There's a typhoon coming? Part 2

Last night the radio said the storm would hit us at 7 a.m. Well, it's 7 a.m., and here's what it looks like out my back door.

That's a little more convincing. We're at TCCOR 1. The storm should be here in a few hours.

There's a typhoon coming?

JR and I lived in Lejeune for 4 years. We had some storms go by us, but we were never really close to any. We've lived here and barely had any storms at all, much less major ones. Last night when I got on Facebook I saw 6 or 7 posts from people on the island stating that we were at TCCOR 3, which means there will be winds of 50 knots or greater within the next 48 hours. That means there's a storm a'comin'. This morning I checked the Kadena weather website, and it said we were at TCCOR 2 (winds of 50+ knots within 24 hours). I went out the back door, and what did I see? This.

It doesn't look like there's a storm coming, does it? I sure doesn't to me. A friend said it's always beautiful before a storm because it sucks up all the clouds. That makes sense. All I know is that if the commissary hadn't been so crazy this morning, I might not have believed it.

Triathletes

I've mentioned before that JR and Victor are training for a triathlon. Well, they've already done one. Now they've decided they'll do an Ironman before they leave the island. Again, I think they're crazy, but they'll never be convinced of that. Right now they're trying to convince the world to join them. Here's a pic of them in matching gear after they went for a perimeter ride on their bikes (around the outside of the entire base, approximately 16 miles by time they get home).

And more evidence that they're crazy... all they were talking about is how they weren't really tired yet and how they wanted to go do some more training. Weirdos.

Tank Cake

I made my third cake this week. This is by far the most complicated one so far. It was also my first paying customer. (Thanks, Grace!) I made it for the son of a friend from church. He's turning six and wanted a chocolate tank cake. Being the son of a Marine, I figured he needed a USMC tank. So the first thing I did was Google image search the M1 Abrams tank. I have a window full of tabs of tanks and tank cakes alike. Most of my inspiration came from this picture of a model.

I would have used a picture of an actual Abrams, but it was hard to see any detail in those pictures. The cake I made was Devils Food in three layers but with four pieces. First I used an 8.5 x 11 glass pan. I made two cakes in this pan. Then I got a glass 7 x 5 pan and cooked some more Devils Food cake in it. After they cooled I put the small one in the fridge (my fridge runs very cold). I then took it out and cut the front of it to resemble the top rotating part of the tank. The two large layers were stacked one right side up and another upside down on top with homemade green-tinted buttercream frosting (Note: olive drab is a very unappetizing color). I trimmed the sides to make the angles on the front and back a little more extreme. One of the pieces was "pasted" to the back of the top cake with more buttercream. I then coated the whole cake with buttercream so the fondant would stick to it.

I put the cake pieces in the fridge while I made the fondant. For this cake I had to dye the fondant. Again, I had to make it olive drab, a color I couldn't find here on the island. Instead, I melted some Ghiradelli chocolate baking bars I got at the commissary and kneaded it into the white fondant. Then I added some Wilton Juniper Green tint and kneaded again. I definitely got my workout for the day. Kneading fondant is hard work! I rolled some out and put it around the tank body.

After I fitted the fondant to the bottom piece I rolled out some more and put it around the top pieces. The fondant on the main part was cut at the bottom because I knew I would be moving the cake around. I had that cake set on a cake board that I trimmed to size. The small turret piece was not on a cake board so I cut the fondant a little to large and then folded it under. I wasn't worried to much about seams because the cake is a tank, which is made out of panels of metal. After wrapping and placing the top layer I got out my new gum paste tool set (Love new toys!!) and started designing the details. I rolled little pieces of fondant to make the wheels, the side panels above the wheels, the hatch, the tail lights, etc. I used the gum paste tools to draw in seams for other panels, between the plates on the track, the air exhaust vents on the back, etc.

The cannon was made by wrapping a pirouline in some more fondant. I covered the end that would show and shoved a lolipop stick into the other side to help anchor it into the cake. Next time I will find a better way to support it. I ended up sagging a little by the time the cake was served.

I brought the cake to the party early for final assembly. I put the tank on a large rectangular cake board and then melted some bakers chocolate and smeared it all over the bottom of the tank so it would look like it had driven through mud. Then I put a thin layer of frosting on the cake board and crumbled some of the extra cake over it to make dirt. Here's the final product. I think he liked it.

The Princess Castle Cake

My second cake came just a week after my first. I had seen the Wilton castle cake set online so Issie was given the choice between that and Barbie doll cakes. She chose the castle. This cake was by far more complicated than any other I've done. It started with a 2-layer 9" strawberry cake and a 2-layer 6" strawberry cake. I covered them in white fondant. This was my first experience with fondant, and from what I'd read, I thought it worked like any dough that you roll out. It does, to an extent. What I didn't realize is that you can't just smooth pieces together when they tear. Oops. Yeah, that spot became the back of the cake where it wouldn't be as noticeable. Here's the pink cake with white fondant.

After I put the fondant on, I put the pieces together to try to figure out how I should construct the final cake. This was the pic I took with my phone and sent to JR for his advice.

The next step was to decorate all the pieces. The final assembly and decoration would take place at Victor and Melanie's house before the party. I got some piping gel for the window frames and door frames. I outlined the windows on the towers and stuck them in the fridge to set. Then, instead of just outlining the window and door on the main cake, I got a paintbrush I've used for candy-making and glazed them.

Just a note. Piping get does not set. It stays soft no matter what you do. I found this out after I took the towers back out and added the flowers to the window sills. If I ever make this cake again, I will be glazing all the windows. It looks much better than just outlining the frame.

The peaks that went on top of the towers were supposed to be "painted" too so I covered them in a thin layer of buttercream frosting and then sprinkled pink sugar.

All the pieces were then transported to the party to be put together. On the way, one of the towers rolled and smudged so I had to redo the layout of the castle. That's okay, though. I think it turned out better with one less tower. It was a bit crowded before. I put the cake on one of Melanie's cutting boards and attached the towers and peaks with melted white chocolate. To cover the tips of the peaks where I had held them, I put a little dollop of frosting with the star tip. I added more flowers and leaves to cover the seams and wrote Issie's name on the second layer. Here's the final result.

I'm very proud of it. Now I'm excited to try more. I'm making a cake for a friend's son's birthday party this coming Friday, but I don't know what it's going to look like yet. Then I'm going to make the cakes for Melanie's baby shower, whenever that will be. Hmmm. That's not enough. I need more people to need cakes. I want to make them, but I don't want them sitting around my house. Anyone need a cake decorated?

My first birthday cake

As I mentioned in the first post, I'm teaching myself how to decorate cakes. I've made and frosted cakes before, but I've never tried to make anything unusual or fancy. The most complicated thing I've done is a typical two-layer round cake. When Melanie was planning Zack and Issie's birthday parties I volunteered to make the cakes. Zack's cake was to be a Lego block. The inside is actually made up of 9 little cakes I made in pans I got at the 100 Yen store. It said they were pound cake pans. I made one batch of white cake batter and then divided it and dyed the portions different colors. Zane loved watching the batter turn colors.

 Here are some of them after they came out of the oven. JR helped me decide how to stack them so the cake would be stable and look cool when you cut into it.

Then I dyed some buttercream frosting and stacked them together. The pegs on top are muffins that I cut flat on top and then flipped over and set on the cake.

This is what it looked like when we cut into it.

It turned out pretty well. The boys definitely enjoyed it. They were all asking for seconds and thirds.

Pumpkin Cheesecake in a Gingersnap Crust with Honey Ginger Whipped Cream

This isn't a new recipe, but I haven't made it in awhile and I've had to alter it. It's one of JR's favorites. The crust calls for ground hazelnuts. The only way I've seen to get hazelnuts in Okinawa is to pick them out of the variety nut bin that shows up around Christmastime. Frankly, I'm not doing that. I have a bag of almonds in the cabinet. JR doesn't like almonds, but I'm going to see how this works. I don't think the change will make too much of a difference. I'll be including the recipe of anything I make so people don't have to ask if they want it.

Pumpkin Cheese in a Gingersnap Crust (originally posted by Shelley on Allrecipes.com)

1 1/2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs
3/4 cup ground hazelnuts
3 tablespoons brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup maple sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
4 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan.

2. Using a fork combine gingersnaps, hazelnuts, brown sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture onto the bottom and two inches up the side of the pan to form a crust.

3. With an electric mixer beat cream cheese and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in pumpkin. Mix in the cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing until smooth.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust. Bake in the preheated oven for 90 minutes or until the center of the cheesecake is set. Allow to cool in pan for 30 minutes. Refrigerate overnight.

I almost forgot to make the whipped cream. JR wouldn't have let me, though. I think that's his favorite part. I found this on Allrecipes.com too, but it's not a recipe by itself. It's attached to the Pilgrim Pumpkin Pie recipe.

Honey Ginger Cream (originally posted by Fern on Allrecipes.com)

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon ginger

In large bowl combine cream, honey, and ginger. Whip until soft peaks form. Chill one hour before serving.

My boys

JR and Victor are starting a new exercise regimen. I would just say they're doing P90X because they are, but that's not all they're doing. They are doing P09X along with their mandatory PT with their units and adding triathlon training on top of that. They're crazy. But, don't be surprised if they're ripped the next time you see them. With the P90X is a nutrition plan so I'm now cooking for both of them, 3 meals a day plus 2 snacks. I made a meal plan for next week. Keeping track of all the proteins/carbs/fat/etc. is a LOT harder than I thought it would be. Sounds easy enough, right? The boys are having fun, though. They're exhausted from all the training, but they're enjoying working on this goal together. Here they are polishing off one of those meals in no time flat.

Zane has been loving his Clipos lately. Anyone who has talked to us on Skype can attest to that. Every time he sees someone on there he has to show them what he has built. Usually, it's some type of airplane or rocket. He's surprisingly good at symmetry. Probably got that spatial reasoning from his daddy. Here are some examples of his latest constructions.

Nat has found a new hobby too. He's decided being stuck in the Pack'n'Play isn't so bad. Instead of crying his head off, he does this:

 and this:

This Pack'n'Play definitely won't be surviving past him, but hey, it keeps him occupied.

Titles

So I decided "Contemplations of a Gypsy" probably isn't the best title for a blog about my family. It was based on a comment my grandma made when I married into the military. Oh well. I can't decide though. I want a cutesy blog title, but nothing too sappy. "The Wayfaring We": good, bad, any opinions to be offered?

Sippy Cup

I know it's a very small victory, but I'm excited. Bug seems to have figured out the sippy cup. With Zane I used the Drop-In bottles, and the smart little bugger figured out that if he just kept sucking, the food would get to him eventually so he didn't have to lift the bottles. That made sippy cups difficult because he refused to lift them to get the liquid out. He was over a year old before he finally figured it out, and that only happened after I transitioned from bottle to straw sippy to a normal sippy. I didn't want that to happen with Bug so I'm using the VentAire bottles with him. Today, I gave him a sippy cup with a little water in it. At first, it looked like this.

He was having quite a bit of fun pounding the cup, pouring the water out of it, and then splashing it, but then he figured it out. You could tell he was happy to figure it out. He started to get mad when I took it away, but he was also full and wasn't really drinking it anymore. I'm so glad he figured it out. This means switching him off the bottle won't be a fight. Thank goodness.

Hello Out There!

Well, I finally figured out how to get Blogger in English. I've tried a couple of times to set this up and could only get Japanese. I'm setting this up to allow our family and friends scattered all over the world to know what is going on in our lives. We love you all and miss you all and hope you enjoy the posts to come.