Caramelly. Appley. Delicious.

This is the last cake that The Cake Slice Bakers are baking from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott and boy was it delicious. Scratch that...it was DELICIOUS. I've been baking with the cake slice bakers for 17 months. I did miss a couple months, but overall I have baked 15 cakes with this group and this one tops my list. I'm not quite into the pumpkin baking mode just yet, but I ain't got no problem with apples. We eat apples year round (Fuji's are our favorites) but I don't bake much with them. This was a nice treat and I'll definitely be making this one again. I'm sure my mother-in-law wouldn't mind either.

Ooh, by the way, I was asked to redesign The Cake Slice Bakers badge and this is what I came up with. What do you think?

I did make a couple of changes to the recipe. Firstly, I cut the recipe in half because between the two of us, we can't finish off a 9x13-inch cake. I baked this in an 8-inch Pyrex, reduced the amount of oil, omitted the nuts and added cinnamon, because that's how I roll. I was afraid this cake would be too sweet with the glaze, but after it cooked it was almost caramel-like. Be sure to save yourself a spoon of the glaze and eat it while it's still warm-- awesome. After the cake set, the glaze did set up as a glaze and not a caramel, but it wasn't overly sweet. In fact it was so buttery despite there only being 3 Tbsp. of butter in there. This cake was so moist and not the least bit oily. The glaze settled into the cake and the whole thing tasted like a caramel apple. Insanely good. I shared half of this cake with the in-laws and we managed to stretch this cake out to three days. The good thing? It gets better with age. And is awesome warmed slightly with a scoop of vanilla.

When I first joined The Cake Slice Bakers, we baked from Sky High Cakes, then Southern Cakes and starting next month, we're moving on to a new cake book. Since we're baking from a new book (it's a secret for now) we're inviting new members to join us. If you're interested in baking along with The Cake Slice Bakers and can commit to baking one cake a month and posting it on your blog on the 20th, then please email Katie at Apple & Spice 1). your name 2). blog name 3). blog URL to appleandspice[AT]hotmail.co.uk with ‘Cake Slice Member’ as the subject and she will contact you with the details of how to join. You have until October 20th to sign up. I hope to be baking with some of you next month!

Fresh Apple Cake w/ Brown Sugar Glaze adapted from Southern Cakes

Printer Friendly Version

Apple Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples
• 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Brown Sugar Glaze:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon heavy cream

For the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch pan (round or square) and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.Stir with a whisk to mix everything together.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs with a hand mixer til light in color and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and beat well.

Stir in the flour mixture with a spoon and continue stirring the batter til the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts (if using) and stir to mix them into the batter.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Place the hot cake on a wire cake. While it's still hot, prepare the glaze.

For the glaze: Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes.

Spoon the hot glaze over the still hot-from-the-oven cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan.

Please don't wait til the weekend to make this!

Our Bunny and A Cake

It's Cake Slice Time! And the cake chosen for this month was Tres Leches Cake from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott. If you've never had one, a tres leches cake is generally a white sponge cake soaked in a sweetened three milk mixture and topped with whipped cream. I had every intention in making the recipe as the recipe author intended but I have a chocolate loving husband and he turned his nose up to the milky vanilla version. He requested I make a chocolate version and so I did. I made minor changes to the recipe, like substituting cocoa in place of some flour and adding vanilla to the batter instead of lime zest in the milk sauce, but it added a big punch of flavor and changed the cake completely. My husband loved it!

Before I tell you more about this cake, I wanted to thank you all for your kind words regarding the loss of our sweet fuzzy bunny, August. We don't know the cause of his death, all we know is that is happened quickly. All his life he's had respiratory issues but the doctors were always perplexed by him. He'd express mucus from his nose and he'd gasp for air but as soon as he cleared it, he was fine. It happened periodically for really no reason at all and we'd help him along by suctioning and wiping. We changed his diet, we gave him different meds and we eliminated things one by one in his cage thinking it was environmental. This became a part of his life but he wasn't suffering or in pain- it was just an annoyance, kind of like allergies. We tried all kind of things to make his life better and made many midnight trips to the emergency vet and no one ever knew how to "fix" him.

On Wednesday morning he was having another episode. I held him and stroked his fur. He seemed fine then all of a sudden he began to thrash his legs and tried to escape from my grip. We tried to calm him down so he wouldn't hurt himself, but something was wrong. He kicked off of me and fell. I picked him up and noticed he was no longer struggling but he was still breathing. Moments later as Mr. H was holding him, he passed away and it just seemed to happen so fast. We think his passing was a result of being over stressed- they can can work them selves up and give themselves heart attacks along with the fall, though it was a very short one. He was more than a rabbit- he was a member of our family. We got him after the boys died and he's been a joy in our lives when we were at such a low point. His life, as I see it, was cut short, but while he was a part of our family he was very well taken care of and loved wholeheartedly. We miss him so much.

Now it's hard to jump from talking about the passing of our bunny to talking about a cake, so I will just wrap it up by saying that this cake was rich, creamy, delicious and wasn't too sweet. I added chocolate to the milk mixture, but leaving it plain or adding vanilla or almond extract would be great too. The recipe didn't yield enough milk mixture in my opinion so I've increased that amount in the recipe below. I topped my cake with sweetened cocoa cream and served it with berries. The recipe below reflects my changes- I cut the recipe in half and added chocolate, but if you're interested in the larger (9x13) vanilla version, click here.

Chocolate Tres Leches Cake adapted from Southern Cakes

Printer Friendly Version

Adapted from this Original Recipe

Cake:

• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 6 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cups (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk

Three Milks:

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 oz. melted chocolate or chocolate syrup (optional)

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 8x8-inch pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder and stir with a fork to mix.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat with a mixer at high speed to mix well.

Adds the eggs one at a time, beating well each time and stopping to scrape down the bowl now and then until the mixture is light, fluffy and smooth. Add the vanilla.

Add one third of the flour mixture and then half the milk, beating at low speed each time just until the flour or milk disappears into the batter. Add another third of the flour and the remaining milk, then the remaining flour in the same way.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes (mine took 40 mins), until the cake is golden brown, springs back when touched lightly in the center and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

While the cake bakes, make the milk sauce. You want the cake to still be warm when you add the milk mixture.

Milk Sauce: Combine the milk, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and the semisweet chocolate or chocolate syrup (if using) in a medium saucepan. Heat gently over medium heat, stirring often until the mixture forms a smooth, steaming hot sauce. Do not let it come to a boil.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before using.

To Finish: Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Poke holes with a toothpick all over the cake.

Slowly pour the warm milk sauce over the warm cake, in stages stopping to let the cake absorb the sauce before adding more. You may not need it all but you can add more later if you need it.

Let the cake stand at room temperature for one hour before covering and refrigerating. (I let it chill overnight, but a few hours is plenty). Top with cocoa whipped cream (recipe below) and serve it straight from the pan.

Cocoa Whipped Cream from Monica H

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

In a medium bowl, combine heavy cream, sugar and cocoa powder. Mix at medium speed til creamy and fluffy, but don't overbeat or you'll be left with a curdled mess.

Top the cooled tres leches cake with the sweetened cocoa cream. Serve with fruit if desired.

I was going to link this post to The Cake Slice Bakers blog so you could go check out their cakes, but for some unknown reason that blog isn't up and running at the moment. When that issue gets resolved, I'll link it up. Until then, I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Happy Father's Day and Blueberry Cake

It's Father's Day and I'm pleased to share this simple blueberry cake with you today. It comes from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott and was chosen by The Cake Slice Bakers for the month of June. It's a delicious, light and buttery snack cake studded with plump blueberries and perfect for Summer or that special Dad in your life.

I have to be honest and say that the cakes in this book have been hit or miss for me. Just about every other cake recipe from this book is a good one and it just so happens that this choice is a favorite. Yay! Here is a run down of the cakes that I've made from this book:

• Pear Bread (spicy, moist and flavorful)
• Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake (good flavor, a little dry)
• Burnt Sugar Cake (too sweet frosting, dense, good flavor)
• Red Velvet Cake (good moist cake, used a different frosting)
• Mississippi Mud Cake (too sweet, dry cake, okay flavor)
• Pineapple Upside Down Cake (good flavor, gummy texture)
• Banana Cake (moist cake, inconsistent frosting)
• Blueberry Cake (lightly sweet, simple and tasty)

Back to this cake. As I mentioned this cake was a success, but that may be because I'm partial to blueberries. I always have blueberries on hand- either fresh in the fridge or marble-like bagfuls in the freezer. Luckily this cake calls for unthawed frozen berries so I was in luck. The only tip I have to offer when making this cake is that once you add the frozen berries to the bowl and fold them in, the batter will seize up a bit, will get cold, thick and stiff. It was almost impossible to spread the batter into the pan without mutilating the berries so I wet my hands and pressed the batter into the pan. This worked out very well.

This blueberry cake was buttery and tender, soft on the inside and a little crunchy on the top from the tablespoon of sugar I sprinkled on top. It baked in exactly 30 minutes and we had this along with bacon and eggs, orange juice and espresso for breakfast. I was tempted to add a little vanilla or orange/lemon zest to the batter but it didn't need it at all, in my opinion. It was like having a slice of blueberry muffin- go good. It was especially nice the next day warmed up a bit with a pat of butter melting into it. If blueberries aren't your thing, frozen raspberries, or blackberries or a combination of would be really nice.

Shenandoah Valley Blueberry Cake from Southern Cakes

Printer Friendly Version

• 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar* (see note)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)

Heat the oven to 375F and generously grease a 9 inch square or round pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and stir with a fork to mix well. In a medium bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat with a mixer at high speed until well combined. Add the egg and beat well for 1 to 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl until the mixture is smooth and light.

Stir in half the flour mixture then half the milk, mixing just enough to keep the batter fairly smooth and well combined. Add the remaining flour, then the rest of the milk, mixing gently. Stir in the blueberries.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread into corners (my batter was really thick so I wet my hands and pressed it into the pan). Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or until the cake is golden, springs back when touched gently in the centre and is pulling away from the sides of the pan.

Serve a square of cake right from the pan, warm or at room temperature. If its round, let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack or folded kitchen towel for 10 minutes and then turn it out to cool, top side up.

NOTE: I reserved 1 Tablespoon of sugar and sprinkled it on top of the cake prior to baking.

For more blueberry cakes, visit the other Cake Slice Bakers!_______________________________________________

On another note, on this day, June 20, 2004, Mr. h and I were engaged. You can read more about it HERE if you'd like. I wish you all a wonderfully lazy Sunday. Happy Father's Day!

Going Bananas!

I'm still a little sick so I haven't been baking or cooking much this past week. I am doing and feeling better but I'm not running on all fours yet. I have a nagging cough that won't quit and I'm still pretty congested. I've been self medicating myself with little pills in all shades of the rainbow and drinking a few elixirs including but not limited to the all wonderful Alka-Seltzer Cough & Cold! And that is my excuse for the lackluster photos of this cake. blah.

The good thing is that I've regained my sense of smell, which means I've also regained my sense of taste! We've eaten nothing but sandwiches, soup and breakfast type foods for the last week. Luckily we went to my mom's last night where Mr. H and I had a real meal with the family. Thank you Mom! And I baked dessert--no surprise there :-)

I baked this supremely moist banana cake with a chocolate glaze from Southern Cakes. It was this month's choice for The Cake Slice Bakers and it was delicious! I'm not really into baked desserts with bananas so I wasn't that excited about this one but it proved to be a favorite by my family. It was supposed to be a layer cake but I wanted to bake it into my new silicone pan. I found it this weekend at a discount store and couldn't pass up the great price. It's made by KitchenAid and is called the Fancy Flute. I've never baked a cake in silicone but it turned out great.

The cake was really good and very moist and tender despite me being short on the amount of bananas called for in the recipe. In place of the missing bananas I added a little apple sauce. The batter was simple to mix up and it was in the oven in no time. Since I chose to bake it in my new Bundt type pan, I didn't want to frost it and cover up all the pretty detail. So I quartered the recipe and thinned it out enough to pour it onto the cake, like a glaze. Unfortunately it didn't set up like a glaze and stayed wet like a frosting should. It was super tasty though- like thick and creamy chocolate milk. So good! I would like to make this again though as the recipe was suggested with the full amount of bananas and frosting. mmm!

Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

from Southern Cakes

Printable Version

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, softened
• 1½ cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1½ cups mashed ripe banana

Chocolate Frosting

• ½ cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk or half-an-half
• 4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

To make the cake, heat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a fork to combine well.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat well, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one by one, and then the vanilla. Beat well for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally until you have a smooth batter.

Using a large spoon, stir in half the flour just until it disappears into the batter. Stir in the buttermilk and then the remaining flour the same way. Quickly and gently fold in the mashed banana and then divide the batter between the 2 cake pans.

Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched lightly in the centre, and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pans on wire racks. Then turn out onto the racks to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the butter, cocoa and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil. Cook, stirring often for about 5 minutes, until the cocoa dissolves into a dark shiny essence. Remove from the heat and stir in the confectioners sugar and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at low speed until you have a thick smooth frosting.

To complete the cake, place one layer, top side down, on a cake plate and spread about 1 cup of frosting evenly over the top. Cover with the second layer placed top side up. Spread the rest of the frosting evenly first over the sides and then covering the top of the cake.

NOTE: For a bundt/tube cake bake at 350F for 55-60 minutes.

In other banana related news (ha ha!) I made a banana pudding pie for my grandpa's belated birthday. They were in town this week to visit my cousin and I knew he would love this. And he did! Isn't he the cutest? Love you Grandpa!

A Ring Around The Rosy

This month's cake for The Cake Slice Bakers is another Southern classic- Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I love pineapple upside down cake and I've never come across one I didn't like. It is cake after all :-) So when the bakers chose this cake from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott I was giddy. But it's been a busy month and I didn't think I was going to have time to make it but I managed to squeeze it in by the hair of my chinny chin chin. I don't really have a hair though, quit looking!

This cake didn't get the greatest reviews. Some people really liked it and others thought the cake part could have been better. I fall somewhere in between. Because of the reviews I was hesitant to make it but I decided to bake a half batch in a smaller pan that way if I didn't like the cake it wasn't a total loss. It turns out, I did like the cake but it's not the best pineapple upside down cake I've ever had. The cake topping was buttery and sweet and the fruit softened and caramelized from the heat. The part where the syrup meets the cake gets a little gooey and sticky, which is fine by me. The cake itself had a good flavor but was a little heavy and ever so slightly gummy.

I think it could have been lighter, maybe the addition of another egg would help? I say this because I halved the recipe but I used the whole egg and it wasn't as dense as some others claimed. Also I think the method in which this cake is made also results in the texture of this cake. You add the butter to the dry ingredients instead of creaming the butter and sugar together. Maybe it doesn't have enough air incorporated into it? I don't know, I still thought it was good but this one was better in my opinion.

In other news, I was having a bad day when I made this cake and I thought I'd go drown my sorrows in the cake batter but it's cheery appearance and sticky cherries actually turned my frown upside down. So if you need a lift, make this cake. It's cheaper than a therapist :-)

Pineapple "Turn Your Frown" Upside Down Cake adapted from Southern Cakes

Printable Version (unadapted version)

Pineapple Topping:

• One 20-ounce can pineapple rings (save the juice)
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 10 maraschino cherries

Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1 egg (I would suggest 2 eggs for a lighter batter)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. pineapple juice

Heat the oven to 350F.

Drain the pineapple well but save 2 tablespoons of the juice for the cake batter. Melt the butter in a 10 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Or, put the butter in a 9 inch round cake pan and put it in the oven for a few minutes as the heat melts the butter.

Remove the pan from the oven or stove and sprinkle the brown sugar over the buttery surface. Place the pineapple rings carefully on top of the scattered brown sugar and melted butter, arranging them so they fit in 1 layer. (You may have a few left over). Place a cherry in the center of each ring, and set the pan aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a fork to mix them together well. Add the milk and butter and beat well with a mixer, scraping down the bowl once or twice until you have a thick, fairly smooth batter, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the egg, reserved pineapple juice and the vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes more, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides.

Carefully pour the batter over the pineapple arranged in the skillet or cake pan and use a spoon to spread it evenly to the edges of the pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the cake is golden brown and springs back when touched lightly in the center. Cool in the skillet or pan for 5 minutes on a wire rack.

With oven mitts, carefully turn out the warm cake onto a serving plate by placing the plate upside down over the cake in the pan and then flipping them over together to release the cake onto the plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTE: I halved this recipe and baked it in a 6 inch cake pan. I also used 1 whole egg in the cake and used a whisk to mix it all together as to not overbeat it.

Please show some love to the other Cake Slice Bakers!

Mud, Monuments and Memorials

Mississippi Mud Cake. What is that? Mississippi mud cake has a pecan studded brownie like base, then a layer of marshmallows and then it's covered in a layer of sweet chocolaty frosting that is similar to the frosting on a chocolate sheet cake. Sounds good huh? This cake was baked by The Cake Slice Bakers and comes from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott.

This is the recipe that made me want to buy this book. I remember browsing through it at Borders and drooling over the photo in the cookbook. It lingered in my mind and eventually I went back to get it. So I was thrilled when The Cake Slice Bakers voted it as their cake of choice for February. I made this for Valentine's Dinner at my mom's last week. One slice is so rich and sweet we didn't even eat a 1/4 of the recipe between 7 of us. So I would suggest baking half the recipe in an 8x8 inch pan.

This cake wasn't as spectacular as I hoped it would have been. It was good but I did not care for the cake aspect of this recipe. It was essentially an unleavened chocolate cake, similar in form to a brownie (not fudgey) but dense and somewhat dry and wasn't very flavorful. In all fairness I did cut back on the sugar a bit in the cake since the frosting was so sweet. I would try this again with a brownie base or a different cake recipe and I would halve the amount of frosting. This cake was firm but gooey, sticky and sweet. If you're a fan of SUGAR, chocolate and marshmallows then this cake is for you!

Mississippi Mud Cake from Southern Cakes Printable Version

For the Cake:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into big chunks
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 4 eggs, beaten well
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups sugar
• 1½ cups all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

For the Frosting:

• 16 oz. or 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• ½ cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups mini marshmallows

Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan. In a medium saucepan combine the butter and cocoa powder and cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, until the butter is melted and the mixture is well blended, about 3 – 4 minutes (I did this in the microwave). Stir in the beaten eggs, vanilla, sugar, flour, salt and pecans and beat until the batter is well combined and the flour has disappeared.

Quickly pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cake springs back when touched gently in the center and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.

While the cake bakes, prepare the frosting so it is ready to pour over the hot cake. (I suggest doing this right before the cake is done so the frosting doesn't set up in the bowl).

In a medium bowl combine the powdered sugar and the cocoa powder and stir to mix well. Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla and beat everything together well. Set aside until the cake is done.

Remove the cake from the oven, scatter the marshmallows over the top and then return the cake to the hot oven for about 3 minutes to soften the marshmallows.

Place the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack. Pour the frosting all over the marshmallow dotted cake and eat right away or allow to cool to room temperature. Cut the cake into squares and serve.

_________________________________________________

Here are more pictures of Memorials and Monuments in the DC area. It snowed all day Friday and Saturday that we were there, but on Sunday (Superbowl Sunday!) it was a gorgeous day. We called a cab to take us to brunch but he never showed up so the hotel called a private driver who was close by to drive us around. It just so happens that he does private tours so he drove us around DC for 4 hours! He was so knowledgeable and such an intelligent man. He was an amazing tour guide and we're glad our paths crossed. I'm also glad we went on such a beautiful day. There were clear sunny skies and the snow glistened like glitter. Someone said it sparkled like diamonds and I think I like that analogy much better :-)

This is the Washington Monument. Notice the difference in color in the stone about a quarter of the way up? Well that's because they ran out of money when they were building it! When they later had enough funds to finish the monument they returned to the same quarry and purchased the same kind of stone only later to realize that the newer batch did not quite match so they're different colors.

* * * * * * * * *

This is the Jefferson Memorial. We did not get to get up close and personal with President Jefferson since the memorial was closed. The pathways leading up to it were covered in snow but we admired it from afar. The picture above is the front and the picture below is the backside. There is a huge statue of Jefferson that stands in the center of the monument that we could see as we drove around it but it's not visible from these views.

* * * * * * * * *

This is the Lincoln Memorial. We were able to get pretty close to the memorial but we weren't allowed to walk up the steps that led to the famous President sitting in a giant chair since they were also covered in snow. Imagine that?! At the top of the memorial above the columns are all the 50 states. Texas is on the front side on the left, right next to Florida. Ingrid we're neighbors after all :-)

* * * * * * * * *

This is the Supreme Court, which is right across from the Capitol. It has a gorgeous golden door at the entrance.

And finally the US Capitol. We were able to walk up the steps all the way up to the front, then across and back down. There were people on the lawn in skis going down the hill as well as families on sleds. They looked like they were having fun. why not? BTW, did you know that the Texas Capitol is the only state capitol that is taller than the US capitol by about 15 feet? You know what they say...Everything is bigger in Texas!

I have more photos for you that I'll share over time unless you're getting bored already :-) Enjoy!