70th Birthday Celebration

The entire J gang met in Lake Guntersville, AL on the third week of January for the matriach of the family, Aunt J's 70th birthday celebration. She is Mr. J's oldest aunt and his god mother.

I volunteered to bake the cake since I absolutely love the challenge and spent weeks planning what to make. Her favorite is red velvet and I had never made it before so after a lot of research (smittenkitchen.com was one of my favs!), I finally settled on the following;

Top layer - red velvet cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting

Red Velvet Cake
Adapted from “The Confetti Cakes Cookbook” by Elisa Strauss via the New York Times 2/14/07
Time: 90 minutes, plus cooling
Yield: 3 cake layers

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place teaspoon of butter in each of 3 round 9-inch layer cake pans and place pans in oven for a few minutes until butter melts. Remove pans from oven, brush interior bottom and sides of each with butter and line bottoms with parchment.
2. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.
3. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring. (Take care: it may splash.) Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.
4. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.
5. Divide batter among pans, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pans 20 minutes. Then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel off parchment. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from several sources
Makes 6 cups

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter room temperature
3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. With a handheld electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat, on low speed to combine. If too soft, chill until slightly stiff, about 10 minutes, before using.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream
"The Cake Bible," by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

9 oz. white chocolate, melted, cooled to room temperature
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
6 oz. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice, or to taste
Beat cream cheese in mixing bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in the melted and cooled chocolate until incorporated. Add in the butter and lemon juice last, beating well until smooth.


Bottom layer - Chocolate Butter Cake with Brandied Chocolate Ganache layers and Swiss Buttercream frosting (I LOVE this frosting!)

Chocolate Butter Cake
Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes
Makes one 8-inch square, three layer cake

3 cups cake flour
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
3 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups freshly brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter three 8-inch square cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.
2. In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for about 30 seconds. Add the butter and buttermilk and blend on low until moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Whisk the eggs and coffee together, and add to the batter in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating only until blended after each addition. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans; each pan will take about 3 1/4 cups of batter.
4. Bake for 38 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Carefully turn them out onto wire racks and allow to cool completely. Remove the paper liners only when they are cool.

Bittersweet Brandied Ganache
16oz chocolate (1 lbs)
1 stick butter
8 oz cream (1 cup)
1.5oz brandy (3tbsp)

Swiss Buttercream

For a 9-inch cake (plus filling, or some to spare)
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
26 tablespoons butter, softened (3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a big metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk occasionally until you can’t feel the sugar granules when you rub the mixture between your fingers.

2. Transfer mixture into the mixer and whip until it turns white and about doubles in size. (Here’s a tip: when you transfer to the mixer, make sure you wipe the condensation off the bottom of the bowl so that no water gets into the egg whites. This can keep them from whipping up properly.)

3. Add the vanilla.

4. Finally, add the butter a stick at a time and whip, whip, whip.

This took 3 days to bake and freeze the layers, prepare icing and actually icing the cake on the day of the birthday. It was tiring but worth it because the birthday girl absolutely loved it.


Birthday gal with her cake


Don't ask me why I am flushing, it seems to be a normal occurance these days.


Cakes being baked. This is the chocolate cake layers.


Close up of the end project


Banana cream pie and apple pie. I made these in addition to the cakes as my dessert contribution. The banana cream pie was a sold out.


Shelbie and Drevan, our niece (Mr. J's sister's daughter) and nephew (Mr. J's cousin's son) , I think they love each other :)

All in all, it was a tiring but but weekend.

We're going back to the Lake this Friday to spend Valentine's Day at the new Lodge. I cannot wait to just to get away with Mr. J for some quiet R&R just by ourselves. I love the lazy, luxurious don't-have-to-be-anywhere-or-do-anything-if-we-wanted weekends away. Our last chance till baby comes, and then I can imagine that every outing would never be the same :) But how we look forward to it!

Baby Purchase #2

This weekend, we went stroller shopping and finally decided on the Gra*co Quattr*o Travel System in Deco.


We figured if the next one is a girl, she can still use the color scheme. We met a Mommy at the store with the exact same one for her daughter and she could not stop singing praises about it. We love it and think it rides real well and it seems sturdy with lots of storage space which was important to us cos knowing me, I'd pack everything but the kitchen sink for a walk in the park :)

So with the stroller out of the way, we went to visit one of the short listed Day Care centers yesterday and it is pretty overwhelming deciding these things. I think we asked good questions and were pleased with the place but we'd still like to see a few more before deciding for the sake of due diligence :)

Up next on our listing, choosing a pediatrician.

Stay tuned!

Cord blood banking?

A poll to all you Mommies out there, Mr. J and I are deciding whether we want to do Cord Blood banking. Any thoughts? It costs approximately $2k upfront with $125 annual storage fee. We're thinking that we hope never to need this but if the unthinkable happens, we have a backup plan. Any of you have done this before? If so, let me know who you went with and how it went for you.

Project baby room

How quickly has the weeks gone by??? I'm now at 30 weeks and the final countdown has begun. I think we've progressed well, I am feeling great, baby seem to be doing what he's supposed to be doing and starting Week 32, I will see the doctor twice a week for the Bio-Physical Profile (BPP) and Non-Stress Test (NST) which basically measures the baby's growth and well being. This is necessary due to the gestational diabetes so we're praying all goes well.

Daddy-to-be has been working so diligently on the baby room over the past 6 weeks, we put crown molding up, he painted the walls, his Aunts came to help put up the bead boards one Saturday and everything else, he finished himself this past week. I am really proud of him, he worked on this every single chance he could, every single week night and weekend and it turned out fabulous. The pictures does not do it justice because you don't see the different textures nor can I seem to fit the entire room into the picture but I'll keep trying especially when we have the room 100% decorated and complete.

So On January 31st, Mr. J's two aunts came to help out with putting up the crimson bead boards. It was a long day starting at 7am and ended well past midnight.


Starting up for the day.


Both Aunties hard at work... can't believe they drove for 6 hours to get here and then work the entire day. It is MUCH appreciated!


Still going at it well past midnight...


Walls are up and furniture in. Almost there...


Some of the stuff we've gotten off our Target registry.

Now with the room ready, my work starts, I've got to pick out curtains and rugs and wash all the baby's things, line the drawers, get diapers, lotions etc... it is so exciting, aren't baby things so tiny and adorable???

A day etched in memory

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 marked a sad day in our lives. Our dear neighbor, Mr. Thompson passed away peacefully in his sleep. He never made it to his 77th birthday. Our hearts mourn this wonderful, intelligent, warm, kind and generous man. He was never without a smile or a story to tell and he always kept an eye on things for us... I still remember when wwe had first moved in and my husband had to go out of town. It was the first time I was all alone and I was extra careful to turn the alarm on after me and lock all doors... or so I thought... I heard the door bell ring one evening and greeted the door with Bob wagging his finger at me, I didn't understand until I opened the door to see my keys dangling on the outside!

My favorite memories of Bob is the long conversations we would have just sitting out on the porch or playing with the puppy, Bob loved little Bama and was tempted to even get one of his own! I am saddened that we can never have those conversations anymore. This is one man who has accomplished so much in his life and yet, so humble. I wish we had known him a lot longer than the 2-3 years we've been neighbors but I shall not be too greedy and cherish the time we did share.

Rest in peace my friend, I know you are in a better place where hurt no longer wrecks your physique and also where your wife must be excited to see you again! Say hi to Scott for me as well and until we meet again, I hope you know how much we have enjoyed your friendship!

Here's the obituary obtained from the Tennessean (http://www.legacy.com/Tennessean/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=122637324)

Walter Robert Thompson

THOMPSON, Walter Robert February 26, 1932 to January 7, 2009. Walter Robert "Bob" Thompson passed away at his home on Wednesday, achieving one of his final goals. A complex and unique man, Bob's life was typified by the themes of intellect, ethics, persistence and achievement. His intellect, which was evident throughout his life, was fed by a voracious appetite for learning and reading coupled with a rigid adherence to intellectual honesty and the search for the truth.

This intellectual gift and approach rewarded Bob in later life with the chance to teach Ethics at Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Business, a role he cherished. In some respects this was a coming of full circle as Vanderbilt had played an earlier important part in Bob's life, having graduated from Vanderbilt Law School at age 42 with no undergraduate degree, one of only two persons to have done so. This law degree in addition to satisfying another goal, namely following in the footsteps of his Grandfather, Judge Walter Benjamin Thompson, provided the means for Bob to continue to serve one of his great loves, music and the composers who create it.

Prior to Law School, Bob had a significant background and resume of achievement in the production and marketing of music working with greats such as Dave Brubeck, Barbra Streisand, Andy Williams, Robert Goulet, and Bill Watrous, and two albums he produced are included in the permanent collection of Contemporary Jazz at the Smithsonian. Once having attained to the practice of law, his love for the creators of music led him to a legal career exemplified by the defense and protection of the intellectual property rights of those creators including Otis Redding, Roger Miller, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and others. Additional achievements include the Associated Press Citation of Merit for his role leading the broadcast of the 1956 Soviet Invasion of Hungary for Armed Forces Radio, serving as President of SESAC Music, Inc., lecturing on Leadership Ethics at the Pentagon, Chairing the TN State Film, Music and Entertainment Commission, imprinting so many people who now share his passion for ethics and integrity, and certainly not least, providing his children with an opportunity set very different from that with which he started.

Bob is survived by his mother Ruth Thompson, three sisters, his three children Philip, Carolyn and Bo, their spouses and eight grandchildren, and he now joins his wife Adrianne who passed away almost fourteen years ago. A patriotic man who served in the US Navy during the Korean Conflict and supported our service men and women to the end, he will be memorialized at 2 p.m. January 16 at the Middle Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family has selected three charitable organizations information regarding which will be available at the services.

Maybe it isn't quite obvious?

Isn't it amusing/baffling when people state/ask the obvious? I find those situations pretty smirk-worthy and today's visit to the obstetrician was one of those occasions. I have been visiting the "high risk" obgyn (located on the 7th floor) for my routine check ups [they classify you as 'high risk' if you depart from the normal pregnancy scenario and gestational diabetes automatically escalates me to the 'high risk' category] and had not visited my primary care obstetrician (located on the 3rd floor) in several months and was told that I needed to make an appointment to basically catch up. Hence, after my 7th floor appointment, I stopped by the 3rd floor to schedule an appointment. Mind you, if you've seen my previous post, you'd see that I am obviously pregnant so I was rather taken aback when the scheduler who had full view of me ask if I were pregnant!

Ha ha I should have worn this to erase all doubts!

New Year 2009

What a year 2008 was! My parents ended their 6 week visit and headed for home on December 27th. It was so weird having the house all to ourselves again and I think the puppy misses them dearly too. I think it was overall an enjoyable visit, we visited one set of in-laws in Alabama and another in Savannah and Dad even went for a hunting trip in Georgia!

I think all that traveling and excitement finally caught up with me and I caught a cold on new year's eve... hence our plans to go see the fireworks were abandoned and I was in bed at 8pm with snuggly socks, Sudafed, tissues and the puppy snuggling up to me. The Hubby was enjoying one of my Christmas presents;


I've been wanting one of these for the longest time but have been debating if we'd be disciplined enough not to be totally consumed playing this but so far, so good... we've had so much fun together! Plus I am thinking that the Fit will be beneficial as part of my post-natal weight loss care :) Hubby went out and got the Star Wars game as well and the boy gets a good workout!


The Puppy is asking to play too.... The dear girl thinks that her duckie is Wii-capable as well! She's too cute not to post a pic :O)

Christmas this year was spent in Tybee Island and Savannah, Georgia. My lovely mother in law got us this lovely chalet on Tybee


View from our chalet, Tybee Island, Georgia


Sharing a quiet stroll on the beach - Tybee Island, GA


Sunshine in December, priceless!


Baby bump??? More like boulder! Touring Fort Pulaski.


The Cathedral, downtown Savannah


Make-believe shipmates??? Nah!


The folks having a great time at a wonderful Scottish pub. We had the yummiest scottish eggs, shepard's pie and meat pies here!

What a wonderful time it was, just spending time with family and enjoy all the loving that comes with it. May 2009 be a year full of wonderful surprises and memorable moments. Whatever it is, we are so thankful and blessed to have and to love those we know. May it be a good one for you as well, friend.