a hippie with a minivan

Black Magic…

What an amazing cake!!

Simon loves chocolate… ok… the whole family loves chocolate but it was Simon’s birthday on Thursday so I had to make this…

This recipe comes from Hershey’s and it is rich, dense but light at the same time…

I think that this is going to be my cake recipe from here on in… it is just perfect…

and the frosting… another perfection… a really simple Chocolate Buttercream frosting…

For the cake…

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup Cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk (2 tbsp of vinegar with added milk to equal 1 cup)

1 cup strong black coffee OR 2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee plus 1 cup boiling water (I used 2 tsp of Cocoa in instead of instant coffee)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. (I used 2 8-inch square pans)

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost as desired. Yields 10 to 12 servings.

For the Frosting…

1/2 cup butter
2 2/3 cups icing sugar, sifted with
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 – 1/2 cup cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

cream the butter… sift together sugar and cocoa… add to the butter with the cream and vanilla… start with 1/3 cup of cream but you might need more… beat with mixer for at least 2 min…

Chocolate Oatmeal Chocolate chip…

These have been a favourite around here lately… they are chocolaty and satisfying but not too sweet…

I make them big enough that one is often all that you need…

In one bowl… mix together the dry ingredients…

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups Oats
1 cup chocolate chips

In another bowl…

Cream togther

1 cup butter (softened or melted… melted makes the cookie chewier)
1 1/2 cup sugar (I use demerrara)

In a small bowl mix together

2 tbsp of ground flax seed and
6 tbsp of water

and add that to the butter and sugar..

and then mix in

2 tsp of vanilla…

Mix the wet and dry together until well combined (but don’t overmix)

Bake at 350 for about 14 min…

I make 2 dozen big cookies with this recipe…

Baked Potato…

I finally took a picture of this…

what a great way to eat a potato…

Slice (not all the way to the bottom) and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle of salt and pepper and a bit of smoked Paprika…

I have also made them with slices of garlic or onion between the potoato slices…

Bake for about 45 min at 350…

tired and sore but feeling great…

Tonight I made Annie’s vegetable Korma… it was amazing!!!

I ate and then debated with myself for about a min about going to the pool or not (swimming after eating spicy food with cauliflower etc. is not always the best plan)… but I got my things and left…

When I got there I saw a friendly face who gave me a few words of encouragement to get back into things and somehow while we were waiting the conversation turned to homschooling and I found myself needing to explain what it is all about… (he was one of those who had never even heard of it… I have to admit that I was really not in the mood tonight to do that because he was trying to debate me on it…

Anyway… got in the pool and there were two lanes open for laps and it was a bit crowded with about 6 people per lane… but I put my music on, and got into whatever rythm I could with the others and just kept swimming… and after about 20 min some people left and at the 35 min mark I was the only one left in my lane… so I was able to do the last 20 min at a good rythm…

I didn’t do as many laps as I was doing before I broke my routine, and I took a few 1-2 min breaks than I usually did… but I did a lot more than I thought I would be able to do… I really think the music has a lot to do with it… when I am a but tired I tell myself to just finish the song… or I get a song that has a faster beat and I follow that beat for a few laps…

My muscles are a bit sore but I really feel great… I am debating on whether I am going to go again tomorrow (I don’t want to hurt myself) but I won’t be able to go wednesday or thursday…

I’ll see…

It really does feel great though… I need this to be a routine again and knowing that it won’t be to hard to catch up to where I was is encouraging..

yummm… Sushi….

I love Sushi… I really do..

The first time I had it I was about 6 and we were living in Nelson, BC and we were invited to a Sushi party… I remember loving it then but it wasn’t at all popular then so I didn’t have it for many more years…

I had it a few more times over the years… but then I was pregnant with Xavier a little Sushi shop opened near our apartment and I couldn’t get enough…. That place was good and it wasn’t expenesive and I would go at least once a week… it was the perfect pregnancy food and was the first thing I ate when I came back from the birthing center…

When Xavier was a baby and we were not going out as much and the place near us closed I started to make it at home…

Over the years my rolls have looked better and better… and for a while I was making it every week… now I am not making it as often because it does take a bit of time but I make as often as I can and I also make more of an assortment instead of making the same rolls all the time…

For the rice I found the perfect recipe is this…

Make enough rice for what you need (calrose rice using about 1/2 cup rice per large roll) and while the rice is cooking mix together

(per cup of rice)

1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
a bit less then 1 tsp salt

(so for 3 cups of rice…. use 3 tbsp vinegar etc)

bring to the vinegar mixture to a simmer (until the salt and sugar dissolve) and then let cool… when the rice is ready pour the mixture over it and let it cool… it is also best to use all wood instruments… or at least not metal…

then have fun and make sushi… there are plenty of site now that show you how to roll…