Testing

It's great to have friends who send you information. How else would we know about 5 Minute Chocolate Cake? And, it's even better when friends send it to you just before you have a big babysitting night with the grand-kids.

Since that's the case, we thought it would be a good idea to test it before we got the kids involved with making a cake. What if it didn't work? What if it 'sploded all over the microwave?

Well, as you can see it does work, it doesn't explode and it's pretty yummy, too.

This is supposed to serve one (decadently) and two (virtuously) but I think it will actually make four servings. Think warm brownie - with ice cream, of course.

Recipe review: we didn't add chocolate chips as some people have. We used less vanilla than some. The texture and taste is a lot like those chocolate pudding cakes that Mom used to make without the sauce part. Quite good without the additives. The easy factor? 9 out of 10 so I think the kids will be able to help make their own dessert tonight.

Thanks, Elaine...we needed that.

'tis the season

It always gets really busy about now. We've tried to get down to basics but there are still lots of things to do. So what's keeping us busy?










The Big Event this week was our seniors' Christmas lunch. Anne had the fun of pulling it all together and we're pleased to say it was a great success. The room was happy, the food was delicious and the helpers were plentiful. Of course, the best part was the music. The senior vocal ensemble from Argyle was fabulous! Just the right thing to get us all in the Christmas spirit.

And, since we were feeling so Christmas-sy, we took yesterday to help Santa's elves. Our early gift to DIL was a day for her to shop without the little ones. We had a good time watching them in the mall's adventure jungle with nets and tunnels and lots of slides. After we had a bit of lunch we window-shopped on our way back to the climbing stuff. Like her Grammy, Becky likes to look at the bling. And Charlie liked the big trucks. He didn't know they were remote controlled and we didn't demonstate. Just looking was good enough for both of them.

And here's the other thing that's been keeping me busy. This is two wool tweeds. The turquoise is a blue plaid which was over-dyed with yellow-green. The gold is an Irish tweed which is soft and buttery feeling and has a gray/green herringbone design. I like how fresh and clean the colors are against the white.

I'm determined to have the whole rug put together before Christmas. So, maybe there'll be no other blocks for this one. Ideas for the future.