Pink Lemonade Cake Bread

Last month Raquel wanted me to make a "Pink Lemonade Cake" for her Birthday Party. I thought that idea would actually be kind of fun and cute..Low and behold I didn't think it would be such a difficult task to take on...I usually make cakes from the box and make my own icing..I'm the queen of home made icing..One cake that I get A+'s on is "German Chocolate Cake"..That's a cake that was skipped down to me from my Grandmother..I love making that cake..It's delicious.. But when it came to finding a recipe for Raquel's cake I thought I found the perfect one.. The ingredients sounded very easy and a "piece of cake" to make.


I had all the ingredients set out for me..Very simple..flour, eggs, baking soda, baking powder, pink lemonade, etc.. However simple I thought this was going to be, it became a laughing stock of the day.. What I didn't realize was that the recipe called for only 9 cupcakes from the finish results.. ONLY 9? WTH! who makes cupcakes and only gets 9 out of it..I really wanted to make this cake despite the count..So I added more flour, more salt, more lemonade..You get the picture..I did this about 4 times I believe..I quit counting after so many tries to get a good amount of batter..During this time of mixing and adding, my sister and I couldn't stop laughing over the disaster..Flour was everywhere and I was a mess...Overall it was such fun..Really it was..Raquel approved of the batter..It really tasted like lemonade..Very clever indeed..But! The baking is the real result..You just never know what the cake will be like once it is cooked..


I let the cake sit out over night..I really thought it was gonna be perfect in the morning...Well......The cake turned out to be a bit shallow, and a bit dense..This is where the bread falls in..It turned out to be like a cake/bread..I didn't think it had any fluff or spring to it...I continued to think positive thoughts with my breading cake.. 

Onto the icing..The icing was the easy part.. It was simply delicious.. I was just worried about what all the kids would say about this interesting cake.. Raquel really enjoyed it..Thank God! I didn't get rave reviews from the kids even though they said they liked it..I guess with kids you just never can tell right? My sister and friends said it had a good flavor, but yes it was like a bread....But as a bread it wasn't even springing..I didn't like it.. 

Overall, I was proud that I accomplished something that I've never done before...I'm just curious to what I left out that made this cake/bread so dense..Maybe I didn't put enough baking powder in it..I felt like I used so much from the enormous bag that I had..(Smart and final bag that is LOLOL it's a huge bag)..I guess I'll never know..Not sure if i'll ever attempt at this cake again..But it sure was an experience i'll never forget..

Ricardo and his BBQ

My husband, enjoying the cold, rainy weather, while BBQing, but not enjoying getting his picture taken....

This was taken last night..We had some good ole steaks for dinner..I certainly enjoyed coming home to some garlic bread, corn on the cob and my steak..It was simply delish!

Cookies

Baking cookies with Papa

Joey stirring

Raquel stirring

My 35th BDAY

35yrs old.! It's here, come and gone..I'm so glad I celebrated with some of my closest girl-friends... It was a wonderful morning and day.

Here's Jasmine and I. She gave me a little Tiara to put in my hair..Of course i wore it all day.. I'm such a sucker for attention.

Nina joined us for a little while before work. I was so thrilled to spend some girlie time with her..She gave me a Martini glass that has a recipe on the bottom of it..It's a really cute glass..Thanks so much Nina!

So here are me, Nina, Adrianna, Jasmine and Briana.. They really are the best!

Dinner at "Islands" with my family. Yes I wore that Tiara..Ricardo just loved me wearing it.. :) What can I say? I'm a princess at heart! And plus I got my free BDAY dessert.. YUM YUM!

Raquel was so cute..She had to get a picture of herself in front of the water fountain..My little cutie..

Last but not least, thanks to Shannon who I talked through Skype.. Such a cool Tool to have for far away family.. Oh yes, cute pic of Rylee. HEHE!

Joey & his love of eggs

Joey has been my little cook lately. He's really loving the independence of doing things on his own. I've written about him cooking an egg for the first time, but now he's doing it more often.. Last week he made breakfast for himself and was so excited that he accomplished it. He decided to make me breakfast as well. I just let him do his thing without involving myself in the process. I stayed on the couch, waiting for my egg and toast. I heard banging and lots of talking from Joey. He served me my egg first.. YUM! He did a fantastic job. He's really getting the hang of frying eggs.. Next he brought me my english muffin. I only wanted one, but he brought two whole muffins. He's so cute because he didn't split open the muffins for toasting. He put the whole muffin in the toaster. After the muffin was slightly toasted he spread GOBS of Butter on the muffin, and a teeny weeny bit of jam. I was so proud of him. But I did have to take a spoonful of butter off my toast.

Thanks Joey for the wonderful breakfast! I loved it!

Xmas of 2008

Whew! What a Xmas! Busy, busy... We first started our Holiday at Shan and Brandon's for an early Christmas with my Mom and Dad.

Here is the night before, with the kids hanging out on the couches.. They were all a little under the weather, but we managed to have a great get together after all..

The guys, all bundled up, in the garage watching tv and using the computer..I tell ya, they are nuts! It was freezing out there! But they really do love hanging out in the cold..That's what they do.

The kids decorating gingerbread cookies.

Again, the guys in their usual spots.

The girls had on their pretty Xmas dresses, teetering and tottering.

My Dad, Char and the kiddies. Then my Mom & Larry with the kiddies. I'm so glad we took these.

Time for opening gifts!

Sionna was thrilled to receive a CD player from us. She was so excited!

Raquel was happy to get her next "American Girl" book..

Joey and his new Fishing Pole

After all the presents and food the kids played with their new things.

Xmas Eve with the Potters. Again, the boys cannot get enough of each other. They were so excited to spend their first Xmas together, in San Diego that is.

The Girls got in the mood for getting into costumes..They were adorable.

Onto more gifts..There's my little shy girl..A typical picture of Raquel..Sweet though.

I guess the twins loved their polly pockets..


Joey with his poke'mon toy! Can't go wrong with poke'mon.

















Cheers, from Ricardo.

Christmas Morning was great! Santa made the kids wishes come true. From Poke'mon to Littlest Pets, they couldnt' be more happy.

Santa couldn't leave Lucy out. She had a blast playing, chase the feather, with Raquel..

Thanks to all who gave the children great gifts. We thank you a Million!