to make it work I have to use a knife to depress the little doohickey that turns the thing on–that piece broke years ago..) It would have to be this one (hey, they have one that’s $800, so at $300, this is a bargain): Cuisinart Elite Collection 14-cup Processor. Did I say the one I use is 25 years old? Oh, I did. Well, I forgot. Because it is. 25 years old, I mean.

4. All-Clad cookware. I cooked for years with cheap stuff…stuff I bought when I moved into my first apartment. Then I discovered TJ Maxx sells All-Clad pots and pans–minor seconds, I would say. I found a stock pot there for a ridiculously low price, bought it and have been a convert ever since…Now I regularly check the shelves at the discount stores (Marshall’s included–aren’t they owned by the same company now??)…there are a few that I’d like to add now…I wouldn’t buy a set because I am picky about the shapes and sizes of the pots in my cupboards, but here are a few I would like: a saute pan (straight sides) with lid, a saucier (sloped sides so when I whisk, nothing gets stuck in the edges) and a variety of saucepans…maybe even all of them.

5. A really good (READ: GAS!!!!!!!) cooktop and convection oven. Like this range top from Wolf. And this double oven from Wolf. Sigh. Did I ever tell you how we lived in a house with a big but awful kitchen for 9 years, finally remodeled it …and moved two years later? I still mourn that. Yes, of course, I put a 5-burner gas-cooktop and a convection oven into that kitchen. And have never had gas again. Once, when we thought we were moving to Minnesota (long story), there was this kind of shabby house in an okay neighborhood WITH AN AGA COOKER (as they call them at Aga).  I totally almost made us buy that house for the stove alone…I could SEE myself in that kitchen. We didn’t buy it. We didn’t move to Minnesota. We moved to Florida, where we couldn’t even afford a dirty, torn-up, 3-bedroom hovel (okay, so if we still lived there we could actually afford a pretty nice and big house…too bad the job isn’t there any more!) and became renters. Then we moved to NC where  we are renters…and now I think I am gun-shy about BUYING. But really. Renting is FINE. But couldn’t we maybe RENT A HOUSE OR APARTMENT WITH A GAS STOVE. Just sayin.

I have a running list of kitchen things I want. Badly. But they are really really really not in the budget these days…but they remain short-listed for the day I get to celebrate a big check or new writing gig…hey. A girl can dream.

And so, in no particular order, 5 Things I Want for the Kitchen (yes, more than clothes, shoes or a car) (and in case you care):

1. New 6-quart professional KitchenAid. I use my 4-quart tilt-head Kitchenaid to DEATH. And by death, I am very close to the actual truth. These days when I use it to knead dough or paddle a particularly heavy batter, the motor really starts to strain. whirrrWHIRRRwhirrrrWHIRRR. And kneading dough? Practically walks the mixer off the counter. The bigger mixer has a raise/lower bowl, a bigger motor…I am tempted to give this away to a friend so I can justify a new purchase. (About $500)

2. New glasses. Slowly, over the years, we’ve broken all our matching glasses. What’s up with that? You know how you start married life with GREAT STUFF? All those gifts, so appreciated? I think there needs to be another shower…how about a 25-years-of-marriage-you-need-new-stuff-shower? Truth is I really love the French-style marmalade-jar glasses I find that are incredibly inexpensive and I SHOULD just go out and replace them. But I LUST after things like these “Goto Venetian Wine Glasses” I just found on Uncommon Goods–I clicked on them, ready to buy because I just LOVE them. GAK. 6 glasses for $300. I still can’t cross that bridge, but these would SO be on the 25-year shower registry (oh, yes, since I’m dreaming of a shower, I get to say I will register for gifts!

3. New food processor. The one I have is 25 years old and I use it more than I ever thought I would. Recently, I decided it should stay on the counter, that is how much I use it (although it’s going back in the cupboard. I live in a very small-kitchened apartment…place is big, but I think they don’t think apartment dwellers cook that much..)..Now Cuisinart has come out with a lust-worthy model that…frankly, I just want. (For the record, the bowl part of my processor is chipped and broken and to make it work I have to use a knife to depress the little doohickey that turns the thing on–that piece broke years ago..) It would have to be this one (hey, they have one that’s $800, so at $300, this is a bargain): Cuisinart Elite Collection 14-cup Processor. Did I say the one I use is 25 years old? Oh, I did. Well, I forgot. Because it is. 25 years old, I mean.

4. All-Clad cookware. I cooked for years with cheap stuff…stuff I bought when I moved into my first apartment. Then I discovered TJ Maxx sells All-Clad pots and pans–minor seconds, I would say. I found a stock pot there for a ridiculously low price, bought it and have been a convert ever since…Now I regularly check the shelves at the discount stores (Marshall’s included–aren’t they owned by the same company now??)…there are a few that I’d like to add now…I wouldn’t buy a set because I am picky about the shapes and sizes of the pots in my cupboards, but here are a few I would like: a saute pan (straight sides) with lid, a saucier (sloped sides so when I whisk, nothing gets stuck in the edges) and a variety of saucepans…maybe even all of them.

5. A really good (READ: GAS!!!!!!!) cooktop and convection oven. Like this range top from Wolf. And this double oven from Wolf. Sigh. Did I ever tell you how we lived in a house with a big but awful kitchen for 9 years, finally remodeled it …and moved two years later? I still mourn that. Yes, of course, I put a 5-burner gas-cooktop and a convection oven into that kitchen. And have never had gas again. Once, when we thought we were moving to Minnesota (long story), there was this kind of shabby house in an okay neighborhood WITH AN AGA COOKER (as they call them at Aga).  I totally almost made us buy that house for the stove alone…I could SEE myself in that kitchen. We didn’t buy it. We didn’t move to Minnesota. We moved to Florida, where we couldn’t even afford a dirty, torn-up, 3-bedroom hovel (okay, so if we still lived there we could actually afford a pretty nice and big house…too bad the job isn’t there any more!) and became renters. Then we moved to NC where  we are renters…and now I think I am gun-shy about BUYING. But really. Renting is FINE. But couldn’t we maybe RENT A HOUSE OR APARTMENT WITH A GAS STOVE. Just sayin.

My week starts (it’s Saturday, so you could say it ends, but I like to think of it as Starting) with a planned trip to the Charlotte Farmers’ Market. It’s open year round, and I first discovered it in February and was happy with what I found…Now that it’s June, the crowds are coming in droves…

Here’s the take this week:

 

My week starts (it’s Saturday, so you could say it ends, but I like to think of it as Starting) with a planned trip to the Charlotte Farmers’ Market. It’s open year round, and I first discovered it in February and was happy with what I found…Now that it’s June, the crowds are coming in droves…

Here’s the take this week:

 

One of the best things to come out of the Blogathon 2010 is that I “met” new blogs–It can be tough work getting around to all the blogs I love, but…well, I love them, so now and then when I want a break, I click through my list. (though truth be told, I took  LONG break this week–the sad news came down that my lovely Florida Table, the hyper-local food magazine where I proudly served as food editor and food stylist until early this year, and then served as consulting food editor, has decided that the current issue will be the last…I think I was in mourning…Oh, and as an aside–I’m available, editors! I photograph, I develop recipes, I can blog for you…love it all…okay, back to the point at hand..)

Anyway, I discovered GREAT new blogs and now in addition to this list of blogs I frequent, I’d like to introduce you to a few more.

KThread–I stumbled my way to this blog, and I wish I could remember how. I don’t think she participated in the blogathon, but I think one of the blogathoners mentioned her…and there I was…She fills her blog with lovely photos and short bursts of lyrical writing and …often, of course: wonderful food. Have a look.


Two Hands and a Roadmap: Funny, normal, funny. Love her. I so get her life.


Cafe Lynnylu. I think I found her because of Tuesdays with Dorie..Great recipes, great read.

Best Food Blog Ever. The guy can write and …well, face it: what a perfect name for a food blog! (Almost as good as mine!!)

I love love love Tastee Pudding by very funny Amanda Hirsch, but read her current entry–sounds like she’s trying something new, Mandy Miracle…all I know is that I will be checking that out, too.
  
Bike with Jackie. Friend and fellow writer finds a way to inspire and find joy. I love that about her.

Hope you like a few of these, too!

Ps…In fact, I think Amanda Hirsch linked to Kthread…and I’m so glad she did…I just noticed a link to Kthread on her new Mandy Miracle site…

One of the best things to come out of the Blogathon 2010 is that I “met” new blogs–It can be tough work getting around to all the blogs I love, but…well, I love them, so now and then when I want a break, I click through my list. (though truth be told, I took  LONG break this week–the sad news came down that my lovely Florida Table, the hyper-local food magazine where I proudly served as food editor and food stylist until early this year, and then served as consulting food editor, has decided that the current issue will be the last…I think I was in mourning…Oh, and as an aside–I’m available, editors! I photograph, I develop recipes, I can blog for you…love it all…okay, back to the point at hand..)

Anyway, I discovered GREAT new blogs and now in addition to this list of blogs I frequent, I’d like to introduce you to a few more.

KThread–I stumbled my way to this blog, and I wish I could remember how. I don’t think she participated in the blogathon, but I think one of the blogathoners mentioned her…and there I was…She fills her blog with lovely photos and short bursts of lyrical writing and …often, of course: wonderful food. Have a look.


Two Hands and a Roadmap: Funny, normal, funny. Love her. I so get her life.


Cafe Lynnylu. I think I found her because of Tuesdays with Dorie..Great recipes, great read.

Best Food Blog Ever. The guy can write and …well, face it: what a perfect name for a food blog! (Almost as good as mine!!)

I love love love Tastee Pudding by very funny Amanda Hirsch, but read her current entry–sounds like she’s trying something new, Mandy Miracle…all I know is that I will be checking that out, too.
  
Bike with Jackie. Friend and fellow writer finds a way to inspire and find joy. I love that about her.

Hope you like a few of these, too!

Ps…In fact, I think Amanda Hirsch linked to Kthread…and I’m so glad she did…I just noticed a link to Kthread on her new Mandy Miracle site…