Octoberfest

We had a JAG Agility demo at the Oaks Park Octoberfest. It was great fun during and after the rain. Our course was set up next to one of the fest tents...easy access to beer and brats. I ran Lavi and Boomerang. Lavi had her share of zoomies but I did get her to do some of the obstacles. When Matt and Susan arrived, she was more interested in them than running the course. At least it was cute....

Here I am running Boomerang (he's heading up the A-frame).




We also had fun watching the dogs jumping off the docks in the Northwest Challenge. The winner jumped almost 26 feet! Once Lavi knew we were not going to make her do it, she settled down.



Lavi watching the action.



Lavi and Susan.



Alexander gang (minus cat, bird, fish, fish, fish, fish).

End of Summer 2010 Photos

Summer 2010 went by really fast. I played a lot of Bocce with the Burlingame Bocce team. We made it to the finals on Thursday night but lost to last year's grand champions. We also played in the tournament of champions but ended up losing in the quarterfinals to the Tuesday night champs.

The Burlingame Bocce team (named after our neighborhood). (L-R Dario, Stephanie, Robin-captain, Clint, Roberta, Kim, Leigh and Laura)



Robin watching the finals from our front row seats. The Thursday night champs ended up winning the whole thing again.



Here I am watching the finals. Nice view of the fancy scoreboard, which was brought out for the final game.



Also made some time this summer to visit the dahlia fields with Doug and Susan.



They are absolutely amazing. Here is a photo of the bunch I brought home.



The animals had an eventful end of summer. Gandalf enjoys watching Tiamet - our new resident Betta.



Lavi got her haircut and they took a lot of her ears. She seems to like and it and it doesn't get matted - for now.



And Gandalf hogging Lavi's bed. She is so good and doesn't kick him off though she could if she wanted.

Rosh Hashanah Carrot Cake

My first layer cake. I was excited to make a layer cake since I feel the sheet cakes just don't have the same elegance. I research and tried all the tricks I could with out spending any money.

Here is the Carrot Cake recipe (taken from the back of the Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour package but modified slightly).

Makes 2 8" round cake pans.

1 c brown sugar
1 c white sugar
1 c canola oil
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 c whole wheat pastry flour
2 c grated carrots (grated by hand)
2 tsp baking powder
2 8 oz cans crushed pineapple (drained and juice reserved)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 2 8" round baking pans (I also cut parchment paper to put on the bottom of the pans after I sprayed with cooking oil and before I added and tapped out flour). Mix the first 6 ingredients (sugar to cinnnamon) and then add the remaining ingredients. Pour evenly into the two pans. Bake for approximately 40 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean). Let sit for 15 minutes in pan and then pop out onto cooling rack.

At this point I triple wrapped the cakes and stuck them into the freezer. You can leave them in the freezer for up to a week. Remove them when ready to apply frosting. It is a lot easier to apply frosting to the frozen cakes but leave ample time for the cakes to defrost entirely before eating.

Leigh's super-duper cream cheese frosting

6 oz cream cheese softened
2/3 c butter softened
1 tsp real vanilla
6 c sifted powdered sugar

Mix cream cheese, butter and vanilla really well until light and fluffy. Add sugar by the cup. After about 5 cups, add in smaller amounts until you reach desired sweetness.

A few more hints: After you remove the cakes from the freezer, take the reserved pineapple juice and brush on lightly. This will help the cakes remain moist. I also made a crumb layer with the frosting and then stuck it back into the fridge to set up for 30 min. Once set, apply the remainder of the frosting.

TA DA!