Today my mom cleaned the basement and found AJ's favorite sparkly ball. Sometimes he fetches like a dog. When he's not being lazy. But your ONLY shot at getting him to fetch is if this ball is involved. It has been a joy playing with him today. He gets wild at night. And even if nobody has the energy to play with him... oh he'll do just fine by himself.
In other news, the snow looked like it was all done abusing us after Snowpocalypse 2011. But just when we thought it was taking a vacation, Snowpocalypse strikes again! It just doesn't quit.
My mom was shredding paper like a madwoman today. (Man, cleaning the basement, shredding papers, going for walks. That woman does it all.) and I saw this massive paper bag full of the shreds. And when I say massive, I mean massive. It was one of those huge "yard waste" paper bags that you stuff leaves in after raking the yard. Full. I wish I would have taken a photo of it. Crazy. Instead of taking a photo though, I used some for a super quick art project.
I don't know how I feel about it. Kinda cool. Kinda lame. But hey, it was worth a shot.
Today I tried round two of baking this "Everyday Chocolate Cake" from my favorite food blog once again. I made it back in mid-December for a Christmas party with my friends. It tasted delicious but it sunk! Oy vey! This one turned out a bit better in the looks department and just as good in the taste department. Let me tell you. This is my kind of cake. It's chocolate, it's an m-word that is frequently used in describing delicious confections but my friends and family could tell you how much I despise it, and it has NO FROSTING! Honestly, people. If the cake is done right, there is never a need for frosting.
So butter always needs to soften for these kinds of things. And, in this case, the eggs were also supposed to come to room temperature. As usual, I didn't think of allowing the butter to soften early enough, so while it softened I measured out all my ingredients (I prepared my Mise En Place (MEEZ ahn plahs), if you will. Fancy!).
On the left: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt. In the middle: granulated sugar and brown sugar. On the right: buttermilk and vanilla.
Do not fret. This is not gloppy looking oatmeal. Nor vomit. It's the wet ingredients. Sometimes the most beautiful cakes come from the most humble beginnings. Or something like that.
Look! Proof! Doesn't that batter look delicious? For some reason both times I have made this my batter looks a bit different from the images on the Smitten Kitchen blog. Mine looks thicker- almost like frosting. I can't figure out why that is. If you have any idea, please, let me know! But either way, the cake turns out delicious.
Voilà! Chocolate cake. And delicious to boot. And I'm not just saying that because I made it. I tried it out on two completely impartial parties. And they loved it. And when I say "impartial parties," I mean my mom and dad. Impartial enough, right?
Yum.
No comments:
Post a Comment