I went to Target this morning.  It felt so good to get out of the house.  I had to get some laundry detergent and some other things, and I also took the opportunity to do more Christmas shopping.  For those of you who are impressed, don’t be, because I will still be wrapping gifts at the last minute  (Christmas Eve)….I do plan on putting as many things in giftbags as possible this year, though.  I think I can buy them in bulk at Costco.  David was in school while we were out, so I just had Jake, E, Grace, and Caleb with me.  My favorite purchases were the adorable Nick and Nora PJ’s for the older kids (not for Christmas).

Grace’s are silky pink with retro kitty cats.  I found hers on the clearance rack.

Jacob’s are thick soft army-man pants with a soft long sleeved t-shirt.  I couldn’t find a picture of Ethan’s but his are the same as Jake’s only they are a retro cowboy theme ** very very cute **

Also, I bought storage containers for the boy’s room.  I’ve been wondering what to do about the Lego problem.  Every time they build with their legos (which is during their every spare moment) they get spread all around the room.  They like to build while sitting down on their carpet and they like to dump them all out so they can see what they have.  Sooooo, my solution was to buy two of those long flat storage containers.   They hold 40-ish quarts and because I bought two of them there is plenty of room for the legos to stay IN the container, with the boys still able to paw around looking for certain pieces.  The new rule is NO MORE STRAY LEGOS ON THE FLOOR.  Also, they can push the containers right under their beds when they are done playing.

After we were done shopping we ate bagels together at Panera Bread.  I sat on one side of a booth next to Ethan and Jacob, across from Caleb and Grace.  It was nice, I do love having my little buddies with me.  I thanked them for eating bagels with me as we skipped and stepped our way back to the van.    We were done and home by 11:15, just in time to get settled and then greet Davy as he got off the bus.

Okay.  Time for Grace’s birthday cake recipe.

Here’s a picture of what my cake ended up looking like.  The recipe makes a three layer cake.  I put together a 2 layer for our official family cake, and we ate the extra layer with our friends during the day.

The cake stand belonged to Rich’s Grandma, by the way.

Chocolate Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Frosting

Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
10 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
2 3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.  Butter three 8-inch round cake pans.
In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa and boiling water together, making a smooth paste.  Set aside to cool.  Sift the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda together onto a sheet of waxed paper.
Put the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Cream on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Decrease the speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.  Mix in the vanilla and the cocoa paste.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans.  Bake the layers for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean.  Transfer the cakes to wire racks and let cool completely.  Unmold them by running a knife along the inside edge of each pan and inverting them.

Bittersweet Chocolate Frosting

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
8 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
Pinch of salt  (when I read this, I was frightened that I left out the salt in the cake, but the recipe does NOT call for salt!)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

In a double boiler over simmering water, melt the chocolates and butter together.  Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm.
Sift the confectioners’ sugar and salt together into a large bowl.  In a small bowl, combine the vanilla and the milk.  Whisk the milk mixture into the confectioners’ sugar.  Add the melted chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.  Fill and frost cake with the frosting.

Serves 10 to 12

(I got the recipe from the cookbook which is linked at the end of this post)

Rich said it was the best chocolate cake he ever had.  When I served the single layer it to our friends, we ate every piece (in record time) and then David scraped the leftover crumbs off the cake platter and ate those, too.  It was a big hit.

Well, I best get on with my day.  Among other things, there is laundry to fold, school to teach, and dinner to make later on (chicken and dumplings).  I hope you all have a great weekend!

Love, Shanda