Chocolate Buttermilk Cake.....thanks Curt and Reita

After asking for suggestions of something to bake one day, our good friend Curt recommended Chocolate Buttermilk Cake and a tall glass of ice cold milk. This delicious chocolate cake is so blissfully moist and good. The best part is that it's a cinch to bake. One warning, proceed to make this cake with caution! You'll eat more of it than you planned, you won't even realize it until you look at the pan and wonder where it went. Seriously you won't be able to stop! It's sneaky and wonderful and the same time!


Chocolate Buttermilk Cake - recipe given to me by Curt and Reita

CAKE

2 Cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 Cups sugar
2 sticks butter
1 Cup water
4 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 C buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk add 1/2 teas. to 1/2 cup of milk, let sit for a few minutes)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
chopped nuts (optional, I never add these)

Sift flour, soda and sugar, set aside

Melt butter, water and cocoa over low heat. Bring to a rapid boil then pour over dry ingredients, add buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Mix well, pour into a greased and floured 17x11x3/4 (jelly roll pan). Bake for approx. 20 minutes @ 400 degrees.

ICING

1 stick butter
3 1/2 C powder sugar
4 Tablespoon cocoa
7 Tablespoons buttermilk

Melt butter, add powdered sugar, cocoa and buttermilk, mix well.

Ice cake while it's still hot.

You will love this cake, that is a promise! You should probably make one today!

My Mothers Day

Mothers Day was so nice this year. I woke up and found this sitting on the counter in the kitchen

It's no secret that I love to cook and spend time in my kitchen. My clever son, Tyler, must have been paying peticular attention to a few things that needed replacing. We tried to grill some chicken a week ago and no one could find the tongs, so he bought me some new ones, the cheese grater had a crack in it but we still used it, well he took note and there was a new grater, and the thing I loved the most was the new whisk. Imagine getting excited over a new whisk, am I pathetic? You should have seen the old one though. Tyler did bring up a good point in saying, "Well, Mom these things aren't that expensive to replace". I don't know what's wrong with me, I use my kitchen stuff till it's completely dead. Pretty sad. Anyhow, I was thrilled to have these new kitchen toys.

Nikki and Becca bought me this cute new purse. So sweet, I love it. I've wanted a red one for a long, long time.

Later the kids made me dinner. Grilled chicken, baked potatoes, corn on the cob and my very favorite, watermelon. That is my all time favorite dinner. I love my kids so much and want to thank them for making my day special.

Mother's Day hasn't ever been my favorite holiday. I've always sort of thought of it as Mother's Guilt Day and try not to set my expectations too high. As a Mother I feel that often I've fallen short or lost my patience more than I should and think of so many things I could have done better. I am so grateful for wonderful kids that know the real me and see whats in my heart. Thank heaven for family cause for me it really is all that matters!

My neck, it was worth it!

It all started with pain in my arm that wouldn't go away. For about six weeks I went from one doctor to another trying to find out what could be wrong with my arm. It was pretty frustrating. The doctor determined I had 'Radiculitis'. I have always had stiff necks off and on for as long as I can remember. Finally the doctor suggested xrays of my neck. The xrays showed some major problems, bulging discs and bone spurs, so that doctor sent me to another doctor. This doctor offered epidural injections to relieve the pain but first would need an MRI. I have to admit I was very anxious at this point to just get some relief. So two days later I was getting an MRI and two days after that I would have the injections. Or so I thought, I got a phone call from the nurse and was told that my neck was "a really bad neck" that they would not be able to do the injections. I was then referred to a neuro-surgeon 4 hours away. This doctor came highly recommended and I would like to say that I agree. He told me that I needed to have three discs in my neck repaired and fused. This sounded pretty scary to me, but after a detailed discussion the fear went away. The greatest concern was the disc that was pushing on my spinal cord. By this point the pain had turned to my arm being numb for about fifty percent of the time. It was decided that I would move ahead with the surgery as soon as we could. Although I was a nervous wreck about it, I knew that I'd be fine. Surgery went very well, I spend only one night in the hospital. Three weeks later I am still recovering but really do feel fine. The main thing I was worried about was losing mobility in my neck. I may not be able to turn my head as much as I used to but I am out of pain. It was so worth it.

The day I came home from the hospital. I couldn't wait to get home to my comfy chair and stayed there for three days.

I felt so much better on Mothers Day. Soon you won't be able to even see a scar. I go back to the doctor the middle of June for an xray and final check-up, I expect all good news. It's healing nicely, everything is good!