The best chocolate cake ever.

Two weekends ago I made the best chocolate cake ever. Seriously.

It all started with a Williams-Sonoma cake mix given to me by the lovely Christina (I suppose her husband was involved as well). I made some chocolate buttercream from Martha Stewart's Cooking School and it was to die for!

 Yum yum yum yum yum

 Please use good cocoa!

 Here is the mix if you'd like to make this yourself (I recommend it). It's really like a cake from scratch, not a mix...the box contains the dry ingredients and you add eggs and butter.

 The page from Martha's Cooking School (thanks, Kate!)

Easy Chocolate Buttercream:
6 sticks of unsalted butter
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 C. unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder
5 1/4 C. sifted confectioner's sugar

Cream butter with electric mixer until fluffy. Ad vanilla. Add cocoa. Add sugar (slowly!) Whip it for a long long time. Taste some. Frost.

Of course I brought it to a party so I could not take pictures of a slice, but I took the half of my piece home and thought I'd throw a picture in...

Notes on the mix: this cake was dense and delicious. It also weighed a TON. Next time I'd make it in THREE 9" round pans (although it says you can use two). It took a long time to bake. But it was worth it!

Notes on the frosting: since it's mostly butter, it can do great things. For example, I frosted a "crumb coat" first, then refrigerated that, then actually frosted the cake. You can refrigerate the frosting and it will set. If you refrigerate it in the bowl, remember to let it sit at room temperature and then whip it up again when you're done. I do not recommend making this without the aid of a Kitchen Aid or other stand mixer.

Escrow closed!

The deed has been recorded and we own a new home!!

I took a ton of pics yesterday to add to my "befores" stash before J starts tearing the house apart tonight. I am going to try to post one or two pictures a day so you can see our progress. My jobs (remember my tools?) consist of taking off the interior doors, pulling off the base moulding, cutting up and removing the carpet, and clean. J will be in charge of the demo of the master bathroom and the wall between the two bedrooms that are going to be combined into one master. Then he has to build it back up! After the house is as clean as I can expect it to be, I'd like to start on the yards. I will definitely turn on the sprinklers today and start getting the grass a little more...green!

Stay tuned...

Monday randoms

Yeah so I know it's Tuesday, but these are some Monday happenings I wanted to write about.

To start my day, it was already like 150 degrees outside which was gross. Then I get a message from my brother asking me to drive him to the ER. Then I drop my garage door opener in the garage and it breaks and all the pieces roll away. I climb under my car (in a skirt) and find all but the battery. YES. That was the start of a very stressful day...

At home DJ came over to cut J's hair. It looks great, although his scars are a lot more visible which is just scary. He looks pretty mangled. I made nachos with a homemade nacho cheese sauce and it was A-mazing (if I do say so myself!) J hates the fake orange cheese sauce so he was hesitant to try this, but I think it won him over. I don't have a picture of it (let's admit--it's not photogenic) but I can post the recipe!

K's Nacho Cheese Sauce
     (because it's not your cheese)

2 tbl. unsalted butter
1 tbl. flour
1 C. milk (plus more if you want--I'll explain)
undetermined amount of cheese (I'll explain): Mexican blend and Pepper Jack
Chili powder
Paprika
Cumin
Cayenne Pepper

Start by melting the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Then add the flour and whisk until it combines to make a small amount of mush in the pan. Add about a cup of milk.  (Congrats! you've made a roux! This is a common sauce base for thick/white/cheese sauces).
I'm not gonna lie, I didn't measure ANYTHING in this recipe, so I'm pretty sure you'll survive if you don't, however, if you're especially cooking challenged, aim for about a cup, K? Whisk until it all combines and starts to thicken. You want the milk to be bubbling and breaking up the flour mixture.
Throw in some Mexican cheese (FYI this is a mixture of monterey jack and cheddar, and if you didn't already know that OMIGOD HOW ARE YOU MAKING QUESADILLAS?!). I used the super scientific method of about a handful and then some more. Then add some pepper jack. I probably used about a 1/4 C. and just kept throwing chunks in as I felt like it. It's nacho cheese, calm down.
Put in about a half a pinch (again very exact) of cayenne, paprika, chili powder, and cumin. [if you don't like some of those (my brother says cumin smells like BO) then don't use them. If you love others, use more. You have my permission]. Stir until warm and bubbly and serve over chips. YUM!!

GRRRRRRRRR

Remember my post below about grocery shopping via bike? Well it backfired on Sunday, because in front of Trader Joe's, some evil and horrible thief stole the adorable bell seen below. WHO DOES THAT?! I hope you know that my friend Niki bought that for me in NYC and mailed it to me, and it was unique and dearly loved and YOU HAVE SOME BAD KARMA COMING MY FRIEND.

Who am I kidding? I would never be friends with a thief!

Boo.

Do you want to rent our house?

J&K's house is up for rent!

I am meeting with prospective tenants today in fact!

*Dog not included.

Grocery shopping

I've been trying to get errands done via bicycle whenever possible. First of all, it's environmentally friendly. Second, it's K's body-friendly (because it feels good to move around when you sit in a chair 9 hours at a time, 5 days a week). Thirdly, I love riding my pink bike :)

Here's what I looked like last Saturday...

It's fun! And green! And doesn't really take any longer than driving in your car. When you figure in the time spent parking and stopping at lights (which I don't have to do when I ride the sidewalk express lane) I really don't think it took any longer--in fact, I think it was faster! It was less than 5 minutes door to door. I do have to take a minute to lock up my bike when I get there of course.

I hope I may persuade one of you to join my ranks!

Finding Peace

It's been over a month since J's accident, and I think I am finally finding some peace with it all.

There are days that seem so normal, and others during which I feel that things will never be the same. We came so close. So close. I came so close to losing him. How do you forget? How do you move on?

The water that could have taken him

Sunset over the river

It can be beautiful, and it can be deadly. And it's not for us to know which.

Because we never know how much time we have, seize today.

Love to you all...

New House photos!

Front entry

Garage

View of the street

Side yard

Backyard--check out the orange tree

Living room. The right door (which Josh is not in) leads into the bedroom that we are combining with the master. You won't see it for long!

The kitchen. It needs some work...

Side kitchen/dining nook

Bedroom--the blue carpet will go as well!

Ask YOU anything

Thank you for the (anonymous) Formspring questions!

Here is one for you:

Where is the most interesting place YOU'VE ever traveled?

I bet my parents will say France--when they get back in two weeks!

Since pictures are fun, here you go!

Atlanis Hotel, the Bahamas

View in the BVIs

New York, duh.

Do you like cats?

No. I mean, I don't hate them, but I'm allergic so they make me crazy!! I have seen some cute cats, and kittens (well any baby animal) are adorable, but cats...eh. They seem very standoffish. Of course I do have the neediest dog in the world, so maybe all animals seem standoffish when compared to him!

Ask me anything

What was the most interesting place you've traveled to?

I really loved Scotland. It's right up my alley with the history, music, accents, deliciously stormy weather...wonderful!! But I have enjoyed a lot of my travels...going to the Caribbean is always a treat because the ocean is un.believe.able. I also like cities, like New York and Vancouver. Just to get to the local mountains makes me very happy! (Oh and bonus points for any place with weather!)

Ask me anything

So true

This just cracks me up...

Heard a Song

You will like this

Whether or not you are familiar with the MLS (multiple listing service, used by realtors), you will enjoy this page: Bad MLS Photos.

I think it's common sense that you would post flattering pictures of your home, not batshit crazy ones like some of these are...

Bad MLS Photos

Who does this?

Source: Hooked on Houses

My lil' tools

In our excitement to begin demolition on the new house, we were discussing what tasks each of us would do. I told J that I'd need to borrow some tools. Yesterday I came home to find a tool bag with my name on it:

Yes he wrote "K's Lil Tools"

Inside I found a tool belt, razor knife, extra blades, face mask (for yucky allergens when I cut up the carpet), safety goggles, a hard hat (that one was a joke), hammer, screwdriver, and crowbar. I hope I'm not missing anything...

It was very cute and thoughtful. And I'm excited!

New house remodel plans!

I'm sure you all know how J can be with his planning. He already has the new master bedroom/bathroom/closet planned out and ready to go! I'm very excited.

What you are looking at here:
on the left--double sinks, toilet. Across from that, bathtub (empty rectangle). Then a wall which forms the closet. The zig-zags are hanging clothes, the rectangles are dressers. the bottom of the page shows the doorways from the bedroom into the closet and bathroom. We'll have a walk in closet and bigger bedroom and bathroom by combining two existing rooms in the house. YAY!

You may not want to see this

J, after he was found. I can't believe how pale his skin is. This is, for the record, not good.

Don't look closely. It's just gross.

Sad...J all bandaged up, looking pretty unconscious.

The helicopter that would take him away.

Over 24 hours in the hospital and still bloody (and bleeding)

Staples are the new black.

Fast forward:

J is doing SO well. He had the staples removed, the swelling has gone down, his knee received an MRI and is perfectly fine (which is amazing). He's feeling great and even played a little softball. I can't believe he's come so far. 

*grateful*

In escrow...

Well folks, we're in escrow! In fact, we're a good way through it...

Here are some pics:

From the front

It's in Orange, so we'll be close to the freeway, a little farther from my work, close to the Orange Circle (which I LOVE) and right next to In N Out and the Original Pancake House! hehe.

We're very excited. We've bought a washer and dryer already and we have big plans for the inside. Stay tuned because this blog should get VERY interesting!! :)

KEP published in the Orange County Register!

http://sciencedude.ocregister.com/2010/05/27/weekend-ahead-barbecue-weather/100543/

Posting hiatus?

Sorry for the posting hiatus. If you know me, you know that my husband was in a bad accident. I will post more details on that later (if I feel like it!) but in the meantime, here's a picture:

Hospital bed, head still a little bloody, face very swollen.

And us in better times:

My 25th birthday

His first-place-for-the-season-winning race

And quite obviously, our wedding.

We're both feeling very thankful for his current health and the fact that he so miraculously escaped death. August 6, 2010 is a day I will never forget.

New pictures are up!

I posted some sneak peeks of a graduation session from this past weekend...head on over and check 'em out!