Fall Decor

I always want to decorate for the seasons - but I almost never do.  I will usually find a reason not to, such as time, money, etc.  But after putting together a bunch of crafts for my friend Alli's wedding I was inspired and ready to take it on.  And all of the decorations I put together were items that I had around the house - so no money and trip to the craft store.  Woohoo!
Again, the pictures below are taken with my iPhone.  I do own a really nice camera - I'm just a lazy git ;).  So the pics aren't exactly the best quality, but that's okay.

 

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

I recently made a gluten free chocolate cake for my guy (he is gluten intolerant).  It wasn't made from scratch or anything like that - but it was delicious and I got to use one of my homemade cakestands!  Pictures (from my iPhone) and recipe information are below.  Enjoy!

 

Chocolate Cake - I used Bob's Red Mill GF Chocolate Cake Mix
*Follow instructions on package
Ingredients Needed

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 cup milk (I used whole milk - b/c I can ;))
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh is best)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup hot water (I just used from the tap)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Icing - I used this recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks, and replaced the regular flour w/ a GF mix
Ingredients

• 5 Tablespoons Flour (use your GF version of choice, I used this one)
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 cup Butter
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!) 

Instructions

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens (I had to whisk for at least 10 minutes to get it to the right thickness - it is a good workout!). You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix is. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I’m in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in vanilla.
While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don’t want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven’t beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.
Grab a spoon and taste this wonderful goodness. If there is any left after your taste test, spread it on a cooled chocolate cake.

Yoga Retreat

I went on a yoga retreat with my friend Alli this past weekend - as a gift from my guy :-).  The retreat was a combination of yoga and creativity, and I really wasn't sure how exactly I would like it.  But.  It was amazing.  It affected me in a way that was very surprising.  And I will leave it at that ;-).  Here are some pictures from the trip - which was held near Berkley Springs, WV (1h 45min from DC) and led by Kimberly Wilson (wonderful woman!) of Tranquil Space.