Birthday Cake: Vanilla Ice Cream...Favorite?

My brother, Keith William, has a birthday tomorrow!  But we couldn't wait for cake.  We had to have it today.  And, of course, it has to be a Dairy Queen ice cream cake.

Every year we special order his cake because he likes DQ vanilla ice cream so much he has the chocolate layer replaced with vanilla.  So his birthday cake is a double layer vanilla cake with the chocolate caramel and cookie crumble middle!  We gave up writing on the cake long ago since his favorite candy is Heath.  As you see it's just not easy to write on.  Well, you can write on it, but you'd have to be really good for it to come out legibly...

I've highlighted "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" before, but seeing as Keith William's favorite flavor of ice cream is vanilla (no joke) and the second verse of the song talks about the finer pronunciation points of the word vanilla, I feel it is very appropriate!  Enjoy this classic jazz duet sung by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong!

White Chocolate: Real or Fake?

White chocolate is a unique ingredient.  Some white chocolate is amazing; and some other white chocolate is disgustingly fake.

It's important when you bake with white chocolate that you check the ingredients and make sure cocoa butter is listed.  Don't bother to buy white chocolate that lacks cocoa butter!  Trust me.  To me it is like the difference between imitation vanilla and real vanilla.  Always keep it real.

So when you need the real thing, check the label.  Always.  No exceptions!

Speaking of the "real thing," I've highlighted "At Long Last Love" sung by Frank Sinatra before, but it's such a great song, it deserves to be highlighted again...because it is REAL!