The long awaited Care Bear Birthday!

Jovie is now 2. She has been waiting for months for her Care Bear birthday. I don't know why she was so determined to have a Care Bear birthday. We only have 1 Care Bear movie and they hardly ever watch it. They have a Care Bear book that we hardly ever read. But Memee did get them Care Bear dolls that they play with quite often, maybe that's it.

We had a simple fun filled day to celebrate her 2 year birthday. She woke up to streamers, a fun cake and presents on the table. Daddy made her the best waffles I've ever eaten for breakfast. We got her a little pink leotard with a tutu attached which she liked so much that she wore it all day! We went to McDonald's and got the girls Happy Meals (this is a rare occasion) for lunch. My family came over for a little party and we ended the day by going to Red Robin where she stood on the table for the birthday song and had all eyes adoring her.

Happy Birthday my adorable, mischievous, sweet, fun, silly, blue eyed girl.

Happy Day Dude!

5 months old today.

Cake

This is on of my favorite cake recipes for a couple of reasons. It is simple. It is loaded with rich chocolate flavor. And it has hints of espresso in every bite. While frosting this cake, Pear said, "Wow. That is the bestest cake I ever dreamed about in ten years!" She then turned to Pike and said, "You were dreaming about it in mom's tummy, huh." And, maybe what she said is true. It was a darn good cake! If you'd like to try a good, simple cake recipe, here you go:

Simple Old Fashioned Cake

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cocoa powdered
2 oz shot espresso
1-1/4 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition.
3. Measure the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder into a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Measure the milk, vanilla and espresso into a measuring cup.
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
6. Divide batter into two 9" cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Creamy Milk Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp salt
1Tbsp light corn syrup
10 oz milk chocolate (I highly recommend getting good quality chocolate.)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
8 Tbsp butter
Heat cream, salt, and corn syrup in microwave-safe measuring cup on high until simmering, about 1 minute. Place chocolate in work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. With machine running, gradually add hot cream mixture through feed tube; process 1 minute after cream has been added. Stop machine; add powdered sugar to bowl and process to combine, about 30 seconds. With machine running, add butter through feed tube one piece at a time; process until incorporated and smooth, about 20 seconds longer. Transfer frosting to medium bowl and cool at room temperature, stirring frequently, until thick and spreadable, about 1 hour.

Nobody can be uncheered...

...with a balloon.

~Winnie the Pooh