Lemon Meringue Cake and Wild Mushroom Soup

I found a couple of really good recipes and we liked them so much, I wanted to share them. The first one was Wild Mushroom Soup. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfect, so here's the link. In case that doesn't work, here it is to copy and paste: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cream-of-wild-mushroom-soup-recipe/index.html

And here's the picture from the website:

It looks exactly like that, too. It's so good. I'm eating it right now, actually. It's great for a nice hearty fall soup. By the way, the recipe calls for white wine and if you choose to use it, don't worry about the alcohol. Just sniff it to be sure that it has all cooked out. That's what I used, but we tend to keep some wine on hand (for cooking :)) in our house. If you don't want to use it, you can use chicken or vegetable broth instead. Of course, the flavor might be slightly different, but I'm sure it would still be good.

The Lemon Meringue Cake is somewhat my concoction. Well, I didn't actually make up any of the recipes, but I took a couple different ones and put them together to make this, and then I named it. Robert and I had a lemon cream cake at an Italian restaurant a couple weeks ago that was so good I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. So, this was an attempt to recreate that. It turned out differently than I had hoped, but it is very good in and of itself. It somewhat reminded of lemon meringue pie--hence the name. Here's the recipe.

Lemon Meringue Cake











For the cake:

6 eggs, separated
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. lemon juice (fresh--really, it's better that way)
2 tbsp. lemon zest
2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake rounds.
In a large bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Add 1 cup sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat the oil, the remaining 1 cup sugar, and salt. Add yolks 1 at a time. Add the lemon juice and zest. Add flour and mix until just combined. Set aside.
Slowly add 1/2 the egg white mixture to the oil and flour mixture. Using a rubber spatula, carefully fold in the remaining egg white mix. Divide evenly into the two pans and bake for 40-45 minutes. Tops will have a crust from the egg whites (hence the "meringue" part of the name). Let cool for a few minutes in the pans, then remove and let cool completely before compiling and frosting the cake.

For lemon cream filling:

2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (I can't stress fresh enough)
2 tbsp. butter, slightly softened
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a cold, small to medium sauce pan (not non-stick), whisk together egg yolks and sugar until just combined. Whisk in lemon juice, butter, and salt. Turn to medium-low heat and cook for at least 5-6 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Mixture should turn opaque, thicken, and coat the back of the spoon. Do not let it boil or it will curdle. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Stir in the lemon zest and allow to cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto the surface, and refrigerate until chilled. In the meantime, whip the cream to medium peaks. When the filling it cooled, gently fold the cream into the lemon filling until just combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. This filling tastes just like the inside of a lemon meringue pie, hence that part of the name.

For the lemon frosting:

3/4 cup butter, softened
3 1/2 cups powder sugar
2 tbsp. heavy cream
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice (again, must be fresh)
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon zest

Beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add the sugar. Add the cream, lemon juice, vanilla, and zest. Beat on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

The cakes shouldn't need to be leveled, but check to be sure. If they do, use a serrated knife to flatten the tops and/or straighten the edges. Stack them with the tops down, to avoid getting meringue crumbs in your icing. This cake will need to be refrigerated to stay fresh.

Tips for icing:
Place four pieces of wax or parchment paper in a square shape on your serving plate or cake stand. Place bottom round of cake on paper. Dollop the filling on top and spread, leaving about 1/2 to 1 inch border. Place second layer on. Dollop icing on top and spread evenly to the edges, then down the sides. When done, carefully slide paper pieces out from under the cake. You should have a clean cake plate left and a perfectly frosted cake! (Note from the picture that I didn't take the time to do this, but it's nice to do when you're trying to impress someone. :))

Blessings

I've decided it's okay to vent once in a while, as long as you follow it with a list of blessings. And the blessings list has to be longer than the complaint. (See below if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

I'm grateful that...

Ethan's asleep now.
Craig's asleep, too :)
Robert came home early from work!
Craig has been very happy and pleasant since Robert's been home.
Robert has tomorrow off.
Conference is next weekend.
I have been able to take a shower every day since Ethan was born.
I am not pregnant anymore (peeing is SO much easier).
We have a good air conditioner.
Robert likes his job.
Our car has good air conditioning.
I have good neighbors.
I just ate Capt. Crunch. :)
Craig and I get to go to church tomorrow (well, for one hour at least).
I can bake and eat it too! No sugar restrictions.

Well, I think Craig's awake, so I'd better go. Thanks for indulging me today. :)

Life

Can a thing like the terrible twos exist before they're two? Craig is driving me crazy some days. It's not really his fault. I'm his only playmate and now I have to spend some time every day feeding and taking care of Ethan. Ethan doesn't require a lot of maintenance, but more than Craig would like me to spend. The really difficult thing is I would have more time for Craig if he didn't bother me and Ethan so much during the times I'm holding him. Usually he falls asleep after a feeding, but Craig has been so clingy and obnoxious (yelling, pulling on Ethan's hands, climbing on me) that he keeps Ethan awake. Therefore, my time with Craig is greatly reduced. Sometimes I just put Ethan down to be with Craig, but then Ethan's only happy for about 20 minutes, which isn't enough for Craig. By the time I get him calmed down and unfussy, Ethan's needing to be put to sleep since he never was allowed to go to sleep in the first place.

Gotta go...I have one crying my arms and another pulling on me and screaming.

Two weeks, already?

Ethan was two weeks old yesterday. It's hard to believe. He's already outgrown his onesies that are sized "just born" (they're tiny and fit perfectly for the first week, before he filled out). He's been a great little baby...so easy. Well, so far. He sleeps most of the day and when he's awake and fed and has a clean diaper, he's content to sit and watch the world go by, until he gets tired again. Then I have to swaddle him and put him back to sleep. He also is a decent sleeper, unless he gets some gas pains. But even that doesn't last too long. I'm taking advantage of this while it lasts, since I know very soon he'll be awake and wanting attention more. And he'll go through the growth spurt where all he wants is to eat 24 hours a day. I'd better begin making a list of movies to rent.

Here's a picture after his first bath at home.

Craig was acting so strange while I gave Ethan his bath. Normally, when Ethan cries, Craig is just curious. It doesn't seem to bother him. But during Ethan's bath, Craig was nervously walking around the house and started crying himself. This was a real cry, too, not "dry" crying. I tried to take a picture of him, but whenever I turned the camera on him, I got this.

I guess when you're not quite a year and a half old, your concern for your younger brother only lasts until a shiny electronic thing is put in front of you.

Robert got a new job! It's not ideal, but it better than before. He's a cook at a catering company in Phoenix, but it's a very large, very prestigious catering company. It's much more of what he enjoys, it pays a little bit better, and it is a guaranteed 40 hours a week. Plus he gets some Sundays off. So, he's happier. He also goes to work super early, which means he's home by 4pm. Well, I'd better go. Craig needs to take his morning nap.

10 Odes to Mom

"Mom"
circa 1970

When I started having contractions on Friday, I called my mom and let her know. We'd been worried about how her getting out here was going to work out with her work schedule and prior engagements (she has such a busy social calendar :) ), but babies just know when to come. Ethan timed it just right. My mom was able to finish out the work day Friday and fly out Saturday. She was here Saturday afternoon, just in time to take over Craig-duty for our neighbor and be with him the last night before Robert and I came home.

That was #1--having her here so Robert could be at the hospital.

It also worked out well since Monday was Labor Day, she was already off work and getting paid. She went home last Saturday, so she only had to use 4 family sick days. That was #2.

Robert also ended up having a lot of time at home since Ethan came between his days off, so he was around until Thursday. Which meant my mom didn't have to pay for a rental car and was able to spend some extra money on Craig and buy him some awesome books and toys. He was very happy and very easy to deal with last week--plus he got a little attention while the new baby got all of my attention for a couple of days. That was #3.

It was also great having her here to stay with me while Robert ran to the store, cooked, and went to a job interview on Tuesday (more on that later). She was also able to stay with Craig while Robert and I took Ethan to his first doctor's appointment. All of these things I had been planning on she and I doing, or Robert and I, depending on when she was going to be able to get here. But it worked out perfectly. I think that's #4-7.

She picked up doughnuts Monday morning. A BIG #8.
(Remember, I've been avoiding sugar since January.)

Robert hates dishes, so my mom was on dish duty. I never saw a dirty dish in the sink.
That's #9.

And last but not least, the day before she left she cleaned all three bathrooms--showers and all.
There's #10.

There were more things, too, that I could go on about. It was just a lot of fun to hang out, talk, chit-chat about things she thought I knew but hadn't come up in phone conversations and vice-versa. We had a good time together, all of us, she got to see grandchild #12 and she was able to spend a lot of time with Craig and really get to know his unique little personality.

Thanks Mom, I had a great time and can't wait until we can see you and everyone again.
We miss you already.
We love you.

Ethan and Me

I woke up at about 7:00 last Friday morning to a welcomed and familiar cramping. I was so relieved. I didn't know how long it would be, but I knew I was beginning labor. Throughout the day, they came regularly and mildly, between 10-20 minutes apart. So, as I mentioned yesterday, I thought a way to get them to come quicker was to go shopping for a kitchen table. We got the table, but the contractions didn't seem to speed up or intensify much. Finally, around 8:00 that night, I noticed some significant changes. They were slowly getting closer and stronger. By 11:00, we decided it was time to go to the hospital. When we got there, I was 5 cm! Yay! They have a spa tub, so I sat in that for a while (and it was really nice and soothing).

Then we went back to the room and I laid down for a while, at which time the contractions jumped from uncomfortable to bring-me-to-tears intensity. After about 2 hours, they checked again and I was 8 cm! That was really fast compared to the last time. They called the doctor, pulled out the carts, and we got all geared up. That was about 5:00 am. Then things slowed down again. I finally started pushing at about 8:30 am with little progress until they broke my water. After that, I had two big contractions with some big pushes, the nurses began running around calling the doctor, telling me to stop (I'm thinking, "What? After all this time? Can't you just catch him?"), and then the doctor comes in, has to put on his blue gown and gloves, which seemed to take an eternity, and finally we got going again. A moment later, at 9:10 am, Ethan was born. Whew! He took his sweet time getting ready, but once he decided it was time, he didn't want to wait for anyone.

So, that's the story, and believe it or not, it is condensed.

More pictures

Thanks to this:

I have a few minutes to post some pictures. It's a new vibrating chair I got for Ethan yesterday. We put him in it and few minutes after I took this picture, he was sound asleep.

Craig was sleeping during this picture, but Ethan was so cuddly and cute and Robert and I both happened to be dressed and showered, so we took it. We never did get one of the three of us in the hospital.

I took this one yesterday. He looks a little angry--his nostrils aren't usually that flared.

Robert got me these flowers on Tuesday. He picked them all out himself and even chose the base. Then the florist arranged them, of course. I really like the colors and combinations. He's got an eye for that sort of thing. :)

Here's our new kitchen table. While I was in labor all day Friday (literally) I wanted to get out and walk around. So, we went shopping for a new table. We got an amazing deal on this one because of the Labor Day sale they were having. It was delivered Tuesday and we love it. The flowers look perfect with it.

I will post my condensed labor story later.

Ethan Joseph

So it's still true--no baby ever stayed inside forever! These are the pictures we have so far. We'll take more and post them later. Ethan Joseph Leal was born Saturday morning at 9:10 am. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 21 inches long. He took to nursing right away and eats regularly, unlike mister Craig who slept straight through his first 24 hours of life without hardly a sip. My mom got here yesterday afternoon so she was able to stay with Craig last night and we got home by about noon today. Everything is great, I feel great, and we're just sooooo thankful for our wonderful friends who helped us out when we left for the hospital. Kristin came over at 11:00 Friday night and stayed the night, leaving her own family at home a few doors down. She took care of Craig all the next day until Robert was able to go spend some time with him and until we got my mom here and settled. What would we do without the church and the people in it? See you all next time I get a chance to post!

(Jeopardy Theme Song)

Still here, still waiting, still pregnant, still have cartoon-style feet that only look more like balloons with toes every day.

What a guy (and what an egg!)

Earlier this week, Robert rubbed my feet for me. :) But that's not all. He noticed how scaly and yucky one of my heals was getting--it's summer, I'm hugely pregnant and bending, for me, is like trying to fold a hard boiled egg. (More on eggs later.) So, my good husband (who is quite adverse to anything "gross") offered to file my heal down for me with our little flat foot file. I got to relax on the bed while he scrubbed away. What a guy! It was awesome and my heal felt SO much better.

While in the process of scrubbing, he mentioned how we should get one of those Ped Eggs you see on TV. Yeah, we thought, someday. Whatever.

Well, very serendipitously (I think that's a word...blogger didn't highlight it) we were at Ross yesterday. I love Ross. I even considered it as a name for one of our boys--really--but not because of the store. And not because of Friends either. Anyway, at Ross, I was wandering the kitchen aisles, and saw a misplaced Ped Egg glowing like a beacon among the pots and pans! And the best part was, it was only $5.99! (I REALLY love Ross.) I snatched it, to be sure.

That afternoon, when we got home, I opened it and due to its ease of use, I was able to do it myself (since I didn't have to fold at my waist for very long) and loved it! It is exactly as they describe in the commercials, even down to the part where you open it up when you're done and have the satisfaction of seeing all the shavings inside and dumping them in the trash. So, I recommend everyone take a trip to Ross today and find their own little Ped Egg for $5.99 and give it a whirl.

My only complaint is that my toes didn't come out painted a pretty pastel pink. I guess you can't have everything.

Due date

By the way, I'm officially due Tuesday, the 1st.

Final belly shot

Here I am. This was taken about two weeks ago, but not much has changed (well, you can't see the daily-expanding stretch marks on my belly). I am making some progress, slowly, and expect this little guy to come within the next week, but we'll see. Anything can happen, of course. For the most part, I have a million false contractions every day, and a few times a day I'll feel something a little stronger, but that's been going on for a couple weeks now. I did wake up the other night with a pretty strong one that made me lie awake for the next 45 minutes waiting for more and thinking about all the things I still had to do. But, of course, nothing came of it. I'm getting really anxious and everyday I make a list in my mind of all the things I wouldn't have to deal with if I weren't pregnant. I also list all the things I could be doing with my new little baby. Sigh.

Maybe I should start sniffing peppermint oil and eating eggplant parmesan. I hope there's a full moon coming.

Craig and his pot (not that kind!)

Yesterday Craig carried a pot into the living room where Robert and I were, pulled out a spoon, set the pot on the couch, and proceeded to dip the spoon into the pot and serve us his imaginary concoction. And, woowee, if we didn't actually stick the spoons in our mouths, he was not satisfied that we had enough to eat...several times. It was pretty cute. I am constantly amazed at the connections he makes and the things he figures out.

Free Mars Bar!

Click here, enter your information, and they will send you a free Mars Bar within 6 weeks! Why the heck not? If that link doesn't work, copy and past the one below. You can do this every Friday through September. Hurry, they only give out 250,000 every week.

https://secure.realchocolate.com/default.aspx

Some more good news!

Last week Robert also interviewed for a job as a general manager of another restaurant in the food court at the same mall he's working in now with Sbarro's. Today the man called to ask him to come back for a second interview on Friday! We have no idea how much the pay would be, if they offered it to him, but we're guessing it would be at least a little more than the sous chef job and would probably include benefits. Of course, there's also the issue of how many hours he'd be working and Sundays off or not, but even after today he won't know about the sous chef job until the end of the week, so this gives him some time to look into both and see what is offered! It feels good to possibly have some options on the horizon. :) If nothing else comes of it, Robert feels better about himself. He was feeling pretty down last week with Sbarro's pulling the carpet out from under him. He felt like he wasn't doing a good job and it was his fault, but this has rebuilt his self esteem. Even if neither people offer him the job, at least he knows he was good enough to get two interviews out of hundreds of applicants. (Literally, hundreds.)

Some good news!

First of all, sorry for the downer last time. I don't think I'm the only one who just needs to get something off my chest once in a while (at least I hope not). And thanks for all your encouragement!

Robert did get a call back from a catering company he interviewed at last week about the sous chef position. They called on Saturday instead. They had said they would call Friday if he was chosen to do a second interview and if not, they had picked other people. That was part of why I was feeling down on Friday--they hadn't called and it didn't seem like they were going to that day. Anyway, this would be a much better position--more of what he wants to be doing. He would get salary pay and it would be more than at Sbarro's. It's also only 10 months out of the year, so he'd have July and August off for vacations or to make a little more money. It also would be fewer hours and he'd have almost every Sunday off. And they would give him the option of working some events for a really good hourly wage on top of his salary. So, he's going in today for this second interview and we should hopefully know what they decide by the end of the week. I just wanted to let you all know that and be a little more positive today since I was so negative last time. :) And thanks again for your help!

Is anyone out there?

Um, I guess I've been pretty boring lately. Did anyone read my last post? I didn't get any comments on it. Maybe no one was interested enough to watch the video and let me know what they thought.

Things have been difficult lately, so I will try to post as much as possible, but I guess there's nothing post-worthy. Craig and I stay home almost everyday since Robert has the car at work for 13 hours a day. Sometimes I bake something, but most of the time it's naps, organizing baby clothes, playing, and watching Disney movies. We don't go anywhere, and when Robert is off, we don't go anywhere exciting since he's exhausted from the long week and we don't have the money or gas to spend. Sometimes we go to the mall so Craig can play in their kids area for a change of scenery.

Plus, I haven't felt like getting creative with my posts, as far as the stuff we do at home. That's why I've been trying to post other things that are of interest to me. It's been pretty stressful around here with Robert's work. They told him two days ago that they are not going to promote him to co-manager, he won't be getting a raise, they are keeping him at the mall he's working in now instead of the one closer to home (which will be about $150 more per month in gas), and they're cutting his hours back. They're also not giving him Sundays off anytime soon and I was just called as a Primary teacher. Craig isn't old enough for nursery, but there are people willing to help. I have to get rides to church every week, and I don't know what I'm going to do at church in a month or so with no husband at church, no car, a newborn and a toddler, and just getting to church will be a challenge, let alone getting a lesson together that's creative enough for a group of rowdy 7 year olds who like to take turns sitting under the table and every answer they give starts with "underwear". We also have no idea how his pay is going to affect our medicaid, so we may not even have any health coverage in a few weeks when the baby is born.

Well, I'm sure this depressing rant has driven many of you away for awhile. I guess I just need to vent it all a bit. I will try to post stuff more interesting to you all, but it may be a lot less frequent. Like, I may see you in several weeks after the baby comes and there's something to tell. Or if Robert finds a better job. Or if I get released from my calling and don't have that to worry about anymore. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

America's Got Talent?

Robert and I like to watch America's Got Talent. This week a group of kids performed (two brothers and one sister) called Voices of Glory. They're pretty good, but what people like best about them is their story. Their mother was in a car accident and left pretty severely disabled and they want to win so they can provide for her. However, I think that sometimes people are blinded by the sob-story of the contestants and fail to recognize their talent for what it really is--good enough for a church choir and community stuff, but not worth $1 million dollars and certainly not an act I'd go see in Vegas. Go to this YouTube link and watch their performance this week of "You'll Never Walk Alone" and tell me what you think. Like I said, they're not bad, but the judges (for the most part) praise them and fail to point out some of the biggest flaws in their singing. They start out rough (which on judge mentions), they do get better in the middle, but then at the end, to me, it was literally a train wreck. It starts when the boy on the right (watch him at the end) cracks on the "a-" of "alone" and sings the "-lone" before either of the other two. Then they get to the last phrase where they sing "you'll never walk alone" and the little girl (who's 9) is supposed to belt out the "ne-" of "never" and not only misses the note, but doesn't sing the word at all. Anyway, I know it's just a show and no big deal, but it seems that everyone thinks these kids are close to flawless, and Robert and I were wondering if we were just hearing them wrong. Let me know what you think. If this link up top doesn't work, I put it down below for you to copy and paste.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMik73IHdTA

Bagels!

I attempted bagels a year or so ago with a recipe from someone's yuppie-I-think-I-know-how-to-cook-because-I-by-$90-cookbooks cookbook and they were a total flop--flat, hard, and flavorless. Nothing went right. A few months ago, I came across this recipe from the Smitten Kitchen and it seemed to have everything the other recipe didn't, so I gave it a shot. Here they are:

The recipe makes 12 so I made 6 plain (back left), 3 cheese (back right), and 3 cinnamon and sugar (front). They came out wonderfully. If you have a taste for authentic bagels but can't seem to find a good bakery, these are worth making. Robert even said he's never had bagels any better, not even from a bagel shop. They do require some patience, but they're not difficult at all. They also have to sit overnight, so they take two days essentially. But they are worth it. The first day is the most work. The second day they take probably 30 minutes total to prep and bake, so you can do them first thing in the morning and have fresh bagels for breakfast and not have to get up at the crack of dawn. Let me know if anyone tries them!

In case the link doesn't work, here it is again for you to copy and paste: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/09/bronx-worthy-bagels/

Something to post!

I was in the kitchen and heard Craig beginning his frustrated whimper. He usually does this when he's trying to open something and can't, or put a toy inside something it doesn't quite fit into. This time he came toddling over to me and pulled on my dress. I looked down and saw something like this:

He had put the container on his head and it got stuck. I thought it was the funniest thing, I couldn't stop laughing. I took it off for him, but since I had laughed, now he thought it was funny and kept putting in on over and over again and every time I have to pull it off. A couple of times he got it on there pretty tight. I almost had to get out the butter.

As a side note, this new fascination with seeing what fits inside where has led to me catching him trying to put things like crackers and toys in his ears. Right now, he hasn't figured out those are all too big, but sooner than I'd like, he'll figure it out and then it will be off to the emergency room. Sigh.