Wednesday 1 September 2010

G and I brought my 14 year old brother (who is making his first appearance on this blog- I bet none of you knew I even had a brother!) beryr picking recently. He's getting so tall.
DSC_0534
 (it rained, hence the flat, disheveled hair. Mine, not his.) 

We made pie, but as you can tell from the above baskets, one pie was not going to take all those berries. So I spent a full Sunday morning turning this:strawberries into this: homemade strawbery jam
(there were many jars, actually. But I figured a photo of one would be plenty)

In other culinary adventures, I also tried out the very intriguing Root Beer Bundt Cake recipe from Baked. I even tracked down root beer schnapps for the added root beer taste, but i have to say... I'm not sure what I think. I love root beer, but in cake form, it just tasted kind of odd to me. And the chocolate was pretty strong, so if no one told you it was a root beer cake, you'd just be trying to figure out what that odd taste was. Having said that, this recipe produces a damn fine looking cake, no?
root beer bundt cake 2
I would make this again, but I think I'd substitute the root beer schnapps for cointreau. Orange and chocolate, there's a flavour combo my taste buds can wrap themselves around.
root beer bundt cake close up
(nom nom nom)

17 comments:

juicyknits said...

Totally agree - go for Cointreau the next time.

Anonymous said...

Aw, must be fun to see your little bro growing up! My "little" brother is turning 28 next month, has his own house, and is getting married in January, it's scary! He was also taller than me by the time he turned 14.

When are you off to Stockholm? I leave on Tuesday! Only have an evening there before I head up to Northern Sweden, but then on Monday 13 I have nearly a whole day in Stockholm and I plan to hit those knitting shops!

Aesderina said...

you brother has the same eyes as you! so cute! big age difference?? me too... unfortunately I don't talk to mine nor do I go berry picking!!

The cake reminds me of the BIG chocolate cake the fat boy had to eat in the movie Matilda :)

Nat at Made in Home said...

I am amazed your brother agreed to be on your blog, mine would have refused! But I would not have told him... hihihihi.. That is what big sisters are for.

Love the cake, did a similar chocolate cake with beetroot and it was worth it. May be worth a try?

soknitpicky said...

It's fun to have a little brother! Looks like you had a good time with yours. Did he get the cake too?

Denise said...

Wow, your baby brother is actually taller than you :) Boys grow so quickly! Love all those berries, the cake looks yum but I don't like Root Beer, I grew up in England and I have to tell people, we had an antiseptic cream for our cut and scraped knees that smelled just like root beer... so now I am spoiled, can't even sniff it without thinking of bloody knees!!! LOL :)

Teresa said...

I whole heartedly agree about the orange and chocolate. Made to go together!
The berry picking looks like a lot of fun! I love Ontario strawberries :)

Crystal said...

CANNING! I just did some too. making food from scratch is the absolute best :)

The Sweatshop of Love said...

Fun! I love berry picking and really miss it living in a city. And that cake DOES look amazing. Too bad about the weirdness! I guess some things just don't belong in a cake.

jen said...

what a dreamy post, berry picking, jam making, cake baking oh my!

Ibunnysavetroy said...

I have a 14 year old brother too! crazy, he starts high school tomorrow! I love strawberry jam and that cake looks VERY yummy, odd taste and all.

Anonymous said...

mmmm~ looks yummy! and you and your brother look sooo much alike. I sometimes I wish I had a much younger sibling (my younger sis is just 2 years younger than me); we're more like friends but I wish I could be much much more experienced than she is. =)

Monique said...

Goodness! Those berries and that cake looks delicious!
I can see who's going to be taller than who. ;)

Hilary said...

Your brother is such a cutie! And what an adorable photo of the two of you! Strawberry picking sounds like a ton of fun...and, man, you put those berries to good use! Thanks for the write-up on the Root Beer Bundt cake. I have the Baked book, too, and have been wanting to try that recipe. When I do, I will heed your advice and try using Cointreau instead. But dang, that is a gorgeous cake!!

Anonymous said...

hello brother! You guys are so cute together. And berries!! I adore strawberry-picking.

The cake looks amazing - but I don't think I could handle the root beer.

Michele Saunders said...

Those berries look divine. I love to go berry picking. I hope your bro had a lot of fun!

Maryse said...

Nice to meet your brother! It's good to spend quality time with family!