Labor Day

I love holidays, not so much for the events, but for the chance to have a day off from work. A three day weekend was a real luxury. I did mow the lawn after weeks of neglecting it. I got the back done, but the front is still wild from my experiment of letting it go wild to allow it to rejuvenate itself and fill in some of the bare spots. If I'd just water the dang thing, it would be better, too. The front planter suffered seriously earlier in the summer for lack of water but it is coming back. I am slowly killing the african violets in the kitchen widow.

I didn't ride my bike at all this weekend and for that I need a kick in the butt!

I did bake a cake (no pictures unfortunately). It was an Italian cream cake with coconut, It was iced with a toasted pecan cream cheese icing. It was devine! I used cake flour instead of AP which made the crumb a little too fragile. The original recipe called for 3 layers. Since I have only 2 9" pans I opted for two layers and then torted them into 4. This put a strain on the icing and I had to put other plain icing in the torts, so I'd have enough for the top and sides. I almost didn't, the top and sides were only thinly coated. Next time I will double the icing if I do a f 4 layer version. I put in four straws to hold the layers together for transport. I forgot to tell anyone they were there. No one mentioned it though and I didn't remember until the last piece I ate and it had straw in it. everyone did rave about the flavor and moistness. This is a cake I'll make again sometime.