5 Things I Learned: New Mom Revelations

Guilt and Feelings of Inadequacy: I had boat-loads of it as a new mom. Take comfort ladies, if you can. These were some of my hard-learned realizations and lessons:

1) Your experience will be unique - and you're justified in however "easy" or "hard" you feel being a mom is.

I had a "hard" first baby - preterm, couldn't latch on, trouble staying awake to eat at all, reflux, very colicky, etc. - and I desperately felt it must have been me "doing things wrong". "Everyone else" seemed to have no trouble at all!

Rum Bundt Cake: Where have you been all my life?

I have a coworker who has become known for her Rum Cake at office functions, and I decided I needed to give this little number a whirl.

Let me tell you - when my non-cake-eating husband tells me it's pretty good, then I take notice. I'm entertaining the idea of making some of the small bundt size for the holidays... NordicWare has some beautiful pans!

Any way, here's the recipe... it's known commonly as the Bacardi Rum Cake.  I guess these things were all the rage a couple decades ago... and I'm here to say, let's bring these back!  Wow - so easy - and so delicious.  I'll have to try out making and freezing some - this has been highly recommended.

Guess I should have taken a photo before we "tasted" it, right? Oh well.

Rum Bundt Cake

1 cup chopped pecans **highly recommended**

1 pkg. yellow cake mix

1 small pkg. vanilla instant pudding mix (3.4 oz)

4 eggs

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup dark rum

Grease and flour a 12 c Bundt cake pan. Sprinkle half of the nuts over the bottom of pan. Combine all remaining ingredients and remaining nuts. Pour batter into pan over nuts.

Bake for 50-60 minutes at 325°F.

Start making glaze right before cake is to come out of oven.  You will apply the glaze while cake is warm.

When cake tester comes out clean, remove cake from oven. 

Glaze

1 stick butter

1/4 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/4 - 1/2 cup dark rum

Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; cool slightly and then stir in rum. 

While cake is still in pan, just out of oven: poke exposed bottom of the cake with fork or skewer.  Drizzle or brush with pastry brush generously.  Let cake sit 5 minutes, then invert onto cooking rack (with wax paper underneath the rack).  Prick top of cake with a fork or skewer, slowly drizzle or brush rest of glaze all over the rest of the warm cake.  You will have some significant glaze dripping onto the wax paper. 

Let cake rest several hours, then move carefully to serving plate/cake saver. Cover.

Let cake rest ideally overnight - cake improves with age - so this is a great make-ahead item.  Cake is room-temperature stable.  Several days out (if it actually makes it that long!), if cake dries somewhat, more rum may be sprinkled on it to add moisture.

** If using yellow cake mix with pudding already in the mix, omit the instant pudding, using 3 eggs instead of 4 and 1/3 cup oil instead of 1/2.

Lists

I admit it, I'm a relentless list-maker.

I LOVE making them. It's actually an empowered feeling I get with the process. However, not all always goes as planned.

Once made, one of five things happens:
(Please note nearly poetic, seamless insertion of a list into this posting)

1. I promptly lose said list
2. I forget to use it for its purpose
3. I religiously update it for weeks/months and immediately forget two-thirds of what I put on there, so if #1 eventually happens, I'm screwed
4. At the moment of intended use, I decide the list isn't very helpful after all, and substitute whatever feels appropriate at the moment as my course of action. Then I feel a little guilty.
5. I proudly bring forth my perfect list for its intended purpose, only to have someone remind me of something rather crucial that I've forgotten to add

Ah well, we can't win them all! What is the allure of lists for me?

Is it that I can pretend to be organized, when my life feels chaotic -- from my waking moment to finally, blessedly falling into bed at night?

Is it some form of cheap therapy, for removing all those worries from my head and somewhat avoiding my inherited tendency to lie awake and think about them endlessly (thanks, Mom)?

Regardless, you'll have to excuse me now, as I have to make an ordered register of related items/tasks for my intended future use.

Bar Baking Goodness - Fat Witch Bakery cookbook find!

Okay, so this past weekend ended up being a "working" weekend around the house. Lawns mowed, 5 loads of laundry, baths cleaned, 3 bags of hand-me-down clothes sorted and packed away, floors swept, carpets vacuumed, garage cleaned, cars vacuumed, clutter picked-up (this is a job in itself with two little destroyers taking stuff out right behind me and a dog who feels the need to add her toys to the mix, hourly)... and somehow I found some time to bake!

I'm borrowing The Fat Witch Bakery cookbook from my local library (a great way to try out cookbooks before buying), and I must say, I'm becoming a fan. What could be better for a working mom than a book on easy bar-cookies that are GOOD? I might wonder why I even bother, when apparently simply not messing up a high-quality boxed brownie mix is met with rave reviews by family, friends, and coworkers alike (btw - do yourself a favor and buy Ghirardelli or Duncan Hines when going boxed).

The Perfect Go-To Frosting: An Amateur Baker's Quest, Part I

Background:

As a child, I remember watching adults scrape off the majority of the frosting on birthday cakes and the like, saying, "Oh! This is too sweet!"

"They're nuts!" I remember thinking to myself, as I quickly made my serving disappear with nary a complaint.

Fast forward (gulp!) 20+ years, and I have found the adults to be yet again proven correct... in most cases. Upon realizing my sweet tooth had changed, a vague awareness of cake frosting varieties surfaced: some remain a delight to the last mouthful, while others start almost stinging the mouth with sicky-sweetness only a few bites in. This mystery I must solve!

Life is too short to eat bad frosting. I have fewer and less opportunities (okay, let's get real - excuses) to make cakes and by golly, when I do, it had better taste amazing! My not-so-secret goal is to be the relative that everyone always hopes will bring dessert.

"Wow! You work full-time, have two kids, a dog, and a house to take care of... How DO you do it?" the imaginary flatteries will be uttered.

I have already realized what many a busy amateur baker has known for ages: you do not need 100 mediocre recipes, a few great ones, done well, will get the job done. So begins my quest for what will be my family's go-to cake frosting(s)!

Lessons, Affirmations, and Wandering Thoughts from a First-Time Lone Traveler

1.  Leave Early. Ridiculously Early. You could get all the way to the airport without incident,
misread a sign there, accidentally exit the airport roadway and get dumped back onto a highway...
Well, some simpleton might do something like that.

What your Vehicle says about you!

These truths cannot be denied, regardless of how much you may want them to be. If you have the ability to choose your own vehicle for purchase, then own up to what it says about you. Hand-me-downs or otherwise are excused.  ;-)

Baby Gear Overload: After Two Babies, the Stuff I Didn't Use

Oh new parents!
We are bombarded with so many "get this, you need that" messages when we find out we're expecting.  If you're fortunate enough to be able to get a bit more than the bare essentials, then you are prime target for Baby Gear Overload Syndrome.
Below are the items that I wish I had my money back, or despite a gift from a well-meaning family member, just never found itself used or enjoyed.  Save yourself some disappointment.

Great-Grandma's Legendary Fudge vs. A Determined Daughter In Law

I've known my husband and his family since I was about 15 years old. One holiday season, thinking I'd bring the family a treat, I made a batch of the well-known "Never Fail Fudge", using marshmallows in the recipe. While the fudge disappeared by midday at the house of my then-boyfriend's family, his father informed me that fake fudge didn't hold a candle to his grandmother's Legendary Fudge.  I shrugged it off, but the topic would come up periodically through the years: Oh the deliciousness!  Oh the failed-yet-noble-attempts by his wife!

Our Family's 5 Favorite Toys: Infant to 3 years

I have made it a point to not buy our kids tons of toys throughout the year; so far, we make Christmas season and birthdays (both winter) our main targets, and something small during the summer.  I always buy a mixture of things they're able to use right now, and in the months ahead, and this does mean that some Christmas gifts will not get used right away.  However we have a small home, and I want to see each purchase go the distance: they teach something, have durability, will work for boys/girls alike, and most importantly, are fun!
Here are our biggest hits so far: