Introducing....

My new blog layout!! You like? I'm proud. It forced me to figure out htm codes. I did most of it myself, but had just a little help from our IT guy at work.

We celebrated my dad's birthday earlier this month which gave me an opportunity to bake! His gf surprised him with an amazing trip to Rome in March so the theme of the night was Italy. All his gifts, including the cake hinted at the trip. They included a bottle of Italian dressing, a street map of Rome, and a tour book. Boy was he surprised! He was born in Italy and moved to Canada when he was 4 years old, but he's never been back since then. I'm really happy for him to explore his home country and see his family there. It's about time!

So back to the cake... It seems like every time I try to bake a multi-layered cake (this one had 3), the layers crack and I get fault-lines. Sure, it doesn't look bad when filled with the icing, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist. It may not have looked perfect, but it was delicious! The recipe was called "Italian Creme Cake" and it was infused with coconut and chopped pecans. It was VERY tasty & the leftovers didn't survive long! =P

In about 20 minutes I'll be heading off to Oktoberfest with some friends! Yes, I know it's only September. My afternoon will be spent drinking beer and eating pretzels and brauts!

Prost! Cheers!

(Hofbrauhaus, Munich, 2006)