Spiritually Speaking

Spiritually Speaking

March Book Club

This month for book club we are reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Im very excited to read this especially after reading the synopsis:

"August Pullman was born with a facial deformity that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. WONDER, now a #1 New York Times bestseller and included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance."


I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this book.

Alisha x x

  

Keep Calm And....

Today is the one day of the year when we are all given a get out of jail free card. You can pinch people with no consequence, well kind of. As a child I LOVED this day. As a parent I dread it. Waking up to one child pinching another straight away or the fear that some child might not see my children's "hidden" green and pinch them. 

Even though St. Patricks Day is not my favorite holiday I still like to decorate for it.  This year with all the Keep Calm signs being so popular I decided to make this one. 

Thanks to my silhouette it was super easy. 

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Alisha x x

Spiritually Speaqking

Spiritually Speaking

German Chocolate Frosting

Over the years I have come to realize one very important thing in life. Something which has changed my way of thinking, my way of cooking and most importantly my way of enjoying food. That's making things from scratch. Everything just tastes so much better when it's homemade. For this reason I'm going to share with you one of my most loved recipes.

I love German Chocolate Cake and this recipe is a real winner. This past weekend we had some friends over for dessert and this is what I made. All 4 of us are trying to be very good and loose a few extra pounds but this cake was definitely worth indulging.

Do you have a favorite cake recipe? Id love to hear it. Cake is my weakness so actually maybe I don't want to hear it but then again a cheat day is OK from time to time :)

Cake Ingredients:

1/2 c. water
4 (1oz) squares German Sweet Chocolate
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. white sugar

4 egg yolks
1 tea. vanilla
1 c. buttermilk
2 1/2 c. cake flour
1 tea. baking soda
1/2 tea salt
4 egg whites

Frosting Ingredients:

1 c. evaporated milk
1 c brown sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 c. butter
1 tea vanilla
1 c. chopped pecans
1 1/3 c flaked coconut

Directions:

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 - 9 inch round pans. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat water and 4 ounces chocolate until melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
2. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 4 egg yolks one at a time. Blend in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated.
3. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain.
4. Pour into 3 - 9 inch pans Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto wire rack.

 Frosting:

In a large saucepan combine evaporated milk, brown sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut. Let cool to room temperature before spreading on cake.

If you don't have time to make the cake, which really doesn't take long to do. Then go ahead and buy a box cake. But please for the love of everything in this world please never buy store bought frosting. This recipe is so easy to make and is absolutely gorgeous! You wont be disappointed! I PROMISE!

Love,
Alisha

Spiritually Speaking