BBrrrr and Birrthday!

I don't know exactly how cold it got last night, but this was what we woke up to this morning

And no, that's not spray paint. It's a very light layer of frost on our front yard. Of course I had to run out side in my robe and socks to take a photo before it all melted away. I just love cold weather (well, at least little spurts of it). Rufus was watching me from the front door, probably wondering what in the world I was doing out there in the cold dressed like that.

My grandpa from Michigan flew in last night. His flight was scheduled to arrive at 5:22, but their flight out of Atlanta was delayed from leaving at 4pm until around 5:30, so he didn't get in to Daytona until just before 7pm. Thankfully our airport is so small, it's not much of a hassle to get your luggage and then it's right out to the curb for pickup.

Today's my mom's "28th" birthday ;) (I'm 26, so don't try to figure that one out!).
Last night DH and I baked her favorite cake - coffee nut torte. It really is a pretty simple recipe for a tasty graham cracker cake which is made with a little bit of flour, baking powder, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, walnuts, fresh brewed coffee and plenty of crushed graham crackers. That mix is baked in 2 separate 8 inch round pans and then it's layered with a creamy filling made with vanilla pudding, instant coffee granules and fresh whipped cream. Yum! I love coffee flavored anything. We used fresh brewed Kona Creme Brulee coffee from Hawaii, so this one should taste extra special. DH and I had to do our best to resist drinking some of the coffee since we were making the cake around 8pm and didn't want to stay up the rest of the night from the caffeine. I made this cake last year, but didn't chill the filling long enough so it seeped out the sides of the cake layers. It still tasted delish! Here's the pic of last years.

I'll post a pic of this year's later, as it's chilling in the freezer right now tightly wrapped in saran wrap to avoid any seep-age this year

So, Happy Birthday Mom!
Hope you enjoy the cake and good Italian food later today :)