Musical musings for March

I truly have no idea how we got to the end of March...these first three months of the year have just flown by. I am pretty sure this is not a new statement I am throwing out there, but it is true nonetheless. 2014 has been such a whirlwind of events and now I am getting ready to move at the end of next month. It is definitely shaping up to be a big year and what better soundtrack for it then some country music. Below in no particular order are my latest purchases:

1. Whatcha Got In That Cup - Thomas Rhett
2. Sorry For Partyin' - Thomas Rhett
3. Make We Wanna - Thomas Rhett
4. In A Minute - Thomas Rhett
5. Front Porch Junkies (Remix) - Thomas Rhett
6. Call Me Up - Thomas Rhett
7. All-American Middle Class White Boy - Thomas Rhett
8. Country Girl (Shake It for Me) - Luke Bryan
9. If You Ain't Here to Party - Luke Bryan
10. Suntan City - Luke Bryan
11. Drinkin' Beer and Wastin' Bullets - Luke Bryan
12. Young Love - Kip Moore

I cannot wait for the Luke Bryan concert in just over a month's time...it is going to be amazing!

March's musical musings can be found on these albums (images courtesy of iTunes)

Banana cake

I was a very productive girl yesterday morning, baking up a storm including a birthday cake for one of my housemates. The recipe I used for this banana cake is a nostalgic one as it is one from my childhood and comes from my grandma's church recipe book. I don't have a copy of the book here with me in Vancouver, but a while back I asked my mum to email me the recipe. Since then I have been waiting for the opportunity to bake the banana cake, a recipe I baked many times previously. The recipe is as follows:

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• 2 tbsp warm milk
• 1 and 1/2 cup self raising flour (I used all purpose)
• 2 eggs
• 3 bananas
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and sugar, add bananas that have been well mashed, then beaten eggs & vanilla. Dissolve soda in milk & add alternatively with flour until mixed. Put into 2 greased log cake tins.

Bake Elec. 375 for 40 minutes.

Bake Gas 350 for 45 minutes.

Check after 25 to 30 minutes.

I baked the cake in a round tin at 375 for approximately 35 minutes, but I probably could have taken it out a few minutes earlier. The frosting was a buttercream one that I whipped up and the finishing touch was some white chocolate chips. As you can see I can still do with some practice when it comes to frosting cakes, but it did taste pretty good.

More reads for 2014

So I think I might have a little bit of a booking-buying problem. The reason I call it a problem is because I haven't finished reading all of the books I mentioned earlier in the year yet. Instead, for some reason, I have been on a book-buying spree to the point where I am about to start reading Divergent and will still have six books to read once I have finished it. I let this book skip the invisible queue so I can go see the movie while it is still in the cinema. After this, in no particular order, I will read the following new purchases:

• The First Love Cookie Club - Lori Wilde
• Blue Dahlia - Nora Roberts

As well as these existing book purchases that I haven't had the chance to read yet:

• 12th of Never - James Patterson
• The Life List - Lori Nelson Spielman
• Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger - Beth Harbison
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) - Mindy Kaling

I just finished reading Never Have I Ever by Katie Heaney. This was a newer purchased that I decided I needed to read ahead of all the other books. Lets just hope I can get through all of these books before the need to buy more gets the better of me.

Chocolate frosted peanut butter chocolate chip cupcakes

At Christmas time, I gave out a few baking coupons as presents thinking it was a creative concept that would be enjoyable to have people redeem in the new year. My first coupon redemption happened today and as a result I whipped up a new cupcake recipe that I found here. I had gotten it in my mind to make chocolate chip cupcakes so the peanut butter element was a nice bonus. I didn't have two cups worth of semi-sweet chocolate chips so I used some milk ones as well. For the chocolate buttercream frosting, I didn't rely on a recipe, instead I combined:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp meringue powder
• 3 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 cup icing sugar, approximately
• milk, to create the desired consistency

I beat the frosting for around five minutes to create a nice fluffy and smooth consistency. Corinne, my housemate and cupcake recipient, was responsible for the sprinkles. We both quite liked the pink on brown combination the best. As with all new recipes, one had to be sampled before letting anyone else have free reign on them. I have to say they tasted pretty good...a nice combination of flavours.