Things are quiet around here.  Like the calm before the storm.  Spring.  Plant 2016

It's been fairy cool, and soil temperatures have remained pretty cool.  No one around here is in a big hurry to get in the fields.  


We celebrated Dave's "BIG 40th" a couple weeks ago.  I really thought I would have a big party for him. I did surprise him for his 30th, and our 10th anniversary. No party this year.  It was probably the best since he wasn't feeling the best.

His favorite cake is angel food. So while he's home with a sick kid, and not feeling the best himself, he made his own cake!

He told me I was in charge of the icing.  I knew he would want the homemade caramel icing.

You can't walk away from this project. It needs your attention.  We have featured this caramel icing recipe when we made Angel Food Cupcakes.

The end result is delicious and fabulous, and  you wonder why you don't make angel food cake every week!







Are you waiting for the recipe? I could post about 40 pictures of this cake or make a movie.  Macie helped take pictures.  Lots of help from the family in the kitchen.








PRINT RECIPE HERE


I linked to the Meal Plan Monday, go check out some other great meals!

I linked to the The County Cook - The Weekend Potluck.

We had a great family day last weekend.  Stayed home all day Saturday, and if you know us, you know that is very unusual.


We had a few new kitchen toys from Christmas to try out. The Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker.  There are so many different recipes I want to try.  I wanted to go all out with a Chocolate Peanut Butter recipe. We started out with vanilla.  It was delicious, and so creamy.  This did not last long! It was fun to make, and everyone helped. Kids thought it was fun to see the ice cream grow in the mixer! See a problem with this picture? One beater and three kids :)


So when we were making the ice cream, Dave asked what are we going to do with the 8 egg whites that we had leftover from the ice cream recipe.  I found an Angel Food Cupcake recipe online.  It seemed easier than making an angel food cake.  You can find the recipe here. I didn't have cake flour, so I am sure the cupcakes would have came out of the oven a little taller. She also suggested not using paper cupcake linings and spraying the pan very well.  I was nervous, but they came out just fine!



When we discussed what we would make with the left over egg whites, we talked about how Dave's grandma Lois Kellner would always make her angel food cakes from scratch. (Then we knew noodles were coming soon afterwards.)  Grandma Lois always used her caramel frosting (not icing) recipe. She made it very runny, so it went over the cake easily and didn't weigh it down.  It's all delicious, and brought back great memories of her special baking.


Grandma Lois' Caramel Frosting

2 tsp.       Margarine (or butter) 
2/3 cup    Brown Sugar
1/3 cup    Evaporated Milk
pinch salt

Bring to a boil, constantly stirring. Remove pan from heat, add  1 tsp vanilla. 
Stir in enough powdered sugar to make spreadable. Immediately pour over cupcakes

PRINT RECIPE HERE

Grandma Lois, we know you always put the extra frosting on saltine crackers, but we licked the pan clean. It was delicious!