Half the Birthday, All the Fun

The little Miss turned 6 months old and we celebrated her half-birthday this weekend. What is a half-birthday? Is this even a thing? Or is it simply an excuse for me to bake a cake? Yes and yes. I got to bake something sweet and we had a small party with a couple of our friends who have young ones.

Being a new parent can be a bit lonely, especially when you are caught in the Sisyphean tasks of feeds and diaper changes. Having social support makes all the difference by giving you someone to share the everyday joys and pains. When I was newly pregnant last year, we signed up a plot in the community garden near us. From that garden plot, we harvested a few pounds of okra...and one new friend, a fellow gardener. This neighbor and new friend was also pregnant with her first child. It was wonderful to have a friend living practically next door going through the same things I was. We waddled through the neighborhood on long walks. She had her son Nico a week before I gave birth to Lila. Since the babies were a few days old, we've been meeting up every few days, bringing each other food and advice and reassurance. The littles babble to each other on the play mat. We go on long walks through the neighborhood just like we did earlier, but with babies now strapped on the outside. To anyone who is about to be a new parent, I have this to say: instead of spending hours researching strollers online, go out and find yourself a community of friends.

To celebrate Lila and Nico's half-birthday, I made half-birthday cakes, of course. I made one cake, cut it in half and frosted each half separately. Then I used chocolate chips to make a "N" on one half-cake for Nico and an "L" on the other half-cake for Lila.

The cake recipe is from Ina Garten and I found it in this post from Alpineberry. This is the kind of easy, easy cake recipe that really makes me wish that more people left the boxed cake mix right there in the box where it belongs and try making cakes from scratch.

• Dry ingredients in one bowl
• Wet ingredients in another bowl
• Mix the two
• Add hot coffee
• Pour the batter into prepared pans

You definitely don't need a stand mixer to make this recipe- a simple wooden spoon and mixing bowl does the trick. If you have a silicone spatula, it helps to scrape every last bit of the batter from the bowl. Note that this batter is pourable and thin and you need to butter and line the pans properly. But you will be rewarded with a beautifully moist cake.

Here is what I did differently from the recipe:

• Using canola oil instead of vegetable oil because it is what I had on hand.
• Using large eggs instead of extra large eggs because large is the only size I ever buy (I did not notice that the smaller quantity of eggs I used made any difference).
• Making faux buttermilk at home: take 1 tbsp. white vinegar in a measuring cup and add milk to the 1 cup mark. Let it sit for 5 minutes and give it a stir- viola! buttermilk!
• Reducing the quantity of sugar to 1.5 cups.
• Instead of freshly brewed coffee, I added 2 tsp. instant espresso  powder to 1 cup hot water.
• Using natural cocoa instead of Dutch processed. With natural cocoa, it almost looks like a red velvet cake with a rich mahogany color.

To fill and frost the cake, I used the peanut butter mousse from this recipe. The combination of chocolate and peanut butter is a particular favorite around here. My frosting skills are painfully lacking but there is something sweet and homely about a homemade cake so I never beat myself up about it. The cake made 12 generous servings.

To go with the cake, I made three finger foods:

Puffs with peas and sweet potato

Black eyed peas salsa served with tortilla chips

Paneer tikka with peppers and onions

Today is the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere- and I wish you all a season of glorious weather and long walks in the park. Today is also the start of my own personal Spring Cleaning Challenge. Starting this evening I will devote a little time- anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes- working on one small portion of my home. We've had very little time to clean and organize in this past year and I'm looking forward to clearing out some clutter and feeling rejuvenated inside and out.