Only Us...

Last night before Erik and I went to sleep we were talking about John McCains announcement today and it was agreed that when Erik woke up he would wake me up and we would turn on the news to find out who had won the "VeepStakes". At six when he woke me up we were both as excited as kids on Christmas (I called it by the way, while we were talking last night I said it would be Sarah Palin). As we we laid in bed watching CNN on the TV we swore we'd never put in our bedroom but I did anyway while he was gone, I thought "are we the only couple in America that is this nerdy?" Just then I got a text from my friend Garrett saying that Palin reminds him of me. I asked why, and he said "She's a take no prisoners kind of gal". I found that complimentary, even though you might not.

A few hours later I got up, made us some pancakes (from scratch, just like my grandma P's) and Erik got to work staining our amazing, but battered kitchen table. This table was in my step-dads mothers house, and her mothers house before that. My dad remembers this table from family dinners when he was a child and I love having it in our home - it's gorgeous. BUT it's moved from Nowata, OK to Enid, OK to Black River, NY to Lawton, OK to Kapolei, Hawaii and it's got a few spots to prove it. Of course, it doesn't help that there is no varnish on it, so if you give it so much as a dirty look it gets a mark. I've asked Erik to keep a few of the marks on the surface of the table (which is good, because I just found out they can't be covered anyway). There is a round mark in the center, where a hot soup pot was placed, and there is a burn mark on the side where (as I understand it) a kerosene lantern burned through the stain. I love it's history. Maybe I need to go take some pictures of Erik working on it.

Anyway, as I sat in the doorway into the garage watching him work I started thinking about how this is how life is supposed to be. But if we could leave out the separation part, I'd be even more happy.

Speaking of, we (Erik, Melissa and I) were talking and we decided that we should have early Thanksgiving for all of us together before the guys leave. We're all going to bring a dish from our own family's traditional Thanksgiving and I'm excited to see what everyone contributes, since we're all from VERY different parts of the country. It will be a great time!

And now, I have things to do. But not before sharing a recipe that I've been meaning to share for awhile - like since Erik's birthday. When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, he responded with "something with lime and coconut". Because that's so easy to come by... So I found this recipe online and I thought I'd share it with you.

Sticky Lime and Coconut Cake

For the Cake:
1 1/2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
3/4 c. sugar (I used half as much Splenda)
Grated zest of 3 limes, washed and scrubbed
3 c. shredded dry coconut
6 eggs beaten
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder

For the Syrup:
1 c. sugar (again, half as much Splenda)
1/2 c. water
Juice of 4 limes

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 1/2 inch springform cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Put butter, sugar, and lime zest in a large mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add coconut and eggs to bowl and sift in flour and baking powder. Beat well for about 2 minutes until mixture is well combined. Add to cake pan and bake for about 50 minutes until the top is golden and the sides of the cake have shrunk slightly from the pan.

While the cake is baking, make the syrup. Place sugar and water in pan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Raise the heat, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add lime juice.

Remove the cake from the oven, but do not unmold. Pour the syrup over the hot cake and let stand for about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan on to a cake platter and let stand.

***Note: I did not use a springform pan I used to 2 loaf pans, and I have to say I think it works better. I just evenly distributed the batter, and the syrup over the tops. I would also like to note that I did get the cakes to take all the syrup but I don't think I'd use it all next time.

Also, I froze loaf #2 and took it out for dessert last night. It tastes exactly the same - delicious - after a month and a half in the freezer!

PS - Baxter has now learned to bark when we say John McCain and hide his face when we say Barrack Obama. It's funny.