Blue Chaste Tree and Triple Chocolate Cake

Well I usually have a green thumb. I mean I'm usually like the Jolly Green Giant. I can grown anything, but apparently that thumb doesn't extend to the Blue Chaste Tree which according to Southern Living Magazine is an easy tree to plant and grow in mid-summer. According to them, you only have to water 3 times a week. WRONGO! I have watered this plant almost everyday because it's leaves are drooping and dropping. The Lord has watered it, but nothing helps. This tree looks horrible and as though it is dying. Ugh!!! The two Crepe Myrtles are thriving and I don't water them but about twice a week. I planted them at the same exact time and yet that Blue Tree is doing terribly. Well at least Lowe's gives a one year guarantee. I hope it doesn't come to that, but we'll see.

Maybe my green thumb is turning into a cooking thumb. I bake cakes like crazy as I mentioned in my last post. Today I baked a Triple Chocolate Cake (recipe courtesy of cake mix miracles). I decided I should cook my husband a chocolate cake since he loves chocolate. I found this recipe and decided to try it out. I also decided to let my husband help a little since after all its his cake. WRONG move! I laughed til I thought I would pee in my pants at what happened next.

I asked him to get out the bundt pan and spray it with the cooking spray. I am putting ingredients together and obviously paying him no attention. When I look up, he says "All done". Boy was it ever! LOL My poor husband had held the nozzle of the spray right inside of the pan rather than a foot or so away. The pan was YELLOW and about 1 inch thick with spray. I just bust out laughing. He looks and says it came out like this I swear I didn't double coat. I can't talk for laughing. I finally hold the can at the top of the sink and spray and say you aren't supposed to hold it in the pan. I just can't quit laughing. Eventually he starts laughing but he said I didn't know to hold it away. It was then that it greatly dawned on me. Men know nothing about baking (well 80% of them anyways). I should have been more clear, but it still made for an absolutely hilarious scene. I wish ya'll could have seen my pan. I cleaned it out and poured the cake in. After 50 minutes I had a wonderful chocolate cake. See below for recipe, but beware I made some changes.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 package chocolate cake mix
1 (3.9 oz) chocolate instant pudding mix
2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels
8 oz sour cream
4 large eggs (I used 5 for a fluffier cake)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I omitted)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup veggie oil
powdered sugar (I omitted)

Whisk together all ingredients but sugar until well blended. Pour batter into well-greased 12-cup bundt pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until cake begins to pull away from sides (it took mine 50 mins). Cool in pan on wire rack for approximately 15 minutes; remove cake from pan, and cool completely on wire rack. Sift a small amount of powdered sugar over the top of the cake (Since I omitted the sugar, I took a handful of semi-sweet morsels, place them in a zip baggie, microwaved for about 20 seconds, then cut a small hole in the end. I then used the baggie like an icing bag and swirled the chocolate over top of the cake until it was used up.)

I hope ya'll enjoy this cake, but beware it is very rich but good. Not for those who aren't big chocolate fans.

A Little Slice of Heaven on Earth

Here I go with lists again! lol I have had some great times this week! Here is a list of my favorite things I have done this week.

1. Watched favorite movies such as The Family Stone and Steel Magnolias. As I speak (write) I am watching Steel Magnolias. I decided I wanted to watch it again for the umpteenth time ( I swear it's close to 500 times), after talking with my bestest friend Vicki on facebook last night. She and I talked in Steel Magnolia code with conversation leaning towards "lemme put it this way, if you and Jackson wanna practice safe sex you're all set" and "Ouizer, you know I love you more than my luggage" or "Clairee, you are too twisted for color tv", and my ALL TIME favorite "He's a real gentleman, I bet he takes the dishes outta the sink 'fore he pees in it". I was howling with laughter as we talked. We were discussing mundane things just throwing these lines in where appropriate. Which leads me to #2.

2. Chillin' with my bestest friend Vicki. We went to the pool (courtesy of the redneck country club, you have to know which one we are talking about to get why I call it that) and hung out watching her kids goof off while she and I drank a beer and sunned ourselves. After awhile we had to get in the pool because folks it was hotter than a fire powered by diesel fuel. lol. The great thing about the country club is that they call a break about every hour for 20 minutes or so in which NO children are allowed in the pool, but adults are. It makes for such a peaceful float.

3. Gardening. Ok we know that I love that already, and do it almost every week. I mowed my yard (don't tell my chiropractor, he forbade me to do it anymore), chomping up all those nasty leaves left over from the tornado. Today, my momma took me to the daylily farm. OH MY GOODNESS! Let me just say that if you have never been, and you are in the area, you should go. You can dig up day lillies (well they dig them up) that you can't find anywhere else. This man has thousands. He breeds them and makes his own hybrids which are gorgeous. As soon as I get some pictures of the ones I bought, I will post them. The one drawback, creepy crawlies. They put daylillies in a bag (you get a clump which can include 1 or more potatoes, most have 3 or more and therefore you can divide them out when you get home, so you get 3 for the price of 1) and you get dirt and all. In this dirt, are the BIGGEST night crawlers you have ever seen. I hate worms. EWWWWWWWWWWW!

4. Started my new Bible devotional. It's called The Power of the Praying Wife. I, of course, am only on week 1 and chapter 1, but so far, it's great. It talks about how a wife has more power than she knows. It tells how even the wife of a non-believer can reap blessings for her husband just by praying to God, having faith, and most importantly putting God first in her life. I will keep you updated as to how it goes as I progress.

5. Spent LOTs of time with my momma. I love that woman. She is my best friend, my sister, my mother, and all rolled in one. I love spending time with her. She and I have such a good time and I just draw so much strength from her. She is a PHENOMENAL woman!

These are some of the best things I did this week. I hope everyone else had a great week also, and HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the fathers in the world

Love/Hate...What a Fine Line

I have quite a few things that I LOVE on one hand, while on the other, I hate those same things. I am sure that all ya'll know what I'm talking about. For instance, I love lists. They put things in perspective and helps straighten out your thinking. On the other hand, I hate attempting to be organized. I always get half way through my organization attempts and then ADHD, that I'm convinced I have, kicks in. So now that you know what I mean, as if you didn't already, here's my list (told ya I loved 'em).

1. Gardening - I love to work in my flowers and mow my yard. It is so soothing to me. If I am stressed, I can go work in dirt and plant my flowers and pretty soon I know the solution to all problems (all those but how to attain world peace). On the other hand, I hate frickin' japanese beetles and weed eaters. The japanese beetles eat everything, my roses, my cherry tree, my snowball tree, my geraniums, my hibiscus, etc. The weed eater could make Mother Teresa (if she was still alive) curse and swear. That thing is pure evil and attacks the ground whenever I use it. Because of these things, I ATTACK the beetles with dust and refuse to use the weed eater.

2. Pimples/Zits/Acne - Whatever you call them, they mar your face. I hate them. Sometimes they are painful and it always happens that when you have a big important date or appointment, they appear. IT NEVER FAILS. On the other hand, I love my new face wash by Neutrogena. It is the grapefruit oil free acne wash. It smells so clean and fresh and makes my face feel the same way.

3. Shaving - I love the way my legs feel when I shave. They feel so smooth and it makes you feel sexy ;-) . On the other hand, I hate the act of shaving. It takes up precious time, and if I rush, I always nick myself somewhere.

4. Cooking - I love to cook. I like to put things together and find them tasty. Its so fun, almost like a puzzle. On the other hand, I hate to clean up. I hate to clean up the dishes and the pans that I mess up in the process of cooking.

5. Work - I love making OT pay. I love my husband making double time. I do not however love working 10 hours a day, nor do I love not seeing my husband but 10 minutes a day. :-)

These are just a few of the things that I have a love/hate relationship with. One thing that I LOVE without any HATE relationship is Will Smith and Martin Lawrence movies, especially Bad Boys and Bad Boys II. As of right now, I am watching Bad Boys II and laughing so hard I can't hardly see, but ewwww I just got to the yucky part where the drug guy cut up the mafia guy. EWWWW!

So as I was saying these are some of the things I have a love/hate relationship with, and I'm sure I will come across more. Do you have any of those?