Simple Black Forest Cake

Now if you were heading to a Twilight party...you could call this "Jacob Black" Forest cake..LOL I crack myself up sometimes. But really, this cake is amazing and so simple! Trav loved it for his birthday- kid & adult pleaser, I promise!

Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix with pudding
3 eggs
1 tablespoon almond extract
1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling (i reserved 7 cherries for garnish- by baby boy turned 7)
1 can of chocolate frosting

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Mix together: cake mix, beaten eggs, almond extract, cherry pie filling and 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips. Stir until just combined. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 inch pan or 2 round pans.
3.Bake in a 350 degree F (175 degree C) oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and let cool.

I frosted with chocolate frosting, garnished the top with some melted vanilla frosting- just a little to decorate, & then added the last few cherries on top.

I wish I had a piece to go with my morning coffee today! Confession: Yes, I eat chocolate cake for breakfast sometimes.

Simple Banana Bread

does life get much sweeter than the smell of banana bread filling the house? i made this one today that i found on tasty kitchen. i omitted the nuts.

I’m Having Banana Nut Bread – Sweet
Added by mrswebbfisher on November 8, 2009 in Breads

5.00 Mitt(s) 2 Rating(s)
Moist banana bread. Great with some softened butter on a slice right before eating.
Prep Time 20 Minutes
Cook Time 55 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients
•2 cups Flour
•1 teaspoon Baking Soda
•½ teaspoons Salt
•½ cups Butter
•1 cup Sugar
•2 whole Eggs
•1 teaspoon Vanilla
•3 whole Large Bananas
•1 cup Pecans, Chopped

Preparation Instructions
Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla; stir until mixed well. Stir in mashed bananas. Fold in dry ingredients and nuts. Place in a well-greased 9 x5 x 3-inch loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes.

Pioneer Woman Obsession

ok, now thanks to julie i am now so crazy about this woman & her website. i gave her apple dumplings a try...and i decided i can officially eat these for breakfast, lunch & dinner every day. you have to try them.

i am making a list...ok a rather long list...of recipes and things i must try. pioneer woman is just cool. get ready to spend some TIME going through her blogs, tips, stories, recipes.

here's my attempt at the yummy apple-licious-ness.

yes, you are welcome friends. i'm vowing to eat grilled chicken and salads a couple times a week, just to be able to try more PW recipes. i'm tackling her cinnamon rolls tomorrow so we can have them for new year's. (oh, that will be a fun post!)

sit back & enjoy!

A Little Give & A Little Go

my cayley & travis have been gone to SA with grandparents since the day after christmas. it's so strange here. i really thought adam would be upset for a day or two, but nope...he's more than fine being an only child for a week. gosh, he went with tim and i to see new moon, yep again, and was so good! he is the wolf kid ;)

christmas eve was nice & kids were asleep before 9pm.

presents and evidence of santa's visit inspected by 6:45am

egg nog pancakes and bacon by 9am

wrapping paper galore bagged up by 11am

ham, smoked turkey & sides all done and lunch served at 2pm
NAPS!

this week it's just been me & adam hanging out at home, cleaning rooms, running errands, watching ice age: dawn of the dinosaurs over & over. he's one happy dino boy. who by the way is turning 5 tomorrow. funny how us moms can recall so many details of the birth of our babies...adam was so easy, even though he was 3 1/2 weeks early....he's been an early riser ever since. he only likes the frosting off cake, so i'm making him a cookie cake. like the ones ya get at the mall. i even found green icing to decorate his dino cookie cake!

Well, Who Knew...

having cookies after school on fridays is pretty much a given around here :) tim bought me these fun fall cookie cutters, so i thought i'd give them a whirl. i made a ton of sugar cookies and i think i have a couple hidden away just for my coffee break today. they went fast! didn't even have time to decorate them- no one complained!



our leaves & acorns!

then, tim said the weirdest thing saturday evening. " can you make a funnel cake?" i was kinda shocked and cayley was so excited at the possibility of eating carnival food at home. away i went to find a recipe and a quick trip to walmart for powdered sugar. (where i ran into buffy! sorry buffy, i was a mess and had been cleaning all day, lol- isn't that how it goes, when you run into someone ya know at the store, lol)

this was a little messy, but so very worth it!!!

well, who knew i could make this!?

i guess tim never doubted :)