Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Time

Take your time. Time waits for no man. Good times! One day at a time. A stitch in time saves nine. Time after time. Kill some time. Just in time. Time heals all wounds. Can't stop the hands of time.

Hitting your 59h birthday can make you think about time, all right. Just like my favorite house cleaning rock song declares-- "Time is ticking away!" 59 years of my "ticks" are gone. How much time is left? I want to "number my days" in the best sort of way. Sure, I want to spend the time stretched out ahead this summer with some house fix-it-up projects, and lazily reading through a novel or two. But from this perspective, spending the time I have with my God and the people he has given me seems a good use of my time-- spending time on things that are eternal.

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent." --Carl Sandburg


Monday, May 30, 2011

Good Old Chocolate Cake

Off to Grandma Lo's for dinner with all the family from far and wide. And I'm taking chocolate cake--our easy, good old family favorite. I usually have one waiting on he counter when Ani comes down to visit. It's just a cake mix, but don't we all know it's the frosting that makes it so very delicious!

GOOD OLD CHOCOLATE CAKE
dark chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
water
1 cube butter/margarine
1/2 cup Hershey's dark chocolate unsweetened cocoa
8 oz. cream cheese
2 tsp. vanilla
1 pound box powdered sugar
1 cup toasted almonds
1/2 cup sugar

Make the cake in two 9" cake pans according to the directions on the box--with the eggs, oil and water. While it's cooling sugar the almonds by putting the almonds and 1/2 cup sugar in a small non-stick pan. Start on high heat, stirring ALL the time til the sugar starts to melt. Then turn it down to medium and keep stirring until the almonds are coated with the caramelized sugar. Turn them out of the pan onto a piece of foil to cool. Then make the frosting. Melt the butter in the microwave. Stir in the cocoa completely (this keeps the chocolate darker) Next add the cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar. Use the mixer on low to blend and then turn up higher once the sugar is incorporated. When the cake is cool, frost it and arrange the almonds on top.

To my taste, it's the perfect chocolate cake. Fragrant and tender, so rich and chocolaty. Love the nuts! (I buy the almonds already toasted in bags at Trader Joe's) Extra almonds are also great on salads or ice cream or just snack them down while you frost the cake--kind of a cake appetizer.


Sunday, May 22, 2011

Weekends with the Girls

I'm feeling rich this month. Not from a surfeit of cash or some fabulous vacation on the horizon. But I've had the luxury of two weekend visits from my girls in May. What more could I want?
The lovely thing is that even if they weren't my daughters, they exactly the kind of people I'd wish to have as friends-- capable & smart, inventive & fresh, lively & unselfish, cute as 2 buttons. They make me laugh and stay up way too late at night because I don't want to miss one minute of the fun. So here's to weekends with the girls. There can never be too many. I'll be in to see you in SF next month!!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

the Grand-girls are coming!

I'm jumping up and down! I talked to Micah last night and it looks like Charlotte and Maryann will be staying with us for a few weeks this fall! They'll come for Aaron & Jessica's wedding and when Micah, Jodi and the new baby return to China, the girls will stay on until we carry them back to Shanghai over Thanksgiving break. So now I'm anticipating all the BIG FUN together. We will:
*stock up on books at the library
*mix up brownies
*play "kickball" in the backyard
*take a ride on the Ferry at Balboa
*roar at the lions at the San Diego Zoo
*have splashing fun at bath time
*make up stories with the doll house furniture
*break up lettuce to build beautiful salads together
*visit the great grandparents for peanut butter sandwiches
*have tea parties galore
*enjoy fun times at Sunday school
*get out the old favorite-- playdough
*walk to playgrounds for picnics
*dance in the kitchen, just like the good old days!
*cook hot dogs and s'mores in the fireplace
*sing songs in the car
*paint pictures
*give stories, hugs and prayers at bedtime
*and so much more!!
I'm trying to contain my excitement--but it's not easy. I'm overjoyed!

Morning Reading

I've been resisting this book-- Friends have loved it but I thought, "nice, but not my style." Then when Jenon showed up with a copy she'd bought for me, I gave in and gave it a try. Now I'm hooked. I've determined to study the daily reading, the verses and pray before my feet hit the floor each morning. It's been so worthwhile.

Here's a sample:
"The world is too much with you, my child. Your mind leaps from problem to problem to problem, tangling your thoughts in anxious knots. When you think like that, you leave Me out... Though I yearn to help, I will not violate your freedom. I stand silently in the background of your mind waiting for you to remember that I am with you. When you turn from your problems to My Presence, your load is immediately lighter. Circumstances may not have changed, but we carry your burdens together."

"So do not fear, for I am with you for not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." --Isaiah 41:10

God is good.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Chocolate Chunk Bars

If you love chocolate, I mean really love chocolate, this recipe is for you. If you are one of those people who say, "I just couldn't finish it. It's just too rich," maybe this recipe won't hit the spot! I fall squarely in the first group, myself. So read on for chocolatey, squishy, finger lickin' gooey bars.

1 cup flour
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
14 oz. condensed milk
1/4 cup cocoa*
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking powder
8 oz. chocolate cut into chunks.
1 cup chopped nuts
powdered sugar

Combine 1 cup flour with the sugar. Cut in the margarine. Press into a 9x13" pan sprayed with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the condensed milk, cocoa, egg, 1/4 cup flour, vanilla and baking powder. Then stir in the chocolate and nuts. Spread over the crust and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes more.

When it cools down, sprinkle with powdered sugar through a fine mesh strainer. Cut into chocolatey, gooey bars and try to eat just one.

*I love the new Hershey's Dark chocolate cocoa and prefer walnuts in this recipe. They don't get overwhelmed in the chocolate and add texture against the creamy filling.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Reading ala John Stott

There are just too many books and not enough time. My nightstand over-floweth! I'm longing to get into The Sweet Life in Paris by one of my favorite "American in Paris bloggers." And I picked up The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, a children's book about a plucky governess last week after I had seen the new "Jane Eyre" movie. There's the Lit group I should finish by Tuesday next (probably not)-- and the short stack I just picked up from the new book shelf at the library. I have another Yancy book I've been meaning to start. Oh, and on top of the stack-- the new Time magazine dedicated to the Royal Wedding. Will I get to that before their anniversary? But I am really deep into Bill Bryson's At Home, following him down rabbit trails of domesticity as he describes the history of rooms in his 19th century British parsonage. Fascinating...

I'm thinking I should follow the example of Larry's favorite theologian John Stott. He determined to read one full hour a day, one full day reading each month, and take a full week just to read each year. He was a single vicar and wrote several important books himself, but I'm imagining he didn't have the distractions of 3rd graders, cleaning or laundry. Still, if he could do it, I'd sure like to give it a go. So I'm off to bed with my book...