A Great Visit And A Tall Shortcake

Two weeks ago, Jon's parents and sister came to visit and to see the kid's ballet recital.  We had a great weekend. 

 Charlotte and Grammy played a crazy enthusiastic game of "race the car as fast as you can and try to get it to fly off the table before the other person catches it". 

 Me, waiting for the meatloaf and roasted smashed potatoes to finish cooking... and watching the table/car game. 

 Charlotte is an excellent fruit chopper.

  Evan stirs gelatin while Charlotte starts whipping the cream. 

 The tallest, prettiest thing I think I've ever created.   The cake is King Arthur's chiffon cake. 
I layered it with cut strawberries (that had been tossed with a little sugar and let sit for a while) and whipped cream that I whipped with some softened gelatin.  If I had used regular whipped cream, within an hour or so, it would have turned into a soft mess.  The gelatin helped it hold it's shape and support such a tall cake (I also used a few bamboo skewers).  Next time I won't use quite so much gelatin.  The whipped cream got a bit too firm. Here's the recipe I'll use next time. 


The following pictures were taken by Charlotte.

 Can I just say how awesome it is that my kids have grandmothers that are so much fun?  No stuffy, serious grandma's here!

 After the ballet recital, we came home to enjoy a celebratory feast.  Fried chicken, deviled eggs, potato salad (thanks, Mom!!), fruit salad, pasta salad, and asparagus.  YUM!

 I love feeding people.  It's one of my favorite things.

 Suzanne watches and is ready to help as I slice into this crazy cake.  Thanks to a sharp bread knife, I'm able to slice it without too much trouble.

 It was a fun and delicious weekend!