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.

Sweet 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.

Sweet Izzy.

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!!!!!

Sunday Afternoon Coffee Share

Happy Sunday!!! Come in and let’s share a nice cup of hot coffee or tea or maybe some hot chocolate, whatever you would like. But most importantly we will have a chance to catch up.

Last Saturday I awoke to a strange noise. It only took me a minute to realize it was coming from me!!! My breathing sounded terrible and there was a definite croaky rattle to it. Whenever I have had this in the past it has always meant trouble. Yes, I had been exposed to the flu a couple of days earlier. A girl at work came in feeling terrible but didn’t tell anyone until she had been there several hours. When she left later in the day she told us her mother had the flu and she was pretty sure she was getting it as well. I washed my hands like I was going into surgery. But I had held her phone, not too smart on my part, while she was showing me some pictures of recent crochet things she had made. This was before she came clean about the flu symptoms.

Later in the day when my fever started climbing I took myself down to our local walk in clinic to get officially diagnosed, and get a prescription for Tamiflu. This is a treatment for flu if you have had symptoms less than two days. It can shorten the duration of flu symptoms. I will admit I was going to try and tough it out until the voice of reason, also known as my sister, called and said “go to the clinic or I will come and take you myself.”

I had a really couple of bad days and then just mainly a weak and shaky feeling. I was out of work for three days and went back on Thursday. I felt so bad I didn’t even feel like knitting or crocheting. My husband takes immunosuppressants for his transplanted kidney so he is very susceptible to everything. I stayed upstairs and he brought me food and left it at the door. Luckily he has escaped getting this nasty bug. I didn’t even see him for four days. The kitties kept me company.

I did have a couple of snuggle buddies.

On Friday night my sister, and a friend and I went to a local production of Fat’s Waller’s, Ain’t Misbehavin’. My friend Dann was the director and one of the performers. It was so good! It is unbelievable how much talent we have in our own back door. We also went to eat Thai food at a restaurant close to the Arts Center. It was great!!!!! As you can see it didn’t take me long to get my appetite back.

I am saving the best for last. Another really big thing happened on Friday. My husband retired!!!! What?? I can’t believe it. He has been counting the days and Friday was his last official day of work. He has worked in his field for more than thirty years. He has been at his last position for over ten years. It was a bit emotional for him. There will be a formal retirement celebration for him in March. He is ecstatic and has a lot of projects he can’t wait to get started on.

Whew!!! What a week.

That is what I have been up to this past week. How was your week?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!