A Plain Yellow Cake

Sometimes I want to bake just so she'll wear her hat

From The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
Serves 10-12

2 1/2 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c. butter
1 3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. milk

Grease and lightly flour two 9" round baking pans or one 13"x9" baking pan.  Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar and vanilla; beat till well combined.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each.

Add dry mixture and milk alternately to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just till combined.  Pour batter into the prepared pan(s).

Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.  Cool layer cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes, then remove cakes from pans.  Cool thoroughly on racks.  Frost with desired frosting*.  Serves 10-12.

*Or don't frost with frosting.  The Mr. doesn't like frosting on cakes really, and so when I make one of these I don't frost it.  It's just delicious as a simple cake without frosting.  And it makes it a lot easier to justify eating leftover cake for breakfast (with coffee, of course.  Coffee cake, anyone?)

Well, we're ready for the winter storm of the season.  But instead of doing things that normal people do in preparation (like making sure that the snowblower is in working condition), we are planning a breakfast brunch and igloo building party tomorrow.  So we ran to the store twice for supplies for that.  And right now, the Mr. is in the basement tinkering with a sled to make it into a tow-behind sleigh for our girls to ride in while we cross-country ski around the neighborhood.  I'm not sure what exactly "tinkering" means, but I do know it involves about 10 feet of PVC pipe (I'm not kidding), a 50-ft. bundle of 3/8" nylon rope, and a plastic buckle from REI.  If it's successful, I'll post a picture of what he came up with.  What the heck ... I'll probably share a picture even if it's not successful.

Earlier this week was the Mr.'s birthday, which is the occasion for the cake above.  He had to work until 7 on his birthday night, but he came home to Little Girl's "Happy Birthday Daddy-o" that we had practiced all day, and promptly got sent on a scavenger hunt for his presents.  Birthdays are way more fun with 2-year-olds around.  She's been going around singing the birthday song since about mid-December, so it was fun that she could sing it with actual intent.

What else have we been up to, you ask?
A lot of watching this:

 And doing this:

And copious amounts of dress-up (she hopes to be the world's first hobo ballerina)

 Naptime usually ends up with something like this:

And most days have at least one of these:

 So, yeah.  We're staying busy.

And guess what?  I won the giveaway I posted about earlier in the week!  Hooray!  If you haven't had a chance yet, go check out Cindi's blog and shop to see what I'm so excited about!