Chocolotta Cake ~ Happy Birthday Mom!

My folks have finally moved up here and now live close to us. It's wonderful to have them nearby and the kids get to spend lots more time with them. My Mom's birthday was January 12th and I haven't spend it with her in a long time. This year I was able to cook her a special dinner and of course a birthday cake. She is a chocolate lover so I decided to make her a chocolate cake from scratch. It sounds pretty lame but I had never attempted to make one before! I picked this recipe from my favorite cookbook ~ Perennials

Here's a delicious recipe for Chocolotta Cake ~

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter

4 eggs

1 cup chocolate syrup (I used dark chocolate syrup as Mom loves dark chocolate best!)

2 1/4 cups flour (unsifted measure)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

7 (1.45 ounce) Hershey chocolate bars or 1 (8 ounce) Hershey chocolate bar

Cream butter and sugar at medium speed of electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in syrup. Sift together flour and salt. Combine buttermilk and soda. Reduce speed to low. Add dry ingredients to chocolate mixture alternately with buttermilk. Melt chocolate bars in double boiler over hot water. Blend into batter. Pour batter into greased and floured 10-inch tube pan or Bundt pan. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour 15 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn onto rack or plate.

Breaking apart the chocolate bars was a perfect job for little hands.

I thought frosting would be way too much for this cake.

A sprinkling of powdered sugar and a side of ice cream worked very well.

Happy Birthday Mom!

New Additions

My sweet little girl has caught the dreaded stomach bug. After a rough night she is recovering. Let's hope the little guy hangs tough and this bug skips over him. (and me too!)

(and wohoo both kids are napping at the moment) So I'll take this time to show off some...

New Additions!

click on item title to see it directly in my Etsy shop.

The BIG Kitschy Fork and Spoon

Vintage Wall Decor

Lefton mini Hearts Bowl & Pitcher

Otagiri Strawberry Teapot

Vintage Aqua & Gold Glass What Not Jar

A funky aqua & gold glass jar. Kind of an odd sized piece.

Any ideas on what its original storage purpose was?

I still need to add this one ~

Just in case you need to remind those around you ~

Fab oversized pint shaped glass, standing 7" tall and 4" wide at the mouth.

Tuesday Night Crock Pot Special

I took out some cubed beef/stew meat to defrost last night. I knew that I would make something in the crock pot today but really wasn't in the mood for beef stew. Having no idea what to make, I googled "cubed beef slow cooker recipes", the first result was a winner!

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff (click on title for original recipe at allrecipes.com)

1 pound cubed beef stew meat

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed golden mushroom soup (I used what I had ~ a can of regular condensed mushroom soup)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup water (yup that's it)

4 ounces cream cheese

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.

2. Cook on low setting for 8 hours, or on high setting for about 5 hours. Stir in cream cheese just before serving.

I've actually never made Beef Stroganoff before but I definitely will be making this again. It came out very tasty even though I didn't have the golden mushroom soup. It was a bit on the salty side but I rarely add salt so that could be me. If you're salt sensitive I'd go for the low sodium mushroom soup.

Here's the kid's dinners, wouldn't want to mix the meat with the noodles! At first my daughter was not impressed (as in I'm not eating that). When "you've never tried it so how do you know" wasn't working I decided to tell her it was saucy chicken. Then she loved it. I don't make anything called saucy chicken. Go figure.

Here's the little guy. He usually decides it's time to eat when we are finishing, hence no other dishes on the table. Notice the kitchen is gated off. I think he will be invited in when he turns 12. Maybe.

Still Grinning...

Please forgive me ~ Today was my daughter's first ice skating lesson ~

and I'm still grinning from ear to ear!

There were definitely more downs than ups...

But after sitting a bit and taking it all in (smiling all the way)

she'd get right back up and try again.

Once she got a little help, she was content to move around doing her own thing.

After an hour she was not ready to leave.

It was enormously rewarding to watch her out there.

She truly makes my heart sing.

Lemongrass & Chocolate

I just wanted to show off my latest addition to my Fiestaware collection. (thanks mom!) Lemongrass is the latest color and Chocolate was introduced last year. Don't they look gorgeous together?

These beauties join forest green, tangerine, peacock, plum, scarlet, sunflower, shamrock, and cobalt. I love my rainbow collection of Fiestaware!

time will tell ~ Wishes for the New Year

~ The treasury I created today was inspired by New Year's wishes ~

time will tell

~ My wishes for you ~

adventure ~ explore and travel, experience new things

time ~ there never seems to be enough

luck ~ we could all use some

the key ~ to get where you need to go

foresight ~ just once and awhile it would be nice to know what's around the bend

peace ~ calm from within

joy ~ happiness that makes your heart sing

growth ~ for a stronger, better you

home ~ a place to call your own

family ~ surround yourself with people who care

chocolate ~ speaks for itself doesn't it?

Hoping that 2010 will bring all of these (and more) to you, only time will tell!

Happy New Year!

(click here to go to the Etsy treasury page)

Thrift Store Finds

I knew winter would put a damper on the treasure hunting. What I didn't realize is how much I would miss "the hunt". There are a few thrift shops not too far from here and my mom and I set out today to see what we could find. I was bummed out when we pulled up to one and found out that it was closed for the week. Then I remembered another...

Hull Pottery Duck Planter

Set of 6 Green Glass Tumblers ~ most likely Anchor Hocking

Gorgeous Blue Glass Compote ~ Sherbet Bowl

Harmony House Coffee Pot ~ gorgeous color & love the modern lines

Wonderful Nativity Scene

My daughter saw this and asked if we could buy baby Jesus. We did need a nativity season, after all this is what Christmas is about. So even though the pieces are all marked W. Germany and I know they would look wonderful in my Etsy shop next year, we will keep them for our own!