Buttercream

For the buttercream, I just made a standard half batch. I took three Wilton's Cooking Classes and basically followed there recipe. 

Devil's Food Cake

Often bakers, even professional ones, will use box cake mixes. I know, que gasp. But it's true. I have talked with several professional bakers and they use box mixes with extenders. The extenders usually give the "fun" flavors, like caramel or mocha. Not that this isn't a perfectly legitimate way of baking a cake, I was just tired of eating cake that has preservatives and chemicals in it. So I a made cake from scratch. I was reading about making faux-hostess cupcakes and found this recipe from Martha Stewart.

What happened was pure deliciousness!

Meatloaf

 My mother never made meatloaf. It just wasn't something she cooked. We had it maybe once or twice growing up when my stepfather made it. I don't remember if I liked it or not, but I know I enjoy it now. We probably have once a month or so, or whenever we feel lazy and don't want to go to the grocery store. Why does meatloaf get such a bad rap? It can be delicious, healthy, fun and a great way to help clean out your pantry. It was also voted as the #7 favorite dish in the U.S. in 2007, according to Good Housekeeping.

Chocolate Mousse

For my birthday, I didn't want a cake. We often have cupcakes or cake around, so I wanted some chocolate mousse. So DH used the book from his one baking class in school, Baking and Pastry, as a recipe for my mouse. It was delicious!