Sunshine on a Cloudy Day Lemon Cake

Two months into spring and we've still not been able to put the outdoor room together for the season.  The nice days have been few and far between, I was still running the heat this time last week and there has been rain.  Lots of rain.  So with the bag of lemons I got on sale at the market I made my own sunshine.

This recipe is adapted from the Extra Moist Lemon and Vanilla Pound Cake I saw on Food.Com.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day Lemon Cake

This makes a fairly large cake.  You could use a bundt pan or two loaf pans.  I used my USA bakeware Pullman loaf pan because it cooks so evenly and releases better than any other pan I own.

Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit.

Grease pan with butter.

Ingredients for the cake~

2 sticks of softened butter
2 1/2 cups of sugar
6 eggs
8 ounces of full fat Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon zest
4 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Sift flour and soda into a bowl and set aside.  

Cream together softened butter and sugar until pale, light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the yogurt and beat well.  Add the vanilla, lemon juice and zest and beat well.  The mixture will look a little curdled but that's fine.  Add the dry ingredients and beat for about 30 seconds, scrape down the sides and beat for 30 seconds more.  The goal is a super tender cake, so it's important not to over mix the flour.  

Transfer batter to prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and fifteen minutes, rotating the pan half way through the cooking time.  Cool cake in the pan on cooling rack for 30 minutes then remove from pan to cool completely.  Glaze.  Devour!

For the glaze, I had some leftover lemon zest and juice, about 1/3 of a cup total.  I whisked confectioner's sugar a few heaping tablespoons at a time into the lemon juice and zest until I had a nice thick but pourable glaze.  

This cake is perhaps the best thing I ever baked.  Super moist and dense yet light and fluffy at the same time.  Nice lemon flavor and not too sweet.  The crust had a wonderful caramelized flavor.  Just perfect with a cup of tea on a rainy day!

Flower and Garden Festival and Our Beach Trip

It is a wet and chilly day here in Georgia. I don't remember it ever being this cold in May since we've been here. It's a perfect time to bask in the sun and smiles of our vacation photos.

 

We started off in Orlando and spent the day at EPCOT with my sister and her family. Rob and I had never been to the Flower and Garden Festival and it was well worth the fortune they charge for a one day ticket.

 

Rob and I were thrilled to have some quality time together!

Disney took the idea from the Food and Wine Festival and applied it to the Flower and Garden Festival, themed booths offering different food and beverages throughout World Showcase. Click here if you'd like to read more.

 

We had pineapple Dole Whip soaked in this amazing spiced rum but this was my favorite of the day...

 

This perfectly pink slush from the booth in France, Grey Goose Vodka Orange, St. Germain liquor with White and Red Cranberry Juice.  So light and refreshing and did I mention pink!

Beautiful topiaries everywhere, all the characters were represented.

This floral teapot was outside the English teashop.

And inside were these adorable mugs I wanted so much but they were fine and very delicate bone china and would not have lasted long in my ham fists.

There was a fantastic butterfly garden where we could get up close and personal with so many different varieties of beautiful butterflies.

 

After a few days in Orlando, we all headed to Saint Augustine. We met up with Mother and Auntie at Publix, stocked up and headed to our home for the week on Vilano Beach.  And I mean right on the beach.  The spot was perfect! 

Paradise!

I was windswept, barefoot and braless pretty  much the entire time.  It was an excellent way to spend a family reunion.

We watched the sunrise every morning and the sound of the surf lulled us to sleep every night.

Mother made her famous clam sauce and it was just so good!

Vilano Beach has some amazing shells for we beachcombers.

My sister and I laughed our asses off!

This kids had a blast playing in the sand.

We watched the pelicans fly overhead from the top deck.

It was just such a nice time, so relaxing and romantic!

Here's my favorite shot of the week, my gorgeous nephews and their Auntie Girlie...

Luncheon

I feel bad about not having much (or any) good recipes or food porn to post as of late.  With Rob being away so much, I often eat the same things for days at a time.  Grilled meat salads, bananas and yogurt, a pot of soup or take away meals from Publix.  Not really exciting or inspiring, to say the least.  But yesterday Donna came over for lunch so I made the most beautiful Cobb Salad.  It's one of my absolute favorite dishes and it's just so pretty.

We devoured the thick bed of crisp romaine lettuce torn into bite sized pieces  perfectly boiled eggs (cold eggs, delicately placed in gently boiling water, covered and simmered for 8 minutes, rinsed with cool water, peeled and shocked in ice water until service,) bacon, blue cheese crumbles, avocado, cherry tomatoes and marinated and grilled chicken.  So tasty, so simple, so satisfying!

Post-Beach Blues

It was a year in the planning and it was as delightful as we had hoped it would be.  We booked a big house on Vilano Beach near Saint Augustine in Florida and had ourselves a family reunion.  My Mother and Auntie, my sister, brother-in-law and the boys and Rob and myself all converged at Waters Edge last Sunday and had a fantastic week at the beach.

Leaving the beach is always difficult for us, but real life beckoned and we have been turned back into pumpkins.  I'm home now, all unpacked and have the laundry going.  I'm going to come back with trip photos and more details later in the week.  But here is a preview...

        

Well, Helloooo!

I don't like blogging if I don't feel I have anything useful to say or unless I have something to get off my chest.  This isn't really either of those but I wanted to check in.  I've been working lots of shifts, which is a dual edged sword.  Paycheck is great and keeps me really busy, but everything else falls by the wayside.  Early mornings, long days and early to bed.  It's not interesting or exciting, and can be rather bleak since Rob is never here and the spring weather hasn't really kicked in. 

I had a day off yesterday which I spent shopping with Donna.  Best way to combat bleak!  I bought myself a fabulous new handbag.  I've been searching for a bag in this perfect shade of pink for so long.  I love the shape, bit like a bowling bag.  It's definitely a fun pop of color for spring and summer.  

I also found some very nice knit tops with the elbow sleeves that I love but that are very hard to find.  Retail therapy for the win!  A handful of shifts left and  then some fun things to look forward to after I finish with work.  So there is some sun on the horizon despite the cold and rainy weather today.  I hope the sun is shining where you are and that your week is going smoothly.

DIY Laundry Soap

Looking at Pinterest makes me want to make things.  And since my beloved Purex 3-in-1 complete laundry sheets are going the way of the Dodo, I decided to try my hand at making some laundry powder.  

The most popular recipe around Pinterest is an old-timey one.  Just three ingredients, bar laundry soap, a box of borax and a box of washing soda (not baking soda.) I used three bars of Fels-Naptha, but I already had one grated into the bucket.  

This was ridiculously easy and really inexpensive.  It took all of 20 minutes including clean up.  I tossed the bars of soap in the blender with some of the washing soda then tipped all of into a bucket.  Mixed it all together with an old wooden spoon and then transferred it into containers.

The cost for the items to make this laundry soap was $17.14 at my local Kroger and based on volume it made up 156 ounces of powder. Two tablespoons per load of laundry and the per load cost breaks down to just over 11cents per load.  That's half the cost over my Purex sheets when I could get them on a good sale, half the cost of Seventh Generation eco-friendly powder, and a third of the cost of Tide powder.

How does it work?  Really well!  It has a bit of a clean, citrus scent from the Fels-Naptha but no heavy perfumes. It made even Rob's stinky socks and Tally's muddy towels clean and fresh.  The small time investment was definitely worth it.  Another successful Pinterest project completed!

Healthy Life Summit

The Healthy Life Summit kicks off today.  You can sign up for free access here and view the schedule of lectures.  

Each lecture is available for free streaming for 24 hours.  I'm excited to listen to Diane Sanfilippo talk about her 21 day sugar detox today (sugar is still my major Achilles heel.)  And Chris Kresser is going to talk about sleep quality, so I'm not going to miss that!

Which lectures are you interested in?

Healthy Eating

Diane Sanfilippo, author of New York Times bestsellerPractical Paleo - The 21-Day Sugar Detox

Bill Staley and Hayley Mason, authors of Make It Paleo - Make It Paleo

Julia Ross, author of The Mood Cure and The Diet Cure - Healing the Mind and Body with Food

Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of the Whole Soy Story - Practice Safe Soy

Kelly the Kitchen Kop - Transitioning Your Family from Junk Food to Real Food

Mark McAfee, Organic Pastures Raw Dairy - The War on Milk

Jenny McGruther, Nourished Kitchen - Techniques for Making Real Food Easy & Affordable

Healthy Body

Liz Wolfe of Cave Girl Eats - SKINTERVENTION

Vanessa Romero, Healthy Living How To - Losing Weight & Healing Your Hormones in Your 40s

Donna Gates, author of The Body Ecology Diet - Conquering Systemic Infection: Essential to Good Health

Robin Konie, Thank Your Body - Movement for Eliminating Chronic Pain and Weight Loss

Dr. Carolyn Dean, author of The Magnesium Miracle – Why You Need Magnesium

Matt Stone, 180 Degree Health - Metabolism and Stress – An Inner Tug of War

Dr. Dean Howell - NeuroCranial Restructuring (NCR)

Healthy Babies & Kids

Kristen Michaelis of FoodRenegade.com - Why Pre-Conception & Pregnancy Diets Matter

Sally Fallon Morell, author of Nourishing Traditions - Feeding and Caring for Babies and Children

Emily Bartlett, LAc, of HolisticSquid.com - Treating Eczema from the Inside Out

Robyn O'Brien, author of The Unhealthy Truth and founder of Allergykids.com - Generation RX

Genevieve Pazdan, of MamaNatural.com - Cloth Diapers Made Easy

Sarah Pope, The Healthy Home Economist - Is Breast Really Always Best?

Cara Comini, Health, Home & Happiness - Recovering from Autism with Diet

Healthy Living

Chris Kresser - Chrono-Disruption: The Dark Side Of Artificial Light

Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception andGenetic Roulette - Health and Environmental Dangers of GMOs

Matt & Betsy Jabs, DIYNatural.com - Natural DIY Projects: Save Money & Improve Your Health

Mary Cordaro, MaryCordaro.com - Nesting Reframed: Creating Healthy Homes

Daniel Vitalis, founder of Surthrival - Rewilding Yourself

Louisa Williams, author of Radical Medicine - Radical Medicine

Heather Dessinger, Mommypotamus - Homemade Beauty Products Safe Enough to Eat

Healthy World

Joel Salatin, Polyface Farms - Folks, This Ain't Normal!

Brandon Sheard, Farmstead Meatsmith - Welcome to the Sausage Party: How to Slaughter & Butcher Animals at Home

Tamara Wilder, Paleotechnics.com - Paleo Technology: Ancient Skills in a Modern World

Chris Kerstonof Chaffin Family Orchards - Sustainable Grass-based Farms Can Save the Planet

Kristin Canty, Director of Farmageddon - The Attack on American Farms

Birke Baehr, 14-year-old Future Organic Farmer - What’s Wrong with Our Food?

Graham Merriwether, Director of American Meat - From CAFOS to Sustainable, Grass-fed Agriculture