really good white cake

Here is the white cake I baked for Peanut’s 24th birthday last August. It is Sally’s The Perfect White Cake.
How cute is Ethan with his three littles…Cooper and Ethan both have October birthdays. Seen here is the cake I baked for Monnie’s 86th birthday.

This afternoon, we will be celebrating three fall birthdays: Cooper, Connor, and Ethan, each of them born in the month of October. Later this week, Caroline and her family will be celebrating Liam’s 4th birthday in Andover, MA, with a race car-themed bounce house and a backyard class and family party.

This little guy will be turning 4 at the end of the week. He still loves race cars and now more specifically monster trucks.

While I’m not baking the cake for either of these celebrations, and I will desperately miss celebrating Liam on his big day this coming Friday, I’m still all about a good cake. Eldest daughter Caroline has been asking me about cake, too, as she wants to add a delicious white cake recipe to her repertoire.

Over the years, I’ve tried countless cake recipes. My current favorite and go-to white cake recipe is from Sally’s Baking Addiction, and it has proved to be practically foolproof and flawless. This is the recipe I have recommended to Caroline and to my sister Tracy in CA, who is a perfectionist, Sally’s The Perfect White Cake.

This is the white cake I baked while in the south of France for Maxwell and Lexi’s wedding celebration last September. Again, it’s The Perfect White Cake.
Here the leftover cake was served at the day after wedding brunch.

This cake has been my go-to white cake recipe for several years now. I even baked it as a wedding cake in France for Maxwell and Lexi last September. I baked it a few weeks ago for my mom’s 86th birthday. It is an exceptionally delicious white cake.

Everyone loves cake.

Thank you, Sally, for your baking recipes. Last week, I made your Classic Apple Crisp while in Andover, MA, for Caroline and her family, and that was a great hit, too.

Every day dress, a really good white cake.

notes I wrote to myself for baking in France.
I packed and shipped all of my supplies including cake tins and parchment paper.
baking and serving cakes, year after year
another cake for Mom’s birthday. this was last year.
my grandmother’s table linen.
My sister coaching me in the crumb coat.
The cake I baked and that Tracy and Peyton decorated.
Peyton and Booie decorating a white cake this summer.
The white cake at Easter. As you can see there is a LOT of cake.
Cake is always a good idea.
Rory loves cake too.
Cake to go…

a mid-summer dinner

I set the picnic table under the trees and close to the house. We had two heaters for when the sun went down.
Very late afternoon, I had some work to do. I am a solo entrepeneaur. The two armchairs on each end were brougth outside from our dining area. I always put the two largest men on the ends with the armchairs regardless of Bill and I being hosts, I always aim to make our guests comfortable. I’m not sure picnic table benches are super comfortable for men of distingquished substance. 🙂
I made the tart city-side while working muy fashion hustle and drove it out to the country after it cooled.
I prepped the blueberry pie cityside but backed it in the country is a small countertop Wolf oven.
Mashed potatoes and foccacia prep.

While there is so much talk about fall and back to school and back to work, I’m not ready to give up on you summer ’25 just yet; in fact, I’m going to the official end, Sunday, September 21st. On Monday, September 22nd, the autumn equinox and the official start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere, I’m all yours. Until then, let’s soak in every last drop of the waning daylight.

A few weeks ago I hosted a small weeknight al fresco dinner for eight of us. I wanted to make it special, we were hosting family and friends that hadn’t been together in too long a time. Me being me, I carted dinnerware, the good flatware, and linen napkins from the city house to the country house, it’s all in a day’s effort.

Peach and burrata salad with homemad foccacia.
tomatoes from the garden.
Sliced in half with fresh rosemary.
a room with a view, my county kitchen windows
ready to bake
always good for breakfast the next day with an over easy egg on top.
Chicken from the local market is prepped and ready to go.
quickly blanched green beans laying wati to be sauteed with good butter is always a faorite.
table is ready to go.

I made a sublime peach and burrata salad using young arugula and fresh small basil leaves from my garden, and a roasted Chicken Provencal that has been a recent favorite and on good rotation. I did a small potato mash using lots of Kerrygold butter and heated whole mild to make them silky and delicious, and fresh, homegrown green beans rounded out the entree.

For dessert I baked my standard blueberry pie. Apricots have been calling my name at the farmers market so I also added in a beautiful apricot upside down tart kind of thing. Both were served with fresh whipped cream. Guests were offered to choose, most chose a small serving of each, myself included.

My husband picked the wines, as he always does. We are quite the duo, I couldn’t tell you what we drank other than it was delicious, and he couldn’t tell you where I sourced the food or how I prepared it, no matter, we made it work, and it was good.

when all is done and ready to be served i like to turn the lights off in the kitchen proper work area. It’s easeir on the eyes and makes for a better vibe. no harsh lighting during the dinner hour.
here we go… Lela Rose bustier, Brunello Cucinelli skirt, I love good clothes.
another vibe check, lighting small votive candles
later in the evening when the temperature dropped i added a great turtleneck sweater.

This was a weeknight dinner during a week I host one of four annual trunk shows, meeting women for one to one style appointments to help them choose clothing for their unique lifestyle. Trunk shows in and of themselves take a lot out of me as I take matching luxury clothing with beautiful women quite serious, yet I also love to host family for intimate and meaningful dining experiences so I guess I just have to go forth, put the work in, and enjoy the rewards.

the morning after, it was a lovely evening.

Good food and good outfits are always worth the effort.

more trunk show shenanigans waiting for me city-side the very next day. it’s all worth it.

first day of spring

strawberry plants and spring bulbs, oh, how I love you

Finally, the time when we can begin to stir again. On the first day of spring, I welcome you with an open heart.

I made myself do yard work for an hour, a promise that pays off in spades. Like any good project, you can get swept up and lose track of time once you start. It’s the starting that is the challenge.

Mise en place for bolognese sauce for tomorrow’s lasagna. I know, lasagna in spring, yet the three grands are coming for dinner, and it’s still pretty cold out there. I have been creating menus that can be prepared beforehand so that I can enjoy the people around me and not constantly be in the kitchen. Also, I have been using store-bought bone broth instead of store-bought beef broth to increase the protein value.
I’ve been all about this pearl midi-skirt and have been wearing it constantly, both here in Buffalo, NY, and in St. Petersburg, FL.
Once home I immediately changed into this other matched set, this one a gift from my two eldest daughters for Christmas.

More exciting activities were prepping the sauce for tomorrow’s lasagna, dressing up for a political fundraiser downtown, and undressing myself once I got home.

Grateful for the longer days. Wishing everyone brightness and the confidence to begin again, whatever that may be for you.

Every day dress, the first day of Spring, 2025.