The NFC B-Day Chat Thread

[ronott1]

Well, here I've been worrying for since yesterday day. <sigh> I must have missed that somewhere.

So, remember the saga of Tammy and the house? When I say that this girl is fiercely independent I mean just that! From the time the FHA loan was pulled because of issues with the house, she was looking for another. That's how she ran across hers on Zillow and found it was on the market. Anyway, apparently she found one that she can afford and that she just loves. Whatcha guys think of this one?

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sa...-107.972947,44.598046,-108.711091_rect/10_zm/

Nice Place!

 

[Blooie]

It did work? Not working on my computer. Let me double check here...


Nope, the photos of the inside aren't coming on Trulia. I posted another site with the houses in Lovell from Zillow and although you have to find the house to click on it, those interior photos do show up. By the way, also on Zillow, photo top left in Byron for 90,000...that's the one she's currently in and you can see how beautifully she's redone the inside.

 

[ronott1]

It did work? Not working on my computer. Let me double check here...

I had to click on show thumbs and then move through the pictures that way but I did see them. Is the fence in the backyard for keeping chickens out of the garden?

 

[Blooie]

Nope, never catch Tam with chickens! The people who lived there had a large dog, so it was to keep him out of the flowers.

Anyway, she just heard from the bank late this afternoon....SHE GOT THE LOAN for the new place!! Never told us she'd even applied...she is so determined to do it all herself! I"m so happy for her! She'll still have to stay here for a couple of weeks after she moves out of Byron, but that's okay!

 

[ShrekDawg]

That's awesome news Blooie!!

The pics worked for me too, btw.

Oh and that fence for the garden idea is a great idea. Ours tears through flowers and now my vegetables or even if he doesn't, his leash does.

 

[ronott1]

Nope, never catch Tam with chickens! The people who lived there had a large dog, so it was to keep him out of the flowers.

Anyway, she just heard from the bank late this afternoon....SHE GOT THE LOAN for the new place!! Never told us she'd even applied...she is so determined to do it all herself! I"m so happy for her! She'll still have to stay here for a couple of weeks after she moves out of Byron, but that's okay!

I figured it was for a dog.

Good news!

 

[rjohns39]

morning all

 

[DigMyChicks]

Nope, never catch Tam with chickens! The people who lived there had a large dog, so it was to keep him out of the flowers.

Anyway, she just heard from the bank late this afternoon....SHE GOT THE LOAN for the new place!! Never told us she'd even applied...she is so determined to do it all herself! I"m so happy for her! She'll still have to stay here for a couple of weeks after she moves out of Byron, but that's okay!

I liked her old house, she did a nice job! Which house is she getting now?

 

[DigMyChicks]

Good morning all! It’s going to be miserably hot and humid today

 

[N F C]

Are you set on the fake red color from food coloring? That is not the way the original cake was made:

Red Velvet Cake – No Dye

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine:

6 ounces (1 and a half sticks, or 12 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temp
15 3/4 ounces light brown sugar

Cream these together at medium high speed for about 5 minutes…longer than you think is necessary…until the mixture is light and fluffy. Then add, one at a time:

3 eggs

Beat each egg in fully before adding the next, maintaining that light fluffy texture.

In a large bowl, combine:

6 ounces unbleached flour
6 ounces cake flour
2 1/4 ounces natural cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

Sift this mixture twice with a strainer. This is an important step, don’t skip it. MOST recipes that call for sifting actually don’t need any sifting. That’s an antiquated technique (like baking recipes that call for scalding milk) that was originally used to remove tiny bits of stone that remain in the flour after the grinding process. Modern flours aren’t stone ground any longer, and are sifted multiple times in the factory before packaging. However, in this recipe, the sifting is important because both cake flour and cocoa powder tend to clump, and the dry ingredients need to be fully aerated to achieve that velvety texture that is every bit as important as the red color in Red Velvet Cake.

In a large measuring cup, combine:

1 1/2 cups buttermilk, warmed 30 secs in the microwave
2 teaspoons vanilla

Whisk this together with a fork. On low speed in the stand mixer, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/3 of the buttermilk to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Let the mixer fully incorporate the ingredients before you add the next 1/3 of each. And then the final 1/3. Let the mixer run an additional 5 minutes (important) on low speed to ensure the batter is fully smooth.

Let the batter sit for a bit while you prepare your pans. This recipe will make three 9″ layers, or 24 cupcakes or individual cakes. Spray the cake pans or muffin tins with cooking spray, and line the bottom with circles of parchment. (If you’re making cupcakes, just use cupcake liners, but if baking individual cakes, it’s best to cut out little circles for the bottom of each muffin cup.) For individual cakes, only fill the muffin cups about 2/3 full. For cupcakes, fill them almost to the rim. An ice cream scoop makes this laughably easy.

Preheat your oven to 325F (or 375F if baking cupcakes) and place the rack in the center of the oven.

Bake full 9″ cakes for 30-35 minutes, individual cakes for 20-25 minutes, or cupcakes for 15-20 minutes (at 375F…cupcakes need a higher temperature to raise their tops into a high, rounded shape. Cakes you want flat across the top for easier frosting, which is why you bake them 50 degrees cooler.) You’ll know the cakes are done when you gently touch the top and it’s not sticky and doesn’t give easily when you press. It should have a bit of resistance and even spring back just a bit when you remove your finger. You can also stick a knife or toothpick in the cake, and if it comes out clean, with no streaks of batter, it’s done. But who wants to stab their cake?!?

Remove the pans and cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Then you can remove the cakes, which should slide out easily because of that parchment layer you worked so hard on.



The traditional topping for Red Velvet Cake these days is cream cheese frosting. Which is a good thing, because it’s the easiest of all the frostings to make, AND it tastes the best. If you are frosting a layer cake, let them fully cool and put them in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up while you make the frosting. This will prevent all those little crumbs from accumulating in the frosting.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temp
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp

Beat these together on medium high speed until they are light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and add, a bit at a time:

1 pound powdered sugar

After the sugar is mostly incorporated, you can raise the speed to beat it until the frosting is light and airy. Then add:

1 Tablespoon vanilla

Beat until it’s fully incorporated. And please note, if your household is cream cheese frosting obsessed, you might wanna double this recipe!!

The fake red dye isn't what made me want to try the recipe...I was specifically interested in something that would bake up here in my altitude. All that mixing (and other factors) can cause cakes, even cupcakes, to quickly rise in the oven, then sink in the middle.

I'm running out of time to experiment, so think I'll go with the chocolate caramel cake the last batch of RHL liked plus one other dessert.

No matter what color it is, it's still chocolate.

Sigh, I know, I know. It sure ain't chislic but some of us have a sweet tooth and nothing takes care of that like chocolate.

You know Blooie, SOME people actually LIKE chocolate!

Like me!

It did work? Not working on my computer. Let me double check here...


Nope, the photos of the inside aren't coming on Trulia. I posted another site with the houses in Lovell from Zillow and although you have to find the house to click on it, those interior photos do show up. By the way, also on Zillow, photo top left in Byron for 90,000...that's the one she's currently in and you can see how beautifully she's redone the inside.

What a shame about her current house B! She certainly did a beautiful job of fixing it up. I'm sure she'll do a wonderful job of fixing up any house she ends up with...wishing her the best getting her forever home.