Mini Italian Cream Cake

Sometimes I crave a slice of cake, not a big 9-inch cake that I must eat all week long to finish, but only a slice! So I bought two 4-inch Fat Daddy aluminum cake pans and got the idea to reduce the quantity of a cake recipe to make the equivalent of a slice of cake. I'm thrilled with the results! It took a pandemic to think of experimenting to make a single-serving cake, and in fact there's more than enough to share with a partner.

Nobody knows how Italian Cream Cake got its name since the cake is from the American South, not Italy. Here's how to make a 4-inch mini cake:

Mini Italian Cream Cake

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon shortening or vegetable oil

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup shredded coconut

You will need two small 4" cake pans, buttered and floured.

Directions:

1) With an electric mixer cream together the butter, shortening (or vegetable oil) and sugar.

2) Add the egg yolk and vanilla.

3 Next toss in the flour, baking soda and salt.

4) Add the buttermilk. If the batter is too thick, add a little more for a not too thick (or too thin) consistency.

4) Whisk the egg white in a separate clean bowl until stiff peaks form, then use a specular to fold it into the batter.

4) Next fold in the chopped pecans and shredded coconut.

5) Pour the cake batter into the 2 buttered and floured mini cake pans.

6) Bake in a 350 degree F preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the centers are done. The cakes will bounce back when touched. Remove from the oven and cool. Before the pans are completely cold lift out the cakes.

Italian Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

Ending up with 4 layers

2 ounces cream cheese, soften at room temperature

2 tablespoons butter, soften

1 box confectioner's sugar (You won't need the entire box.)

1 squirt of vanilla extract

1/4 cup of ground pecans

Directions

1) Toss the softened cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar into a mixing bowl and mix until smooth and fluffy Never measuring, I pour the powdered sugar into the bowl until I get the frosting consistency I desire. 

2) Spread the frosting on a cold cake in-between layers, as well as the top and sides of the cake. I cut my two 4'' cakes in half to get 4 layers of cake.

3) Sprinkle ground pecans all over the top of the frosted cake. 

Note: I don't need frosting for just myself to be as decadent. So I lightened it by omitting the butter and cream cheese. I used cottage cheese and skim milk instead of cream cheese because I didn't want to open a package of cream cheese I had to finish by myself. Sans butter, the frosting is less creamy. Not what I would serve guests, but the tastes still satisfies. It's good!

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To feed more people here are the portions of ingredients for a 9-inch cake:

Full Size Cake

1 stick butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups of sugar

2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 egg, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup shredded coconut

Directions:

1) Follow the steps above increasing the amounts of ingredients. 

For myself alone, a no butter icing.

2) Use either two or three 8'' or 9'' cake pans to make either 2 or 3 cakes. Southern bakers usually make 3 cakes for 3 layers.

Full Size Cake Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

4 tablespoon butter, softened

box of confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pecans (toasted if you make the effort.)

As you see without guests, I don't go crazy decorating a cake with tons of icing. Crushed nuts are the finish and enough of a good thing!

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Plaid and Checkerboard Plaid For Fall 2020

Flannel shirts are a fall wardrobe staple and this year is no exception. I'm reading that checkerboard plaid is trendy. Where have fashion editors been? Plaid, including checkerboard plaid, has never gone out of style. I have a couple of checkerboard plaid shirts and jackets decades old. Truth! Classics never date, and good quality clothing outlasts the latest trends!

In their new fall catalogs, both Lands' End and L.L. Bean are offering a wide section of colors in plaid flannel shirts, tunics and jackets. The quality and style of the two competitors are hair-splitting similar. Lands' End seems to host more money-saving promotions while L.L.Bean has expanded its inventory to include plaid hoodies, dresses and bathrobes.

I have clothing and all-weather shoes from both companies. Sometimes one offers a better price, at other times the other merchant has a color left in my size. A double selection from 2 retailers always works in a customer's favor. Between the 2 there are many colors and washable fabrics! I've picked a few of my favorites: The top 4 plaids are from Lands' End, the bottom 4 plaids are L.L. Bean offerings. Tomatoes, tomaytoes all comfy and cozy!

Like flannel fabric, plaid, including checkerboard plaid, is this fall's "new" tried and true trend. Do you need to replace a wardrobe staple?

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First Time Ever I Cut My Own Hair

Only blurry selfies to share.😁. They do show you the end result.

Although THE SAVVY SHOPPER tries to save money, in normal times I'd never cut my own hair! A few things, like a good haircut, are worth every penny! After 7 months of COVID, my hair was becoming Rapunzel-like and needed a trim. Longer hair doesn't look horrible on me, but medium-long hair is less work and more polished! So as long as I'm trimming my own hair ... I might as well take off several inches!

But my longtime hairdresser, Penny's job isn't in jeopardy. Truthfully I need her more than she needs me! After cutting my hair for a few years she suddenly left my neighborhood salon (due to an unfair occurrence) after she had worked there for years, and I was crushed! 

My long hair on a good day.

In time, I saw her again and then felt comfortable asking for her home phone number. When she gave it to me, I said, "Ah, ha, now you'll never escape from me again!" A decade+ later, she's become my friend and comes to my home to cut my hair, after her regular job or on her day off from her new salon. Often I have dinner ready so she has something to eat when she arrives. Sometimes she cuts my hair for free ... but I don't let her not charge me too often because she lives way uptown in the Bronx and it requires her time, skills and energy to come to my home to give me a precision haircut. 

Moreover, Penny no longer has other private clients in my neighborhood, and I only need a cut ... not her full services of color or highlighting which would make her travel to my home more lucrative. She really doesn't make enough money coming to my home for just a cut although she's too classy to say so. She really only cuts my hair because of our history.

If I had an event to go to and ask her to come, she'd make time for me, not the scenario with COVID, so I wanted to try cutting my own hair ... once! BTW at her new salon, her boss sets the price of haircuts much higher, and he gets a big percentage of each job/client who comes into the shop. Also, I can't walk there, and I'd rather not take a subway all the way downtown if I can avoid it, limiting the risks of getting COVID whenever possible. (Likewise, I want to keep Penny safe by not asking her to ride the subway anymore than she already must.) 

So that's the backstory of why I cut my own hair. Plus I thought if this pandemic goes on another year -- with spikes of COVID, could I master the skill to do it? The answer is, not as well as Penny!

Yet if you must cut your own hair, too, here are tips ... 

I began by watching YouTube tutorials 1st. (Not all the techniques are spot on. In my non-expert opinion, flipping all your hair over your head is useless if you want to cut straight. Another YouTuber suggests binding your hair in a ponytail at the nape of the neck and cutting an inch or more off to get started. Don't do it! You'll end up with a tress of hair too short in the wrong place that must be fixed!!  

Here's what works ... I parted the hair as if you are making pigtails, leaving it untied, bringing each side forward and cutting it section by section from front to back. I kept combing and comparing sections to the corresponding sections (stains of hair from side to side, as well as, the left side of the head to the right side of the head). I used a handheld mirror to look at the back hair and sometimes brought locks forward to snip. Also, micro-conservative snipping is best! Never cut too much hair at once. Go back and snip the same section over if needed -- little by little rather than cutting off too much length at one time. You don't want to do this -->😱

As my Facebook friend, Patti, says a DIY haircut "takes a bit of tweaking! One side then the other and then the handheld mirror to see the back! Then the fine-tuning!" She's absolutely right. It's a time-consuming process achieved by tiny snips at a time ... use a slow, steady hand. Nothing drastic.

Another tip is to only use real hair scissors. I had a pair because decades ago I wore bangs that I trimmed in-between salon visits.

I learned cutting your own hair is not easy! This could've gone very, very wrong!! I cannot wait to see dear Penny again! Add hairstylists to society's list of most important people.

Update - January 28, 2021: Third time's a charm. In a year like no other, I'm ready to retire as my own barber!

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Buying An Emerald Ring The 4 Cs

Photo: TK, trying o locate source

Yesterday I popped into Tiffany & Co. to try on a few emerald rings for fun. I wanted to start with heirloom-quality stones to refresh my memory on their appearance and price, and oh boy, did Tiffany deliver! The emeralds are stunning, ultra expensive ... yet small for the price tag. The design and quality of stones are top-notch, making even a 1/4 carat of emerald surrounded by diamonds ring a showstopper. As much as I love looking and trying Tiffany rings on, the price points for tiny stones are beyond what I wish to pay ... and for the purpose of this post I'll assume you, too, want a bigger stone for less money. So today, let's go shopping for emerald rings!

Photo: emcogem

Here are the 4 Cs that determine the value of an emerald, especially vital if you seek a larger stone:

1) Color - The color is the most important characteristic, but it is also the most subjective of the 4. Emeralds are a variety of beryl, a mineral whose green color comes from the impurities of chromium along with vanadium that are determined by where they are mined. Often customers prefer darker greens over lighter stones and a blue-green hue (cool) over yellow-green (warm). It doesn't make one better than the other, yet due to demand does influence price. Coveted Columbian emeralds tend to be bluish-green. (Click here for countries where emeralds are mined.)

When jewelers examine the color of emeralds they also

consider tone and saturation. The tone is the lightness and darkness of the emerald on a scale of 0 (white) to 10 (black). Fine emeralds fall between 2 and 8 on the scale. In this range, ultimately the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As it turns out, customers gravitate to #5, #6 and #7 in color↑. I think of saturation (another name for tone) as the opaqueness or transparency of an emerald. I value opaqueness in leggings, but I desire as much transparency for the $buck$ as I can get in a colored gemstone as it shines more!

The Maximilian emerald 

2) Cut (My 2nd important characteristic is usually listed as 3rd by experts. Trust me: I'm right, and they're wrong!🙂 Let me explain why.) The skill of the cutter determines the beauty and larger-look of the stone. A great cut maximizes the color, size, brilliance and takes note of the inclusions in the emerald. In fact, of the 4 precious gemstones, emeralds are per se a fractured stone. Its fractures/inclusions, called Jardins, are accepted as a natural characteristic and mark of its unique beauty. Emeralds without Jardins are 99.99 out 100 times fake.

3) Clarity - We discussed how an expert cut enhances the clarity of a gem. More light bounces off of it. Unlike diamonds, impurities and inclusions -- Jardins -- in emeralds are common and considered part of its natural beauty. Jewelers say: Each emerald has its own fingerprint of how it was formed by nature billions of years ago. With diamonds (carbon), you want them as clean as possible, yet nature rarely makes an emerald (beryl) clean (without Jardins). In French Jardin means "garden." And if an emerald doesn't have them, have it tested. You're either set for life ... or own a fake! 

Wallis Simpson's ring

4) Size - As with all gemstones, bigger stones are rarer so prices rise exponentially per carat. Each additional carat of the same quality of emerald more than doubles and triples in price. Rats!!!

Just like emeralds, shoppers are all unique, so different strokes for different folks. Personally, I would forget about buying heirloom-quality emeralds. You'll have to pay $8,000+ for 1/4 carat stone surrounded by 1/2 carat of tiny diamonds. Paris Hilton, you can ignore my advice. 

😍Macy's comes through again! What an Effy beauty on a budget!!

Everybody else, if you consider commercial-grade stones, a 2-carat emerald is not cheap either, yet reasonable and doable as a luxury splurge for a working person on a budget (especially during a Macy's jewelry sale)! Moreover, a stone over 2 1/2 carats gets very expensive, what you would pay for a car, or the downpayment of a house.

Every splurge should be worth the money spent! When the verdict is, "I LOVE it," without going broke, it is.💚


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Fearless Girl With Collar

Thank you, Notorious RBG for your service to our country. R.I.P.

New Yorkers have much affection for their Fearless Girl statue which stands across from the New York Stock Exchange. Recently someone put a collar on her in a nod to Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died at age 87 late last Friday of cancer. What a touching gesture and image. Justice Ginsburg championed women's equality and liberties through her opinions and rulings on the high court.

Another way to honor our late justice is to make sure you vote. Election day falls on November 3rd. Due to COVID fears, many states are making it easier to vote by mail-in ballots ... but oh, the days are getting shorter to request a mail-in/absentee ballot. On Google (or another search engine) type: "Request absentee ballot _____ (fill in your state). Please do so ASAP, and when you receive your ballot in the mail, fill it out and mail the ballot back ASAP so there is no time lag to be counted! You don't want to miss the deadline because a sorting machine was mysteriously removed from the local US Post Offices in your state (as is reported by several US Post Offices).

Photo: Facebook

What an important election 2020 is! Exercise your right (and privilege) as a citizen to vote! It's vital to a healthy democracy to put intelligent, duty-bound people into office(s) who can do the job(s)! Vote for your own best interests! Be heard!! Make your voices count by voting!

Moreover, fill out your 2020 Census here if you haven't done so! Being counted in the US Census helps your state get the Federal money it needs for free public education and other vital services. Let's do our part to keep democracy strong!

Photo: From Twitter

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Anti-aging Skincare Update

Choices help Savvy Shoppers save money, and it's fun to try new products. I love finding drugstore skincare for less with effective anti-aging ingredients that science says really works! Like a drugstore, Ulta offers a wide selection, convenience and reasonable prices, so lump the beauty retailer together with drugstores, as places to find good skincare on a budget. The following anti-aging elixirs should be on your list to try:

For day -
1) The Ordinary Buffet - The exciting ingredient in it is Matrixyl™ 3000 peptide complex. It firms, hydrates, brightens and smooths the texture of the skin. Price: $14.80.

2) The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2% - This is a high concentration of vitamin C with squalane (a moisturizer) - Some customers complain of a burning sensation, but I don't find it too intense perhaps because I apply it after The Ordinary Buffet mentioned. You get used to the slight sting which lessons over time with use. Vitamin C Suspension brightens, hydrates and smooths the skin's surface. It reduces fine lines, wrinkles and hyperpigmentation. This combo from The Ordinary is half the price of my usual serums adding up to a lot of savings per year. Cost: $5.75.

3) Sunscreen - Right now I use a Wallgreens (drugstore generic brand) with SPF 50 made for babies. Best anti-aging product you can buy! Cost: 2 for $5.

For night-
4) CeraVe Skin Resurfacing Retinol - Has .03% Retinol, 3 effective ceramides, licorice root (a skin brighter), and niacinamide, as well as, moisturizing ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and shea butter. Retinol speeds up cell turnover. Ceramides are fatty acids that act as barriers to the skin to keep moisture in and microorganisms out. Price: $16.95.

5) Azure Hemp & Retinol Sleep Mask - A Korean beauty night cream that is ultra-moisturizing containing rich omega fatty acids, vitamin E and antioxidants. It is not greasy and rivals the quality of its competitors L'Orèal, Olay and Neutrogena yet costs far less. Cost: $14; or $5.99 when T.J. Maxx carries it. The ointment is my T.J. Maxx dreamy-creamy discovery!

6) CeraVe Healing Ointment - A must-have to protect and soothe dry skin all over your body all-year-around. It has hyaluronic acid and ceramides 1, 3, and 6-Li. $17 - $25 at Target, Walmart and drugstores.

Have you ever watched Vloggers on YouTube go on and on with their skincare routines? Sometimes layering more products on their face than dermatologists recommend ... so money down the drain. These 5 products are all you really need for day and night ... letting you save and simplify your skincare simultaneously. I mean, really I just want to get out of my bathroom!🙂

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Coach Emery Crossbody Bag

To save money know what you want.

As much as I admire Chanel and Hermes, bags are not an item I spend thousands of dollars to buy. I don't overspend on goods that wear out with use (and in fairness the luxury market isn't intended for value shoppers). Jewelry is more my luxury buy temptation ... yet, I can get a nice piece of jewelry -- real gold and stones -- for thousands less than what either of these designers charges for their bags. $7,100 is crazy for a Jumbo Chanel Double Flap, and $11,900 is too much for a Hermes Kelly bag (it has a shoulder crossover strap). The Birkin starts at $12,000 (and does not crossover).

My purse of choice is Coach which I feature here. I love the indestructible leather and good craftsmanship of Coach bags. I covet their new Emery crossover bag because it is a return to the 2 Coach bags I bought decades ago. Made of thick pebble leather which never scratches or seems to age, you can get it wet in the rain or snow, and it takes the abuse. I don't wish to baby a bag (although I do take care of them).

The new colors of Emery bags just launched at $395, however I plan to wait for this bag to go on sale. If you buy last year's colors, you can get this bag for less than half price. I want black which Coach never discounts, so I must wait for the sales of other retailers who carry the bag.👀 

That's fine with me as I have a bag to use (and no events to go to) while I patiently wait for the best price. 

Some would call it minimalist, others might say sophisticated, the Emery Crossover Bag is perfect for me. Classic black with gold hardware (ahh, reminds me of jewelry🙂)! Sleek and compact with inside and outside compartments to organize essentials. A sturdy shoulder strap keeps my hands free.

The bag just re-launched and isn't going anywhere soon. Tick-tock, the countdown for this gal begins!

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L'Orèal Night Cream

L'Orèal's anti-aging night cream(s) have top-notch anti-aging ingredients. A sibling of luxury brand, Lancome Paris, the retailer formulates effective lotions and potions with proven ingredients bar none, yet customers won't go broke using them as they are available at drugstores, at times selling for $10-$12 a jar. 

A gripe I have about L'Orèal's beauty line is the same one I have about Lancome, namely some of the creams have fragrance, and I don't understand why the company puts perfume in a product that goes on a face. It is unneeded, usually unwanted, and drying to people with sensitive skin. Why create problems for your stellar brand? Nonetheless, the facial treatments are excellent moisturizers containing key anti-aging ingredients that work.

1) Age Perfect Cell Renewal - is the newest night cream and it is fragrance-free. There is no artificial color either. The pink tone of the cooling night moisturizer comes from peony petals. To treat a dull complexion, it contains lipohydroxy acid to exfoliate surface skin cells for quicker cell turnover to bring millions of new skin cells to the surface. I got a free sample from the drugstore to try. The night cream moisturizes without greasiness and feels lovely. And believe it peeps, I woke up even more beautiful this morning!😉

2) RevitaLift Triple Power Anti-Aging Overnight Mask and
3) RevitaLift Triple Power Angi-Aging [Fragrance-Free] Moisturizer - #2 is an overnight mask, but there is no fragrance-free option on the market. Naturally some customers dislike the smell of the perfume but love the effectiveness of the cream. If not for the perfume I would highly recommend it. #3 is a lighter fragrance-free formula containing the 3 top proven anti-aging ingredients both jars contain: pro-retinol (a stabilized retinol derivative), vitamin C and hyaluronic acid to soften wrinkles, as well as, firm and brighten skin. Both creams are paraben-free, mineral oil-free and dye-free ... yet only one, #2 (the lighter moisturizer) is fragrance-free. Oh why L'Orèal, why? 

This year I'm even more determined to find beauty products which rivel expensive luxe brands for less. Join me, if you wish! If nothing else, 2020 is a great lesson to be mindful in life.

Truth! Another thing that makes a person more beautiful is having a beautiful character and spirit. Remember and strive my lovelies!💋


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The Kentucky Derby 2020

Photo: AP

The one and only time I attended the Kentucky Derby was when I was 16 years old. My high school friend, also a Debbie, had an adventurous mom who was brave enough to take 4 teenagers to Churchhill Downs with 1000s of other people. We had fun, and our chaperon did too. Hours before the race we watched a young man climb up a tall metal light pole and take off all his clothes, tossing them to the ground and then watched the police wait for him to climb down to take him away. Poor naked lad, he missed the race! All in all a mellow crowd, the excitement saved for the race itself. Near the start of the race, my namesake and I separated from our group of 5 to find a spot pressed against the fence in the infield to watch the horses run by, and we succeeded, as the spot we randomly selected turned out to be the starting gate that becomes the finish line! The rest of our party decided to watch the race on big television screens set up under a roof area. This was a time before cell phones, yet we knew exactly where to find each other after the race ... the cashiers' widows to cash in our winning tickets!💰💸🤑

Every year I long to go back to the Kentucky Derby but must watch it on television. This year I'm not alone. Nobody gets to go to the Derby, and we will all have to watch the 2-minute race at home.

So to celebrate the 146th running of the historic race, I'm going to hook you up with 2 traditional Derby cheese dips to eat in the comfort of your living room: 1st up is Benedictine Cheese dip. You can leave it as cheese dip. It is also popular to make Benedictine Tea sandwiches:

Benedictine Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

Bluegrass Bites here

1-8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 peeled, seeded, drained, and finely chopped cucumber
1/2 cup minced onion (or green onions)
1/4 cup finely chopped dill
1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise (regular is fine, but do not substitute flavorless non-fat mayonnaise ... never buy it!)
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
A shake (or to taste) of hot sauce (I use Louisana hot sauce, but Tobasco is used too, or to tone down the heat, you can use black pepper to taste ... but why would you?)
Optional: a couple drops of green food coloring

Fresh slices of bread if you make sandwiches, or vegetable sticks and crackers for a dip.

Directions:

Teatime magazine here.

Chop everything as finely as possible and using a potato masher, mix it up in a bowl. (Yes, you can use a food processor if you wish.) 

This simple cheese dip makes delicious sandwiches, but I do not know why as you would not think so!

For the 2nd authentic Derby cheese dip: Kentucky Beer Cheese, I must turn you over to Chef John. His video is so much fun to watch, it is not to be missed. Sooo tasty too!

Below are links to some of the other traditional Kentucky Derby eats I prepare (at times someone brings) whenever I invite friends over to watch the race ... normally held on the 1st Saturday in May. This year our COVID pandemic postponed the Derby, which will run on Saturday, September 5th without any spectators at Churchhill Downs. The loading of the horses into the starting gates happens at 6PM. The race begins around 6:30PM. Check local listings for all the Derby coverage if you wish to see features about the horses, jockeys and owners.🌹

So this year like no other, we are all equal and in it together watching from the comfort of a couch!🙂


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