The Story of My Return

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My Life as Donna Reed

So, I realize that I left everybody hanging on to my New York experience.  I apologize.  In case you didn't know, I'm home in Ohio and have been for some time now.  As you can guess, my move back was a bit hectic. But that's another post - which I promise will be appearing soon.  And it'll be a good one.

But this post is on a different subject matter.  I've had a lot of free time this summer and last week(ish) was my brother Clay's 17th birthday.  Now, I'm what you call... broke.  But I wanted to do something for him, because for whatever reason, we get along and I like him. Plus he was pretty clever with my last birthday gift; it consisted of solo cups, ping pong balls, a wine key, beer cozies, aspirin, and a snack.  21st birthday - cute right?  So I decided to bake him a cake... from scratch. Not only did I bake a cake but I did it a la Donna Reed, pearls and everything.


When I asked Clay what he wanted his only request was CHOCOLATE!  So I searched online to find the perfect chocolate cake recipe.  Do you know how many cake recipes are online?  Too many.  After looking at about 50 of them and ruling out anything remotely healthy a.k.a vegan, gluten-free, etc. I settled on this recipe for Chocolate Birthday Cake (meets all requirements.)  And I chose a Fluffy Chocolate Kahlua Frosting to top it off because I wanted a little more flavor.  What follows is my adventure in baking and a step by step guide to baking your own Chocolate Birthday Cake.




CHOCOLATE BIRTHDAY CAKE

4 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter - room temp
2 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
6 eggs - room temp
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 c buttermilk






Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease two 10" cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper.
* I used 9" which is what the original recipe called for but you will see why I changed it to 10".
 


Melt semi sweetened and unsweetened chocolate chunks in a double boiler. OR boil and inch or so of water in a sauce pan and melt the chocolate in a bowl on top of the saucepan (which is what I did).  Set aside and cool slightly.
*I think it stands to say that the better ingredients you use, the better the cake will taste ESPECIALLY the chocolate.  I used Ghirardelli.

Combine dry ingredients. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

Cream together the butter and sugar using a standing mixer with a paddle attachment.  Beat butter and sugar on med-high for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with spatula to evenly incorporate the butter.

Add vanilla and eggs.  Pour eggs in one at a time on low, allowing each egg to be fully incorporated before adding the next.

Add the melted chocolate. Mix on low until combined.

Alternate additions of dry ingredients and buttermilk with the mixer on low until fully incorporated.  Finish mixing by hand with a sturdy spatula.



*I wanted to incorporate the Kahlua flavor into the actual cake, so I substituted part of the buttermilk for Kahlua.  I think substituting was a bad plan because the cake came out slightly dry.  You could probably just add 1/2 or 3/4 cup Kahlua or don't try to change the recipe unless you really know what your doing.  I did not know what I was doing.

Pour batter evenly into both pans.
*The original recipe says to run a paring knife through the batter in one smooth motion, one inch from the edge of the pan.  I have NO idea what this accomplishes.  I did it, but you probably don't have to.

Bake for 30 minutes.  Rotate pans and lower the temperature to 325 degrees.  Bake 25-30 more minutes.  And you guessed it, the cakes are done when you stick a wooden toothpick in it and it comes out clean.  And by clean I mean not gooey; it's okay for crumbs to be stuck to it.

Let cool 15 minutes before turning them out of the pans.

*At this point I would like to explain why I told you to use 10" pans and not 9".  When I filled the pans originally I thought they looked awful full but I have no idea what I'm doing so I just kept going.  At about the 30 minute mark I started to smell smoke.  That is not a good sign, especially when the cakes are only half-way through baking.  I opened the oven to discover that the cake had risen and ran over the pans, to drip onto the base of the oven.  Again, I did not put any foil down as a precaution to this.  The cake is nowhere near done cooking and I don't have another oven handy, so what am I supposed to do?  I let it burn.  Smoke was literally billowing out of the oven.  Surprisingly, our normally overzealous smoke detector was on the fritz that day, but we still had to open the windows and door in the kitchen.  I wish I had taken a picture, the entire downstairs was full of smoke.  Good times. Now onto icing.

FLUFFY CHOCOLATE KAHLUA FROSTING

2/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
6 Tbsp boiling water
2 Tbsp Kahlua
1/2 c (1 stick) butter - room temp
4 c confectioners' sugar - sifted
a dash of ground cinnamon

Combine the cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl and pour in the boiling water and Kahlua.  Stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the cocoa comes together into a soft mass

Add butter and blend with an electric mixer on low until soft and well combined (about 30 seconds).
*I could not find an electric mixer and had to combine by hand.  It was muy difficult and took forever. But it's doable.

Add confectioners' sugar and cinnamon. Beat with the mixer on low until sugar is incorporated (about 1 minute.)  Increase speed to medium and beat until frosting lightens and is fluffy (about 2 more minutes.)

You may have to play with water/Kahlua amounts.  This is a large cake and the frosting could use thinning out.  I think it could stand another tablespoon of Kahlua.

Finally, let the cake cool COMPLETELY before frosting.  This may involve putting it the fridge and leaving the house.  I am impatient and did not take my own advice.  I am completely aware that my frustration with cutting the excess cake and frosting said cake is a product of my own vice. 

Add candles and voila, a birthday cake!  I suggest making your party guests where paper birthday hats and eating off of matching plates and napkins.  I chose Transformers for Clay.

Everyone enjoys a party hat!

Happy Birthday Clay!

Celebrity Stalking

Kelly Bensimon: Former Model, Current 'Housewife'

This week has been one of many celebrity sightings--some by chance and some sought out.  For starters, Kelly Bensimon from Real Housewives of New York has been coming into get ice cream fairly regularly while I've been working--two times that I'm sure of but I think three total (that's pretty regularly considering she's pseudo-famous).  Anyway, the first time she came in I didn't know who she was at all. (This time may or may not have occured.)  The second time I thought she looked familiar but wasn't quite sure.  I figured she may have come in before and that's why I recognized her.  But as soon as she left, two girls named Rachel (yes both named Rachel), whom I had been talking to earlier informed me of who she was.  Then she came in again this week on her birthday.  She's never hinted at who she was or made a big deal.  She was fairly nice and her boyfriend was equally pleasant.

Daniel Clark: Degrassi's Sean Cameron

The second pseudo-celebrity I saw this week was in passing on the street.  I was waiting for the bus and this guy walks by and I very obviously pointed at him as he walked by with my mouth kind of gaping.  I didn't say anything, but as soon as I did that motion, my friend Marisa says "Degrassi?"  Confirming the previous display of public recognition.  If you don't know, Degrassi is a Canadian teen television drama.  It's kind of a big deal in Canada.  Anyway, it was Daniel Clark (I had to look up his name).  He played Degrassi's resident bad-ass, Sean Cameron.

Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon

Thursday afternoon, I went with Marisa to see "Talahina Sky," a documentary about the band Kings of Leon.  You may know their most popular song "Use Somebody."  The documentary was amazing. The Kings of Leon are an indie rock band formed by two brothers and their two cousins.  Their roots lie in the south, mostly Tennessee and Oklahoma City.  Their father was a preacher in the Presbyterian church who lead revivals across the south.  The documentary was a very interesting story about their journey, dealing with religion, drugs, fighting, family, etc.   After the showing, they announced that there would be a 15 minute Q&A session with the producer and a special guest (because it is a part of the Tribecca Film Festival.)   The special guest was none other than Kings of Leon lead singer Caleb Followill.  He said that he was down the street at a bar and decided to drop by.  He was definitely drunk when he came and he's kind of shy, so it was very cool of him to be there.

Naya Rivera: Glee's Santana signing autographs 

Lastly, this week Glee has been filming in New York for the final episode of the season.  I know this because they are going to Nationals which take place in New York and somehow came across that they were filming this week.  Tuesday, I skipped class and headed to Central Park.  It was a gorgeous day and even if I didn't see them, it would have been worth it.  No Parking signs that read "Fox untitled project" were posted around 71st and Broadway and so we headed there.  We, Marisa and I, had absolutely no idea where they were in Central Park and it's kind of a big park.  But we headed into the park at Strawberry Fields and not five minutes later, we spot a ton of trucks and trailers.  In short, we saw the cast of Glee.  We watched them rehearse a scene, stalked them a little while they waited to shoot, and then watched them actually shoot the scene.  Things were getting a little heated when they began to shoot and so we left.  But we decided to check it out from a different angle which was a very good idea.  You see they can't actually close down a part of the park, but they can strongly urge people to get out of their way.  So we came up and they told us that we wouldn't be able to get through and that we should go around.  But instead we just sat on the fence.  Thing is, we were surrounded by background actors because the cameras were facing in that direction.  I don't think that we actually got in the frame but there is a minuscule chance that we did.  Then they changed the shot and they began to move everyone back as far as they could.  We escaped the attention of the first two crew members and almost became background actors ourselves but the third pusher came straight up to us and all he said was "ladies."  At that point we were too far away to see anything, so we left.  Glee filmed in Washington Square park on Friday, but I intern all day on Friday so I didn't get to see them again.  It was very cool but kind of strange doing that.  Because they are just people trying to do their job and people were literally freaking out.  Also, there aren't actual rules involved in the fandom stalking but people tend to keep their distance on their own.  There was really no stopping me from walking through their set or through their trailers, but no one did.  They had barriers set up and people crowded behind them trying to get a look at the stars, but Marisa and I walked right in front of them.  It was very strange.  And when they got close (and I mean close enough to touch)  I felt very awkward, because I'm not one to shout at them or try to get them to talk to me because I would feel rude but just standing there and staring is kind of stranger.

Marisa took the picture of Naya and this video with her iphone as they walked by on their way to shoot the scene.  The quality isn't very good but you can see how close we were.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Me imitating Carol

I am officially 21 years old, which means good times for everyone.  My mom and aunt Carol came to visit last weekend to celebrate.  I had an amazing and exhausting time with them.  We started off with some sushi in Brooklyn.  I was hungry and didn't feel like looking very hard for a place to stay.  Plus, we figured we all needed to try something new.  We all somewhat mastered the chopsticks by the end of the meal with the help of home-made training chopsticks the waitress gave us.  I think we all agreed that it was okay and we could eat it once in a while but it wasn't really satisfying.

Carol attempting to learn how to use chopsticks

Then we did a little Brooklyn shopping just up and down the street.  And I found a genuine leather biker jacket for $40.  I have been wanting one for a while now and it wasn't exactly what I had in mind but I'm like what the heck and bought myself a little birthday present.

Mom experienced her first New York subway ride and didn't understand why we had to go through turnstiles when leaving the station, even after many attempts to explain it to her.  "But why can't it just be open?"  I think she finally got it though.

We had cupcakes and wine at Sweet Revenge in the West Village and ate dinner at Marinella's just across the street.  To end the night we went to the Pegu club in Soho and had amazing albeit expensive drinks.  Mom and Carol were beat and I was pretty tired myself, so they went back to Brooklyn while I hung out with a few friends a while longer.

Carol, Mom, and me at Top of the Rock

Friday morning started at Top of the Rock observatory deck, where we got a full view of the city.  We saw some sights on Fifth Avenue and almost made it on television as we entered St. Patrick's Cathedral on Good Friday.  Window shopping and Central park rounded out our tour uptown.  The rest of the day was spent shopping/looking in SoHo.  No one really found anything and Carol and I became numb to the sticker shock.  We ended the night at Arturo's, a great find right by SoHo.  It's seems to be a family run restaurant/bar specializing in pizza.  The atmosphere was great; we were serenaded by an Asian jazz trio throughout most of dinner.  And man was the pizza worth 4 dollars a topping - so delicious.

Carol, Mom and I about to see Priscilla

Saturday we were supposed to go site-seeing, places like the Statue of Liberty and such, but it was raining.  So we took our chances at the tckt booth and got tickets to a matinee showing of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert - a broadway musical about three drag queens on a road-trip through the Australian desert.  With songs by Madonna, Donna Summer, and Cyndi Lauper, how could we not love it?  Plus it had drag.

The rain through us off a little bit and we weren't quite sure what to do.  We didn't get to see the MoMA because it closed at 5 and the show didn't get out until 4 something.   And none of us had any real ideas of what we wanted to do.  So I took them down St. Marks Place just to check it out and then we had dinner in the East Village at a place called Candella's.  It had stopped raining and was nice enough to sit outside by this point.  The owner was very accommodating and we enjoyed our Italian and Cuban dishes, desserts, and some Dutch, Chocolate Red Wine (isn't dat vierd?) on the house.

The weekend was pretty exhausting.  I don't think I've walked that much since ever. (Except last week when I walked 130 blocks from 116th to my dorm in 2.5 hours.  Good times.)  And we didn't do anything too terribly crazy or exiting, but it was nice just to be together. 

On a separate note, the weather today was H-O-T gorgeous.  And I got a little bit of a sunburn while I was celebrity stalking in central park.  But that will be my next post.

Miserable Weather

I didn't realize it had been that long since my last post.  For some reason, Fuerza Bruta does not seem that long ago.  Anyway...

Things are going.  I've been in a work rut the past two weeks, completely unmotivated to do anything productive, but I think I'm finally beginning to see the light again.  It would help if the weather would get nice.  We've had a few 'okay' kind of days, but mostly it's cold and rainy and miserable.

I just hope it gets nice the last few weeks I'm here.  I've a little over a month left, which at times seems longer than it should be but it's going to fly by.  I'm so ready for classes to be over (more than ever before I think.)  But I don't want the fun things, the opportunities, to end.

Nothing terribly exciting has happened since my last post, as far as my memory serves.  This is more of a "I'm still alive" post to let you know that... I'm still alive.

That's all.