Joy on a Plate and in a Pan

Lemon Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting!! I haven't cut into the cake yet (waiting for JB to come home), but each step along the way tasted yummy.  It was so much fun to bake this cheery cake on a grey and rainy spring Saturday morning.  The recipe (from Southern Living) is for a basic white cake with lemon curd filling between three layers, and all covered with cream cheese frosting and coconut.

Related to cooking,  this is my recent splurge:  new cookware from LeCreuset.  I've yearned for a set of cast iron cookware for a long time, but couldn't justify the price.  I don't really cook "big things" all that often, they are quire pricey $$$, and I already I have stuff from my Mom and other odds and ends.

How's this for "justification?"  WHY SHOULDN'T I??  Maybe if I had nice cookware I might cook more?  All of the pots and pans I have are mismatched, worn out and lid-less (that is so true!) So,  I used part of the stipend I earned in West Virginia to splurge on myself (and actually, now that I have the cookware, I can think even more fondly of my time with the WVASCC each time I use the pans!)

I'll have them forever and they're in my favorite color!

CAKE UPDATE:  Yum.