Taste the Rainbow!

My Nana turns 81 tomorrow and is probably the sweetest person I know.

My mom threw her a birthday bash this past weekend and when Mom asked me if I would be willing to make the cake for the party, I of course said "yes!" How could I pass up the opportunity to do something special for a woman who has been so dear to me throughout my life?! Not a chance.

I called Nana to ask her what her favorite kind of cake is and she said "I don't know dear! Just make your favorite." That answer didn't surprise me in the least. Not only does that statement embody her sweet and giving personality....it also reveals my Nana's deep indifference to cake. You see, my Nana is very much an ice cream person. A trait that has been passed on through the generations - first to my mother, then to my sister, it skipped me in the form of a dairy allergy, but has definitely shown itself to be a powerful force in my sweet son's life -- even at the tender age of 2!

So when I set about to make a cake for this party I knew my mission was not only to provide a cake, but it had to be one that would melt some of the icy indifference to cake that is inherent in my family. (hehe) This cake had to be a show-stopper. And because I like to be able to taste the things that I make; it had to be dairy free. :)

I searched a bit on the internetzz, finding some delicious sounding cakes....flourless chocolate almond cake for example....and I found some really complicated cakes...

(Steel Magnolias anyone?)

But I was having trouble finding THE cake.

Until....I remembered a post from MckMama's blog...about a RAINBOW cake.

Behold....the heavens parted and she saw...THE CAKE!

I was so stinkin' excited to make this cake I can't even tell you.

My version looked a little different (partly because my pictures were taken by a phone camera, partly because I used strawberry frosting and partly because, well, I'm not as neat of a baker as the woman who made the original cake!) But it still turned out pretty cool and I was super happy with it.

So here's how I did it:

I made 2 batches of this Dairy Free Vanilla Cake Batter:

2 cups sugar
1 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks, softened
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk mixed with 1 Tbsp white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat sugar and buttery sticks at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; add to sugar mixture alternately with the soymilk/vinegar mixture (aka "buttermilk"), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat a medium-low speed just until blended after each addition. (batter will be thick)

If you are so inclined, and not allergic to it like me, you can use boxed cake mix instead of making your own from scratch. Just use 2 boxes. It will considerably cut down on the time it takes to make this cake! Just a note -- if you do use boxed cake mix, use 1 cup of batter in the next steps instead of 1 1/2 or you will run out! :)

Baking the Rainbow:

Need --
Red, Yellow, Green and Blue Food Coloring
2 batches of Vanilla Cake Batter
3-6 9 inch round cake pans
Crisco for greasing the pans
Cooling racks
Wax Paper

Preheat the oven to 350

When you have 2 batches of cake batter; separate the batter into 6 bowls -- about 1 1/2 cups of batter per bowl.

Follow the directions on the food coloring to add colors into the bowls. You will want to make one layer of each of these colors: RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE and PURPLE. Take care to only mix your batter as much as you need to. Overmixing your cake batter will activate the gluten in the flour and make your cake dense and heavy.

When you have reached the desired shade of color for each layer pour each color of batter into its own well greased cake pan.

You can put up to 3 pans in the oven at a time to bake.

Baking time will vary depending on how many layers you have in the oven at once, so check the cakes after 10 minutes and then again every 3-4 minutes after that. The cake is done with a toothpick inserted in the thickest part of the cake comes out clean.

When your layers are finished baking (and if you only have 3 cake pans like me) you'll want to remove the cake from the pan asap. You can do this by turning the cake pan over onto a well greased cooling rack. Then wash your cake pans and refill with other colors.

After all your layers are baked and cooled, you can either wrap them in wax paper and freeze them to assemble the next day or you can get to assembling right away!

Frosting the Rainbow:

I made a big fat triple batch of Strawberry Vanilla Vegancream

1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan Butterysticks, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar
1/2 cup of fresh strawberries, chopped

Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with strawberries, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addtion.

Assembling the Rainbow:

Level the tops of each layer of cooled cake with a large bread knife. Slice into the cakes horizontally so that the centers of the cakes are no longer higher than the edges (something that usually happens to them when they are baked). This is important so that the colors will display evenly when the completed cake is cut. Your rainbow will appear warped and not even unless you level the tops of each cake first.

Begin assembly with the purple layer. Set the purple layer on your cake stand or plate. Add enough frosting to cover the layer with enough to spill over the edges (about 1/2 to 1 cup of frosting). Run the flat, smooth side of a large knife around the cake to smooth out the frosting.

Add the blue layer of cake on top of the frosted purple one. Put more frosting in the middle and spread again with the flat, smooth side of a large knife so that the frosting covers the layer and falls out over the edges. Run your knife around the outside edge of the cake as well, to smooth out the sides.

Put the cake into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or the freezer for 1 hour.

Repeat with green layer and then yellow layer.

Put the cake into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or the freezer for 1 hour.

Repeat with orange layer and finally with red layer.

Freezing between each two rounds of layers is recommended. The cake can get really heavy by the time you are adding the 4th, 5th and 6th layers. If it is somewhat frozen at this point, the cake will not get smooshed or crushed. Additionally, it is much easier to frost the cake when it is relatively solid, not wobbling all over the place.

Cover the cake with frosting and run the flat, straight edge of a knife around the top and the edges of the cake to smooth out frosting. Add wording or decorations to the top of the cake as desired.

Voila! Rainbow Cake.

Taste it.

For the record, my Nana, Mom AND Sister all loved this cake.



So did my little Seth. ;)

Eddie

Once upon a college Psychology class I was warned about Self Fulfilling Prophecies. You know what that is right....if you worry about something you may inadvertently make it come true?

Well it seems that I've created one of these for myself. Remember this post where I worried that by giving my son a multitude of nicknames I might be setting him up for an identity crisis? Ummmmmmmm, yeah.

It has happened.

Meet Eddie.

Seriously. My son talks about himself in the third person and calls himself "Eddie."

Now -- there are numerous explanations for this, such as "Sethy" is hard for him to say and when he says his name it sounds like "Eddie." And he talks about himself in the third person because when speaking to him I speak about myself in the third person. As in -- "That's Mama's cup" or "Mama is going upstairs" or "Mama is going lose her mind if she has to wash one more sinkload of dirty dishes."

So no, I don't think it's an actual identity crisis. And I'm not going to be seeking mental health care for my 2 1/2 year old. But I do think it's pretty funny.

Just like I think it's pretty funny that he also refers to himself as, and insists that his father and I call him "Bob."

As in Bob the Builder.

And while "Bob" is a skilled craftsman who can construct heat pumps, houses, train tracks and couches out of Legos, he is nothing without his team of trusty sidekicks.

So "Bob" has invited his parents to the identity crisis party. I'm "Wendy," a beautiful buxom blonde who keeps Bob's building business burgeoning and who I TOTALLY resemble.

And here's a pic of "Bob" and "Farmer Pickles."

See the resemblence to the "real" Farmer Pickles?

Neither do I.....Thank God! ;)

CAN'T. TALK. ABOUT. IT.

Ugh.

Here's the deal.

I like to talk.

I like to talk A LOT.

I love to tell stories.

I love to talk about feelings.

I love laughing with strangers.

I love to analyze behaviors and thought patterns.

According to my husband I can even talk things to death.

I'm getting better but I can be a habitual over-sharer.

I talk to strangers in the line at the grocery store.

I make idle chit-chat with service employees.

One of my favorite things about having a child is that I can talk to myself in public and people think I'm talking to my child.

Guys, I even talk to strangers in elevators.

And here I am.

In Jury Duty.

Surrounded by all sorts of fascinating characters, describing interesting events, participating in history, keeping the wheels of our justice system greased and moving, protecting the laws and moral statutes of our land, ensuring that order will prevail....

And I CAN'T TALK ABOUT IT.

Ugh.

Mama's Little Music Man

Mix Master P - March '09

My son LOVES music. He loves listening to it, he loves making it.

Well, I guess what he makes wouldn't be classified as music quite yet, but he tries! We'll just say that he loves experimenting with sound. He jibberjabbers constantly, rhyming words and changing the intonation of his voice. A lot of the time it sounds like he's singing. He loves to play with anything that makes a sound, his wooden recorder, plastic xylophone, his daddy's guitar and our family piano are among his favorites. I am genuinely impressed with his piano playing skills; he doesn't just bang on the keys, but presses them gently with one finger at a time and often will string notes together making a little tune. He will also make an instrument out of just about anything. He has been known to make his mother extremely nervous by banging different items on our glass coffee table just to hear the different sounds they make. He loves to dance and asks me to sing all the time. Lately he has been asking me to sing songs that I don't even know! For instance, the other day he asked me to sing "the strawberry song." I don't even know if there IS a song about strawberries! But I made one up, and my sweet boy told this nearly tone deaf mother that my song should be on the radio. He knows just how to melt his mama's heart. ;)

It is absolutely amazing to watch this interest and aptitude unfold. I really believe that his interest in music is innate. He certainly doesn't get it from me, I took piano lessons throughout my childhood and still only play as well as a 3rd grader. I played the saxophone for several years but totally faked my way through high school band (and it's good thing I did, cuz that's where I met my hubby!). I know I should, but I don't intentionally expose Seth to music. In fact, most of the time I listen to talk radio instead of music. Just the way I'm wired I guess.

He must get it from his father. My hubby is musical, so much so that I think of him whenever I read this Mother Goose Rhyme:

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross,
to see a fine lady upon a white horse.
Rings on her fingers
Rings on her toes.
She shall have music wherever she goes.

Nathan makes music wherever he goes. He is an absurdly good whistler. He says "practice makes perfect" when it comes to whistling, and I believe him...he whistles all the time! I've told him on several occasions that he should enter a whistling contest because I'm pretty sure he would win. He is always singing, drumming his fingers and listening to music. He can hear a song once and then sit down to play it on the guitar. He has never taken a piano lesson in his life, doesn't read music and can play by ear better than I can ever dream of playing! His musical ability is definitely one of the reasons I fell in love with him. He even sang and played his guitar as part of his marriage proposal to me. **SWOOOOOOOOON**

I feel so blessed that Seth is interested in music. I've always dreamed of being musical and I would love the opportunity to nurture that trait in my son. My hubby loves it too; one of his and Seth's favorite things to do together is jam on the guitar. ;)

And for a two year old, I think Seth has pretty eclectic taste in music. Of which I am inordinately proud. But hey, being inordinately proud of your child is one of the perks of being a mom.

Here are a some of Seth's (current) favorite songs that he requests by name:

**Brass Monkey by The Beastie Boys
**Old McDonald had a Farm
**Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard by Paul Simon
**The Science of Selling Yourself Short by Less than Jake
**The Name Game by Shirley Ellis
**Big Green Tractor by Jason Aldean
**Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin

Not bad, eh?

I've been singing that last one to Seth since he was in the womb and he still loves for me to sing it to him before bed. It seems like a strange song to sing to a child, but honestly, it's one of the only "non-camp" songs I can sing without sounding too much like a frog. Nathan once said that he can't wait to teach Seth to play that song on the guitar. Truth be told, I can't either. Nathan says he'd love for Seth to play it for me on my 50th birthday. I can hardly think of a better gift. But you know, if Seth doesn't end up playing the guitar, it's no big deal. I'm enjoying the music he makes now, and that is gift is enough for me. ;)

Not Me!! Monday

This blog carnival is the brain child of MckMama. Check out her blog to see what others have NOT been up to this week.

This past Tuesday evening I did NOT go to a friend's house for a Girl's Movie Night and end up not even turning on the movie. She and I did NOT just sit on the couch drinking rum and cokes and chatting until 1am. Ahem, NOT us!

If you had bugged my home with a secret listening device this week you definitely would NOT have heard me say to my 2 year old: "Stop that this instant! You are not a feral raccoon, you are a human child and will behave as such!" You would also NOT have heard me say "No Honey, Mama will not talk to your penis......yes, Sweetheart, I will talk to your bellybutton. That's fine." No, I would never EVER have an occasion to say such things.

I also did NOT get a wild hair one afternoon this week and decide to take down the wallpaper in our upstairs bathroom. And if I had, I definitely would have finished the project speedily and I would NOT have gotten bored of scraping wallpaper glue off the wall after two days and taken an indefinite hiatus from the project. Um no, NOT me!!

And I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I keep a spotless home. My family is always well groomed and if you were to stop by our home at this very minute, we would be as we always are....wearing starched shirts, sitting in our parlor with perfectly coiffed hair admiring our doilie collection, drinking tea with our pinkies raised and discussing water polo. You know, "the usual." So it would of course stand to reason that this weekend I would NEVER EVER have let my child have rule of the kitchen counter to "make cinnamon rolls" and essentially turn himself into an Oompa Loompa.







And if I had I certainly would NEVER have hurried to clean up the mess before my neatnik husband came home. I would have never EVER showed Mr. TidyPants the pictures of our little orange angel and giggled as he turned white in horror. Nope, never. NOT ME!!!

Geography Lessons

The other morning Seth told me he wanted to go "bye bye."

When I asked where he wanted to go, my sweet little peanut answered: "Acapulco."

Apparently the geography lessons his father has been giving him are paying off.

Also, I think Seth may be onto something...






Mmmmmmmmmmm.........Acapulco. Who's in?

Wordless Wednesday