Goodness Gracious!!!

Do you know what I just realized part way through my work-day!?

1.) I haven't posted ANYTHING on my blog in over a month!!! *GASP*

2.) I should probably make a cake for Valentine's Day!!!

Looking back at my calendar, I've been pretty busy lately ...I guess I just forgot to take a moment to record what I've been doing!

Now let's see...SINCE MY LAST POST I HAVE:

-Attended a Holiday Party for work
-Watched lots and lots of football playoff games...Congrats to the Packers!
-Been social at movie nights with some girlfriends
-Taken lots and lots of naps (winter weather makes me depressed and sleepy)
-Baked a delicious Peanut Butter Pound Cake (recipe to follow)
-Baked Peanut Butter Cookies (just because I was having PB withdrawals I guess)
-Been supportive as my boyfriend studied for his Candidacy Exam
-Made huge progress on a crocheted afghan that I started January of LAST YEAR
-The usual chores like laundry, washing dishes, and preparing meals

AND... I've been very good about trying to exercise regularly (like at least an hour each day! :D) It helps that there is a very nice Wellness Incentive Program at work and a few coworkers and I have figured out a nifty little work-out routine so we can help each other stay on track! Still...that's a lot of time spent sweating when I could be baking :/

With all of that on the list, it is no wonder that I haven't taken the time to sit down with my camera and document my progress for those random folks who happen to stumble upon my little piece of internet real-estate...I will try my best to amend this situation!

BUT FOR NOW...I've got to get back to work and I will leave you with a wonderful recipe my Dad discovered in a Penzey's magazine...I'll be back later to start making plans for my next big baking adventure!

GROOMS PEANUT BUTTER POUND CAKE
Caution: simply reading this recipe may cause drooling

Ingredients

Cake:

 1 cup butter, softened
 1 cup creamy peanut butter
 3 cups granulated sugar
 5 eggs
 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
 3 cups cake flour
 1/2 tsp. baking powder
 1/2 tsp. salt
 1  cup milk

Icing:

 12 ounces premium semi-sweet chocolate chip
 3/4 Cup heavy cream

Instructions

Cake:

Do not preheat oven! (I know it's weird...but it worked well for me!)

Lightly grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan/bundt pan
Cream together butter, sugar and peanut butter
Beat until light in color
Add the eggs, one at a time
Add the vanilla

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt

Gradually add flour mixture to creamed mixture, alternating with the milk
(Begin and end with the dry mixture)
Pour batter into prepared cake pan and place in oven
Bake at 325 F for 1 hour and 35 minutes or until tester comes out dry
(bake time will include oven-preheat)
Start checking for doneness at 1 hour and 10 minutes

Remove from oven and cool in pan 30 minutes
Remove from pan and cool completely before icing

Icing:

Place chips in a small bowl
Heat cream in heavy sauce pan
Pour cream over chips and stir until smooth
Let cool for two to three minutes

Place cooled cake on a cookie sheet and pour icing over the top, letting icing cascade to cover
Move cake to another baking sheet, scrape up the excess off the first pan and reheat
Pour over cake again!!! (this was my favorite part :P)

Hope you enjoy! TTFN!

-M-