Poundcake = Buttertastic

Q-  When you need a pound cake recipe, what should be your automatic first thought?

A- Paula Deen. 

 So that's where I went for a 'Happy Birthday' pound cake for my sista.   And, why yes, her pound cake is the most buttertastic and delicious I have ever had!

 And the best part is, it's easy like Sunday morning.

Mama's Pound Cake

Ingredients

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, plus more for pan

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

With a mixer, cream butter and shortening together. Add sugar, a little at a time. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir dry ingredients together in a bowl and add to mixer alternately with milk, starting with the flour and ending with the flour. Mix in vanilla. Pour into a greased and floured tube pan and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Perfect as written!

And it certainly wouldn't be pound cake in the summer if we didn't have fresh blueberries and strawberries and oh yea, homemade whipped cream.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Happy Birthday Jenny!

Bibs, Burps and Boppys (oh my!)!

Lately, I've been making all of the above for some various kiddos... shown below are for a precious baby due September 12th this year.

Here is the beautiful mommy-to-be, my oldest friend in the world (literally, we've been friends since I was 2 and she was 1!) holding up a dog print bib (for age 5-6 months and up) and burp rag.  See, we don't know whether this little one is a boy or a girl, but we do know that he or she will love dogs because this baby already has a big dog/brother named Bean. 

And this is the proud daddy-to-be, who is in an awesome band called The Steel Wheels.  He plays the mandolin and sings and is sooooo talented!  Check them out! Here, he is holding up a music print bib and burp rag combo.

And here we have a Boppy cover.  My first one! (*sniff*)  I really loved making this and even loved it more because I had all of this fabric on hand- all I had to buy was the zipper (some where around $1.50) and do you know what these covers usually cost???  Up to $25 each!

Wowza! 

So, in other words, if you see a Boppy cover on a baby registry,

contact me to make one for you! ;)  

Oh, and did I mention how well my fabrics were lined up?  No? Oh, well, take a look!

 (as it turns out, I'm pretty proud of this bad boy, just sayin')

Here is another bib/ burp cloth combo!

Close up of the music set!

And, finally a close up of the dog print.

(These are the most cheesy cell phone pics ever!)

Cupcakes FORE my husband!

I know, I'm a nerd.  I ran across these on-line somewhere (sorry, I have NO idea where!)... and had to make them for my golf obsessed hubby's birthday.  His degree is Professional Golf Management (and business, whew!), so you can see why I made them.

Tee-hee. He liked them!

A little pointer for your future reference:  try to avoid using expired food coloring.  When I realized it was expired (too late), I went ahead and used it and it was kinda weird, it turned the buttercream icing into a few shades of green.  But thankfully the green sprinkles covered that right up!