Best Chocolate Cake EVER

I have found the recipe for the best chocolate cake EVER, and I really do mean to capitalize "ever". I found the recipe on Desserts for Breakfast, a great food blog, and followed the recipe exactly. The cake was rich and chocolaty without being too sweet. I mean there are almost 8oz. of chocolate alone in the icing!

I would post pictures, however I am going to just let you rely on the images from where I got the recipe. I didn't finish putting it all together until 9pm and by then it was too dark to get the natural light I needed for a good pic, but trust me, mine looked just like the pics on the blog. The icing was shiny and smooth while the cake was dark and very moist.

Here are a few warnings/tips if you make this cake, which I highly suggest! First, the icing really does need to stay cold/cool to spread and actually stay on the cake. I stuck mine in the fridge to cool down, but not to the point that it was solid. You should still be able to stir it and it should look shiny.
I made the mistake of letting the cake sit in the car on my way home from work while I ran into the store to grab more flour and sugar (I ran out... imagine that!). In the heat, the icing ran down the sides of the cake and ended up pooling on the plate.

Second, I used two 9" round pans and it just barely fit. I was lucky that it did not run over into the oven, but I would probably do the same again. I also only cooked it for the minimum amount of time listed... since my oven is finicky.

Third, I lined the bottom of the pan with parchment instead of flouring it (which I hate to do) and it came out just fine.

Really, give this cake a try...you just might cry it is so good!

Food Swapping

I am a frequent reader of the fabulous food blog Eat the Love, by Irvin. It is his blog that made me aware of the food blogging community and got me started with my own blog. It is so nice to know that I am not alone in my obsession with food!

I recently read his posting about food swapping... and I was completely in love with the concept! The only places that I found online that do this are Brooklyn and possibly DC. I so badly want to try this... any takers?

Consumer Testing for McCormick

Super excited about a new opportunity to possibly be selected as a consumer tester for McCormick!

My friend Dana was telling me about a girl she works with that does consumer testing for the spice company and since it is fairly close to home, I thought I would sign myself up. You are only able to participate every three months, however you are compensated for your time. They can send you things to prepare, surveys or even invite you to the testing site to test stuff there! I hope I get picked to do something like that!

If that is something that you might be interested in here is the site: Consumer Testing for McCormick

A Word from Carrie Bradshaw

I came across this clip on a friends Facebook wall and thought... how appropriate, I have to share!



Samantha had it right... no man who still lives at home is worth your time... no matter what he is saving his money up for.

As for Carrie's comment...I guess I am no longer allowed to shop for clothes at American Eagle. So all you little 13 year old bishes need to keep away from Forever 21 cause I plan on being 21 forever!

#Sing It - MCR

I have always been a fan of My Chemical Romance and even more so now with they work they are doing to raise money for the Red Cross with their song #Sing It. Check out the site where you can donate or purchase the song on iTunes with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross. While it is weeks after the tragedy in Japan, they are still in need of support, so better late than never.

#SING It for Japan

Here is the video that they put together, such sad but beautiful images.

Beautiful Spring Images

I saw this and had to share. lemmemakeit is a fab blog by a Martha Stewart employee. Her images of the tulips in Holland are beautiful. I cannot fathom the size of the fields and how lucky one could be to stand in the middle of them!

And on Sunday we bake!

Pumpkin (Butternut Squash) Bread with Cranberries

When life or your mom hands you Butternut squash... ?

Inspiration struck in the form of my father who made a "pumpkin" pie with summer squash! My mom gave me some squash from the fall that needed to be used because as the temps warm they just don't keep as well in the basement. I am not particularly fond of sweet squash, but realized courtesy of my father that it could be used to replace pumpkin in recipes. So I decided to make pumpkin bread using said squash.

I peeled it and cut it into chunks, then boiled it until it was very soft. Then once drained, used a whisk to mix/mash it all up. It had been boiled long enough that no food processor or blender was necessary! I then used a basic pumpkin bread recipe and replaced the pumpkin puree with the homemade version that I created. I also added some cranberries for additional flavor and sprinkled one of the loaves with chopped pecans. The two loaves are in the oven as we speak and looking beautiful. I will add pics when they are finished.



Yum! Very moist and good flavor!

Its the most wonderful time of the year

My apologies out there to those of you who are Christmas freaks (A), but Halloween is by far the best holiday out there. Forget that it is every normal girls excuse to dress slutty, but rather that there is a significant amount of creativity and expertise that goes into creating an amazing costume. Also there is candy corn.

But really, when else can you find skeleton salad tongs? Clearly I purchased a set.

My true pride and joy this Halloween has to be my costume. I generally spend an inordinate amount of time creating, building, or making my costume, but this year takes the cake. I have recreated a very accurate Wonder Woman costume. Yes, my childhood dream has been realized. All those years that I ran around in my Wonder Woman underwear, rain boots and the big wheels (yeah I know you remember those!) has finally paid off. I have a killer Wonder Woman costume.

I do have to give credit to the awesome website for homemade costumes that provided the inspiration, but now I am ready to relive my childhood as an adult, traipsing around in my underwear (literally, because the shorts are "boy short" undies from Old Navy) with my lariat of truth to save the day. Can you do that for me Christmas?

Love it, but hate it

I love flying. I think really it is that I enjoy being in the airport with all the different people, going different places. It seems like a great place to start a story or a movie because there are so many options. (Maybe thats part of why I am obsessed with the movie Love Actually, also possibly because I am obsessed with all things English, but that is for another post).

Unfortunately my brain does NOT like flying. So while I am enjoying the surroundings, my brain decides to rebel against my body and give me what I can only imagine morning sickness feels like. No, I am not preggers, nor would I make a very happy prego lady if this is really what morning sickness is like.

Anyway.

I get horribly motion sick. Boo and sad face. I was with my family on a trip back from Florida this past Sunday and they were able to experience first hand what it is like when I start to feel sick before flying.

Did I take Dramamine you might ask? Of course I did, I think I would be an idiot if I did not, however I guess I did not take it early enough before getting into the car. Because, at the airport I started to feel nauseous. Yes, I was not even on the plane yet. Needless to say, I spend the next 45 minutes pacing around the airport to try and get it to go away. Even preparing myself for the inevitable by getting a plastic bag from one of those little stores.

It was finally time to board and I was not feeling better. My poor mother felt horrible for me and wanted to help, but I just wanted to be left alone in my misery. I mean who really wants people around when they feel like they are about to hurl? Not this girl.

By the time the plane started to taxi, I think the pills started to kick in, because I was feeling better and even managed to stay awake and look out the window for the second flight. Note to self: Take meds prior to getting into car with E as the driver. Being squeezed into the back seat with three other adults didn't help either.

Otherwise, had an awesome time visiting my amazingly talented sister in Florida, bonding with the fam and swimming with the alligators and manatees.