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My parent’s birthday card to Kelly says this:

“We’re so glad our daughter has given us such a wonderful son-in-law…

It makes up for all the trouble she gave us growing up.”

Moi?  Trouble?  Now, can any of you really see me causing trouble growing up??  Ha!  Seriously, I’m sure I gave my parents some gray hairs… and that’s just for the stuff they knew about.  :)  I thought it was a funny card.

Here is the cake recipe for anyone who would like it…it’s pretty straightforward.  And if you want to save some time, you could always use a box mix for the cakes.  I found the recipe on a blog, but it originally came from Ina Garten, the ‘Barefoot Contessa’ chef on Food Network.  I just used a hand mixer, and I think there is supposed to be enough frosting to frost the whole cake, but it looked like I was going to run out, so I improvised and just did the middle and top, and I kind of liked the look anyway.  Enjoy!

Cocoa Buttermilk Birthday Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
source: Baking: From My Home to Yours and Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 and ½ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (optional)
Countless amounts of miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups, smashed or cut up.

Peanut Butter frosting recipe follows

Directions:

Getting Ready to Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To make the cake: Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes, until it is thoroughly blended into the butter. Add the eggs one at a time, then the yolks one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk; add the dry ingredients in 3 portions and the buttermilk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); mix only until each new batch is blended into the batter. Scrape down the bowl and, if you want, add the melted chocolate, folding it in with a rubber spatula. Divide the batter between the cake pans.

Bake for 26 to 30 minutes, or until the cakes feel springy to the touch and start to pull away from the sides of the pans. Transfer the cakes to racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (Once the layers are cooled, they can be wrapped airtight and left at room temperature overnight or kept frozen for up to 2 months.)

To Assemble the Cake: Place one layer top side up on a cardboard round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Frost the top of the layer, and sprinkle the smashed up peanut butter cups inside. Be careful to not overload the inside with peanut butter cups or else it will look uneven when you place the top layer.

Next, cover with the second layer, top side down. Frost the sides and top of the cake, either smoothing the frosting for a sleek look or using a spatula, knife or spoon to swirl it for a more exuberant look. Press the remaining peanut butter cups around the sides of the frosted cake, and if you want you can sprinkle them on top too.

Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour (or for up to 1 day, if that’s more convenient) to set the frosting, then bring it to room temperature before serving.

Peanut butter frosting:
from The Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Kelly turns 35 today…be sure to wish him a Happy Birthday if you see him!  Hope you have a great birthday, hon!  We love you!  Oh, and here is your birthday cake waiting for you… 

And these are the Reese’s wrappers that I went through. 

I haven’t made this cake before, but I think it will be good!  How can you go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter?

After church on Sunday, we took Kelly to Riverview for breakfast, then came home and opened gifts.  Harrison took a nice long nap (so did mommy), and daddy tinkered with his scooter and went for a ride.  We then enjoyed supper with some friends…a great day!  And the weather ended up being pretty decent.  It’s beautiful today (it was in the 70’s all day), and should stay dry at least until Friday.

Harrison helping Daddy open a gift…his handprint in clay. 

This is one of those cards that you can record a message and then it plays the theme song to the Indiana Jones movie…very fun!  Harrison just wanted to hear the music.

And his Father’s Day gift…a picture for his office.

Hope you enjoyed your day, Kelly.  Thanks for being a wonderful, involved, strong daddy to Harrison!

We got Harrison a Hot Wheels rug a week or so ago.  We had it laid out on the floor in the morning and he knew exactly what to do with it!  He loves making his cars go along the tracks and making all the car noises that boys make, which I can’t do.  :)  He is definitely his daddy’s boy.

Not Supposed To

Originally uploaded by kellygubser06

You should not be able to see any water in this photo. The Cedar River is about two miles away!

Riverfront in Muscatine

Originally uploaded by kellygubser06

It is covered and will go up another three feet. However, this is nothing compared to flooding elsewhere in the area.

My buddy lives about two miles PAST that house!

Originally uploaded by kellygubser06

My buddy lives about two miles PAST that house!

This boat is on Hwy 61 Bypass in dowtown Muscatine!

Originally uploaded by kellygubser06

This boat is on Hwy 61 Bypass in downtown Muscatine!

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.