For Abby

This post is for our dear sister/sister-in-law Abby, who requested a "new" post today. Apparently, waiting a month-and-a-half between blog posts loses you readers. So here goes, Abby:

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

RONALD REAGAN!!!!

(Well, happy birthday yesterday.)

When I lived in D.C., I used to throw a big Reagan birthday party every year on Feb. 6th, in honor of the Gipper.

But now that I have my own little real-life Reagan to dote over, the "festivities" have been scaled back quite a bit.

To honor Ronnie yesterday, instead of a big bash, we made the Reagan family Orange Flourless Chocolate Cake. It's better the second day (I just had some), and DON'T use tin foil in place of parchment paper (like I did) or you'll burn it (also, like I did). The recipe is below, but before that, I'll sign off with one of Reagan's best quips. We miss you, President Reagan.

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' "

-Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)

Orange Flourless Chocolate Cake for the Reagan FamilyEpicurious | © February 2007

by Roland Mesnier with Christian Malard
Reprinted with permission from All the Presidents' Pastries

Editor's note: The recipe below is taken from All the Presidents' Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House by Roland Mesnier with Christian Malard. Yield: Makes 10 to 12 servings 1 1/2 sticks (170 g) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing flour, for dusting 6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet chocolate 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (220 g) sugar zest of one large orange 4 eggs plus 2 egg yolks 1/2 cup (55 g) unsweetened cocoa powder 10x confectioners' sugar, for dusting candied orange peel and vanilla ice cream, to serve Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Butter and flour a 10-inch (25-cm) round cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, then butter and flour the parchment paper. Gently melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Stir the butter into the chocolate to melt, and stir until smooth. Remove from the double boiler and whisk the sugar and orange zest into the chocolate mixture. Add the eggs and egg yolks and whisk well. Sift the cocoa powder over the chocolate mixture and whisk the batter until totally smooth. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for approximately 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top has formed a good crust. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving platter. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with candied orange peel and vanilla ice cream.

Our Blog Christmas Card

MERRY CHRISTMAS

TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

XOXO

Love,

Ben, Molly, and Reagan

Zoo Day

So we took Reagan to the zoo today to see Santa. (Yes, the zoo. He lives at the zoo here in Cleveland, during the winter...in the 20 degree icy weather...not sure why.) As you can see from the below photo, she was about as interested in Santa and Mrs. Claus as she is in having her diaper changed. She lasted about 1/10th of a second on their lap before she bolted.

However, she did love this neat little miniature bench she found later on in the rainforest. It was just her size (and not Ben's size, as you can see).

The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

This is the worst pic of our fam, so I'm glad it's not our real Christmas photo. We went to an "Ugly Christmas Sweater Party" tonight, so I wanted to post our lovely ensembles that we picked up from Thrift City today. In particular, I wanted to point out the reindeer dickey that Ben is sporting. The golden yarn balls on my Christmas tree sweater are pretty cool as well--but nothing beats a dickey.

The Little Mozart

Reagan's learning to play the piano, apparently. (See the below video.) I love the running commentary Ben's making in the background as I film this. He's talking to his brother on the phone and didn't realize everything he said was being captured for posterity.

The Fridge--Full of Fun

One last Reagan favorite these days....climbing up into the fridge. If I turn my back for two seconds, she's in there rummaging around to see what's new.

Another Obsession

Just thought I'd post Reagan's other current obsession...another little trick she's learned from her daddy. She loves playing on computers, and can be found pounding away on the keyboard, watching the screen change as she does. If ever I can't find her upstairs, she's usually in the office pulling on the computer mouse, sliding it around the mouse pad so she can see the bottom of it light up--or she's slamming her little hands down on the keys. And whenever Ben's on his laptop downstairs, Reagan's usually right on top of him trying to take it from him so she can play on it herself.