Birthday Cake and Easy Beef Tacos

It's been a while since I last wrote a blog post.  I've sort of been waiting for Tabitha to post, but she keeps not, so then I was planning to finally post yesterday, but by the time I got around to it, it was way too late, and so then I was planning to post earlier today, but I ended up actually being kinda busy.

But yeah, I worked/had church every evening this week until yesterday, but I did make a few things.  However, I didn't use props or anything.  :(  At least I took a few pictures of it in whatever condition it was in, though, with the intent to apologize later.

But actually, I've decided to but utterly unapologetic from now on.  Well, for the most part.  I mean, especially concerning the food I make.  1) I'm no where near any extreme when it comes to being uber-healthy or uber-unhealthy, so if anybody doesn't like what I make, they'll just have to deal with it.  2) Not everybody likes the same foods.  There are plenty of bloggers out there with foods I don't like, and I don't hold it against them.  So... yeah.  I mean, it's interesting, because now that I blog, I always think, "Does this food seem normal?  Is this food too simple?  Would other people think this is appealing and want to make it?  Is it too healthy?  Is it not healthy enough?  Am I making too many cakes?  Is it good enough to post?"  But I'm kind of done thinking that way.  I figure, no matter what it is, I'm probably not the only person in the world who likes it.  3) Regarding my pictures, I figure that there are definitely better, and there are definitely worse.  So, no matter if I don't get around to making a whole set.  No matter if the pictures are kinda bad.  It'll be okay.  :)

Allllrighty.  Enough with my defensive rants.

So, on Wednesday I made a cake.  You might ask, "another cake?! really?!"  But when you make a cake for everyone in your church and everyone in your family and your family is as big as mine even if your church is as small as mine, that's not really that few cakes.  Anyhow, I made this one to take to church for a quick after-church cake party for one of my sister's birthdays, which was on Sunday.  I didn't make her one then because she was getting free frozen custard and wasn't in the mood for cake or something like that.  Ah, well.

So, here's how it went down when I asked her what kind of cake she wanted.

Me:  "What kind of cake do you want?"
Her:  "Maybe just a simple yellow cake.  But not with whipped frosting."
Me:  "Um, I never make whipped frosting."
Her:  "Oh.  Well, I don't like it very much."
Me:  "..."

Anyhow, she wanted cream cheese frosting to go on it.   And then because I was feeling adventurous, I threw in some heavy whipping cream to make it nice and smooth.

But really, this cake is very sweet, so I was kinda sad about having the icing on it.  What I really wanted was some fruit filling.  And maybe some whipped cream.

The sister who complained about my strawberry shortcake biscuits said that this is the kind of cake she would want for strawberry shortcake, because it's nice and soft and sweet.

The icing and decorations on this cake are kind of an I-totally-messed-this-up-but-I-don't-care and an it-can't-get-any-worse-so-I'll-just-keep-going dealy.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the inside.  Ah well.  At the end of the night, there was only one piece left, and my family all picked at it the next day until it was gone.  Yay for from-scratch cakes!

I got the recipe from here, and I'll just leave it at that, recipe-wise.   Just so you all know, when I say 'here,' that mean that you can click on it and it will take you to where I'm talking about.  My little sister pointed out that sometimes it's hard to tell because it doesn't always show as a link unless you put your mouse on it.

For the frosting, I creamed 1 block of neufchatel cheese, softened, with 2 sticks of butter, also softened, and then added some whipping cream and vanilla.  Then I gradually added powdered sugar until it was a halfway decent consistency, although it was still a little loose, I think.

 Anyhow, for supper on Thursday, I made tacos.  Er, taco meat.  The kind that everyone and their mom knows how to make.  The kind that suits picky eaters because it's just ground beef with spices and doesn't have onions.  This is the 'recipe' that my family has been using since I was little.  Also, I decided that since tacos aren't exactly the prettiest food ever, I'd try taking pictures while I went and not worrying about aesthetics.  So, here they are, in a nice cozy collage.

 

Taco Meat:  Throw your meat into a pan (I did 2 lbs).  Stir until browned.  Drain off all the grease, or at least as much as you possibly can without dumping all your meat out.  Add some salt and pepper, onion powder and garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder, if you'd like, to taste.  Stir it all up and serve with taco fixins so everyone can assemble their own tacos! :)

Well, if I sound like I'm typing in a monotone, it's probably because I should go to bed.  For some reason I've been blogging late at night, lately, so I'm always ready to be done.  In tonight's case, I'm ready to snuggle in the covers because it feels a bit like fall or something right now.  But that's okay, because I like every season for the most part, and it's nice to have them jumbled up a bit, so I don't get tired of the one I'm in. :)

Have a great weekend, and enjoy the rain and cool weather!