"White Chocolate Sweet Potato Spice Cake"

(Left) This is our white chocolate frosted moist sweet potato spice cake. The beginning of our process started with the cake. We had to make sure we added the correct amount of ingredients for the recipe. We had to cook the sweet potatoes so they would be soft enough to puree. Once they were warm we scooped out the inside and mixed it in with the cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg. Once the cake was finally mixed together we poured it in a cake pan and watched it cook for approximately 35 minutes. The aroma that came from the oven as the cake was baking was intoxicating. It was hard to resist opening it and eating.
While it was baking, we made the white chocolate frosting. Here is where we experienced some of the problems. Once the chocolate was all melted with the cream we had to combine it with the sugar and eggs in the stand mixer. But, for some reason, it wouldn't get thicker. We whipped it up for 10 minutes and still no soft peaks were showing. We even threw it in the freezer for 10 minutes trying to help it set up. Still nothing. Luckily, another group had some extra cream cheese frosting left over. Before losing our patience with our frosting, we added the rest of theirs to help thicken ours up. It worked. We added it all in and whipped it up once again. By this time the frosting was thick enough to actually set up on the cake and not make it super soggy.
The frosting piping was done by Jacob, and we added some pecans for a fresh step in the garnishing.
The color of the cake was mostly a light golden brown with bits of orange from the sweet potato. So far, we have not actually experienced the flavor of the cake, only the creamy texture of the frosting. But, after pulling the cake out of the cake pan, I could definitely tell that the cake was very moist. This cake should be considered sweet and maybe slightly salty from the pecans on the top.
Our finished product was very delicately designed, and has great presentation. I can not say much on the flavor of our spice cake yet, but by cooking it I can tell it will be delicious all the way through.

Blog #2 "Overeating"

In the book, thus far, Judith Moore has set a background on her family history. She explained that her mother was a thinner women throughout her life, where as her father, was thinner before he dated and eventually married her mother. Her father started gaining weight though the few years of the marriage, and then ended in a divorce. Judith mentioned how both sides of her family didn't get along with the other. They could barely stand one another during small family groupings. Judith talked about how her father was never a child others wanted to deal with, because of his size.
Judith tried to thin her waist by trying every diet imaginable and going so far as to eventually starving herself, until all she could think about was food. But, none of the diets seemed to work. She continued to gain weight. (Starving yourself as a diet doesn't actually work, like some would believe. Instead, it does the reverse. Your body tries to hold on to each calorie you feed it.) Judith's father even tried some extreme diets, but soon they failed him and he would once again return to the refrigerator in the middle of the night to binge on food. Her father started overeating once his mother had passed away. Like most people with this eating disorder, the food fills a place inside them that they fill was left empty. Once they try to stop they might become depressed and return to overeating once again.
Discussion Questions:

• Have you ever "over ate" once in your life? What seemed to cause this?
• Do you think diets ever actually work like they are supposed to? Or are the results not typical, like they claim on TV?
• Do you think you could ever become addicted to your favorite food? Constinatly eating it, even when your really not hungry.
• Do you think nervous eating would be considered a eating disorder?
• Do you eat when your truly not hungry? Why?
  
• What does food make you feel when you eat it? What food might cause different emotions in you as an individual?
  

http://www.something-fishy.org/whatarethey/coe.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsive_overeating

"Fat Girl"

"Fat Girl" review by: Katie K.

This book is by Judith Moore. It was published in 2005.

When looking at the cover and title, I got a small hint of what this book would be about. I read the inside cover and found out it was about a girl whom ate all the time. She loved to eat and food was almost an enemy for her. She was over weight but continued to love her food.

Judith started the book by talking about her relationships with men. She was obsessed with one man, who unfortunately didn't treat her very well. She then started to hate some of the food she used to love because of his comments towards her. A few of the pages talked about, in great detail, her perception of hamburgers. To me, this was appalling.

I really enjoy this book because I have some of the same issues as Judith has experienced. And I can't wait to continue reading more about what happens to her.

Have you ever gorged on food? Do you love food so much that you continue to eat it? Have you ever experienced weight problems because of food, just like Judith is struggling with?