I hope everyone has something fun planned for Labor Day weekend. I’m going to Colorado to visit my BFF and some other friends who live up there. I’m excited for some cooler weather and girl time.
For fun, check out this video of a day in the life of Abbey Road. It gets quite a workout. I’ll admit, I really want to take a picture walking across the street myself. Blame Ringo.
If anyone has seen the movie Get Him to the Greek, you will get my stroke the furry wall reference. Albert loved this movie and downloaded the entire soundtrack right after we saw it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to Furry Walls in the his car since then. So, the first thing I thought when seeing these furry message boards on Design*Sponge, was that we kind of need one. They actually are pretty neat.
Here’s something funny to read this morning. Maybe this just cracks me up because I have a weird thing about fonts, but I love this imagined dialogue, I’m Comic Sans Asshole. Only one more day until the weekend!
For Albert’s birthday last Thursday, I made him a Guinness chocolate cake that I found on Annie’s Eats. Albert loves Guinness, so I thought it would be the perfect thing. Annie said she could really taste the Guinness in the cake, and although I could not at all, it was was still delicious. I mean, not to brag or anything, but Albert’s little brother did say it was best cake he’d ever eaten. Here’s the recipe. I only changed it a tiny but from the original.
Chocolate Guinness Cake
For the cake:
1 cup Guinness beer
10 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups superfine sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese (no need to soften)
5 tbsp. butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour the sides of two 6-inch round spring form pans, and line the bottom with parchment paper. In a small saucepan, combine the Guinness and butter. Heat over medium heat until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat. Sift and whisk in the cocoa powder and sugar.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Add the Guinness mixture to the bowl and mix until incorporated. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of the mixer and mix on low speed until just incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes back clean. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Once cooled, remove the sides of the pan.
To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream on medium-high speed. Add the powdered sugar to the bowl in batches, beating on low until just combined and then on high speed until desired consistency is reached. For a stiffer icing, add more powdered sugar. Frost cooled cake as desired, I recommend a lot of the delicious frosting in between the layers.
And enjoy!
Last night my mom, dad, and I went dinner with the Arizona Cardinals at the Second Annual Larry Fitzgerald & Friends Celebrity Servers Night to benefit The Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Foundation and The Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund at Morton’s.
My mom used to teach Larry cooking lessons, so they’re old friends. We had fun getting pictures with the all cardinals in their server’s aprons.
During the live auction at dinner, my mom and I tried to win a trip on a private jet to go see Kurt Warner on the Dancing with the Stars this season, but sadly we lost.
We got to see the big Cardinals players learning how to open wine bottles and being bossed around by the real Morton’s servers. Levi was an excellent server and very good with the pepper grinder.
Overall, the night was a lot of fun and the food was, of course, delicious.
Wow, another place in the world I did not know about and now want to go to. Madagascar’s stone forest looks incredible, and that monkey is cute too. The Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park is located in Western Madagascar and is a World Heritage Site. Tthe word tsingy can be translated into English as where one cannot walk barefoot. I’ll agree with that.
Two cute New York couples spotted over the at The Sartorialist. I love both the girls shoes, even they’re pretty much opposites. Also, notice how both the boys have their pants rolled up a little at their ankles.
Something fun for the weekend: check out this video, The Secret Powers of Time. It’s a little long, but it really is fun to watch. I hope everyone has a great weekend. I’ll be down in Tucson celebrating Albert’s birthday and hopefully getting a little work done too.
(photo via les contours du silence)
Growing up I always wanted a trampoline but we weren’t allowed to get one because my mom thought we would fall off and break bones. Well now that I’m big, I actually still want one, and I think this ground level trampoline from the 9 By Design family looks like so much fun and not as dangerous. My family is going to have one.
Happy birthday to Alberto. He’s the big 2-3 today. I hope you have a wonderful day, baby, and I’ll see you tonight with gifts and treats.
