Weekend Detour

Our birthday party weekend took a detour last week. Life is like that. One week ago we headed down the interstate to celebrate two birthdays, car fully loaded with cake and gifts. And small suitcases packed for a two-night stay.

The little girls enjoyed a gymnastics party which was fun to watch. (So glad they didn't invite the grandmamas to participate!) And that evening, Daddy-O and I drove into the city and enjoyed a grownup dinner out for the second birthday. On Sunday we had planned to have brunch and then head home.

But Mommy sent a text that the night was a long one and they were headed to the doctor that morning. Since I was still so close, Daddy-O drove back that way and dropped me off for a few days of Mimi duty. I'm not always available to be helping hands, but this time I could do it.

Just taking over the chauffeuring chores—the school drop-off and pick ups, going to ballet lessons, etc—gave Mommy a break. If you've ever driven kids anywhere, you know that car conversation is the best. This time it was just Little Sister and me going back and forth to school. You find out so much with this one-to-one time. And I LOVE getting to watch the ballet class.

Baby Girl stayed home from school this week. She and I kept busy. We played lots of games, read books and we might have sneaked in a few cartoons. Peep & The Big Wide World is a favorite. For both of us.

When she was feeling better, we tackled the thank you notes for her party gifts. It makes me so happy that these girls are learning the importance of "thank you" notes at this very young age.

I will never win a prize for a beautiful cake, but this is an old family recipe that never lets me down. My Aunt Betty was famous for this cake. And Baby Girl requested it for her birthday.

 CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE

1/2 lb butter (2 sticks), softened

1/2 cup Crisco shortening

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cocoa 

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream butter and shortening. Add sugar and cream together well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each egg. Put flour into a bowl and add baking powder and salt. Sift the cocoa into the flour mixture and whisk all of these dry ingredients together. (Or sift all of the dry ingredients together.)

Add dry ingredients alternately with milk to butter/sugar mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Add vanilla.

Bake in a greased and floured tube pan for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out.

And when Ellen at our church bakes a chocolate pound cake, she adds a thick chocolate frosting. After years of serving plain, unadorned cake (which I love) I asked Ellen for her frosting recipe because Mommy loves it that way. I must admit, it does seem more like a party cake when it is frosted. Be sure to read the notes at the end.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1 box 10-X powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons butter, softened
5 tablespoons evaporated milk, plus more to make it creamy & spreadable

Sift sugar and cocoa together. Add softened butter and milk. Mix on medium to high speed, adding more milk by the tablespoon as needed, until it's spreadable. Work quickly to frost cake, as frosting sets up.

This never sounds like enough butter. But it is. And the recipe says "plus more" after you add the 5 tablespoons of milk. I looked back over this blog and one time it says I added an extra 1-1/2 tablespoons. This time I added probably another FIVE tablespoons. Just add the extra one tablespoon at a time until you get a a frosting that is soft enough spread on the cake. 


I'm back at home, a few days later than planned. But happy that I could be there to help. I learned that two days worth of clothes will last for six days if necessary. This was like a practice run for a big trip I have coming up in several weeks. And this morning, I only have minimal laundry to do.

Fingers crossed everyone stays healthy for a while. Me, included. I was showered with love..."Mimi, I wish you could stay here all the time"...and I was showered with germs. ACHOOO!!! My thinking is that the love will germ-proof me.