Travel Love

Dinner last night turned out great!  The casserole was delicious and I would have to dub the Stevia experiment a success.  From what I read, for baking applications, Stevia only recommends you substitute it for half the sugar in a recipe as it's much drier than regular sugar.  We tend to think of sugar as being dry because it's um, dry but in recipes it lends moisture. 
I first tried to find a recipe that specified Stevia.  I found some but they all called for a ton of other stuff that was a little wack-a-doo for my taste (egg substitute, spelt flour, and the like) so I just decided to use a very simple Betty Crocker cake recipe and simply sub in Stevia for half the sugar.  For me, licking the beaters is the best part of baking so I HAD to try the batter and see how it was.  I detected a very faint after-taste from the Stevia but it wasn't bad.  My mom couldn't tell.  I also tried a taste of the Stevia plain and it was not very good.  The instructions on the bag of Stevia said recipes may bake more quickly because of the loss of moisture so I baked the cake for five minutes less than the minimal recommended time.  It was perfectly done at that time.  I frosted it with a very easy "frosting" "recipe".  You just mix a carton of Cool Whip with a package of instant pudding mix.  After the cake cooled I spread the frosting and refrigerated it.  I thought the finished cake tasted very good but it was slightly different than a traditional cake.  The crumb was nice and dense but still light but it wasn't quite as moist.  It really did taste good though.  The texture may have also been impacted by the fact that I refrigerated the cake due to the Cool Whip.  Generally I was very satisfied and am eager to experiment further with Stevia.  Tonight after kickboxing I am going to stop by Jordan and Kris' house and drop off baby C's birthday gifts.  He turns one today!  I made him a onesie with a sailboat on it but forgot to take a pic.  It was darling, trust me.  This weekend I am traveling to Chicago to celebrate Lisa's birthday and try on bridesmaid dresses for her wedding this summer.  What do you think of this one? 
                                                     
The dress has convertible panels that can be used to create different necklines.  I am excited to try it on.  We are going to Napa for Lisa's bachelorette party over Memorial Day weekend.  After the pre-wedding fun I am going to head up to Portland to visit my darling Samuel.  I just booked my tickets today and can not wait!  Have you been to Napa?  Portland?  Do you like this dress?