Cantstopbaking: May 2013

I just put seven kids (four monkeys, two nieces and one nephew)to bed under the age of eight, and all are asleep before 8:30PM. They are all sleeping, and there was no alcohol involved. I think I deserve a medal of honor. Or a night of guilt free pinteresting. Either one is cool. Although the pinteresting is a little more handy.But then I just end up craving cake or cookies. Speaking of alcohol and pinterest, have you seen these lately?

One of my favorite memes of all time.

(For all you newcomers,: An 'Internet Meme' is a word, phrase, expression, iconic imagery or recognizable reference popularized amongst online communities such as on forums or in online games. They are annoying and usually carry a vibe of geeky-ness, which rides well with annoying people who are all about nerd culture. The most famous one being "LOL", 'Laugh-out-loud'.)

I happen to think that memes are one of internet's most bizarre byproducts. What exactly are they? Pictures? For what? What do we do with them? Collect them? Stifle a snort and then get back to work? Save for posterity and show to the next generation? (Now there's a scary thought.) Although I can see how the idea of having a random stranger put your exact thoughts onto a picture can be appealing.

Appealing, yet not the most intelligent. But seriously, thought that was just me who has that foot phobia.

Whose baby is this? He is absolutely adorable.

Yep, thats me.

If I see another one of these:

I will disown you Pinterest. Disown you, I say.

Except for this one. It's brilliant so I let it stay:

Don't mind me, I'm rambling. And the irony is, I haven't had a stitch of alcohol. (Just a a strawberry banana Luigi's and about 15 chocolate cookies, but that may be TMI.) You may not believe me, but go put seven kids to bed under the age of eight, and get them sleeping before 8:30PM, and then lets see if you can piece together a coherent sentence. Is piece even spelled right? Oh, who knows. On the bright side, if you manage that, you and I both deserve a fat slice of this:

Moist Chocolate Cake adapted from Foodess.com

People tell me all the time "Oh your recipes look good but they are way to complicated." Well then, this one's for you guys.

1¾ cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated white sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ tsp baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk (or substitute by putting 1 tbsp white vinegar in a cup then filling the rest up with soy or rice milk; let stand 5 minutes until thickened)
½ cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup hot coffee (or 2 tsp instant coffee in 1 cup boiling water)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9x13 baking pan and set aside. In the large bowl of a standing mixer, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla extract and beat until smooth (about 3 minutes). Remove bowl from mixer and stir in hot coffee with a rubber spatula. Batter will be very runny. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake on middle rack of oven for about 35-45 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs attached. Allow to cool in pan completely and then frost.

Drunk Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup margarine or butter
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 cups powder sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/4 cup alcohol of your choice ( I used a mixture of rum and Walders Vanilla Vodka)

Cream margarine until smooth. Add remaining ingredients. Beat on high until light and fluffy. For a creamier frosting, add milk, one tablespoon at a time, until you reach desired consistency.

Oh, and by the way- I just finished my third load of laundry.

Actually the fifth for the day-lost track there for a minute..

Ok, I'll stop bragging now and go to sleep.

Awesome week to you, folks.

P.S. For the record, I could not have accomplished any of the above mentioned feats (or basically any of my accomplished feats for that matter) without the assistance of this dashing young man: