Fool me twice, shame on me

Remember what happened the last time I baked? I am a slow learner and attempted baking again.

Todd loves German Chocolate Cake*, and my mom has an excellent recipe she has perfected. For Todd's birthday last year, my sister Kelsey, who is a baking princess, made the cake for him. I had never made this recipe. Until yesterday.

Making a cake from scratch is so much dang work. Most baked things are better from a box, except cookies and this recipe. Making it from scratch helped me see just why it's so fantastic. Whipped egg whites in the batter? No wonder the cake is as light as a cloud.

The cakes baked perfectly, and after I transferred them to the cooling rack there was very little carnage. Phew.

The final product.

It's not pretty (I don't do pretty--remember the orc cookies?!) but it tastes fantastic. Success!

*Greg and Nic: do Germans eat German Chocolate Cake? Or is this dessert a misnomer like Hawaiian Haystacks? True story: one evening in a meeting at church, everyone started randomly talking about Hawaiian Haystacks. They made fun of and couldn't understand the very concept (which is sad, because it's a super yum dish) and wondered where the dish got its name and why they'd been stuck as its origin. So "haystacks" having absolutely nothing, at all, ever, to do with Hawaiians. We shall have to call them Chicken Sundaes from now on.

Is German Chocolate Cake a misnomer? I've always wondered that.

Here today, gone toMaui

My dad had a shirt with this saying, and I always thought it was the coolest shirt (apparently I've been a word-nerd for a long time).

Earlier this week we went to Maui with my dad and sister. We had a great time, and it was wonderful to spend time with family.

We stayed in Lahaina in an oceanfront room (hooray for military discounts!). It was gorgeous, and so fun to fall asleep to the sound of waves. From the lanai we could see turtles and many, many whales. Maui is the best place to see them. We saw spouts, fin slaps, and breaching whales. It was so cool.

Most mornings there was a rainbow, and I was obsessed with the rainbow and palm trees and ocean. I took far too many pictures of them, but I actually got some really good shots.

Like the other Hawaiian islands we've been to, Maui has a blow hole. But unlike the other islands, few people seem to know about this one and it's not fenced off--we hiked right down to it and stared into the hole. Quickly though--we had to watch the ocean to gauge whether a huge plume was coming. It was really cool to see the water swirling around, and then to jump back as the water rushed through. The water would go 25+ feet into the air sometimes. We got soaked. Two days later my hoodie hadn't dried; it's probably still damp.

The rocks around the blow hole are gorgeous, as were the many stark colors.

Near the blow hole is this gorgeous view.

There's also a heart in the rocks. Probably not natural, but fun nevertheless.

Besides Waikiki (which we avoid like the plague) Hawaii doesn't have many tourist shopping areas. Which is part of the islands' charms. But it was nice to spend an afternoon in Lahaina looking through shops.

We finally got a picture with the cool trees.

We also went to Iao Valley. It was pretty; very windy. Also, Whitney almost kicked a giant centipede of sadness while we were there. Huge scary bugs put a damper on being outside.

My requisite Hawaii pictures (well, besides a picture of a bug, which I didn't get) are cool plants. This one looked like it was tie-dyed. Totally a rastafari plant.

And I loved both these flowers. The first one looks like it might be some kind of ginger plant, but the flower is different from any I've seen and I love it.

Beginning of March

With oodles and oodles of pictures.

Play time

Stop and smell the roses

The flowers and plants in Hawaii are beautiful. I especially enjoy how gorgeous flowers are found in really random places. To Todd's amusement, and to my amazement that I'm becoming like my mom, I stop and stare (and have started to take pictures of) the cool plants we see.

Some of these are taken with our phones, most with our camera. These are plants we've seen on Oahu, on Kauai; these are plants we've seen on hikes as they are "in nature," and plants I pass on my outdoor walk route; some of these are located in parking lots, in front of a restaurant, and in front of the Army hospital; some are weirdly beautiful, some make me gasp; and there are a lot of hibiscus, which are some of the best things about Hawaii.

I've realized I need to document the things that make me stop, because I will forget about all this soon after we move. I'm already amazed how much we take for granted living here.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Hands and tongues and feet, oh my!