going to take this blog a new direction

as lots of things are changing in my life right now, i think i'll take this blog in a new sort of direction. i'd like to talk a little more about my cooking/baking pursuits, as the state fair is rapidly approaching and this year i'd like to enter a few things in the home ec. classes and maybe take home a few blue ribbons instead of only honorable mentions. i've been trying out new recipes weekly, so i'll give updates on what works, what doesn't, and what the hubby likes (i'd say "or doesn't," but he doesn't complain much about baked goods).
also, i'm about 23 weeks pregnant, praise God, and with no real complications so far. dh and i feel very, very blessed and are currently looking north and west for farms within a few hours of home. we may put our house on the market or even rent it out as it is in a good location for commuters (as both of us once were; i'm blessed to be out on disability and debating whether or not to return to work in the end of October...right now I'm leaning towards staying home full time, as I've always wanted to). with a little one on the way, we need more room to grow, both literally and figuratively. we'd like a small farm on which we can do some sustainable organic gardening and have a few chickens, a cow or two and some horses. every little girl needs horses. also, at home here we have no real yard, only a small vegetable garden, a steep hill, and the lake (which is not so pretty this time of year). every kid needs a place to run around and right now we just don't have that. i feel guilty even having the dog here sometimes! but, we'll see where life take us in the next few months. i really don't want to think about packing up my whole life right now, and it is convenient (and also pretty nice) to be around friends and family at this point in my life.
anyway, back to the topic at hand: this baking thing. yesterday, i made a "fruit swirl coffee cake." the recipe was actually from the betty crocker cake mix cook book, and i was trying it out for the class in which a cake mix must be a main recipe ingredient. it also called for one can of any type of pie filling; i used key lime, which didn't make for a nicely colored finished product (it was a very light green, almost yellow/white so there was no real contrast between the cake and the filling), unfortunately, but was tasty and rather unique, i think. the cake itself was sort of flat, made in a jelly-roll pan with the dough first spread out over the pan, followed by the pie filling spread over top of that, with approx. 1 cup of the dough then heaped in tablespoons on top, with a vanilla glaze poured over the cake after baking. the heaps of dough didn't spread as i'd have liked, and the finished product would perhaps have been prettier had i used smaller spoonfuls and maybe spread them out or swirled them a bit. the dough mixture itself called for few add-ins, but i think the sour cream added to taste and texture. perhaps lemon or orange zest would have been nice for color and flavor, though. all in all it was tasty but i was rather disappointed by the appearance. dh suggested that i use cherry pie filling, apple pie filling, and blueberry pie filling next time on 1/3 each, for a beautiful red, white and blue cake that i'm sure would be just as tasty but maybe more aesthetically pleasing. i'll try it maybe for the 4th of july or flag day.
i don't know what i'll try next. if i can't get reservations for tomorrow night (mother's day), hubby and i will be having my family over for a bbq, and i need something special that mom would like (that mean no lime or anything remotely exotic, or orange as she is allergic), but that is "eat-outside" friendly. i'll start scouring the cookbooks in a few minutes.
anyway, that's all for now. if anyone reads this ting, please let me know if you have any recipe suggestions! i would greatly appreciate it!