2010 July — Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

Chocolate Cake

July 31, 2010 · by JudyL

I do not like chocolate and I do not like coffee. This cake has both and I love it. It’s the most requested cake around here and I love it when someone requests it because if I just make it out of the clear blue, then I’ll have to listen to Vince say “You always say you don’t like chocolate and you’re always eating chocolate!”

Last week, I was in the middle of canning and it was getting late on Saturday and Vince asked for a chocolate cake. Great! I have an excuse to stop everything and make a cake. Since tomorrow is our anniversary, don’t you think a chocolate cake would be in order? Yep, that’s what I think too.

When I made it last week and shared a picture on Facebook, I was complaining that the icing is the same color as my countertop so the cake hardly shows up.

This cake batter seems a little runny when you pour it in the pans and it always makes me wonder if I left something out but then I remember that last time I made it, it seemed a little runny too and it always works. And, it’s always good and it never lasts more than a few days around here.

I’ve never had this cake turn out less than perfect and anyone who has tasted it loves it.

Chocolate Cake

Cake:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup hot or warm coffee

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two round cake pans with waxed or parchment paper. Line with parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides of the pan. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.

Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl, continuing to mix just til everything is blended well. Add the coffee and stir just to combine. Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in the pans for 15 – 20 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely before icing.

Icing:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 sticks butter, at room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Melt the chocolate in double boiler. Allow to cool slightly.

Beat the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and continue beating for a couple of minutes. Gradually add the powdered sugar, then beat at medium speed, until smooth and any lumps are gone. Add the melted chocolate and mix well. If the icing is too thick, add a little cream or milk. If it isn’t thick enough, add a bit more powdered sugar.

Add icing to the cooled cake.

· Filed Under: Cooking · 24 Comments

Basil Mountain

July 31, 2010 · by JudyL

Friday morning I got up all primed to spend the day sewing. Vince was out of town. Chad was working. About 7:30 I had finished my morning chores. The oil change guy was going to be here at 8 to get my car so I figured . . no need to go downstairs and start sewing so I went out to visit with the chickens and get the early eggs. That’s when I made the mistake of looking over at the basil. It’s out of control! In my previous gardens, I’ve always planted 6 or 8 basil plants and never have they produced enough for me to have a lot in the freezer. This year . . it just won’t stop. I picked part of one plant and filled a laundry basket. This is about half of what I picked.

Washed it, plucked the leaves off -

It’s pretty . . kinda reminds me of the color of my new weed eater! I made more pesto. I chopped some, added a little olive oil and lemon juice and froze in ice cube trays.

Dumped it and put the cubes in a zipper freezer bag. The plain basil for soups and stews or spaghetti sauce will be loose in the zipper bag.

All the pesto is wrapped in individual little mounds in plastic wrap and then put into a zipper bag so I can keep it all straight. I’m thankful that we have enough pesto to make it through the year, enough plain chopped basil to make it through the year and a garden still full of basil! Not sure what made this year’s crop grow so well but I sure like it.

· Filed Under: Home & Garden · 6 Comments

Out of the Dehydrator

July 31, 2010 · by JudyL

This time of year, the dehydrator is rarely empty. In a couple of months, it will sit idle til Chad wants a batch of jerky. This morning I emptied out chili peppers, basil and cherry tomatoes.

The basil went into the blender.

Where it was ground down to almost nothing.

That was put through a mesh strainer to get the stems and larger pieces out.

I’ll end up with several half pints of basil to get me through winter. If I have more than that, I’ll give it to friends to help get them through winter! Did you know all it takes is a little fresh tasting basil to chase away the winter blahs?

The tomatoes were put in the blender. And, because I don’t care if there’s a tiny bit of basil flavor in the tomatoes, I didn’t even have to wash the blender between loads.

The tomatoes were pulverized. I recommend ear plugs or some type hearing protection for this step. Those tomatoes are loud in the blender. The powder was added to a jar I’d started last week and now I have a full jar.

The chili peppers were placed in a zipper bag. I want them to be dried some more but I’ll wait til I have something else to put in with them.

It’s not much work at all but it will make a big difference in some of the foods I cook this winter.

· Filed Under: Cooking · 5 Comments

How To Impress Your Wife

July 31, 2010 · by JudyL

Wives, you might want to call your husbands and let them read this. Then you can all sit down together and feel sorry for me.

Our anniversary is tomorrow. I mentioned earlier that we usually don’t get each other gifts for birthdays, anniversary, Christmas . . we pretty much get what we need when we need it. But, I had gotten Vince the Kindle. He was out of town this week so I figured he would want to take it with him. I was wrong. He left it at home. Did I mention that I doubted he would use it?

I believe he felt bad so he bought me a gift while he was out of town. He even called to tell me he had bought me a surprise but he wouldn’t tell me what it was. He came in yesterday evening with a big box. I ruled out diamonds right off the bat because . . well, the box was big and Vince isn’t the type to put a little box inside a bigger box inside a bigger box. He made me close my eyes while he opened it and then he made the presentation.

A new weed eater! Yep, and it’s lime green. What more could a girl ask for on her anniversary? Want me to make a list?

If any of you husbands out there need help with gift ideas for your wife, do not ask Vince for advice!

Seriously, I’m thrilled with the new weed eater. For some reason, Vince just cannot do a good job edging and I’d rather do it myself. I have an older battery operated weed eater but it uses NiCad batteries and they don’t last very long. The new one has lithium batteries and I think I’ll be able to do my whole back sidewalk with both fully charged batteries. That was about a 6 day job with the old edger because I’d run down the two charged batteries, let them charge 24 hours, run them down . . I have more than 2 batteries but only had 2 chargers.

So, don’t be sad . . I’m really happy about my new lime green edger. What I’m not happy about is that someone put that blasted sidewalk all the way around the side and back of my house. Between that, the front sidewalk, the driveway . . too much edging! Don’t suggest Round-Up! If I’m not happy with the way Vince edges, you know I wouldn’t be happy with Round-Up.