Happy Birthday Sweetheart

Laura always has certain fondness for cake and a few years back I made a Pumpkin Spice Cake with a buttery Amarula cream cheese frosting that became her new favorite!

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This is one of those recipes that you need three bowls… one for the dry, one for the wet ingredients and one for the frosting.

Wet ingredients bowl:
1/2 cup Amarula Liquor
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 can 15 ounce solid pumpkin
4 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend

( my blend is 6 parts, cinnamon; 2 parts each of nutmeg, allspice and cloves; 1 part each of mace, cardamon and ginger)

Dry ingredients bowl:
2 – 2 1/4 cups bread flour ( start with 2 then check)
2 cups fine sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Basic process:
gradually blend the dry into the larger bowl with the wet ingredients
Baking:
350 degrees for around an hour
Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, 1 tablespoon butter, 2 cups powdered sugar. (Or as needed to be firm bu pourable)
ADD enough Amarula Liquor to make the frosting thick but pourable ( around 1/4 cup)

top off with sliced Almonds

RESULTS:
I made this for my wife’s 62nd birthday and all 130 pounds of her had three huge servings… And it’s gone!when she thought she’d just have a ‘taste.’

CCW’s will change California for the better

Screen Shot 2014-02-26 at 6.18.18 PMCLICK on the picture  to read about the VICTORY in California regarding CCW’s

One never knows how things will shake out, but this seemed like a major step forward in California for the average law abiding citizen. Here’s how the Sheriff in San Diego released the news:

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The Sheriff in Orange county California stated that she was going to abide by the decision immediately.

To the east in Connecticut, a little civil disobedience is taking place much to the outcry of some of the areas most liberal newspapers calling for the arrest and imprisonment of those who refuse to turn in their guns to a government that fails to respect the 2nd amendment.

Conn Air

Connecticut may have bite off more than they can chew with 300,000 gun owners and about 6,000 law enforcement . The smart thing would be for the police in Connecticut to drop the enforcement of such a poorly considered law… but then, I have never seen good judgement in anything political in the east… I am still shaking my head in wonder at the banning of 64 ounce sodas in NYC.