a glimpse into my soul...

   Hello! My name is Miss Hatcher. I am 15 years old and a follower of Jesus Christ. I love to read, write, and eat pasta. And I also sorta have this obsession-thing with putting cheese into everything. Yeah, I'm kinda weird like that.


I love daisies. And cheesecake. Had you guessed as much?

 {credit unknown. pinterest perhaps? :)}

I like to shoot people. With my camera. It's a photographer thing. *grin*

I have an unquenchable passion for cooking and baking. There are few things that can make me happier than serving people food I know they'll love as much as I do.

I can't whistle. When I try to, I mess it up and then keep trying, until I just end up scaring people. 

I am also into fashion! I love playing around with hairstyles and ways to mix and match my (or others) clothes. I can be sort of like an Emma Woodhouse who tries match clothes and people.

I love french manicures. 'Nuff said. And I love the smell of lilac and jasmine. And I love C.S. Lewis.

I love smiling. And giggling. And laughing so hard you're not making any noise and you start clapping ridiculously like a seal and then your stomach hurts.

Raisins in cookies that look like chocolate chips are probably the main reason why I have trust issues. 

And I'm a big believer in finding beauty in simplicity (as is--er--implied by the names of both my blogs...)


I don't talk a lot in real life. But once my fingers hit the keyboard, anyone else can hardly take a breath before I'm off to the next subject of my random rambling.

By the time you read this, I've updated this post, like, ten hundred thousand times. I'm sort of a perfectionist about things like that.

     Alright, so this is more of my photography/cooking/fashion blog whereas this one is for my thoughts, poetry, quotes, etc. (Btw, if you want to know more about me go here.)

      If you want encouragement, want to give encouragement, or just have questions, email me at irishdamsel12@gmail.com (unless you have questions about Algebra, Physics, or Geometry. Then don't. Because I can guarantee that I am the last woman in the world who could ever make you happy   --*ahem*-- help you.

  *coughpridecoughandcoughprejudicecoughcough* :) ) 

       
         ~*~ And so begins the adventures of a girl, a camera, and a slice of cheesecake ~*~

a cup of tea and some rambling...

{via pinterest}

     Tea holds a special place in my heart. Always has and always will.

     I have gone through so many tea brands, I don't think I have enough fingers to count them all. Bigelow...Stash...Celestial...Lipton...you name it and I've probably tried it. However, I have found a new brand. It's so...smooth, so...fragrant, so...perfectly perfect. "There's no nonsense about her at all." *a Sparkler-grin*

 

Teavana is the best!

The tea cup is my mom's, who got it from her grandmother. So it's 4 generations old (including mine :D). Right? That's purdy cool, if I say so myself.

  

My sister got me these containers for my birthday while she was in Hawaii. *thanks Big S!*

 And then there's my awesome teapot...

 {sorry, a *wee* bit blurry}

And some reading...

 

What are you guys enjoying today? 

the best peach cake...

via

     This cake is *so* good. I would suggest doing this when there are more fresh peaches. And, please, I beg of you, don't make this cake in the middle of winter. The peaches will be shipped from who-knows-where, and they will be stiff, flavorless, and just darn gross. So just don't even think about it. Thank you.

      I actually made some changes to the frosting when I made this. It called for 2 one lb bags of powdered sugar, but we only had about a third of a bag left. So I substituted the rest of it with the peach juice, taste-testing by Goldilock's rule until it was "just right". It turned out fantastic! I liked it way better, because it had more of a natural, peachy taste instead of a peach-flavored sugar taste. However I did keep the same amount of sugar in the actual cake, so you can change that if you want to or not. I've only made it once, so you can modify it, perfect it, whatever you want. Just be creative. And be sure to tell me how you like it!

MAILI’S PEACH CAKE WITH BURNT SUGAR SHARDS

The secret to this cake is buying the best peaches possible.
I wait every year for Prima Peaches to come in season.  They are
so addictively delicious.  I sauté the peaches in butter and a
little butter and sugar so there are fresh peaches on
top of the cake as well as inside it.

For Peaches:

1 pound sliced peaches (about 3 cups) for inside of cake.
Additional peaches will be needed for top of cake.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

a pinch of kosher salt or sea salt

For the Cake:

1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs, at room temperature

3 cups unbleached white flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups cooked peaches (note:  the three cups of peaches will cook down to about 1 1/2 cups.
Reserve some peaches for the top of the cake or just cook more.  The more peaches the better!
Also remember to reserve the liquid from the cooked peaches for the frosting.

For the Frosting:

2 8-ounce block of cream cheese, softened

2 sticks of unsalted butter

2 1-pound box of powdered sugar [or the peach juice like I mentioned]

1/4 cup of peach syrup (liquid after you cook the peaches)

For the Shards of Sugar (to garnish additional peaches and to garnish top of cake)

1 cup Sugar

For the peaches: Heat a large skillet to medium high heat.  Add butter and peaches.  Sprinkle with sugar.  (if the peaches are not naturally sweet you may need more sugar.  The peaches I use are very sweet and only need a little sugar)  Add ground ginger and a pinch of salt.  Set aside.

For the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter and flour 2 8-inch-round cake pans.  Set aside.

In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing them completely into the butter mixture after each addition.

In a separate bowl combine all of the remaining dry ingredients:  flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix or sift together well.  Add the dry ingredient mixture alternately with the sour cream.  Stir in the vanilla extract.

Fold in 1 1/2 cups of the cooked peaches into the cake batter.  Divide batter evenly between cake pans.  Baked for 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove cakes from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Then invert onto cooling racks to finish cooling.

Make the Frosting: It is probably best to make the frosting in two batches unless you have a really big bowl.  So put one block of cream cheese, one stick of butter and one box of cream cheese in a mixing bowl and mix until well blended.  Mix in reserved peach syrup from your cooked peaches.  Then make another batch exactly like it.

Make the burnt sugar shards: Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  In a large stainless steel saucepan, place the sugar.  Heat over medium high heat until sugar begins to melt and brown.  Do not stir.  Tilt the pan if you need it to melt more evenly.  As soon as the sugar is a beautiful amber brown color pour it onto the parchment paper lined sheet tray.  Slightly tilt the pan so it spreads around.  It should harden immediately as it cools.   When it is completely hard break it into shards by either hitting it with a mallet or dropping the tray so the sugar cracks.

Frost the cake.  Just before presenting place more sautéed peaches on top of the cake for garnish, unless you're using it for a wedding, then either skip this part or put it around your cake topper.  Place some of the sugar shards on top of the peaches.  Garnish around the cake with peach halves and quarters and piles of burnt sugar. Bon Appetit!

     Oh, and just to mention cake toppers again, here's one I think is absolutely cute:

  Willow Tree Cake Topper

   Be sure to let me know how you like it!