April Recap Via Instagram

Road trip to Atlanta

 Yummy food at the Varsity

 Homemade marshmallows for Easter

 Assembling Ikea furniture for the Airstream

 Map covered table in progress

 BBQ at the Shed!

 Listening to the Easter Story at the egg hunt

 Easter eggs

 Ice cream for Henry's 8th birthday

 Eating grilled corn in the back yard

 Homemade Mint Cookies and Cream ice cream

 Fabric covered roller shades in the boys' room in the Airstream

 Eli covered in dirt from playing outside

 Bowling ball cupcakes for Henry's party

 Silly boys on the way to the bowling alley

 STRIKE!

 Birthday cake

 I started reading the Hunger Games....so good!

 My new bike

 Eli and his pillow fort

 Early morning P90X workout

 A tractor plowing a field near our house

 Going for a bike ride

 A week full of field trips

 Phoebe recovering from surgery

 Book #2

 Field trip to the movies

 Eli's first dentist visit

 Henry putting together one of his birthday presents

 More fabric covered roller shades in the Airstream

 Phoebe getting a little fresh air

 Back to the walking track to get in {better} shape before our trip!

Strawberry Tallcake

Jason's birthday was last week. We really don't make a big deal about our birthdays anymore. It seems like once you have kids, their birthdays are fun and your birthdays just mean you are getting older:) Even though we don't do much, I do always make some kind of special cake for my hubby. I've made some fun cakes for my hubby over the years, like a Krispy Kreme donut cake and an Oreo cake {which I apparently didn't blog about}. But this year he wanted something different...something from our past that we both loved: Strawberry Tallcake! Do any of you remember this SUPER delicious treat that they had on the menu at Ruby Tuesdays a few years ago. It must have been really popular when Jason and I were dating and in college, because I remember a ton of times that we went and order just a Strawberry Tallcake with two spoons as a special treat. 

The recipe to make this Strawberry Tallcake is a little complicated. It was kind of a lot of work, but it was so worth it! Basically it's sponge cake layered with a strawberry mouse then topped with strawberry syrup, ice cream, and whipped cream. Getting to the assembling and layering part takes quite a few steps....BUT this cake seriously tasted just like the Strawberry Tallcakes that Ruby Tuesday used to bring to our table in a huge glass goblet.

I found the recipe HERE.

Sponge cake:
5 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cold water
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat the egg yolks until they are creamy and lighter yellow. Add in the sugar and blend well. Add water and vanilla mix until combined.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and add it to the yolk mixture. Mix well until the batter is smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the egg white until smooth, then add the cream of tartar. Continue beating until the egg whites are stiff and form peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter and mix slowly until well combined. 
4. Pour the batter into an ungreased 17X11 cookie sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top of the cake is a light brown color. 

Strawberry Mousse and Syrup:
10 oz package of frozen strawberries in syrup
1 3/4 cups of water
3 oz. package of strawberry Jell-O
1 cup of heavy cream

1. Defrost the frozen strawberries and pour the entire package, including syrup, into a blender and puree for 10 to 15 seconds until smooth. Combine  puree with 1 1/2 cups of the water in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the strawberry mixture comes to a boil, add the entire package of Jell-O, stir to dissolve, and remove the pan from the heat to cool. When the strawberry mixture has cooled to room temperature, divide it in half into two medium bowls.
2. Beat the whipping cream until it is thick and forms peaks. Fold the cream into one of the bowls of the strawberry mixture until well combined. This is your strawberry mousse. Cover and chill. To the other bowl, add the remaining 1/4 cup of water. This is the strawberry syrup. Cover and chill this mixture as well.

After the cake has cooled and the mousse and syrup have been chilled, you are ready to started assembling your Strawberry Tallcake. Divide the cake into three even pieces. Put down the first cake section, cover it with half of the mousse mixture. Add another cake section and cover it with the rest of the mousse mixture. Top the whole thing off with the last section of cake. {You could also make these individual sized by cutting small circles of cake and layering them with the mousse.} The layered cake can be refrigerated for a few days until you are ready to serve the cake. To serve, cut a piece of cake and place it in a bowl or large goblet. Top it with a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of the strawberry syrup, and a good squirt of whipped cream.
{Recipe adapted from recipecircus.com}

Roadtrip Ready Blog Series

As most of you know, we are heading out on a big roadtrip in a few weeks. I have a ton of projects {besides the Airstream} that I am working on in preparation for our trip. So I decided it might be fun to put all of my ideas {and a few guests posts too} into a blog series. I'm calling this fun new series "Roadtrip Ready" and for the whole month of May I will be posting great tips, crafts, and recipes that will help you get ready for a roadtrip. 

I'm still looking for a few more guest posts, so if you have any blog posts {new or old} that you think would be a great addition to the series, send me an email and we can work something out!

Check back next Tuesday {May 1st} to see the first post in the series! It is going to be a fun one! 
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE POSTS IN THE SERIES!