Saturday, September 18, 2010

When it rains, it pours

With bands from the latest tropical storm to sweep into Mexico, South Texas has seen rain falling off & on for the last two days.  Last night my daughter had a sleepover, the baby slept through the night, and the hubby made us all crepes and bacon this morning.  For being cooped up due to rain, life seemed pretty good.  Then I got the phone call.  My sister calls around 9:30 to tell me that our dad hit a dog this morning on the way to the store on his Harley, laying it and him skidding across the wet asphalt  She was on the way to the hospital so I coordinate the girl to be picked up from the house, run to the store and load up on food, then pick up her three kids who were climbing the walls of the ER to bring them back here so that she can sit with our dad.  I went from two to five kids in a matter of an hour and I've been ready to hit the sack since 8:30 p.m.  I don't know how anyone does it with more than two kids.  Lately the husband and I have been talking about having a third since we are in baby bliss with our 4 month old but, having a 16 month old, five yr. old, and 7 yr. old added to the mix has got me wanting to hide under the covers.  It's like I'm seeing glimpses of what we've got to look forward to.  I'd almost forgotten with the humongous age gap between my two.  Now, it's all flooding back like the raining pouring just outside our door.  It hasn't been all bad, though.  They did keep me too busy to worry myself sick about my dad (who ended up with a shattered leg bone but, otherwise good), and they were great help in the kitchen.  To make the day fun for them so they wouldn't worry about Pawpaw, we baked a Mississippi Mud Cake.  It may not be as fun to make as the mud pies I see in their near futures but, I bet it tastes better by a long shot.  Big sissy helped by entertaining.  She's decided she wants to be an old maid for Halloween and I think she's working this angle for the costume design.

If you'd like to make a sickeningly sweet brownie type thang, you might want to try this recipe:

Mississippi Mud Cake (though, it's more like a brownie smothered in marshmallow creme and choc. frosting)
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
1 (10.5 oz.) pkg. mini marshmallows
   Chocolate Frosting


Whisk first 6 ingredients together.  Stir in flour and pecans.  Pour batter into a greased and floured 15x10 in. jellyroll pan.
Bake for 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Remove from oven; top with marshmallows and put back into oven to bake for an additional 5 minutes.  Drizzle choc. frosting over warm cake (though, I'd say you have to thin the frosting more so than the recipe calls for).  Cool completely.


Frosting:
1 (16 oz.) pkg. powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup butter, softened

Beat all ingredients at med. speed with an electric mixer until smooth.  Yields 2 cups.



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