Chocolate Cake...08/27/11...5am...60°...Sunshine

Chocolate cake was first on the Friday morning list...Bobi and Ci busy measuring and mixing as I finished my blog..."Texas Sheet cake" has been a favorite at our house for many years...It is always a hit at potlucks, doesn't last long when we make it at home and we have changed the recipe over the years...Ours no longer has cinnamon in it, we double the chocolate in both the cake and the frosting...In summer we add 2 cups of grated zucchini, so it doesn't seem so decadent!


Texas Sheet Cake (revised)

Chocolate Cake adorned with fresh raspberries

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp salt 

½ tsp soda          SIFT ALL TOGETHER

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cube butter

½ cup oil

1 cup water

½ cup cocoa powder       BRING ALL TO BOIL

Add hot mixture to flour & sugar.  Add 3 beaten eggs, ¼ cup sour cream and 2 tsp vanilla.  Pour into 18x13 rimmed cookie sheet either greased or covered in parchment.  Bake 400º for 18 minutes.

FROSTING

1 cube butter (can use less)

½ cup heavy cream or milk

½ cup cocoa powder   

                                HEAT & STIR UNTIL SMOOTH

ADD 3 Plus cups of powdered sugar, 1 tbl vanilla stir to a spreadable frosting and frost cake right out of the oven.

Next came yard sales...I drove, Bobi navigated, Ci chattered in the back seat...Our first stop was an estate sale of a longtime local resident, recently passed away...Jo Whittaker had been a substitute teacher for our kids, and worked with Herb at the Forest Service...A casual acquaintance of all of us, always a smile on her face and friendly greeting...She dealt with many health problems in her later years...Her heirs had sorted her belongings and placed them in her front yard for sale...Kind of sad to see people pawing through all of her treasures... Cienna made our only purchase, a new cookbook from the 70's like the one both her mother and I have and a couple of pins to add to her collection...We spent the rest of the morning checking out more yard sales and were back home about 11am to take photo's and sample the "Cake"...

I seasoned a leg of lamb and put it in the oven, for our dinner later in the day...We congregated on the deck to spend some time before the heat of the afternoon...We miss the tall trees that grew on our south property line for many years, now gone because of wind damage and disease...The deck still stays fairly cool from the aspens that grow through the deck...But by 3pm we were all in our cool house, reading or dueling on the laptops...

Bobi coming up with a name and finally started her blog after much nagging and encouragement from family... Bobi's Blog "Writing on the Wall" will appear occasionally...Check it out!

Today we will go to a couple of yard sales and then Bobi, Ci and I will join Pam and Rachel for a Saturday afternoon at the Elgin Opera House to watch the musical, "Annie Get Your Gun"...Herb will dog sit, water and read until we return home. Hugs to all ~OWAV:)