Video for Russ

Here is the video of Trent scoring his first AHL goal!

We had a good trip

Magnus and I made an unscheduled trip to Michigan and Ohio last week. Gone ten days, we had many adventures and lots of fun with all of the grandparents and Tina and the girls. Magnus also got to meet 6 dogs along the way. We were glad to have some winter weather, but didn't need it during our ride home. Who knew a 30% chance of snow showers would lead dozens of accidents across Michigan and Ohio, one of which we nearly missed.

Pistachio Cake

Sam's been gone all week. He took Magnus along and drove up to Ohio and Michigan and it's now 7 days since they left. Arlo (and I!) miss having them around, but we've been doing ok getting along here at home. It's certainly been busy - we made Valentines for his classmates, he had a few playdates after school, we went to dinner, ran errands, and today we baked a cake and took it to Anya's baby "sprinkle" for her new little girl. The cake was one I originally made for Anya's first baby shower (that cake was a bit more elaborate) and it's so yummy I was happy to make it a second time. Today's version was a slightly simpler take on the original, however, and everyone enjoyed so I thought it would be worth writing down and sharing. Based on the old "Jellow Pistachio Pudding Cake" recipe (and looking for a simple approach), I used the following (note - I wanted thicker layers so I went with 1 1/2 recipes - you could simply cut out 1/3 of this if you don't mind smaller layers, or use 2 full boxes if you want to disperse into 3 layers): Cake 1 1/2 package Dr. Oetker's white cake mix 1 pkg. Dr. Oetker's pistachio pudding mix 6 eggs 1 7/8 cups (just shy of 2 cups) 3/8 cups sunflower oil about 1 teaspoon almond extract a touch of green coloring paste if you like a more pronounced color I blended the pudding mix and cake mix together first and beat the remaining ingredients separately before adding together. Whisk together well til there are no clumps, then bake at 350 degrees. I prefer round cakes so used 2 9" springform pans - that took about 35 - 45 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick. Filling and frosting 1 pint heavy cream 1/4 tsp almond extract 1/3 cup sugar Cherry butter or raspberry preserves Roasted, unsalted, shelled pistachios - about 3/4 cup Almond Paste 1) Spread the cherry butter or raspberry preserves across the first layer of the cake. I stir mine first to make it smooth for spreading, and used about 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. 2) Finely chop 1/2 tube of almond paste with about 1/2 cup of pistachios, leaving a few bigger chunks. Apply these to the top of the first layer of the cake that already has the jam on it. 3) Whip the cream, after a few minutes add the sugar, then the extract. Once it firms up and holds it's shape, stop whipping. Spread the whipped cream in a thin (about 1/4") layer over the nuts. Add the top layer of the cake. Make sure it is settled well and straight, then spread the whipped cream over the top and down the sides. Smoothe the sides if you like. Chop the remaining 1/2 cup of pistachios and use to decorate the top of the cake. EAT! The Jello recipe says it serves 12 - depending on size of the slices, I think you could get more like 16 servings. This recipe is probably a bit less sweet than the Jello version. :) Arlo's comment while helping make the cake: It's not very much fun making NUT cakes! (Poor kid can't eat nuts, so he had to forgo all kinds of tasting during and AFTER the process.)

A Blog Post!!