So the story goes....The Baker Hotel

A monolithic monument that seems to mark another time, the Baker Hotel rises up from the ground and can be seen for miles as you're driving into a town once known for it's healing waters; now with eerily quiet echos in the wind. As an adult, I'm still in awe, as I visit Mineral Wells and see the Baker Hotel.

The grandeur of the Baker Hotel in this small town makes me nostalgic...for my childhood, my grandmother, the town and its people.

The Baker Hotel opened in 1929 just weeks after the stock market crash, but enjoyed immense success all through out the 1930's as thousands flocked to this top spa destination. Housed with 450 guestrooms, 2 ballrooms, and other attractions such as a beauty parlor and bowling alley; in it's heyday, the Baker attracted celebrities like Clark Cable, Judy Garland, and Lyndon B. Johnson. It took 3 years to build and cost a whopping $1.2 million to construct. Another interesting tidbit...it was the first skyscraper to be built outside of a major metropolitan area.

Over time the business declined...who can say exactly how it began. World War II ended, surrounding businesses came and went. There's a natural ebb and flow to all things in this life...and so the story goes for the Baker Hotel.

Today, the Baker Hotel is just another stark reminder of how fickle life can be, yet how permanent man's stamp on it, is.

For an interesting look at the Baker, watch the preview "Ballad of the Baker"

For the latest updates on The Baker Hotel, follow on Facebook

Strawberry Poundcake Cupcakes

Ok...so I know it's been a while since my last post. But sometimes, life gets busy, and there's work to do, and June bug's to play with.

I finally made the strawberry poundcake cupcakes...see below for more info; I went to Mexico and came back full of Chilaquiles (super addictive) and Cerveza, and even planted flowers in our front yard; but not without out a million other things to do. Hence, the lack of blog entries lately.

Strawberry Poundcake Cupcakes

If you like strawberry ice cream, I highly recommend. They may not be the prettiest cupcakes, but they are sure to be delicious. So as I mentioned in a previous blog entry, I cheated, and bought box pound cake mix. I mean come on, a girl's gotta have a life and can't always make everything from scratch. It's the semi-homemade concept. Thanks Sandra Lee.

What you'll need:

1 box of Duncan Hines Poundcake mix....produces with generous scoops in the muffin tin approximately 17 cupcakes. Add 1 tsp of Almond Extract to spruce up the box mix. If you don't tell, no one will ever know. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. There were no directions on the box for this, but thanks to cupcakeproject.com; I figured this one out. You can also use the clean toothpick test.

For the icing...I merged two ideas from cupcakeproject.com, My 10 favorite frostings "Strawberry Whipped Cream" + Pioneer Women's Devil Dogs, "That's The Best Icing I've ever had" = My Best Ever Strawberry Like Ice Cream Icing!

So how do you make?

• 5 Tablespoons Flour
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 cup Butter
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 10 - 16 Fresh Strawberries (mashed/pulverized via some form of stress relief, or a food processor works too)

Directions

From Pioneer Woman, see link above: "In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. 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 my introduction of fruit inspired by cupcakeproject.com]

Beat in mashed/pulverized strawberries. Use more or less depending on consistency. If strawberries are super juicy, strain some of the juice.

Ok....back to Pioneer Woman's recipe....

"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."

Before you eat all the icing....frost your cupcakes and enjoy!

The Dish: Carrot Cake

So for some reason I'm obsessed with cupcakes, and have been itching to make pound cake cupcakes with strawberry frosting. I cheated and bought pound cake mix. However, I planned to make the frosting from scratch, but I ate most of the strawberries this week before I got around to making the cupcakes. So, I guess I'll try this one out later.

I think my obsession with cupcakes may be due to their perfect little state of being. I mean come on...they're so pretty and cute, how can you not want to eat them. It's like having a personal cake; personal sized pizza's were a hit! Why not pint-sized, personal cakes! This also helps with portion control, as long as you divy out the remaining cupcakes to friends, family, neighbors and co-workers.

Anyway, my next cupcake was going to be carrot cake cupcakes. Carrot cake happens to by my husband's favorite. But, this I had no intentions of cheating. I bought carrots and shredded them (finely, I might add, both in skill and texture!). This also, gave me a chance to try out my fancy hands-free mixer from Christmas. Also a rule from the hubby; I must make good carrot cake with this fancy kitchen appliance in order to justify taking up space. Regardless of the results, I have to say though, the mixer is awesome! Easy. Easy. Easy. And so easy to clean! I'm in love.

In the end, I decided to forego the cupcake attempt and just make the cake and test the recipe first. I can attempt the cupcakes later when I'm sure the recipe is approved.


Meanwhile, as I waited for the cake to cool (hence the rambling above and the photos below), I tested out my new app - Retro Camera.

Here's the result:

I also got bored...played with photo booth on my mac...nice glow effect. Kind of ethereal.

And finally, the cake was cool enough to frost.
So what do you think is for breakfast?

You got it. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I will eat this for breakfast with a nice cup of coffee!

Carrot Cake Recipe from joyofbaking.com

It's Mo approved. But the cupcakes will have to wait. This is a lot of cake!