Not surprisingly, adding music to our daily lives has not been a hard goal to achieve. What has surprised me is what a difference it makes in my mood. Pandora really is an amazing thing. Just by telling it one artist that I enjoy, it creates hours of music, some of which are familiar favorites, many of which are new to me, but quickly loved.
I have a sick child this week, which has taken away from the exercise goal. I hate thinking that these new habits will be replaced each week and not ongoing. Hopefully with a little effort next week, movement will be back in our daily routine.
In the meantime, we used the free time usually spent exercising to make a buttery snack cake (see above). Not exactly a reciprocal use of time, but oh so worth it. I discovered this cake in my Bridal Edition Betty Crocker Cookbook as a newlywed with a sweet tooth that didn't want to go to the store. I tend to have all of the ingredients for this recipe at home. It calls for a frosting that consists of brown sugar, butter, milk, and coconut. You bake the cake, put on the icing and then put the cake under the broiler. We never have coconut around (and don't really like it), so I just mix the other ingredients. The butter melts and browns under the broiler and saturates the whole cake. My hubby and I have loved this ever since that first time we made it. Yum!
Buttery Snack Cake with Broiled Coconut Frosting (Minus the Coconut for my version)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose or 1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or stick margarine, softened
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
Broiled Coconut Frosting
1 cup flaked coconut (optional)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or stick margarine, softened
2 tablespoons half-and-half or milk
Heat oven to 350°. Grease bottom and sides of square pan, 8 X 8 X 2 or 9 X 9 X 2 inches, or round pan, 9 X 1 1/2 inches, with shortening; lightly flour.
Beat all ingredients except Broiled Coconut Frosting with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan.
Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Make Broiled Coconut Frosting.4. Set oven control to broil. Carefully spread frosting over hot cake. Broil with top of cake about 4 inches from heat about 2 minutes or until frosting is light brown. Watch carefully so frosting does not burn. Cool 15 minutes. Serve warm or cool.
Source: Betty Crocker's Cookbook Bridal Edition
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