Winter Break Update (Peanut Butter Poundcake)

We are in the middle of winter break right now and I love it! We stayed around the house yesterday. I got caught up on the laundry and the kids worked downstairs cleaning up the playroom. Now, we can enjoy the rest of our week together. We will probably go see a movie tomorrow and maybe we will visit the park later in the week.

Friday night Bo and Russ spent the night with Lee and Cheyenne (Sophie's BFF) spent the night with us. Sophie and Cheyenne have been best friends since they were 2 1/2 years old when their brothers were on the same baseball team. I remember they used to play in the dirt together. Then they went to preschool together and were in the same class for 2 years in a row. Now they are in kindergarten at the same school, but not the same class. We also live in the same neighborhood which makes playing together very convenient. On Thursday afternoon, Sophie walked down to Cheyenne's house to deliver her early Valentine gift to Cheyenne. It was a best friends shirt and they both wore them to school on Friday. Here's the picture, precious:

We also enjoyed putting a 1000 piece puzzle together this weekend. This is something that everyone in our family loves to do, especially Bo. He is so unbelievably patient for an 8 year old. Sophie likes to take a piece out of the part of the puzzle that is already completed and put it back in the same spot. Reed will sit at the table with us and just ask if he can help. We usually just say no and he understands. He will be able to join us one day. For now, I'm just thankful he doesn't try to destroy the puzzle.

My favorite thing about this weekend was our tennis match. It was a beautiful day and the kids got to play outside all day long. Michael and I finally got to play together and I really enjoyed it. Sometimes people say it's hard to play with their spouse, but not me. I loved it! We ended up playing 3 sets and finally won the match in a tiebreaker!

It was a home match and I was in charge of bringing a dessert. I woke up early Sunday morning with baking on my mind. I finally decided on a Peanut Butter Poundcake, from Johnnie Gabriel's cookbook, and it was delicious. Here's a picture of the leftovers and the recipe:

Peanut Butter Poundcake

1 cup butter

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

5 large eggs

3 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lour a 15-cup tube pan. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the sour cream and the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Put the milk in a small bowl and add the vanilla. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down the sides and the bottoms of the bowl. Fold in the mini chocolate chips . Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on wire rack for 10 - 15 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack and invert again onto a serving plate.

I frosted mine with a chocolate buttercream frosting and sprinkled with mini chocolate chips. Next time I will try the cooked fudge frosting.