Cake with Hot Fudge Chocolate Icing

Bake one Duncan Hines cake mix according to package directions for 9” x 13” pan.(I like the Yellow cake or Devils Food best)  A deeper cake pan is best so fudge icing doesn’t drip outside the pan.

While cake is baking, make the fudge icing.

Hot Fudge Chocolate Icing

½ cup butter                                        1/3 to ½ cup buttermilk          

¼ cup cocoa, sifted                             dash of salt                             

4 cups  powdered sugar, sifted            1 tsp vanilla

1.    Melt butter and buttermilk in a medium size(2 quart) sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Add cocoa and salt; whisk until smooth.
3. Add sifted powdered sugar to the cocoa mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking all lumps out as you go. 
4. When all the sugar is combined with the cocoa mixture, it should NOT be stiff.  
5. If it is stiff—like peanut butter or something--whisk in a tablespoon or 2 (or more) buttermilk …a little at a time.  Thinner consistency is actually better than thicker…just not too thin! 
6. Additional buttermilk needs to be added BEFORE mixture begins to bubble, otherwise it will crystallize and we don’t want that! (Crunchy fudge icing is not my favorite!)
7. Let mixture simmer over low to medium low heat ONLY until the cake is finished baking.
8. WATCH IT CAREFULLY WHILE IT COOKS. It shouldn’t simmer overly long as that can also contribute to crystallizing.  (I find that the whole surface of the icing will be bubbling at the same time when you’ve found the correct temperature.) 
9. You can adjust the heat down a little to maintain the “bubbling” until the cake is done, if necessary.  
10.  DO NOT STIR FUDGE AGAIN after it begins to bubble or it will crystallize! 
11. When you remove the cake from the oven, place the cake pan on a rack and poke holes through the entire surface of the cake with tines of a large cooking fork or handle end of a thin wooden spoon.  
12. Remove icing from heat; add the vanilla and whisk (this time is ONLY exception) just before pouring it evenly over the hot cake.  
13. Cover the entire surface using all the icing. 
14. Often the hot icing will surround the cake and lift it up, going under the bottom where it will soak in.

Sometimes I use 2 Devil’s Food Cake Mixes and make a double batch of Fudge Icing.

IF you do likewise, I usually use a deep foil baking pan probably 4" deep for the cake, one as close to 9x13 as possible. 

1.  Prepare cake mixes according to package directions.
2. Baking time will possibly be TWICE as long!  You’ll have to watch it and check on it so it will not be over or under done.
3. Begin preparing a DOUBLE BATCH of fudge icing about half way through cake baking time.
4. You will need a larger sauce pan for the icing.  When icing begins bubbling it can easily overflow the top!  Watch it carefully. 
5. Everything else is the same. 
6. Hope you enjoy it!

WOW! It has been forever since I last posted to this blog! Life has been busy with so many other activities and blogging went by the wayside.

A few people I know have been asking about some of my recipes and my daughter told me I should blog them...it would be easier for getting them to various folks.

It has taken me 2 hours, give or take, to get signed back into to my blog.  Technology waits for no one, I've discovered.  I'm still not sure if I can get back into the swing of things, but I'll try.  Perhaps in the next few days I can collect my recipes and get some loaded on this long absent blog of mine.

Life moves fast

Can't believe I last posted in February!!! Time moves at light-speed now.  We've had so many things happen in the intervening months! But life is good!  Love where we're living.  We get incredible skies daily.  Love the cooler "mountain air" and walks morning and evening--when we can work them in.

All 5 grandchildren are growing like crazy, of course.  They are precious and if I had the brains to do it, I could talk endlessly about their cuteness. However, the hour is late and I have many chores left undone and have an early alarm clock to look forward to.

Basement floor poured today

This is the picture I took this afternoon.  Don't know how long after they finished floating the basement floor. It only show a portion of the basement, of course.  Well, youngest grandson is not sleeping and needs my attention.

Tired. And Stuff.

I'm really tired.  Don't exactly know why.  Been busy.  Spending lots of time with grandbabies.  Not sleeping overly much.  Days are mostly very cold.  Apparently this winter has been the coldest, snowiest one in these parts for many years.  And when 34 degrees Fahrenheit starts feeling warm . . . you might better understand what I mean by COLD! We've had beautiful day of sunshine, but some days dipped to -6 degrees.  I can't remember having such a cold winter in over 40+ years . . . but then I haven't lived in Utah for nearly that long!

We are building a home . . . more precisely . . .  we are having a house built for us . . . We looked at homes for sale for ever so long until I could no longer stand looking at houses that ALMOST had the features we needed/wanted.  Many had a lot going for them, but not any one of them had ALL the things we needed.

Soooooooooooo . . .  we finally came to the conclusion that building was THE only alternative.  I really didn't want to remodel another house and still wish for things that would NOT accomplish.  So we looked at model homes and talked with several people and looked at several lots for sale and several house plans and finally found an company that looked right and most closely fit what we were looking for.

We selected a lot and house plans (which we let them know we would be personalizing) and put money down before Thanksgiving.  They were optimistic that the house would be finished by the end of March.  I've worked for contractors, etc. I was hoping to move in around May.

Then the cold, sub-zero temps and lots of snow arrived and things were put on hold.  So the excavation happened early January.  The footings were poured. Then the foundation was poured. Then more snow and cold, cold temperatures hit again.  So we waited a few days and then they did the initial plumbing for the basement and now we're waiting for the basement floor to be poured. (Concrete.)

But . . . another round of cold and snow are in the forecast for this week and next.  The builders were planning to have it framed this week.  We will see.

Anyway, it'll happen when it happens.  Right?  But, I must say that I actually want to be in the house NOW! (I really wanted to be in the house for Christmas, if I must tell the whole truth!  Lol!)  This apartment is very small to house 4 adults and 5 children all at the same time when we get together for meals, etc.

I am sooooooooooooooooooo looking forward to my dream kitchen with it's 8' x 4' island, and lots of cabinets and work space with the granite counter tops, gas cook top, and double ovens!  The open 40' x 14' area will be about 1/2 kitchen and the dining area and living room/den will be the rest of it.  All one big room and MOST of the main floor of the house! The second story will be 4 bedrooms, laundry room, and a "library"/guest room. The basement will have three more bedrooms and a family room. One daughter + her children will be in the basement the other daughter and her little ones will share the 2nd floor with Grandma and Grandpa.

It's so cute to see all the cousins together.  Just wish we could have a yard as large as the one we had in Louisiana!  The kids do, too!  But we'll make do with what we have! We are all excited about watching the process of building and even more excited about moving in!!!!!!!

Thoughts of Christmas and the Coming New Year

It snowed today.  It snowed Monday.  We have lots of snow. AND . . .  thanks to "Santa Baby" I have boots. Boots with which to conquer or at least manage walking in said snow.

Had all five grandbabies for Christmas, and two of the offspring to celebrate with.  (So missed the two kids back in Louisiana!)  Cooked and baked like crazy, but had fun doing it.

Have laughed and cried with new friends and older friends. Given thanks daily for the blessings of a loving God. Have wept over heartbreaking tragedies near and far. Continue to pray for wisdom, loving kindness, integrity and honesty . . . along with hard work and sense of personal responsibility . . . to return as common goals for daily living for myself and all mankind here and elsewhere.

May we all be blessed to take another hard, long look in the mirror and adjust our goals for the coming year to improve our standing with God.  I love the following scripture (among a ton of others) which I think of more especially when celebrating the birth of Christ or when celebrating His resurrection:

KJV   John 3:16-17

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

My prayer of thanksgiving is for His loving sacrifice in behalf of all mankind, everywhere, throughout all time, and for the hope that all will come unto Christ--as we have and continue to celebrate His birth--and strive to live our lives in the coming year as He lived his.

Hello, Again!

Please don't keel over dead . . .  I know I've been "nearly dead" to the blogging world lately, but since moving to Utah, life has been BUSY!  Husband's shattered/now replaced shoulder was/is probably our most spectacular and uncomfortable singularly difficult experience since landing in the intermountain west this past June.

Living in an apartment 1/2 the size of our home of nearly 30 years is d i f f e r e n t.  I guess it's a plus that there's no yard work requirement which is good considering that husband is rather limited in right arm function at this point.  Even though there is a crew of grounds workers at the apartment complex who do a pretty good job keeping things looking good, my fingers get itchy for my pruning clippers all too often when I see shrubs and roses with overly excited shoots exceeding their brother's neat limits.  I've been know to superstitiously snap an errant shoot or two, but I stop myself--with great effort, I might add--when it comes to "dead-heading" the rose bushes.  There are too many and I might get in trouble--exceeding my time limitations and all.

We have been walking a lot since the shoulder accident back in June.  The weather and walking conditions here more easily facilitate/encourage walking.  The humidity is far lower, the mornings and evening far cooler (we're now experiencing low temps in the 40's and highs in the 70's/80's) and there are endless sidewalks and neighborhoods to walk on and through. When we first began our daily walks, we'd go both morning and evening for 30 to 45 minutes.  We managed to average about 20 to 23 minutes per mile.  We have walked up to 3.5 or 4 miles one day (which included some challenging hills, I might add).  Yesterday afternoon, we walked about 1.5 miles in less than 24 minutes and averaged 15.15 minutes a mile.  I think that's our best record to date!

I had a bone density test the other day and was rather pleasantly pleased to learn than at age 60+ my bones are better than the average 30 year old's.  I think our daily walks--along with other good health practices (and probably good genes) contribute to that!

Tomorrow we go to one of the University of Utah's health complexes to find out about husband's axillary nerve in his damaged shoulder.  It doesn't respond to any stimuli--which is a problem.  That is the never that controls the deltoid muscle's movement for raising your arm as well as moving it up and out to the side.  When it doesn't work, your arm movement is VERY limited and if it's the right arm and your right-handed . . .  well you might imagine how difficult it is.

Writing is very limited.  Driving is very limited. And so on, and so on.  Maybe tomorrow we'll learn a little more about what to anticipate.  Sometimes those nerves regenerate--which can take up to 2 years to do so--and sometimes they have to be replaced . . .  Husband is NOT looking forward to any more surgeries!!!!!!

On a happier note--we fell into buying a new van.  Yep, we're grandparents and so we need a van.  Took my '03 Altima in to have a seat belt fixed/replaced July 30th and (since we'd been talking about getting a newish van for awhile) we decided to take a test drive while the Altima was being worked on.

Weeeeeelllllllllllllllllllll . . . the dealership we were visiting had a quota to meet.  They made us an offer we couldn't refuse so, the day before our 42nd wedding anniversary we drove out of the dealership in the very van I had test driven.  Didn't plan on it, but thus it happened.  I LOVE MY NEW VAN!!!!!!!  It is far more luxurious than I ever dreamed of.  It is larger on the inside than the 1993 Nissan Quest we owned for 10 years (and loved).  It has leather interior, a DVD player which the grandchildren love.  It is excessively comfortable.  It drives like a dream.  I can't get over how nice it is.  But the BIG thing is, it DOES accommodate enough of us comfortably!

Well, I better change gears and get ready for the rest of my day.  Somebody mentioned breakfast and I guess that means I need to fix something. :-)