BreyerFest Loot: My Favorite Piece

My favorite of all of Breyer's offerings for BreyerFest surprised me. A classic mold? Never!

But I fell in love with Black Forest the first time his picture was posted.

His box was beautifully done, too.

Depending on your point of view, he has a pink number 6 or a partial quotation mark on his nose.

And his body is the old dark charcoal/almost black from back in the day with some red undertones. Pair that with high gloss and a cranberry mane and tail and he is simply stunning.

Like a lot of the models being produced now, one of his hooves isn't totally on the ground but that's no biggie to me.

Black Forest is a nice complement to Red Velvet and Cupcake, two other models I never thought I'd like let alone buy, but for some reason, the quirkiness of all three appeals to me.

Black Forest is going to be displayed for a while with his other cake counterparts. And I sure hope Breyer makes some more of these cake-themed models because I am all in.

More BreyerFest loot tomorrow. Stay 'tooned!

45th Anniversary Celebration: Dinner & Cake!

(Second post of the day.)

Iowa City is one of my favorite places to visit, and whenever we do, we go to dinner at the Iowa River Power Restaurant.

Situated on the banks of the Iowa River, it's an old power plant that has been repurposed into a restaurant with beautiful views of the Iowa River. (You can bet that this girl who grew up on the Wabash is happy when she is on a river again.)

Our kids threw us an anniversary dinner party there and the restaurant gave us a quiet corner with lovely views of the river. Family members mixed and mingled when seated. (Susie, Trinity, Craig, JC, Julie, Mila, and Kate.)

Lukie, Todd, Cole, Emily, Sarah, and Lisa.

Ian, Titan, Cambria, Jessica, Andrew, Vanessa, and Curt. (Our Florida family, isolating due to COVID and unable to join us, was missed terribly!)

We have eaten out most anniversaries, but I've never had this happen to my plate before!

Neither had Craig! (We think they used fry sauce for the writing.)

The wait staff brought out a lovely cake with a large candle/sparkler on top.

And afterward, Craig and I had to duck through the family tunnel. (Our family is pretty partial to doing these tunnels.)

The wait staff was outstanding, and they even took  time to take our photograph afterward.

The cake came home with us for serving (Lisa made cupcakes for the littles) and Craig and I cut and served it wedding-style. 

Look at Craig's face when I hand him his piece of cake - it's very clear what he is thinking. And... it happened.

Such a lovely evening together! And a big thanks to our family for organizing it for us.

Gingerbread - the Pony & a Recipe!

Before Breyer announced their 2021 LE Christmas Pony anywhere on social media, they added it to their sales items on their web site. A friend who was online saw it and, knowing I love (and yes, collect) model horse blankets, sent me a heads up.

I ordered it right away and it arrived just a few days later. 

Gingerbread came in a pretty gift box designed to look like a Christmas present.

Inside, was a more traditional Breyer box with Gingerbread held in place with plastic covered wire as usual.

His blanket mimics a Christmas sweater and has Christmas trees, snowflakes, and ponies on it.

 

I am very fond of the Bouncer mold. My father's name was Jack, but because of our orchard, people called him Apple Jack. (I like the cereal, too, haha!)

 So, when Breyer came out with Apple Jack on the Bouncer mold, I bought one and fell in love with the mold.

I also happen to really like gingerbread - not the hard, break your teeth cookies, but the soft, real gingerBREAD which is actually a cake. 

Here's my favorite recipe for gingerbread:

Sour Cream Gingerbread

Beat together 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup molasses, 1/2 cup brown sugar.

Sift together 1 & 1/2 cups cake or pastry flour (I use all purpose), 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. (I omit the salt.) Stir into the beaten eggs mixture.

Add 1/2 cup melted butter or margarine. Beat well and pour into 9" greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

I like this served warm with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Enjoy!