Chocolate Praline Layer Cake

I am very behind in the blogging area of my life.....Alot has been going on and I really hope to get caught up with several posts in the next few days...

Moving right along....Saturday was my best friend's birthday. He is also the love of my life! It was Tony's 54th birthday and I made him this cake.

I stumbled onto this recipe quite a few years ago in a Pillsbury Bake-Off Cookbook that I bought. You know, you stand in line at the grocery store and you get suckered into buying something on impulse. Then, you feel obligated to try at least one recipe! Well, I think this is the only recipe I have ever made out of this cookbook, so I guess I picked the right one! Tony loves this cake and I try to make it every year for him.

I posted a picture and birthday wishes to Tony on FB and I received about 6 requests for this recipe. So, here it is. Your friends will think that you really worked hard and spent lots of time on this cake. When in reality, it is very easy and uses a Devil's Food Cake mix!

Cake
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 Devil's Food Cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs

Topping
1 3/4 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Whole pecans, if desired for the top of the cake
Chocolate curls, or grated chocolate if desired

Heat oven to 350. In small heavy saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup whipping cream and brown sugar. Cook over low heat just until butter is melted, stirring occasionally. Pour into two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans; sprinkle evenly with chopped pecans. In large bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil and eggs at low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes at highest speed. Carefully spoon batter over pecan mixture.

Bake at 350 for 35 to 45 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pans onto waxed paper. Cool completely.

In small bowl, beat 1 3/4 cups whipping cream until soft peaks form. Blend in powdered sugar and vanilla, beat until stiff peaks form. To assemble cake, place 1 layer on serving plate, praline side up. Spread with 1/2 of whipped cream. Top with second layer, praline side up; spread top with remaining whipped cream. Garnish with whole pecans and chocolate curls or grated chocolate, if desired. Store in refrigerator.

Enjoy!

My Birthday

Tuesday was my 52nd birthday. We decided to make a trip to the big city to do some things and I called some of my family and asked if they wanted to meet up with us at a family favorite, Fargo's Pizza. So, pretty much overnight, we had plans for a party!

Tressie's idea of fun at Fargo's, is the game room! She was happy with sticking her quarter in this machine and seeing what her fun little "surprise" was! Don't we all remember begging Mom or Dad for a quarter to put into these machines for some plastic something? She also enjoyed "driving" the race car.

She wasn't too happy about leaving the game room to come and eat pizza. In fact, I don't know as she ate any pizza but she sure enjoyed the pop and the birthday cake! She helped me open my cards and presents and then was wanting to go back and "drive the car" as she put it!

What's a birthday party without cake? Emily wasn't able to get one made as like I said, we planned the party on really short notice. But, she was able to run into Safeway and get a yummy cake that I throughly enjoyed! Thanks, Em!

The best presents were being with my family and being able to spend time together! I also got this pretty candle and good smelling lotion! Emily, Justin and Tressie are giving me a "special" necklace that is in the mail and on it's way! I will for sure blog about it when it gets here and let you know why it is "special"! I also received some money and am thinking about maybe ordering a new Vera Bradley purse? Oh, who knows.....so hard to decide what to do with it when you have birthday money!

A fun birthday for me! Thanks to my family and friends for all of the cards and birthday wishes!

Happy 30th Birthday, Emily!!

Today is Emily's 30th birthday!  Where do the years go?

Happy Birthday, Emily!  We love you and wish you many more!

Love, Mom and Dad

KEEPIN' THE BLUE!!

It's a boy!!!  Grandma will be keepin' the blue sleepers for the precious new grandson we are expecting in October!  Lots more shopping to come as I'm sure he won't want to be wearing all the pink we have around here!

PINK or BLUE???

Today is an exciting day!!

Emily has an ultrasound and hopes to find out if they are having a baby girl or a baby boy!

Grandma and Grandpa are very excited to have another grandbaby and will be thrilled with a baby girl or a baby boy!

Grandma being the shopper that she is..... just couldn't resist these cute little outfits while shopping at Kohl's this week-end!

So, the question is.... which outfit will she be keeping and which outfit will she be returning????

Stayed tuned and "hopefully" we will know later this afternoon!

Fun Camera Accessory!

I mentioned in my blog post about my new camera that I had ordered a bright new camera strap from Etsy.

Well, here it is....



Not the greatest picture as I took it with my old Kodak camera. I somehow forgot to take a picture of it BEFORE I put it on my new camera. Now putting the strap on is not all that complicated, but it does take some time and I was not in the mood to take it off, just to take a nice picture of it.... Yes, lazy....

So there you have it. This will make it very easy for Emily and I to tell our cameras apart with just a glance. Her camera strap has greens and blues in it.

If you are in the market for a bright, colorful and fun camera strap, check out cottoncandybynatalie.etsy.com!

I LOVE LILACS!!

I absolutely LOVE lilacs! They are my very favorite flower!


The only lilac bush that we have that is very big, is up by the corrals and an old house that was here when we moved here. The bush is right outside the kitchen door of the old house. I often wonder if the ranch wife threw her dish water out each day on the lilac bush to water it?


Yesterday, we made a trip to La Junta to the chiropractor. Driving thru the little town of Cheraw on the way, I was amazed at all of the yards that had not only one, but five or six lilac bushes! I guess you don't really notice them if they are not in bloom. They were beautiful! Lots and lots of purple bushes and an occasional white bush. The beauty continued in the yards in La Junta!



Last year Tony planted several rows (yes I said rows!) of lilac bushes for wind breaks. They already grew quite a bit this last year, but I am looking forward to several years when they will be all grown up and making me happy each day that I look out my window at my very favorite flower of all!