Making Chocolate Pudding Cake

Hello and happy Monday. It really was a true Monday. I left the house this morning and several miles down the road I realized I had forgotten my purse. I did not go back. I had my phone and my lunch. I can use Apple Pay on my phone if I need to. So I did without it today. It did feel a little strange though. Oh well I guess it just proves I don’t really need a purse. I think I will get me one of those cute little wristlets and hook it to my keys.

It was a great weekend. The weather was so nice. I went outside Saturday morning to check out the tulip bulbs, and there are now fourteen coming up. I am hoping for even more because some of them are just barely breaking through. Of course I had a little helper. Allie.

I spent some time out on the deck reading. I am still reading Ina Garten’s Memoir. The sunshine and warm temperatures were just great. I baked bread and took most of it to work with me today.

When I was growing up my mama made a very yummy chocolate dessert that she called Chocolate Pudding Cake. Think lava cake or something like that and you will have an idea of what it is similar to. For many years we have tried to perfect the cake and make it like hers. I think my nephew and I just about have it down. After we came up with our recipe, other than a few tweaks here and there, my niece casually mentioned that she made it all the time. We are thinking we need to have a bake-off and let the family decide which one tastes the most like my mama’s.

Here is the recipe:
First melt one stick of butter in a 9×5 baking pan or casserole dish.
In a separate dish mix these dry ingredients:
1&1/2 cups of self rising flour
1&1/4 cups of granulated sugar
1&3/4 TBS. of cocoa
after you have stirred these together add:
3/4 cup of whole mild
2 tsp. of vanilla extract
pour into your pan evenly (DON”T STIR) after you pour it into the pan.

In a separate bowl mix:
1&1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of cocoa
Stir all of this together until all of the lumps are out of the cocoa
Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the first mixture (DON’T STIR) after you put it on top of the first mixture.

Boil 2&1/2 cups of water (this is where I am tweaking mine next time and only adding 1&1/2 cups of boiling water.) But I used 2&1/2 cups yesterday and it was still delicious just a little runny while it was still warm. Pour the boiling water over your mixture very slowly. Let it soak in for a few minutes and then put it in your oven at 350 degrees and bake for thirty minutes.

*The recipe we found online, from the sweetest woman from Alabama, Diane Leary, called for 2&1/4 cups of boiling water. Next try, I am only going to use 1&1/2 cups. Diane calls hers chocolate cobbler.* ***Chocolate and cobbler, how could you go wrong?***

***It was delicious. Next time I may even add some ice cream. This is definitely a once every now and then treat. Just a spoonful or two is more than enough. It is very rich.***

That pretty much sums up my weekend. Weekends go by so quickly. I have a full and busy week coming up. How about you? Have a wonderful week

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Hello Monday – Kitties and Tulips

Happy Monday. I had a great and very relaxing weekend. The weather here has been so nice. We were laughing about the weather because it has been cold in the mornings, very warm in the afternoon and then cold again in the evening. Welcome to East Tennessee. You never know what you are going to get.

My husband and I met some family for an early dinner on Saturday. It was a little retirement celebration for him. He didn’t want a big to-do so we agreed on a small dinner at our local Mexican Restaurant. I made a cake. There was just a few of us. We had a great time.

We also spent some time walking around outside. The weather on Saturday was warm but windy. I guess you could say March came in like a lion for us.

Back in the fall hubs and I planted about fifty tulip bulbs. We realized a little too late that something had gotten into them and dug them up and ate and chewed on them. I am thinking it was probably a raccoon. I thought they had all been destroyed. But maybe not all of them. While we were out walking I noticed about ten little buds coming up. I was so excited. I’m hoping a few more might have survived.

***Look at this little bud. I am thinking I will need to cover these up if another cold snap happens.***

The outside kitties love it when we are outside with them. They run and jump and show out. I got a few pictures of Izzy. I think she is very photogenic.

We also found more Daffodils blooming. You know spring is coming when you see Daffodils.

I spent the rest of the weekend reading and knitting a hat for my sister. She loved the slouchy hat I posted a couple of weeks ago so I started one for her. I have the four inches of the knit two purl two brim finished, and it is straight knitting from here on. My favorite kind of knitting. I should have it finished very soon.

My niece shared this little Bucket List of ideas for March. I am going to try several of them. What do you think?

It’s hard to believe that spring is just around the corner. We change back to Daylight Savings Time this coming weekend. I am probably one of the few people not crazy about it. It’s not that I don’t like the longer daylight hours but I say we just stick with one time and it will all work out.

Have a wonderful week.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

Goodbye January

I am very happy to say goodbye to January. January was a scary month around here. It seems as though you worry about little day to day things, and they seem really big at the time. But when you are faced with your health or the health of a loved one, you realize that those other things don’t mean anything. That is how January was for us.

I mentioned in a previous post that my husband and I had been to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville at the beginning of the month. This was for his four month check up for the kidney. The kidney is now almost fourteen years old. Well that is if you don’t add the years it was just mine. I think I have mentioned that we named the kidney Baby Kay. The actual transplant date was February 24th, 2011. If you haven’t read our kidney story you can read it here and here. Some of the pictures may be missing, thank you WordPress, but the story is there.

***A picture of us leaving the hospital at Vanderbillt just after the transplant. 2011.***

Anyway, I got a little side tracked. The blood work for the kidney was slightly elevated in areas that were not good. Not a lot but enough that Vanderbilt wanted the tests repeated the next week. My husband did this through our local hospital so we wouldn’t have to drive back to Nashville. Those tests did not show a lot of change. Another set of tests were ordered. These would actually check to see if the kidney was starting to reject. It’s hard for me to write that because it was so scary to think that could be happening. We prayed, and our faith is strong. So we knew we would be led in the right direction no matter what happened.

The last set of tests were done last Tuesday. Vanderbilt notified us a few hours later that the blood work looked good, the levels were back to normal and no worries of rejection. I was at work when I got the news. I screamed. Amy my co-worker jumped and said what has happened? I told her the news and then all of my other co-workers and of course notified all of the family. What a relief. What happened? we don’t know for sure. It could have been a slight infection or just something off. All I know is that it was a really scary time. But then we know that life can be that way a lot of the time.

So February is here and it is almost like spring here. Although, I know colder temps are predicted for next week. I spent most of yesterday crocheting these small hearts. They are so easy. There’s several videos on YouTube with step by step instructions. I made about 35 of these small hearts and I strung them on a garland to hang on my mirror near my front door. I love hearts and I had so much fun making them.

So lots of knitting, crocheting and reading and work and just enjoying our life every day. That’s what has been going on around here. How was your January?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Hello Monday

Hello and happy Monday. Things have been quiet over here, and cold. The weather has gone from 7 degrees F in the mornings to around 32 degrees. I guess that is an improvement. I have been staying in as much as possible except when I have to go out for work. I have had a lot of things going on lately that I have absolutely no control over, and that has left me a bit out of sorts and not wanting to communicate much. Thus the very long lags in my blog posting and blog reading. I imagine things will move on as they always do in their own good time.

I have finished some knitting projects. I finally finished the socks I was working on. But not before I had to unravel almost the entire second sock and start over I don’t know what happened but it was just “off”.

I finished the scarf I was working on and another I had started a while back.

I love these colors and didn’t realize they are very similar. The one on the bottom is a much chunkier yarn.

I started a slouchy hat. I am knitting this on size 2.5 needles and I am constantly dropping stitches. The yarn is silky and fine but I am loving it. If I could just get it finished.

I have to show you this backpack my nephew and his wife gave me for Christmas. I am carrying all of my knitting and crochet projects in it. Well most of them anyway.

***Isn’t it pretty? My family and friends know if they give me anything with a cat on it I will love it.***

***My husband gave me this cat cross stitch for Christmas. I can’t wait to start it. It looks just like my Sadie.***

In the last week or so the lake at our house has frozen completely over. It doesn’t happen a lot. The picture below I took yesterday. There has been some thawing you can see in places. But a lot of it is still frozen and even some snow still hanging around.

I listened to the best audio book. Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. It is a mystery for sure and you just can’t help falling in love with Vera. I think I want to be her when I grow up.

So other than a lot of knitting, and staying in and trying to stay warm, not a lot going on over here.

How are things in your world?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!