Trifle Day 2014

Happy birthday to me! I kind of can't believe I turned 29 on Saturday. My last year before my thirties. My first year having a child, owning a house. 29 is marked as a pivotal point in stereotypes - eternally 29! - but I think it will be pivotal to me for how much change it brings into my life. I may remember 29 as the year of being broke and sleep-deprived!

I always find birthdays, along with New Year and the start of September, make me reflect on the year past and consider the goals I need to be working towards. Some goals I want to keep in mind for 29 are to stay strong on the budgeting front and really focus on sticking to cash purchases. No more credit! I want to be focused on my fitness both before and after baby - ideally I'd like to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight by Christmas. That means not letting my pregnancy weight gain get out of control, and being diligent about actually exercising. I'll admit I've never been good at that. I want to keep up with this blog (I say that every time I set goals, but I struggle to follow through with any regularity). Most importantly, I want to be better about connecting with family and friends. Making dinner parties, brunches, and get-togethers happen more often. Being better about picking up the phone or shooting off a quick e-mail or note. I know that a lot of people find it difficult to balance having a child with their pre-child relationships, and I don't want that to happen to me. My friends are an extended family that has been with me through so much. I don't want to lose any of these people through neglect.

But enough about goals and reflection - my birthday is always celebrated with an annual Trifle Day! Tim and I stopped in town Friday night to pick up trifle supplies. I make enough trifle to really comfortably feed twenty people, or that can be stretched to feed thirty. I make it in a large glass punch bowl/cake plate that I bought at Knock on Wood back in university for this exact purpose. We had twenty-one this year and there was only the tiniest bit left over - I have it in the fridge for a snack. It does feed a lot of people, but I'll warn you that it isn't cheap. I usually spend between $50 to $70 each year, plus it takes an hour or two to prep and assemble if you're doing it on your own. Without any further ado:

Laura's Birthday Trifle

Ingredients:
2 - angel food cakes
2 - 170 g clamshells of blueberries
2 - 170 g clamshells of raspberries
2 - 1 lb clamshells of strawberries
6 kiwis
2 - 1 L containers of Cool Whip, thawed
1 - 500 mL container of sour cream
1 cup of milk
2 - 4 servings pkgs of vanilla pudding mix

1. Prep your cake: Cut the angel food cakes into approximately 1" cubes.
2. Prep your fruit: Wash the berries. Cut the strawberries into chunks the same size as your blueberries and raspberries. Peel the kiwis and cut into chunks the same size as your berries.
3. Prep your cream: Mix together sour cream and milk. Thoroughly mix in both packages of vanilla pudding mix. Fold in both containers of Cool Whip.
4. Cover the bottom of your trifle dish with cream, then a layer of cake, then a layer of fruit. Repeat until you've used up all of your ingredients. I can usually get three layers in my large dish.

From this:

To this:

To this!

Have a happy trifle day!