effortless darlings, effortless...

Betty Crocker said that to have any successful gathering of friends you must make your effort to put the party together look, well... effortless! I was feeling like I had accomplished just that as the first girl to arrive to my "coffee break" walked in the door. On the dining room table I had casually laid out the desserts and cakes, strawberries with freshly whipped cream, coffee freshly pressed in my red coffee press and all of the coffee fixings. The rest of my house was pristinely clean, Ally had just laid down for a nap and I was all dolled up in that special kind of way where you look like you actually didn't doll yourself up but in reality it took you a couple hours to get ready. There were chairs in a circle in the living room and toys waiting to be played with for the toddlers. All in all it looked cozy, casual and effortless.

In order to achieve this special kind of effortlessness, I planned ahead exactly one week. On day 1 I planned the menu I would be serving for the small get together and invited guests. Day 2 was dedicated to the shopping. I do not put anything in my coffee so I knew I would have to buy little packets of sugar and we would need cream. Day 3 was too soon to do any real getting ready, but I put together my game plan and did laundry and other such normal things all the way through day 4. Day 5 was baking day. I spent the entire day baking aunt Pearl's apple cake, angel food cake, and my own dark chocolate brownies. The kitchen was a wreck... Day 6 I scrubbed the house from top to bottom. Shelves got un-cluttered, laundry was all put away, the floors were cleaned and everything was put in it's place... and then I spent the rest of the day chasing after Ally as she reverted it all back to disarray. This literally took me all day and by the time she went to bed I was pooped. Day 7, the day of this small get together, I quickly got myself ready, fed the baby and got her cleaned up, tried to clean up the messes she had already managed to make, set everything up and anticipated anything else I might need to put out, cleaned the floors one more time, put out the dog, put the kettle on for coffee and tea and ta da! It is time for people to arrive. Looking effortless took a lot of effort.

Thankfully, Aunt Pearl's cakes were less effort and more fun. This time I was prepared so when the recipe's procedure simple read: "bake for one hour" with absolutely no further instruction, I took all of my previous knowledge of cake baking and was able to fill in the many blank spaces. I liked this cake for its denseness and the fruit and nuts in it. It reminded me of something you would eat for breakfast alongside a big mug of coffee and the paper. Very similar to my own mom's banana bread recipe that we have all used and loved for years. Here is the original recipe. I substituted pecans for walnuts because they are cheaper and I used golden raisins because they were all I had in the pantry.

Apple Sauce Cake

1/2 cup lard
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 cup pecans
4 Tbsp hot water
1 tsp soda
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup raisins

---------

Bake one hour.

I know what you are thinking... lard?! So let me answer your question now: no I did not substitute the lard. It was one of the things that made this recipe intriguing and I found that lard sells quite cheap in the baking aisle at Stater Bros. :)

The other cake was a light and flavorful angel food cake. I followed the recipe exactly; even the part where it said to beat the eggs "long and hard". I have a ridiculously juvenile brain and this made me laugh for a long time. Whoo Aunt Pearl, get it girl! I served it with strawberries and the fresh whipped cream and made a little strawberry shortcake. This one is my favorite so far.

Angel Food Cake

6 eggs
2 cups sugar
6 Tbsp orange juice
2 cups flour (I used super fine cake flour)
1 tsp vanilla
(I also added a couple Tbsp of blood orange olive oil from the Temecula Olive Company for the orange flavor)

----------

Beat egg yolks with 1 cup of sugar, beat long and hard. Then add flour with orange juice. Beat whites with other cup of sugar, fold into yolks, add vanilla.

put in cold oven and bake one hour in ungreased pan.

All in all my effortless coffee party went off without a hitch. Everyone ate and talked and the kids played sweetly between us. Now I wonder if I am ready for the dinner party I have set myself up for on Friday?!