Monday, March 02, 2009

Happy Monday!

Today is a snowy, windy day here in Maryland. We woke up to around two inches of snow! (grandma, papa, aunts, uncles, & cousins in Chicago are laughing hysterically right now) Later we are going to attempt to go out and play for a little bit, but it is just blowing too hard right now. Check back later for snow pictures! Grover our weimaraner and Asher our Great Dane have loved playing out in the white stuff!
Greyson is really itching to get out there too! (having a lazy pj day)
I’ll leave you with a recap of our Sunday. After church we went to a party for my grandparents as they celebrated 60 years of love and devotion.
My cousin Jennifer and I with our babies!
Taylor-1, Greyson-4

Greyson and his pop-pa being silly!
My brother, Dad and me:
My grandparents even renewed their wedding vows in front of hundreds of friends and family.
It was beautiful! They have accomplished so much in their lifetime, which includes 5 children, 8 grandchildren, and 8 (soon to be 9) great grandchildren.

Yesterday I also managed to make a yummy cake for last nights’ bible study. Lemon Apricot Chiffon cake (scroll down for recipe)
Lemon Apricot Chiffon Cake
5 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 box white cake mix
3 large egg yolks
3/4 cup apricot nectar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 Tablespoon lemon juice
glaze: 2 cups 10x sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon apricot nectar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, place rack in center of oven. Beat egg whites and cream of tarter until stiff peaks form, 2-3 minutes. Set aside. Mix cake mix, egg yolks, apricot nectar, oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest on low speed for one minute. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Increase mixer to medium and beat for two minutes, until well combined. Place egg whites on top of mixed batter. With a rubber spatula fold whites into batter. Pour batter into a greased 10-inch bunt pan. Bake cake until golden brown and springs back, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan for 30 minutes. Run a knife around edge of the cake and invert onto a rack to release. For glaze: mix all ingredients and blend on low for one minute. Drizzle on top of cake and let set for 20 minutes. Slice, serve and enjoy!
A few tips.... #1-I use a stoneware bunt pan from the pampered chef. It is very heavy but an awesome pan, nothing ever sticks! #2- Microwave fresh whole lemons for 10-15 seconds and then roll on counter top before cutting. You will extract tons of fresh lemon juice this way! #3- Apricot nectar was found in the latino isle.

9 comments:

Julie said...

Hey girl,

So strange to see the pictures of snow when it's sunny here in the NorthWest. I'm so ready for the warm weather ;~) You look fantastic and yay for being almost half way there. I actually started to feel the baby around 11 weeks. My friends thought I was crazy but I'm feeling the exact same thing now as I was then of course it's more frequent. We have our 20 week u/s next Monday...eekkk! Here's my email in case you want email instead of post.

julie.nowacki@gmail.com

Blessings to you and your family and that sweet little baby girl Ava!

Suz said...

You have a beautiful family! I'm so glad you stopped by my blog. I'll have to start following along on yours. After seeing your belly shot I'm nervous I'm going to be huge!! :)

In This Wonderful Life said...

I'm jealous of your snow! Here in Oklahoma it is in the 40's one day and 80's the next..crazy! I'm ready for Spring! 60 years is AMAZING!! Beautiful pics and that cake looks yum! I need to try to make it!

BOWquet said...

Great blog and beautiful family!

check us out at:
www.bowquet.blogspot.com

Heather said...

Look at that snow, gorgeous!!! What great pictures, all of them!! That cake looks yummy, thanks for sharing!

Kendra said...

Don't you just love snow pics?? I think a fresh blanket of snow makes everything look so pretty =)
That recipe looks SOOOOO yummy! Thanks for sharing it!
Happy Tuesday =)

Kristen said...

Snow is always so much fun when it comes in small doses. Too much for loo long and I don't love it so much! That recipe looks yummy, I'll have to try that sometime!

Lauren said...

OMG!!!!!! Look at all that snow. Absolutely breathtaking. What beautiful pictures, and how amazing 60 years of marriage! You have a beautiful family!!!! :o)

Melissa said...

What a beautiful photo of your house with the snow. It looks like a postcard. Enjoy the snow today! Wish we had just a little bit of snow here in Houston.

Wish your grandparents a Happy Anniversary from us. What an amazing accomplishment..being married for 60 years!!!! We all need to take pointers from them.

Have a great week!