applesauce cake with penuche frosting

i know i've slacked with the whole recipes on fridays thing... i have no excuse.  anywho, here is a delicious recipe for any time of the year.  the combo of applesauce and spices make for an amazing cake!  here's the recipe:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

 1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2  tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups applesauce

1/2 cup raisins, optional

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1 recipe penuche frosting

cake

oven:  350-baking pan; 325 baking dish

preheat oven.  In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder & soda, and spices.  set aside.

in a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed about 30 seconds or until softened.  add sugar; beat until combined.  add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  alternately add flour mixture and applesauce to beaten mixture, beating on low to medium speed after each addition until just combined.  spread batter evenly in prepared pan or dish.

bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  cool in pan or dish on a wire rack.  quickly spread penuche frosting over cake.

penuche frosting
in a 2 qt saucepan, melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter over medium heat; stir in 1 cup packed brown sugar.  cook and stir over medium heat until bubbly.  remove from heat; add 1/4 cup milk and 1 tsp vanilla.  stir with a wooden spoon until combined and smooth.  stir in 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar--when i made this, i only had about a cup or so of powdered sugar. but the frosting is already so sweet, it turned out fine.. i simply added 4 Tbsp of all-purpose flour to help thicken it up.  continue beating with the wooden spoon about 3 minutes or until smooth and thickened.  immediately spread over cake--i let it cool before frosting the cake.

i, of course, forgot to take a picture... go figure.  one of these days i'll remember.

i love cooking!  to me, it's kind of a way to push everything out of my mind and just go to this place where all that matters is the recipe in hand.  it's relaxing and exciting at the same time.  i thoroughly enjoy cooking.  yesterday, i watched julie & julia.  i very much enjoyed the majority of the movie! however, the ending somewhat disappointed me  wasn't what i expected in a way.... i guess i can't say anymore.. don't want to spoil the movie.

speaking of julie & julia, i would like a copy of mastering the art of french cooking mtaofc).  why?  i'm not sure.  it's certainly not so i can cook through it. i have the feeling that many of the recipes in mtaofc would not be appetizing to me, as i am the world's pickiest eater--i wish i weren't.  despite how many recipes i will or will not make, i still would like a copy.  and i think i want the 1st edition, even though the newer ones might have more tips, etc to make the processes easier... who knows.  i'm rambling.  which is exactly what happens when i'm tired.  i guess i'm off to bed.... lots to do tomorrow.  need to clean, clean, clean the house; finish wrapping christmas presents; and go to the grocery store.  not to mention, just taking care of our 3 animals is a full day's work!  :)

lately...

first of all, i can't believe it's december 13th! this entire year has just flown by. i remember when i first got engaged and i thought september 26 would never come! and now it's almost 2010.  and secondly, i can't believe i haven't blogged in weeks.  so this post will be a catch up..

a couple weekends ago, i went to west point to stay with celia for the weekend, and we went to starkville to see ms. anabess and mr. billy get married!!  congrats to them! the wedding was sooo beautiful, sweet (short and sweet :), elegant.... it was perfect!  it was so laid back--just family and close friends--and was just wonderful!

i left charleston friday afternoon and got to west point around 4ish and went to c's house.  it was so good to see c!! and her mom and josh too.  (i haven't seen anyone since the wedding :(  so i've really been missing all my friends.)  we had reservations at anthony's at 7:30--which seemed like way too many hours away to wait, as i was already starving by about 6.  so we just got ready and caught up for a while.  then we left for the liquor store-to get some wine-and got to anthony's around 7:45 (you would think that we would have been on time since we were ready by about 6:30.. but anyone who knows me knows that i can't ever be on time!) mallorie met us there... it started out with just me, c, and mal.  but as the night progressed, we saw an old friend from high school, joseph huffman, and his sweet sweet wife, lauren.  then, ty, john michael, steven, bonner, and jack howard joined us.  we had a great time!  i was sooo excited to have anthony's b/c i swear it's been at least like a year and a half since i've had it.  i got chicken anthony-go figure-and got us crawfish for appetizer. everything was very yummy!  after anthony's closed we went to soprano's (i said i would never go there.. but that was my first time and i have to admit that we had fun!). stayed til they closed-at 2-then went to ty's house for a bit. by the time we got back to c's house it was around 3:30 and i was exhausted!! i haven't stayed up that late in years!  but we had a good time! it's always nice to see old friends!

me and c :)

the monday of thanksgiving week, we got a new puppy!  he's a long-haired dachshund, and his name is rocky.  (we kinda have a beatles theme with animal names.... sadie-sexy sadie; ellie-eleanor rigby; rocky-rocky raccoon) here are a few pics...

on our way home with him

he loves to sleep like this

best friends :)

we did thanksgiving here with ju's family then went to aberdeen the week after thanksgiving to visit with my parents.  we took rocky, of course, and all my parents loved him! but who doesn't?!  we did a small amount of shopping in tupelo--just to get some christmas decorations since we don't have anything.  let me take this time to say that i really slacked this year! i was so excited about our first christmas together (well, as a married couple :) and in the end, i just procrastinated.  we did get a few things and mrs. kathy-ju's mom-gave me an early christmas present... a fontanini nativity scene! my first set! i love it!! and we finally got a tree! we went to ju's grandad's land and cut one down! we couldn't find that perfect one at first; but we kept looking and as we were on our way out, we found it! right in the middle of a briar patch.. just our luck! but ju, being the wonderful husband that he is, went right out there and cut it down.  and for our decorations for our tree, i already had bought some of the big bright old-fashioned lights a few months ago; so we put those on and then mrs kathy gave us boxes and boxes of christmas ornaments to go through.  we used a bunch that ju remembers from his childhood.

yesterday we finally got our christmas cards ordered! i know it's almost too late, but i was determined for us to send out a christmas card, as this is our first christmas as hubby and wife :)  it took many, many attempts (and actually, we tried on more than one day), but we finally got a christmas card worthy picture!  i'm, of course, not going to post the ones we used, but here are a couple...

just try to imagine getting 2 puppies and a kitten together for a picture!

here a some more pictures--i know this post has been mainly pics, but it's been so long since i last posted!

honeymoon :)

saturday we returned from our honeymoon in punta cana, dominican republic.  we had a blast!!  the weather was great... actually, it was pretty hot, but beautiful nonetheless.  the resort was gorgeous, and every single person employed at the resort was wonderfully attentive and exceptionally nice.  we arrived monday afternoon, settled in, got ready for dinner, and headed to el patio, the resort's mexican restaurant.  the food was great!  you can tell that presentation means a lot to them, as every meal was exquisitely displayed on our plates. 

tuesday.. it was raining when we woke up, but it didn't last long.  pretty soon, we were lounging on the beach on the awesome beach beds in the fabulous preferred club's private beach.  the ocean wasn't very smooth... the flag was red and the under-tow was bad. and the waves were semi-extreme.  but it's our honeymoon and we're in the dominican republic with beautiful beaches, so we head for the ocean.  not five minutes later, a wave knocks me down :(  when i resurfaced, my ray-ban's were gone and my headband (which i probably paid 5 dollars for 5) was floating right next to me.  just my luck.  but i didn't let it rain on my parade.... no time to be sad on our honeymoon!  the next morning, i bought a pair of sunglasses (not very attractive ones at that) and some chapstick with spf..... total cost=$30.  really?

tuesday night we dined at the seaside grill.  we both ordered their version of a surf-and-turf, which was good; then we had cheesecake for dessert.

wednesday, back to the beach for the day.  then we went to the fabulous spa late that afternoon.  ju got the deep, relaxing massage--which he loved, and i got the reflexology massage (face, hands, feet only)--which i loved.  the spa was so so wonderful!  very peaceful.... and perfect.  that night we went to the resort's adults only restaurant, bordeaux.  it was yummy!

let me take a moment to discuss the food.  it was okay interesting.  the world cafe, which was a huge buffet style restaurant with tons and tons of options, is where we had breakfast everyday.  they had an omelet station, which was the closest thing to american-tasting food we ate.  they also had a smoothie station that i loved!  very neat and yuuuummy!  now for the not-so-good.... the syrup didn't taste like syrup; therefore making it difficult to enjoy your pancake or crepe.  the bacon (the sign said "bacon of pork"---ummm, where else would the bacon come from?!) didn't really taste like bacon, nor did the sausage taste like sausage. the lunch options were the same--lots of options but didn't taste like we were used to.  pasta--not very good; sandwich meat--i was scared to try;  but the shrimp and fish were very good and pizza was delicious!! needless to say, i survived on omelets and smoothies for breakfast and pizza for lunch.  but hey, it wouldn't be a different experience if everything was the same as it is here.  oh yeah, the restaurants that we ate at for dinner were great!  with all food exquisitely displayed, of course.

ok.. now for thursday.  same as other days.  breakfast, beach, lunch, beach, preferred club lounge for drinks, dinner, back to room (the resort had activities that took place everyday.  but ju and i aren't really the activity type... plus, we're on our honeymoon! no need to spend time with groups of people, just each other.  so after dinner, we retired to our room).  julius and i are big readers.  and with a beach destination, we, of course, brought books.  ju didn't enjoy his book... he thought he was off to a great start when the first page had the date july 17, 1996 (his birthday is july 17).  however, he soon learned that he was wrong--that date marks the day a plane crashed... also, the book was based on actual events. (did i mention that when he began reading, we were on the plane awaiting take-off??)  as if that wasn't enough, it ended with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  actually, i believe ju said there wasn't really an ending--no answers were revealed.  9/11 just happened, and then the book was over.   wow.. bad reading choice.  my book was excellent though!  i read the help by kathryn stockett.  i would read it again.  definitely.

friday was definitely the hottest day of the week.  we had breakfast then decided we would get a movie from the lounge.  we got 'finding nemo' and 'i'm not there' (movie/documentary about bob dylan. good cast... heath ledger, cate blanchett, christian bale, richard gere, michelle williams).  we watched movies until lunch, then headed to the world cafe for yet another meal of pizza.  then back to the room to relax until our spa appointments.  this time, ju got the reflexology and i got the 'sweet dreams' package, which included coco exfoliation, coco hydrotherapy, aloe wrap, and a relaxing massage.

oh my goodness!  it was superb! i never wanted to leave the spa!!!!  that night we had dinner at oceana.  they told us they had a special table for us-since it was our last night.  table was definitely ordinary but oh well.  they had our main course picked out for us already-said it was special as well.  so we picked out appetizers-calamari for ju, shrimp and crab cakes for me.  they also had a bottle of champagne for us.  meal was delicious!!!

saturday, we had breakfast then got all of our things ready to come home.  car picked us up at 12. flight left at 3:30.  we didn't get back home until a little after 11.  so we were tired (how is it that traveling makes you so tired?) but sooooo ready to be home.  our animals missed us and we missed them!  took us about 2 hours to get them settled down.  went to bed after 1 am and woke up at 7:55.  just my luck. 

overall, we had such a fabulous time!!! but it's certainly nice to be home :)

yesterday, we were lazy.  i did a few things around the house, but i couldn't-and still can't-manage to make myself unpack. (i'm going to do it today.. hopefully).  ju actually had to work, but only for a few hours.  we watched the saints game (9-0!!!) and i semi-cleaned while watching--dusted, vacuum (ok, since we got ruby, ju says that when he asks me what i've done, vacuuming doesn't count anymore b/c it's only pushing a button! ha :), did laundry-which i was more than happy to do; i love laundry.. i know it's weird, but i do.  and with a whole week of no laundry, i was pretty pumped about doing it... i guess my wonderful front loaders and red laundry room aid my enjoyment.  oh, and of course did the dishes--i don't know why this is but i really despise unloading the dishwater. i don't mind loading it or even watching dishes by hand, but there's just something about unloading it.  i cooked supper (yay for normal food!)... since we just got home, our options were lacking.  and even though we'd just returned from many a seafood meal, tilapia was the only thing i could round up for us.  we also had corn, rice, and yummy sister schubert rolls.  i admit though, it was quite nice.

oh, i almost forgot... when we returned from dinner our last night, this was in our room :)

here are a few more pictures...

the rest of our honeymoon album is here.

ruby roomba :)

i just have to take a minute to brag about my roomba... i absolutely love it! now i understand that we haven't had ruby very long; but so far, she has done a superb job, as well as very much impressed us.

there are a few things about roombas that just seem... umm, so advanced (but in an amazing way).  for example, the box says:

1. robot intelligence--roomba efficiently cleans the whole floor, under and around furniture and along walls.
2. self-adjusting cleaning head--automatically adjusts to clean carpets and hard floors.
3. avoids stairs--automatically senses and avoids stairs and other drop-offs.
4. edge cleaning capability--follows walls and reaches deep into corners to remove dust, dirt and debris.
5. detects dirt--roomba senses dirtier areas and cleans more thoroughly in those spots.
6. anti-tangle system--roomba won't get stuck on cords, carpet fringe or tassels.
7. simple operation--just press the clean button, roomba does the rest.

(also says: a powerful vacuum--two counter-rotating brushes and an efficient vacuum reach deep into your carpet to remove dirt, dust, and pet hair.)

and we can't forget about the virtual walls and lighthouses. the roomba comes with 2 virtual wall/lighthouses.  you use the virtual walls to confine the roomba/not let it pass.  you use the lighthouses to guide the roomba from room to room.  you don't have to use the virtual walls or lighthouses--it still cleans the entire house when you simple press clean and have nothing set up.  but it goes in kind of a different pattern.  the virtual walls and lighthouses will more than likely simply shorten the process.  anywho, i haven't set mine up yet b/c i got the wrong batteries.  the roomba booklet has 2 pages about the virtual walls/lighthouses.  one page says the they require D batteries; the other page says C batteries.  so, i bought D batteries only to come home and find out that they are too big.  C it is.  virtual walls/lighthouses or not, ruby still works marvelously.

oh, and the "spot" clean mode... you can place the roomba in a dirty area and press the "spot" button, and it cleans thoroughly in that spot (it goes around and around the area until it's clean).  also, when it's in clean mode, it can detect dirtier areas, so it does the same thing.  it's pretty neat.

so.. need i say more?! it does everything a regular vacuum does without the hassle... or without any work at all.  it's basically vacuuming for lazy people. but hey, it gets the job done :)

loving married life :)

so julius and i have been married for a little over a month, and i have to say, married life is wonderful!  i love going to sleep and waking up next to ju.  i go to sleep and wake up genuinely happy.  i don't think i could be any happier if i tried. 

i am learning that marriage, as with any relationship, is give and take.  i'm working right now on not taking too much :)  julius is a wonderful husband, and i am truly blessed to have him in my life. 

we leave for our honeymoon this coming monday!  hooooorraayyyy!  dominican republic here we come!  i'm so so ready to get out of charleston (and mississippi) for a week!  and hopefully, we will see nothing but sun while we are there.  oh my, i just can't wait!

it just occurred to me that i haven't blogged since the day before halloween.... well, halloween night was great!  ju and i found last minute (and when i say last minute, i mean day-of) costumes-as a doctor and a nurse.  it wasn't an original choice, but it was available.  we both wore scrubs so we were super comfortable all night!  we started here....drinks, appetizers, and cookies then headed to the country club around 8ish.  and it's a good thing we left here at 8 b/c by the time we made all of our stops and finally arrived at the tcc, it was after 9.  the band was good and there wasn't too big of a crowd (which i enjoy more than a huge crowd there).  and being the old married couple that we are, ju and i were ready to go home by about 10:30.  i know, i know... boooooorring.  so home we came.  in bed by midnight.  :)   but we had a blast (even if we wanted to come home so early)!

sunday, we were lazy (and a bit hungover).  monday i subsitute taught at strider... i had the k4 class again.  i just love them! but it was only until 11:30 so i went to oxford that afternoon. tuesday i cleaned and did lots of laundry. today i've had a pretty bad headache :( so i haven't done a lot--just my usual straightening up, loads of laundry, made some calls--dreams resort, att, holmes cc, minimal errands-which always seems to include the bank, and got supper ready. i made spaghetti b/c i had everything and it was easy.  as much as i love cooking, sometimes i just want to cook the most simple meal.. just for a little break. after supper, we watched the new south park... hilarious, as usual!  and tonight was the first episode-since the very first one this season-that it was just me and julius.  normally, bailey and drew (and sometimes lex) come over for supper and the new episode. but tonight it was just us. and i loved it :)

well, julius is watching tv, and i'm getting pretty sleepy.  so off to bed i go.  i plan on waking up early to make julius blueberry pancakes (pre-mixed packets.. you just add water :) 

happy halloween!

so halloween is my favorite holiday and october my favorite month.  the leaves begin changing into vibrant oranges, yellows, and reds.  everyone decorates with pumpkins, gourds, skeletons, and ghosts.  children dressed up in their costumes.....  i just love halloween!  sadly, i don't expect us to have any trick-or-treaters, as our house is located on a gravel road minutes away from town.  not to mention, our closest neighbors are a mile away; and I don't recall seeing children at the house anyway.  so... no trick-or-treaters :( but i won't let that stop me from having a fabulous halloween!

while we won't have trick-or-treaters, we will be having some friends over.  every halloween, the country club here has a costume party, and they have a band. so we are going to that, but first we will pre-game, if you will, here... appetizers, drinks, and of course desserts!  i'm pretty excited b/c i love having little get-togethers at our house!! and i love cooking in general, so making food for all of our get-togethers is lots of fun for me! i'm making a blt cheeseball, pumpkin whoopie pies, black, bat shaped sugar cookies, and pilsbury sugar cookies (the ones pre-cut with the halloween pictures/designs).  and i'm still considering making baked hushpuppies--it's the deen brothers' recipe and while they look delicious, they also look like mini cornbread muffins (you make the baked hushpuppies in a mini muffin tin). so, i'm just not quite sure yet.

 so... now the question is what will julius and i dress up as?  and yes, i do understand that it is halfway through the day before halloween, and we still have no costumes.  this is not unusual behavior for me... i'm always late in some form or fashion. anywho, we'll think of something.... hopefully :)

ok, well i hope everyone (ha.. like a bunch of people are reading this. all my fans ha :) has a safe and happy halloween!!

oh yeah, i know i've been slacking on recipes on fridays--this makes the 2nd friday in a row. so i'm going to post a couple of recipes soon.

mid-week/weekend recap

i've been pretty busy since the last time i blogged.  julius' mom, mrs. kathy, and i went to memphis last wednesday for a day of shopping.  it was lots of fun (as usual), but i was exhausted (as usual) after.  anywho, i found some good stuff... mostly got clothes for the honeymoon, which we leave for 2 weeks from today!

so... wednesday, we shopped. thursday, i rested. friday, julius was off so we actually got to spend an entire day together!  we were lazy and watched movies (i love you, man & adventureland).  ju went hunting friday afternoon; alli came over, and we decided to indulge in wine starting at about 5:30.  her boyfriend, seth, came over; ju killed a 9 pt (with his bow); then we ordered supper from our favorite place, 3 way.  saturday was a big time cleaning day for us.  ju was off again, so he tackled outside--the yard, cleaning off front and back porches, etc.  i stayed inside and scrubbed, scrubbed, scrubbed the shower--all i can say is that i will never ever let our shower get that bad again! it took about an hour worth of hard scrubbing before it was satisfactory to me.  my other big task of saturday was to clean out/organize the guest bedroom/office.  ok, this room has been our dumping grounds ever since the house was ready.... surely you can get a mental image of a small room crammed full of boxes, wedding gifts, and the furniture that resides in the room.  it took me at least 2 hours to get everything organized and cleaned out.  ju took 9 boxes to storage; we took several boxes, along with towels and sheets/comforters, to bear lake (hunting camp); and many a boxes to the trash.  but it feels good to walk in this room now and actually be able to see the floor!

the main reason for us going into maniac cleaning mode on saturday was that my parents came yesterday to visit :)  i was so excited they wanted to come!  it was great to see them.  and it wasn't really that we thought my parents would care about any of our messes, it was more just the fact that these things needed to be done for a while now--my parents' coming just gave us the nudge we needed to get started.

my parents also brought our wedding gift.....  irobot roomba 560!!!

i have been wanting a roomba for a while now.  and on friday, the vacuum cleaner i had, which was pretty old anyway, died--i was vacuuming, then started smelling something. so i cut off the vacuum, went to where it was plugged up (i guess i went here just to make sure it wasn't on fire or something), then went back to cut it on and it blew black smoke out of each side then died.  so, the roomba's arrival sunday was perfect timing! 

we have used ruby (that's the roomba's name.. ruby roomba) twice now and she's done a great job. so far, we are very happy with ruby :) 

today on the agenda is laundry and flowerbeds.  mrs. kathy and i are going to give the flowerbeds a face lift today ;)  we planted the beds right when the house was ready-so a few months ago-and all was well for a while, but a combination of me not being the best plant owner and the flooding it's done here these past 2 months have murdered most of our plants :(  so mrs. kathy and i are going to fix the flowerbeds!  i'm trying to get into gardening---and slowly but surely, i am.

happy monday!

reminiscing italia

i'm feeling better today.  still am coughing some and still have some congestion, but i'm much better than i was!  thank goodness!  ok, time to reminisce...

the year was 2008. the month was march.  katie was studying abroad in florence, italy.  so julius and i decided we would go visit her during spring break. wow! it was a blast!! italy is amazing.. here are some pictures to prove it :)

ju and i in venice with the pigeons

again with the pigeons

venice... skull artwork

ju and i in venice

how awesome is this?! a mosaic made out of pure gold.

ju and bailey in venice with the pigeons

(one of my fav pics of the boys)

typical venice pic

at the vatican museum in vatican city

the sistine chapel

(we weren't supposed to take pictures, but we snuck one... which is why it's blurry)

ceiling in the vatican museum

fountain in front of the vatican

the vatican

front of the vatican

trevi fountain in rome

me and ju at the colosseum in rome

from the very top of the colosseum

'roman' outside the colosseum... 10 euros per picture!
(we took 4!)

again

in pisa... smallest car ever

still in pisa... smallest truck

leaning tower of pisa

graffiti on a building in pisa

2nd day in italy. we spent the day in sienna, and it rained all day. so when we got back to florence, we decided to go out.. what better to do after a day of rainy sightseeing.  we ended up going to one of the most awesome bars/pubs ever.

so.. at this awesome pub, we got pretty drunk. ok, really drunk.  as we were walking back to the hotel, i decided that i wanted to skip on the cobble stone... umm, skipping on wet cobble stone = me falling

the duomo in sienna

(duomo is the italian term for 'cathedral church')

our trip to italy was so much fun!  it was definitely a learning experience.  now, we can check 'italy' off the list!  where to go next in europe??  france, spain, netherlands.... hmm, good thing no decision needs to be made in the near future :)