I MADE A CAKE!

I am so proud of myself. I am a terrible cook and even worse at baking but I actually whipped up something on my own (sort of) and my family loved it! 

Nearly 30 years ago a friend of mine had made this really delicious cake for her daughter's birthday. The frosting was so yummy. I liked it so much I asked her to make it for me again when I had a staff meeting to go to. Of course it was a hit. Everyone wanted to know what the delicious frosting was made of. When I asked my friend what the secret recipe was she laughed and said "it's just cool whip and pudding." I couldn't believe it. 

I was thinking about that cake the other day, trying to remember how she made it, and decided to give it a try. I knew she used a box cake mix but wasn't sure which kind. She also used some type of lemon filling but I wasn't sure if it was lemon curd or lemon pie filling so I just got lemon curd. Her cake was two layers and she spread the lemon filling in between the layers. So I bought a lemon cake mix but instead of making two layers I just made one layer and used an injection tool to inject the lemon curd throughout the cake. I found the closest cool whip frosting recipe I could on All Recipes and used that to cover the cake and then topped with lemon zest. The family is obsessed. Gobbled up the entire thing and now want me to make it again. I wish I could eat it!!!!! 

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THERAPY COWS?

After nearly 5 years of struggling to find someone to help me with my medical issues I finally have a doctor that I really like and I believe wants to help me. One of the things that makes her even more amazing and unique is her clinic location. She built a clinic on her property in Wisconsin and it's such a wonderful place. The drive there is so beautiful and relaxing and then being there feels like being at a bed and breakfast or a spa retreat. The cows roaming the property are a bonus. I think all clinics should be in serene locations. It makes a world of difference for patients. I could probably commune with the cows and make a complete recovery just from that. 💜

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LUFFA, LOOFAH, LUFA, LOFA, LUFA

Is there really a right way to spell luffa? 😂

Several years ago I tried growing luffas so I could use them in my soaps. I'd been buying and using luffas for a while but figured it would be even better if I grew them myself. Well... it didn't work out so well because Minnesota has such a short growing season. This year I saw a luffa at the Farmer's Market and decided to buy it so I could dry it myself and use it with an upcoming batch of soap. Since it was green I knew the skin would be next to impossible to peel off without ruining the luffa so I followed the advice of a YouTuber on drying it in the oven. It worked out well, the skin came right off, but half of the luffa deflated. I'm also not sure it is suppose to be so green after washing it. I washed it as well as I could but it still looks a little funky. I decided this luffa is best saved for the trial run I just put it through. I'll return to the Farmer's market for another one and see if I can make it come out even better. This January I'll start seeds inside so that I give the luffa enough time to grow so I can let it dry on the vine by end of summer. 

Exceptionally long luffa 🤣👀

I cut it up as instructed by YouTuber

 The two luffas on the left are no good. Completely deflated and mushy. The ones on the right look pretty good. I'll update once they are dry. 

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APPLE PICKING TIME

Every year at this time our family heads out for some apple picking because the girls love picking and I love making applesauce. My favorite apples to use are sweet tango. They have the perfect balance of sweet and sour so they can be used in applesauce recipes that contain sugar or no sugar. For myself I always make it without sugar and for the girls I make it with brown sugar. 

Here are two of my favorite recipes:

With Sugar

Without Sugar

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