The Very Best Pound Cake

I've always loved pound cake, but this recipe just outdoes any other I've tried!

It comes from our neighbor, Julianna, who used to work in fancy, super expensive bakery in Long Island, New York. Nothing holds a candle to her cheesecakes and pound cakes... so I asked her for the recipe and have been having fun with it.
Since I like the crispy edges of pound cake, I tried it in mini-muffin pans last time and it was absolutely amazing! We had our little bite sized pound cakes with a generous scoop of fresh chopped strawberries and a dollop of homemade whipped cream on top. Talk about what you really shouldn't serve! :)

6 eggs, separated
3 sticks butter, softened
1/2 c. Crisco or coconut oil, softened
3 c. sugar
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon extract

Preheat oven to 325.
Beat butter, Crisco or coconut oil and sugar till fluffy. Add yolks one at a time. Add extracts. Combine baking powder and salt with flour. Beat whites till stiff peaks form. Add milk and flour mixture alternately to butter mixture. Gently fold in egg whites.
To make it a lemon pound cake, use 2 tsp. lemon extract and and add the grated peel of one fresh lemon.
Pour into a greased a floured bundt pan, or a 9x13 pan, or several loaf pans, or 2 9" round pans, or mini muffin pans.
For a bundt cake, bake approx. 1 hr, 15 min.
A 9x13 pan, approx. 50-60 min.
Loaf pans - about 1 hr.
Round pans - approx. 35 min.
Mini-muffin pans - approx. 15 min.
(All till a toothpick comes out clean and cake springs back lightly when touched.)

Barlow Visit!

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Our "adopted" niece and nephews came to see us over New Year's. They stayed for nearly a week before they had to head back to Nevada. It was delightful to have enough babies for everyone to hold while they were here!

Above: A family picture in the pasture....
When Ellie has baby number five this summer,
she will be the mother of five children, four and under!

Dear little Thaddaeus (1)

Sam takes Adam (4) for a walk!

Mary helps Carolanne (2) make chocolate chip cookies

Noah stole the babies whenever he could! (Above: Thad)

Liz and Carolanne

Isaiah David Phillip was so proud of his little namesake - Isaiah David (7 mos)

Ellie with her little Isaiah

Adam has started the violin. It was so fun to watch him play!

Carolanne is such a little lady. She speaks in this sweet little soft voice and likes to call people "honey" and wear princess dresses. Poor thing has three brothers - we're hoping that number five (due in July) is a sister for Carolanne!

A hayride with the babies, the neighbors, and Sarah and Emily B.
Above: Ellie with Thad and Joanna with Carolanne

Abe with two of his babies

Bedtime was a circus, but oh, so fun!
Here, the three little boys are bedding down with Joanna and Jemima on the living room floor.

Our whole family :)

We spent New Year's Day at the Eldredge's house and
Susanne agreed to take the "U & B" family picture!

A Fresh Coat of Paint

Our house has been in need of a fresh coat of paint for a long time... years to be exact. Most of us were rather tired of the boring, dingy gray it has been for so long. Ruth and Sam decided we needed something bright and fresh... and experimented with changing the house colors on a computer program. They finally even sold Mom and Dad on his choice of color - Silver Moss, with white accents.

And while I was gone for a few days this week (hosting a doula workshop) the family decided it was time to spruce things up. I came back home to a newly painted house!

Sam on the front porch roof - painting the trim.

Ruth touching up the window frames.

* * * *

We no longer have any family members who are younger than 13, but that certainly doesn't mean that the house is empty of little ones. Quite the contrary. There are almost always at least 1 or 2 babies or toddlers around, and frequently an assortment of other children. Thus, we had a lot of little helpers on painting day.

Gwen and Elisebeth - two little girls who wanted to help

Liz helps Thor paint the side of the porch.

And the girls hung up Maddox's swing in the nearby tree so he could watch, too.
We have him at our house on weekday mornings...

Spring Break!

This past week has been lovely...Maybe not weather-wise, but it's been a time of refreshing for my heart.

Typically, when the legislators take a week off at the Capitol for Spring Break, I go home and work harder than ever. Making sure that everything is falling in place with our bill for the day they get back to the Capitol. Last year, Spring Break was one of the craziest, most hectic weeks around our house. So, I didn't expect much of a vacation this year either. I was pleasantly surprised.

I went home with our bill in a stalemate situation and there wasn't a lot I could do about moving it. But I still had hundreds of emails that I had been placing in various folders to deal with as soon as I had a chance. And I needed to update our database, our email alert list... We needed to raise money, and a lot of it fast, to pay our legal bills that never stop coming.
Needless to say, I had more than a full week of work cut out for me.

I'm so glad that sometimes God has other plans for our days than we do. He turned my week's plans upside down in a flash when the rain and flooding hit Missouri on Tuesday. I soon found myself with no internet. And it's been that way all week, till this evening.
I loved every minute of it. This year, Spring Break really was Spring Break. I didn't spend the week on the phone and in front of the computer.

I did laundry, washed dishes, cooked dinner with my sisters, and got to spend the evenings laughing and talking with my family instead of staring at a computer screen. I've discovered just how much I miss my old life... I have many times wished that I could have it back, but I didn't realize how wonderful it was till this week. : )

Now, as I prepare to head off to the Capitol in the morning again, I will cherish the small moments that I do have before I leave, and I will remember that everything God does is good. Not because I like it, but because I can trust Him to know more than I do what's good for me!

Life is good.
God is merciful.
I am blessed!