A week of recipes #3 and 4..Vanilla Cake and Caramel Icing and a poem..

Good Evening all.. 

Another March evening has rolled around here in Eastern Canada.. 

It is definitely warmer but we still have snow.. 

Yesterday as I posted about the Keepers meeting I did not do the recipe challenge I set for myself..

And that was making a new recipe each night from Donna Hay's cookbook called OFF THE SHELF.. 

I did do the cooking just not the posting.. smile.. 

Therefore, tonight you will receive 2 recipes.. 

The first one is called 

Simple Vanilla Cake.. 

Here is the recipe for the cake which is very good.. 

8 ounces of butter

1 cup of caster sugar (I used granulated)

1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used pure)

3 eggs

2 cups of all purpose flour sifted

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. 

Line and grease an 8 inch pan with baking paper.. 

Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until creamy.. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.. Sift the flour with the baking soda and fold into the egg mixture.. 

Pour into tin and bake for 1 hour or until skewer comes out clean.. 

Cool on a wire rack.. 

Now to confess my guilt.. 

I used my confection oven and did not turn it to 325 as stated but to 350 degrees.. 

So my cake was a bit hard on the edges but still delicious.. 

I must have been having a spas day as I also beat in the flour mixture for about 2 or 3 minutes like I usually do to this kind of cake.. 

It still was good.. grin.. 

Next time I will do it correctly, I hope.. 

Yes, there will be a next time for this recipe.. 

Okay.. 

This is the best caramel icing I have ever made.. 

Seriously.. 

And I am a sweets expert.. (sorry to say) 

Not that I am an expert baker but an expert taster.. 

Oh yeah.. 

Here is the recipe.. 

Caramel Icing.. 

In a small saucepan place 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 1 cup of cream (I used whipping cream as that was all that I had)

1 Tablespoon of butter and 1 Tablespoon of water.. 

Stir over medium to low heat until sugar is dissolved. 

Then simmer for 7 minutes (it took longer.. about 10 minutes) 

or until thick.. 

Cool until the icing is thick and then spoon over the cake.. 

OK.. 

Guilt confession..

 I did not realize until I typed this that I was supposed to wait until it cooled.. sigh.. 

I was having an off day.. 

Oh well.. 

As you can see it is a lovely thing.. 

And this morning the icing was still soft and delicious and not a hard type that breaks when you cut it.. 

Soft... 

So that is the recipe thing for tonight.. 

I do want to share one thing with you though.. 

Notice the empty bird feeder.. 

It is the time of year when you cannot keep them filled because of the invaders.. 

My friend, Elaine who blogs at OUR COUNTRY COVE CREW

once posted this poem and I have loved it so much ever since.. 

I'm a Starling Me Darling.. 

We're starlings, the misses, meself and the boys,
We don't go round hopin', we walks.
We don't go in for this singing all day,
And twittering about, we just squawks.


We don't go in for these fashionable clothes,
Like old Missel Thrush, and his spots,
Me breast isn't red, there's no crest on me head,
We've got sort of, hardwearing...dots.


We starlings, the misses, meself and the boys,
We'll eat anything that's about,
Well anything but that old half coconut,
I can't hold it still. I falls out.


What we'd rather do, is wait here for you,
To put out some bread for the tits,
And then when we're certain, you're there by the curtain,
We flocks down and tears it to bits.


But we starlings, the misses, meself and the boys,
We reckon that we're being got at,
You think for two minutes, them finches and linnets,
You never sees THEM being shot at.


So the next time you comes out to sprinkle the crumbs out,
And there's starlings there, making a noise,
Don't you be so quick to heave half a brick,
It's the misses, meself and the boys!

 by Pam Ayres..

When I first read it on Elaine's blog I called up my Mom and 

read it to her.. We both laughed so hard.. Thanks Elaine.. 

And thank you, dear hearts for dropping by.. 

God bless..