making lemonade {cake}

Last week was not of the hottest kind. I was out of whack and out of sorts thus not feeling too well. I tend to do that. Get physically ill when I am stressed out and I'm pretty good at stressing myself out. In an effort to cheer myself up, I picked up this magazine.** What? I know, see I told you I was old. Some gals go for Cosmo or People when they feel like sticking their heads in the sand. Me? I like to pick up recipes and crafty bits and sometimes even a new lipstick though lately I'm not feeling like I can pull off lipstick anymore.

So yesterday, I baked a cake. A lemonade cake, though this one was more of a pink lemonade cake as I happened to have frozen lemonade of the pink variety purchased a while back for some sort of pink project I wanted to do but didn't (the story of my life). We had some buttermilk that needed using up and summer is here so a lemonade cake it was.

The cake baked up nice and pretty and then I whomped up the frosting. I'm not really a frosting person but I still had a lot of frozen lemonade to use up and the recipe called for a whipped butter frosting using the frozen goodness so I thought, why not? I think the butter was too soft and the concentrate too melty. I had a whipped pink mess of curdledness that was so very not pretty. It was however mighty tasty and light on the tongue so I decided to ice up the cake anyway. It probably would have been less of a mess had I given the cake another hour to cool down. I didn't. What, me? Impatient? So I ended up with a not-very-pretty pink mess of a cake that was tastier than tasty, if not photo-worthy. I took pictures anyway after I had a hissy fit when everyone in the homestead started pestering me to slice it up. Baking with people around really irks up the photo-mojo and makes me feel rushed. I can't relish the time to take pics in different light and locations as the baked goodness tends to disappear the moment I wander out of the room. It's not a bad thing at all, being around people you enjoy. It just takes some getting used to.

So there ya have it, the life motto passed down from my mamos through an ill-gained gift plaque of utter tackiness*. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade {cake}.

**I also may have eaten more than three bowls of Lucky Charms (or, rather...Marshmallow Mateys) this week and watched far too many Netflix discs. We're talking seven episodes of True Blood, an entire disc from How I Met Your Mother and maybe a romantic comedy that I enjoyed far more than the critics or other public. Oh and I napped. A lot. but I also joined the family for a hike that had just enough ups and downs and wandered out after dark with the mister for a telescope date. Yeah, we're cool like that. I hope everyone has a delightful rest of the weekend and if yer in the states, Happy Fourth!

*I had thought I explained that story but I couldn't find it so it will have to be for another day. It's pretty twisted.

poppytalk summer colours week 2011

It was fun thinking outside the box to come up with photos that represented summer to me within the color theme. I hope you all enjoyed the view! I'm off for the weekend to recover from yesterdays hike, plant pumpkins and head out for a dark sky party with the telescope. Happy July folks! To get a looksie at the pics you can click here for original links.

crafting for craft: july 4th garland

You can make this in any color combo you like. All you need is a handful of household supplies and some paint! Check out the how to at craftzine.

poppytalk's summer colours week: red

It's time for summer colours! Check out the flickr group for more bits of happy and Poppytalk for a curated dose. Aaaand...if yer interested, you can take a wander and look through my previous colours week pics. Happy summer!

poppytalk's summer colours week: rainbow

It's time for summer colours! Check out the flickr group for more bits of happy and Poppytalk for a curated dose. Aaaand...if yer interested, you can take a wander and look through my previous colours week pics. Happy summer!

recipe: cake batter scones

It rained last night and I never even heard it. Man, I sleep like a log. And now, it is a gloomy June morning perfect for baking something like...say...cake batter scones. If only I hadn't used up my box of yellow cake mix. I can still bake mind you but I have scones on the noggin and last week I whipped up the delicious creation of cake batter scones and I think those would hit the spot. now that my box is all empty, methinks I may have bottomed out on the adventures in cake batter baking. May have. Nothing is definite, especially where cake is concerned. Luckily for you, I have photos and a recipe so if you have a box of yellow cake mix floating around, now may be a good time to open it up.

Ingredients

*1 1/4 cup of yellow cake mix

*1 cup flour

*6-8 tablespoons butter

*1/4-3/4 (give or take a T or 2) cup of milk

*1/2-1 cup powdered sugar

Sift together 1 cup flour and 1 cup cake mix. Add your cold butter and mix in with a couple of forks or a pastry blender until crumbly.

Add your milk, a 1/4 cup at a time and gently fold until you have a sticky biscuit-like batter. You should have milk left over, save this. You can add sprinkles here if ya like as well.

Turn your dough onto a floured work surface and gently pat out. I make wonky biscuits so some of mine were thin while others not-so-thin. Cut into scone shapes or use a biscuit cutter until all your dough is used up. you should get twelve scones/biscuits out of the happy mess. These spread more than your average scone so give them room.

Place onto cookie sheet and brush tops with some of the leftover milk. Add a smattering of sprinkles and gently press so they stick. Pop into a preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 10-20 minutes depending on how hot yer oven bakes and the level of done-ness you like.

While your scones are cooling, whip up a cake batter glaze by mixing together your powdered sugar and 1/4 cup of cake mix. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. You don't want it too gooey or runny. Dip a spoon into the glaze and dribble it over your cooled scones. Brew yourself a cuppa tea or a pot of coffee while the glaze sets. Enjoy and share the goodness! These are crispy on the outside and super cakey on the inside, They are not very sweet, save for the glaze and go really nicely with tea.