Every Baker has her (bad) day…

I have been craving a pound cake lately. One in particular – my great-grandmother’s lemon pound cake.

Last night, I remarked to my husband that I couldn’t understand why my overwhelming desire to have a slice of pound cake hadn’t caused a cake to materialize on my kitchen counter. He looked at me like I’d lost my mind and gently suggested maybe I should just make one. (duh)

So, that’s what I did this afternoon… at the same time I helped one kid with her homework, waited on the other princess perched on the couch “feeling wotten” and watching cartoons… and answered emails, IM’s and kept up with what was going on in the world of work.

I guess, then, that it should’ve come as no surprise when my cake was a little onery when it came out of the oven. I mean it’s not like it had my undivided attention while it was being created. Heck, I’m not even sure it had much of my attention at all. I have made this recipe so many times I think I could make it in my sleep.

We were dashing out the door to go to Girl Scouts when I thought I’d better at least turn the cake out of it’s pan. It didn’t release right away so I left it upside down on the cake plate and off we went.

Three hours later when we finally returned home…. the cake hadn’t budged. In case you didn’t realize this already, this was a bad sign. Uh, oh. Time to dig out the plastic spatula of doom and prise the cake from the pan. (I really hate doing that because I’m always afraid I’m going to ruin the cake – ruin? hah!)

I prodded.

I poked.

I shimmied.

(the cake)

I shook.

I pounded.

Nothing.

sigh.

I got a chopstick out and ran it around the insides of the pan. Flipped the cake again. I heard that soft “whump” you hear when the cake falls. Okay. Now we’re gettin’ somewhere.

But the pan still felt heavy…

What the heck?

I turned the pan over.

ACK!

Half of my cake was still in the pan! OH. MY. GOODNESS!!!!

I don’t think I can remember the last time this has happened. FOREVER. And that is saying something considering I probably bake 2-3 cakes a month at least.

My darling, sweet, loving husband asks, “Did you remember to spray the pan, honey?” smirk, smirk, chuckle, chuckle. <grrrr>

“YES, I did.” And I’m sure I did. I remember the can of spray oil giving out its last gasps as I greased the pan.

I have no clue what happened. Maybe I let it sit too long. Maybe not long enough. Maybe not enough oil. Who knows?
But I do know one thing for sure. I’m really, really, really glad that this wasn’t a cake I was making to give to someone.

It’s one ugly cake. Seriously ugly.

But, on the bright side? It tastes awesome.

Here’s the recipe if you want to give it a try. Once you do, you will be spoiled for all other pound cakes.

Grandma Achord’s Lemon Pound Cake

3 cups white sugar 1 cup sour cream

2 sticks butter 1/4 tsp baking soda

6 eggs 3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp lemon extract

1 tsp almond extract

Cream sugar and butter. Add sour cream and extracts. Add eggs, one at a time. Add flour and baking soda slowly. Beat only long enough to get flour mixed in well.

Pour into greased tube or bundt pan and bake at 325 for 1 hour 20 min.

We usually don’t ever get around to it because we gobble up the cake so quickly, but Grandma always made a glaze by mixing a few teaspoons of lemon juice with some powdered sugar (about 2 cups) and drizzled it over the cake.

The Bachelor

I admit it… I watch The Bachelor. I can’t help it. I know it’s probably 85% fake, or edited so much it might as well be. But I am always hooked from the second episode every season. I have my favorite picks and I watch to see if he/she makes it all the way to the end.

I don’t know if you watch or not – or if you saw the last season of the Bachelor or not. But I thought you might enjoy this. Regis & Kelly did a spoof of the Bachelor. It’s cute.

Since my brain is fried on Fridays, I thought you might enjoy this instead of some silly random thoughts from me.

I promise, scrapbooking stuff tomorrow (or Sunday at the latest).

Until then, I give you: The Bachelor.

Cuteness

Someone has figured out that the cabinet makes a cool "clubhouse"

Political Dreams

I had a very strange dream last night. In my dream, I was in a very plush executive boardroom with a bunch of old, obviously wealthy men. As they sat around the table sipping their highballs, various names floated around the table…
“Hillary – been there, done that,”
“Sarah – too out there.”
As the mumblings and mutterings continued, one name began to ring louder than the others. “Dole – yes, that’s a good choice.”

Uh…. what?

Jump to the next scene where I’m at some big political rally-type thing. Elizabeth Dole is there and she’s glad-handing and workin’ the crowd as she makes her way to the stage.
She walks by me and I am shaking her hand effusively and telling her how I’ve always admired her…

Ok, what DID I eat right before bedtime?

As she nears the stage the announcer says, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the next President of the United States, Elizabeth Dole!”

HUH?

Cut to the next scene…. I’m riding in a truck (in the back of the truck) with R in the POURING down rain, holding some dining room furniture while he lashes it into place (yes, as we are driving down the road… it’s a dream, you know) and I’m telling him how excited I am that Elizabeth Dole is our new president… how wonderful she will be and how awesome it is that there is a woman leading our country today.

The TV (I don’t know, it’s a dream, remember) announcer is telling us that she is appointing an all-woman cabinet and has asked any staffers who have served for more than 2 years to step down to make room for “fresh faces.” And then…

I woke up. *sigh*

Of course, THEN I was laying there in bed for a looong time wondering why in the heck am I dreaming about politics, Elizabeth Dole, and whatever happened to an election?

I don’t know the answers, but you have to admit that having a woman in charge might just be the thing this country needs to straighten us out…

Tonight, no more M&Ms before bed. I promise.