Beverly's birthday Chocolate-Peanut Butter Passion (OMG so good and fattening!) Cake

Hi all,
Well we threw mom's 74th birthday party today. Almost all the kids, grand kids, great grand kids were in attendance so it was a loud affair. There was only one boo,boo bag made and all the little ones managed to remain clean in the clothes they showed up in. The teenagers congregated on the trampoline and interacted sweetly with the little kids as well as adults. (As the mother of two of the four I was supremely proud of my offspring as well as their friends.)
 Dad made it back from the ranch in time for dinner and this made mom happy as she was upset he missed the original start time.
 Dinner was good, simply because I made it. My sisters helped out with the venue (oldest sister's house) and the cake (middle sister).
 The house was wonderful! I love any house that is not mine to clean and my sister's place is warm and inviting a perfect spot for a get together. I am not a great, okay I am a miserable maid who puts everything off until a few days before visitors come over. Then it is a scream-fest-marathon-cleaning session that gets things done.
 Not to brag, but I am a good cook. (My kitchen is the only room I clean well every day. I like to cook and don't want nasty-ness near my prep/cook/eat stations.)  However I am not a baker. Birthday cakes come from the H.E.B. bakery down the street. I will occasionally make baked goods, but only with box mixes and canned frosting.
 My sisters bake well, without  help from Duncan, Betty or the Dough Boy. They are not against the convenience of box help, but they are very good with out it.
 So imagine my surprise when the birthday cake, (which was so delicious it had me wondering when my middle sister completed pastry chef school,) was from a box mix.
WHAT!!! A box mix???
It was so rich, so chocolaty, so velvety smooth, moist and pea-nutty!.
This culinary creation was from a box?
Not only was it a box cake. I had the recipe for this chocolaty/ peanut butter goodness in a recipe book at my house. I didn't know I had the keys to party ooh's and aah's at my fingertips!
"Yeah," said middle sister's daughter. "It's in the old green cook book from church."
"The old green cook book" I muttered in awe.
Holy Cow!
 That recipe must have been passed down though the ages via hand written index card with chocolate stains on it to a woman who didn't know the personal value of what she had. This cake is so good, my cousins would never have let out the recipe, my own grandmother would have left out key ingredients  so that no one could make the cake except her.
God bless the kindly Christian woman who put that recipe in the book! She should be sainted. All of us who are bake-challenged now stand a chance of wowing a crowd thanks to her.
 So after the party I drug out the old green cook book from church and sure enough, there was the delicious cake recipe. Then I looked at the name of the creator of such tasty noms...
I nearly dropped the book on my foot when I read the name of the woman (well women) who submitted the recipe to the book.
My middle sister and her friend were responsible for the choco-luscious creation.
Holy Cow! (again!)
Has she been hood winking me for years? Are all of her baked creations from boxes? The injustice, the horror, the... wait a minute.
My own sister voluntarily gave away personal glory by publishing this recipe. She could have kept her mouth shut and no one would have been able to replicate such a great desert. She could have brought this cake to every family get together for years and years and never let on as to its
simplicity or cost effectiveness.
God Bless my middle sister!!!!
I will erect a Styrofoam likeness to her (and her friend) in my pantry. She will be know as Saint Sue of Boxmixland hence forth.
To add to her fame I will provide the recipe below.
Enjoy this cake mix, It will make you fat and happy!
--
Sally



As  published in the Metropolitan Ladies Ministry "Stirrin' Up Memories" cook book, published 1999.
Submitted by Suzanne Goodrich and Michelle Howard

"Chocolate-Peanut Butter Passion Cake"

1 pkg. Devil's food cake mix (without pudding)
2 1/2 c. whipping cream, divided
1 (10 oz) pkg. peanut butter morsels
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 T. butter or margarine
2/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate morsels


Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Bake in an 8 x 12 inch baking pan. Let cake cool completely. Combine 2/3 cup whipping cream and peanut butter morsels in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until morsels melt and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Let cool 25 minutes. Beat 1 1/2 cups whipping cream at high speed until soft peaks form. Stir 1/3 cup of whipped cream into peanut butter mixture. Fold into remaining whipped cream. Spread on top of cake, cover and chill. Bring remaining 1/2 cup whipping cream and 1 tablespoon butter to a boil in saucepan. Add chocolate morsels, remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Stir until morsels melt and mixture is smooth., Pour chocolate glaze over cake.
Serving suggestions; Serve warm or chill and serve at room temperature. If serving at room temperature, place single serving on microwaved proof plate and microwave for approximately 30 seconds. Chocolate and peanut butter will melt down the sides of the cake.

Fishy Sign

A new seafood restaurant is being built near my home and I just have to stop and wonder what the sign designer was thinking when he put a dolphin above the restaurant name.
No one wants to eat a dolphin!!!!
Wouldn't a crab, shrimp, clam, octopus, salmon, catfish, or heck even a shark have been a better choice?
Dolphins are not on the top of anyone's "yummy-to-eat- fish" list. A dauphin (aka Mahi-mahi ) are quite delightful when consumed, but eating Flipper is just gross.
I'm sure the pic was not meant to advertise a new menu item, but rather to make sure everyone could identify the building with seafood. However, as mentioned earlier, crab, shrimp, clam, etc...  would have gotten the same message across.
Maybe it's just me, but if I were taking the time and money to build a new restaurant from the ground up I would have gone with a more appetizing fish on the sign

Homemade gifts

Here is something I made for my niece's birthday. It's a cutting board-tray. 

The inspiration for this gift came from a similar piece I saw at the Houston Ballet's Nutcracker market. Of course the board at the market was super expensive, but I was able to reproduce the look for a fraction of the cost.

   Luckily I have access to wood working tools and was able to create the board. I bought a 2" x 12' untreated plank of lumber from my local Lowe's and had it cut into 6 pieces. Next was a trip to my local Hobby Lobby where I bought the handles for 1/2 off! Finally after a quick trip to Ace hardware I was ready to get to work.

 The first step was safety. Hair up, grungy clothes on and closed toed shoes (okay I was in flip flops, but I thought about protecting my pedicure.) 

  The next step was to tie up my dogs. The place I was working has a resident skunk and even though I know how to get skunk stank off dogs (which is another blog subject of it's own) doesn’t mean I want to. So, Spot and Skeeter were banished from the work area. 

 Finally I was ready to turn on the wood shaping machine. I proceeded to get a tutorial from my local expert (my mom) who promptly told me I was on the wrong side of the machine. "If you want to waste your supplies keep at it. If you want to get it done the right way, switch sides." 

  Okay mom.

 So after changing directions I slapped a piece of test wood on the machine and proceeded to change the square edge into a round one. It was AMAZING!  I was using a big, dangerous, noisy machine to reshape a piece of lumber. I felt like wonder woman.

 After the practice piece I quickly shaped up two pieces of wood the drilled the holes for the handles.

  Now, here is where the plan went a bit wacko. 

  The lovely handles I bought were NOT symmetrical. So the holes I drilled were not where they should have been. It took about an hour to drill two holes that would correspond with the handles for attachment.  Then it took another trip to Ace hardware for wood putty and an extra 30 minutes dry time before I could sand my masterpiece.

  Sanding was super easy. In fact it was rather calming. I use a “Black and Decker Mouse” sander for anything I need to sand therefore it doesn’t take much time or energy. The biggest problem is the dust landing on my pants, but after drilling the holes I was already wearing dust so... no big.

  Finally the handles were attached and the board was slathered with Almond oil.

  Voila! The perfect present for my niece’s birthday, (any other relatives should not be surprised if you get one of these for Christmas. I am set up with supplies.)  

 So a home made gift made my life easier because I could give a pretty, expensive looking board to my lovely niece for a fraction of the cost. Sure it took some time, but it makes her gift all the more special.