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Chocolate Lava Cake 101

Chocolate Lava Cake is a dessert that I decided I wanted to learn to make.  A google search that began with “how to…” lead me to “how to learn something new everyday”.  I decided that learning something new everyday sounded like a good idea.  Do you know how much information you consume every day?  Today I read that we are constantly consuming information in amounts that can be measured in gigabytes.  In case you didn’t know, one gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Click here for a more detailed explanation.

To put this into perspective, 1 gigabyte equals an entire pickup truck filled with paper (source).  According to this site, we consume 74.92 gigabytes of data every day. That’s enough to fill 74 pickup trucks filled with paper (source).

Wow.

For LB the number is likely doubled.

“Boy Genius”

 

 

What does this information have to do with the [blog post title] Chocolate Lava Cake?

Nothing.

But it may appeal to any technical enthusiast that happens onto my blog.

 

Also it has everything to do with learning something new.

That said, welcome to

Chocolate Lava Cake 101

What you’ll need for class:

•             no stick cooking spray

•             cocoa powder (for dusting)

•             8 Tablespoons butter

•             2 ounces bittersweet chocolate

•             2 ounces semisweet chocolate

•             1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

•             3 eggs yolks

•             2 eggs

•             1 teaspoon vanilla

•             1/2 cup all-purpose flour

•             Recommended for topping: vanilla ice cream, berries, whipped cream

Here is how it is done

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Spray four ramekins with non stick spray and place on a baking sheet.

 Dust ramekins with cocoa powder.

Microwave the butter, bittersweet chocolate and semisweet chocolate in a large bowl on high for about one minute, until the butter is melted.

Stir until the chocolate is also melted.

Stir in the powdered sugar until well blended.

Mix in the eggs and egg yolks. 

Add the vanilla…

and the flour…

and wisk.

Divide the mixture among the ramekins.

Bake until the sides are firm and the centers are soft, 11-13 minutes.

Let cool 1 minute. Invert onto plates or serve in the ramekin while warm…

 with one or all of the recommended toppings.

And now you know about chocolate lava cakes as well as gigabytes.

We’ll be well rounded in more ways than one.

 

 

Chocolate Lava Cake

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

•             No stick cooking spray

•             cocoa powder (for dusting)

•             8 Tablespoons butter

•             2 ounces bittersweet chocolate

•             2 ounces semisweet chocolate

•             1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

•             3 egg yolks

•             2 eggs

•             1 teaspoon vanilla

•             1/2 cup all-purpose flour

•             Recommended for topping: vanilla ice cream, berries, whipped cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray four ramekins with non stick spray and place on a baking sheet.  Dust ramekins with cocoa powder.

Microwave the butter, bittersweet chocolate and semisweet chocolate in a large bowl on high for about one minute, until the butter is melted. Whisk until the chocolate is also melted. Stir in the powdered sugar until well blended. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolks.  Add the vanilla. Stir in the flour. Divide the mixture among the ramekins.

Bake until the sides are firm and the centers are soft, 11-13 minutes. Let cool 1 minute. Invert onto plates while warm and serve with recommended toppings.

prettyis.me

 

 

 

Special thanks to Lacie at easypeasypleasy.com for the lesson on “How To Add And Embed A Printable Recipe To Your WordPress Blog”.

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

Hello Friday!

I’ve said it before… just when I think I couldn’t be any happier to see Friday… I become happier than ever to see Friday!

 

Favorite # ONE

Flowers from Wendy

and her Nana.

This week Wendy graciously presented me with amaryllis from her beloved Nana’s garden.  With Nana’s house on the market, Wendy is collecting as many of the precious plants that she can.  Wendy gave me three bulbs that will someday grow beautiful red flowers and two plants that will produce white flowers.  I brought them home with me on Tuesday and planted them right away.  I’ve added the red bulbs to my very small flower garden in the front yard.  The [white amaryllis] plants have a new home in the screened enclosure out back.  Wendy explained that the white flowers are rare and would need to be kept in a place where they aren’t likely to come into contact with bees so there would be no cross pollination.  I haven’t been able to find this same information online, but I’ll give Wendy credit for knowing what she is talking about.  After all I give her credit 94% of the time at work (hee hee).

Also I love her dearly!

To Wendy’s Nana:  I promise your amaryllis will have a happy home!

I can’t wait to see them bloom!

 

Speaking of flowers…

 

 

Favorite # TWO

This Floral Blouse

LOFT Tropical Shirred Flutter ShellOnce again I’ve fallen victim to online shopping this week at LOFT.com.  This top is regularly $54.50.  I managed to get it for $21.97 (and free shipping) using Honey + 2% cash back from Ebates.

The Package Fairy will be visiting me soon.

 

 

Favorite # THREE

Guess How Many M&Ms contestCandy Colorful Food Sweet Sugar Dessert Ca

There are typically contests of some sort at work.  On occasion there will be a FUN contest.  This week brought about that exception.  A bottle similar to that of a wine bottle [slightly smaller] filled with plain M&Ms was presented to our team as a prize to the person who could guess the number of M&Ms inside.  I counted the M&Ms on the bottom of the bottle and the number of rows up to the neck and multiplied.  Then I added that product to the number of M&Ms I counted in the neck.  The number I came up with was 597.  Since a regular wine bottle holds about 3 cups and there are supposed to be 200 plain M&Ms in one cup,  I thought 597 was a safe number to submit.  So I did.

I was wrong.

sad scream queens GIF

 

 

At this time I do not know the total number of M&Ms, but the winner submitted the number 725.

I’ll celebrate with Kathy because she is my friend.

Enjoy your M&Ms Kathy.

 

 

Favorite # FOUR

M&Ms in a Bottle

I’m going to buy my own bottle, fill it up with M&Ms, and set it on my desk.

Apparently I’m a sore loser.

 

 

Favorite # FIVE

 Date night with LB

Thursday at 3:40PM, I received this text from LB:

 

LB: Are you free tonight? I’d like to take you on a date!

Kimberly: I am free and would love to go on a date with you! The only plans I have are to be with you wherever you are!

 

LB:

 

 

 

 

 

Kimberly:

 

 

 

 

 

LB: show starts at 7:30… doors open at 6:30

Kimberly: I can be ready!

LB: we’ll shoot to leave 630-645

Kimberly: will you be picking me up in your fancy red car?

LB: Absolutely!!!

 

The date would turn out to be an evening with Johnny Mathis “The Voice of Romance Tour 2018” which deserves a post of its own.

 

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

 

Spring Where You’re From

Once again the Blended Blog has provided a topic for today:

Spring Where You’re From

is meant as an opportunity for members of the group and those that link up to share “what spring looks like in your corner of the world”.

As I mentioned in a previous post, when I begin to see robins in the yard, I know spring has arrived.   The robins have moved on, but there are other little birds everywhere.

One such little bird made a definite impression. LB happened to need to check the pool pump first thing yesterday morning.  What he found was unbelievable.  So tiny you can barely see.

A Little Hummingbird

had flown into our pool enclosure and his beak was trapped in the screen. 

As he began work to free the little fella, LB snapped this picture.  I watched as he gently pushed the little beak out of the screen while assuring his “little buddy” that everything was going to be okay.  The hummingbird hastily soared upward and took a much needed rest in a tree.  So quickly that I couldn’t get a picture.  I was so glad that he wasn’t hurt and grateful that LB bypassed his usual routine, and stepped outside to check on the pool pump.

Springtime in my town has been abnormally cool for Florida this year.  Spring 2018 has brought with it more rain than I remember ever having in April.  At the moment my yard is holding enough water to qualify it as waterfront property.

We were fortunate enough to have a few dry days before Easter Sunday and the Easter egg hunt went on as planned.  There have been a few exceptionally beautiful days, like this one when we had brunch by the river surrounded by pink petunias.And we have found time to plant a new dogwood tree

and transplant a Chinese Privet that Mama wanted to have relocated from her yard to mine.

My daylilies have bloomed as has the much loved [by Lydia] azalea bush in the front yard.

Speaking of Lydia, the spring “cidal” took place yesterday afternoon.  Lydia loves to be on the stage.

She is

The Perfect Little Ballerina

 

If you have never had the opportunity to see a two year old dance in a ballet recital, you don’t know what you are missing.

As her teacher mentioned in her opening address, “sometimes in life you have to choose joy, but today it is presented to you for free”.

 

 

 

What is spring like where I’m from?  It is like wonderful!No hummingbirds were harmed for the production of this blog post.  We love little birds.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

I’ve got that

WOO HOO!

 

According to the National Day Calendar, today is National Look Alike Day

HOW TO OBSERVE:

 Celebrate National Look Alike Day by picking someone you will see today or select a celebrity and dress up like them. Fix your hair like theirs and talk like them all day long!  Have fun with National Look Alike Day and post your pictures on Social Media using #NationalLookALikeDay (source)

Although I do not have a celebrity look-alike, I have had a few in my family that I can claim. 

Long ago my look-alike was

Amanda

More recently my look-alike has been

Gina

That’s weird, isn’t it?

 

 I had to share that, however by the time I discovered today has been set aside for a look-alike celebration, I had already chosen my FAVORITES for the week…

Favorite # ONE

I didn’t realize it until after the fact, but Monday, April 16th was National Eggs Benedict Day.

Whenever LB and I are out of town, we will typically enjoy brunch at a nice restaurant.  Last Monday while in St. Augustine we visited the restaurant BRUNCH at Casablanca Inn.

LB ordered the Classic Eggs Benedict

Not to be content with the less expensive item, I ordered the Hemingway Eggs BenedictIt has salmon, dill, and fried capers. 

Very tasty, but I think I can do better.  Check out My Eggs Benedict in this post.

 

 

Favorite # TWO

Learning a New Recipe

I’m assembling a post about my experience making Chocolate Lava Cake.  It is taking a little longer than usual because my photos are weird, but now that I know how to make

Chocolate Lava Cake

I’ll be making it again!

 

 

Favorite # THREE

Mary Kay Subtle Tanning Lotion (limited edition)
It came in my last Mary Kay order and I started using it this week.  I have actually begun to see a bit of color on my pasty legs.

I won’t scare you with close ups today, but maybe in another week!

 

Favorite # FOUR

 This Billboard

We lost a beloved first lady this week and Lamar Advertising Company has honored the memory of the former first lady with this billboard displaying her signature faux pearls.  Why were the faux pearls a signature look for the first lady?  In 2015 when Barbara Bush turned 90, she sat down for an interview with her granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager and explained the reason behind the pearls: 

“The pearls are to cover the wrinkles, which they no longer do,” said Bush to her granddaughter. “You can’t wear pearls all over your face.” (source) 

 

Favorite # FIVE

This week Emily posted a picture of Lydia teaching Rory her animals 

 I thought of Lydia and Rory when I saw this quote:

 These two little angels have all of us smiling!

 

 

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Round Round Get Around, I Get Around

Yeah!

Just like the song that was made famous by the Beach Boys.

And it is true… I do get around…

 Thanks to LB!

Since this past weekend was no exception, I’m going to take a minute to post a weekend recap.  Saturday was a workday and we were too exhausted to go out that night; Sunday morning was rainy and I was becoming concerned that the weekend was going to be a bust;  But all turned out well, and the fun began on Sunday afternoon.

Things were looking dismal, and we thought it was going to be a wash out, but the rain passed through late Sunday and we were able to make it to a concert to see

The Beach Boys

Pictured below is the reason I’m familiar with songs by the Beach Boys:

This record is older than me [believe it or not] and is one of the many that I grew up hearing.  On Sunday night I was privileged to hear that sound live.

 

It was fun and a great sing-along time.

  And it was a surprise to me that the favorite song seemed to be Help Me Rhonda.  I have to admit, it was great fun to sing along.

 

Older. Than. Me.

 

 

The St. Augustine Amphitheater is my favorite venue for concerts.  As you can see from this picture, there can be a bit of a traffic problem when leaving, which is typical of this type of event.  LB and I have learned that it is best to walk.  In doing so the traffic is avoided and there is less guilt from the high calorie nachos that are consumed.  [My fitbit counted 19,746 steps that day!]

I’m looking forward to our next event there.

 

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

 

 

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites

Me and my homies from work doin’ the Friday Freedom Happy Dance!Ace Ventura Happy Dance GIFYou know who you are!

 

Favorite # ONE

My daily lunchbox note from LB

Isn’t he the sweetest?

He knows just what I need!

 

 

 

 

Favorite # TWO

New Blouses

Two of them!

Last week I wore my new pants from LOFT with a blouse from LOFT that just didn’t quite work.

So I searched for a pink peplum blouse and found two that I thought might work.

A Ruffle Sleeve V-Neck Smocked Elastic Empire Waist Peplum Blouse Top

And a Sleeveless Skater Peplum Summer Top

Hopefully one of these blouses will look good with my new floral pants

Or I won’t wear them any more.

 

 

 

Favorite # THREE

Beautifully Divine DIY Woodcraft Studio & Custom Gift boutique

They put the ART in pARTy!

Last Christmas my son and daughter-in-law gave me [and Mama] the gift of a DIY workshop to share

at the

Beautifully Divine Studio.

We were finally able to coordinate our schedules and make an appointment to partake in this wood crafting together time.  Mama chose the “God Bless Our Home” sign.  Mine says Home Sweet Home referencing the state of Florida.  We enjoyed the experience so much, as we were leaving, Mama was talking about plans to go back soon and include “all the girls”.

 

 

 

Favorite # FOUR

Home Sweet Home

The sign that I made at Beautifully Divine DIY Woodcraft Studio & Custom Gift boutique

not bad for an amateur, huh?

Mama is a crafter and enjoys creating projects like the one in this post.  I knew that her sign would turn out to be perfect, but I was surprised that mine turned out to be so nice!

 

 

Favorite # FIVE

Making memories with Mama

Isn’t she cute!

 

 

 

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

One Sentence is Enough

It has been said that keeping a journal can help make one become grateful as it will call to mind daily blessings.

And it is possible that daily happenings can bring more joy to our lives than we would expect.  While pizza on Friday night with LB or a day off from work may not seem memorable to some, looking back on these daily occurrences may actually bring great pleasure.

Because journaling can take a great deal of time, a possible solution would be to keep a journal and write down just a sentence (or two) to record your prominent memories of the day.  The idea came from a blog I read called Foxy’s Domestic Side.  She writes a monthly recap using just a sentence (or two) for each day of said month.

In an article I recently read, writer Jessica Stillman poses the question:

Can writing Just a Sentence a Day Make You Happier?

Citing Author Gretchen Rubin, she writes, “You might think such short entries aren’t enough to make any difference in your life, but Rubin insists that this idea is both manageable and impactful. “One sentence is enough. When I look back on it years later, that one sentence really does keep memories vivid–it really does bring back the past–which is one of the things you really want a journal to do,” she says.” (source).

If I were to recap April using a sentence per day, my journal may look something like this:

 

1 Easter Sunday means remembering Jesus and spending time with Family.

2  Monday  It was a great weekend filled with activities!

3 Tuesday I love springtime. 

4 Tuesday “Giant Steps are What You Take Walking on the Moon” ~ The Police

Watched a crreepy movie with LB… TITAN (fictional story about preparing for life on one of Saturn’s Moons).

5 Wednesday My Quarterly Mary Kay Order arrived today.

6 Friday The Usual Friday Dinner and A Movie Date Night.

#LittlePizzasandLookWho’sTalking

7 Saturday Cleaning my closet is good for my soul.

#3HeftyBagsFull

8 Sunday I love to have dinner with Friends at La Nopolera!

9 Monday Peace and quiet all alone at the office today.

#EveryonesOffButMe

10 Tuesday Apparently I like yellow.

11 Wednesday There is a lake in my yard.

12 Thursday Give me a sign.

13 “It’s Friday the 13th. Just a warning before you make any weekend arrangements for wood cabins by lake.” ~unknown.

Little pizzas and movie with LB.  Not a Jason flick.

14 Saturday It’s going to be a long weekend! 

#iHaveMondayOff!

15 Sunday Help me Rhonda!

16 Monday Brunch in St. Augustine is the best.

17 Tuesday Back to work I go.

18 Wednesday I’m thankful for my job.

19 Thursday I Love baking.

20 Friday I usually have a doppelganger.

21 Saturday I’ve ordered my Kentucky Derby hat!

22 Sunday It’s a perfect day for a Bird Rescue and a Ballet Recital.

Today LB and I enjoyed both.

23 Monday Hi Ho Hi Ho its off to work I go.

24 Tuesday Gardening is good for you.

And that is just what I did after work today.  Thank you for the amaryllis Wendy!

25 Wednesday She said, soo… do you have any new ducks at your house?

While walking around outside looking at flowers, Lydia inquired about the possibility of Glammy having any new toy (rubber) ducks.

So I ordered some ducks.

26 Thursday The lady behind me is an owl.

At The Voice of Romance Tour 2018 Johnny Mathis, a fan was heard to say “WOO” several times per song.

27 Friday I’m feeling like a Loser but that’s okay.

28 Saturday Dinner @ Olé with a side of karaoke.

I didn’t post my review of the Atlantic Boulevard Restaurant, but I won’t likely visit again.

29 Sunday Mulch Makes it Better.

30 Monday I’d rather be at the beach.

 

Although one sentence may be enough, occasionally I feel I need to elaborate with hashtags, links, and a picture here and there.  I agree that it is a good idea to remember and appreciate the little things in life.

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

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