Thursday, July 31, 2014

There's Chocolate Cake in the Fridge

When there's chocolate cake in the house, does it matter who bought it or that it isn't for you? No. It does not matter one little bit. If you bring cake into this house, you have brought it in at the risk of not having it there when you return. If the cake exists, it is quite safe to assume that, even if you put your name on it, someone else is going to eat that cake. It doesn't even matter if it is your birthday cake. It  will be eaten.

There is a woman living here. A woman of a certain age who adores chocolate more than just about anything else there is on the earth to adore. And, when you put that chocolate into cake form, well, it's doomed from the git-go. There is no such thing as a chocolate cake repellent nor is there such a thing as willpower when it comes to chocolate cake.  Especially when there's a man living in the same house who has, in his aging years, become worse than he already was in the areas of manipulation, meanness, forgetfulness and grossness. I kid you not.

And then there's the daughter who moved back home for 'just one year,' 15 months ago.
It's not that I mind one of the kids moving back into the house. But did it have to be one of the messiest ones? Was it not bad enough that I have Fred Sanford living here already?

My side yard looks like a salvage yard. I can understand some people who collect junk. I really can. Because they re-purpose the junk. The stuff that sits in my yard and the storage tent in the back yard does just that, sits. For years. Decades. I've gotten Fred confine to what was once the garage. It was turned into a playroom when the girls were growing up to give them more room for play and socializing. That area looks worse than the outside. I would take a picture but, some of it, is actually embarrassing. I don't even want to admit that I know someone who does some of the things Fred does. Dis. Gust. Ing. Fred has lost every single key to my car except one. He has lost his cell phones and four house keys. The list goes on but I believe y'all get the point.

And then there's the room where the daughter who moved back in resides. I had just gotten that room turned into a guest room. It was so pretty. See?



But no more.  Everything she owns is strewn all over the floor and walls and ceiling. The drawers (of the furniture I painted) are all hanging open and, from the places she puts her takeout food and drinks, let's just say I'll be repainting that furniture when...IF...she moves back out. Trash gets emptied once every couple of months and I have only been able to get in there to vacuum the rug and steam the floor twice since she's been here. She's supposed to keep it neat, tidy, clean in there in lieu of paying rent. Right.                                                                                                                                                                                                      
I'm not saying that I'm the neatest person in the world. But I do put things in their places. Nothing of mine is strewn about haphazardly. And nasty? No. I don't leave food out and I don't drop food on the floor while I'm eating. I wash up after myself (and everyone else, I guess that's my job) and my room is tidy. And I don't use empty water jugs for anything other than recycling and mixing up food for my flower garden.
It is quite difficult for someone who appreciates neat/tidy/clean to live with two adults who wouldn't recognize order and clean if they saw it (I know this because they see it every day when they walk through the front door.)

So, yeah. If someone brings chocolate cake in the house- for whatever reason, it's going to be eaten. And then the fork and plate are going to be washed and put away. And I dare anyone to try and stop me. On BOTH counts. 


Not that I'm going to always post recipes but this just sort of happened. Again. Ha!

My grandmother didn't have a chocolate cake that I recall. Though I do recall her pineapple and her coconut cakes, vividly. But, when I was a teenager, she started making this coco cola cake and it was scrumptious! Healthy? Nope. But scrumptious! :)


Coco Cola Cake

2 cups sugar                                                                                         1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups plain flour                                                                                  1 tsp soda
1/2 cup butter                                                                                       2 eggs
1/2 cup oil                                                                                            1 tsp vanilla
3 T cocoa                                                                                             1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

Stir soda in buttermilk; set aside.  Sift sugar and flour.  Combine butter, oil, cocoa, and coco-cola
in a small sauce pan.  Bring to boil, pour over dry mixture; mix.  To mixture, add buttermilk and
soda, eggs, vanilla, and marshmallows, mix.  Pour into a well greased and floured 13x9x2 inch
pan (wax paper in the bottom of pan works).  Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Icing

1/2 cup butter                                                                                       1 box powdered sugar
3 T cocoa                                                                                             1 cup chopped nuts
6 T coco-cola                                                                                       1 tsp vanilla

Combine butter, cocoa, coco-cola in sauce pan.  Bring to a boil (longer for thicker icing). 
Remove from heat, add powdered sugar, vanilla, and nuts.  Mix well, spread over cake (top and

sides)


Have you ever noticed how venting is just as good as eating chocolate cake? Me neither. 

16 comments:

  1. My mother and I were just discussing how she could never live here with me and my family because her son in law is a hoarder! Thankfully I've been able to keep it out of MY house! but not the area surrounding the house. I've had a visitor compare it to Sanford and Son...UGH!!!!

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    1. It's maddening, isn't it? He keeps saying he's cleaning it up but I have yet to see that. It didn't get like this until after his mother passed a few years ago. She had a two car garage but was not a driver so he had everything over there. When she passed, he brought it here. Now I just want to move. Sigh.

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  2. I totally agree with both, the chocolate cake and the mess in the yard. Btw, if you ever want to vent about manipulation,let me know, I live with the king of it !! :)

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    1. I wish the mess was just in the yard. No, wait. I wish the mess was nonexistent everywhere- in and out. :) I'm working on a post about emotional abuse. It that the same kind you live with?

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  3. I have to laugh..do we have the same people living in my house?--do you know, I made a German Choc cake and it is only half eaten. Do we need to have a talk about manipulation (I'm married to a former Marine), meaness, forgetfullness..don't even get me going (and I do worry what will happen when I start school next month, believe me, I do worry.) ..you are not alone, I can assure you!! Thanks for the recipe, I love Coca Cola cake..Blessings

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    1. No way! To be honest, I did sort of think no one else suffers through this. Mostly because I figured there is something wrong with me for putting up with it. I told a friend this week that it's a sad day when my happy place is school. Not good. My grandmother made a few 'corrections' to that recipe but, since she never wrote that stuff down...LOL Thanks, Linda

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  4. Loved the post, and thanks for the recipe!! Chocolate anything doesn't stand a chance at our house, either!

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    1. Thank-you, Terri! I loved this cake when my grandmother made it. She put her own spin on everything but, mostly, I think it was the love. :)

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  5. Do you want me to come up there and kick butt? I will you know!! No one and I mean no one should have to live like this. You're too nice my friend! As am I and I've always had it bite me in the butt. Thankfully my threshold isn't as long as yours!!! I don't know how you do it and if eating chocolate cake makes you feel just a little bit better....enjoy every crumb! You know I'm always around if you need to vent! Love you lots!! XX

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    1. Haha! I know you would! I'm not sure if it's the chocolate cake that makes me feel better or the fact that I'm eating it and they won't have any. Of course, that's sort of like cutting off my nose to spite my face. LOL No, it's not cool at all. And, if I had the funds, I'd have a solution...I'm working on it though! Are you still up for a guest post? Just let me know!

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  6. I've enjoyed your Empty Nest blog for awhile. I was interested in it when I stumbled on the blog because my nest emptied a couple of years ago. The youngest is at University of North Carolina Greensboro, but comes home for her breaks. When it's time for her to go back to school I am so ready. Now the oldest has graduated and moved back in with us to take a new job and get on his feet. Every time he talks about when he will move out the time with us gets longer and longer. I say stay as long as you like, but let's face it, my patience will have a limit. So, your post today on this blog sounded very familiar. He's only been back a month. It looks like his apartment vomited in our house. I've asked him to clean it up, but it still hasn't happened. His stuff smells. The younger one is counting the days for her move back to Greensboro and quite frankly so am I! I've never commented before, but just wanted to share that I felt your pain. I also liked the chocolate cake recipe. I'll try it.

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    1. Thank you! Your youngest is close to my oldest who lives in High Point. I was just talking about this post last night to some friends and they were all saying that, sometimes, there really is comfort in numbers. Though I wish we had similarities in something more positive. LOL Thanks for stopping by, for sticking by and for commenting.

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  7. I remember when the 7up cake was popular.
    I'm guessing the coco-cola cake would be just as moist.

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    1. I made a 7up pound cake about a year ago just because I was thinking about my grandmother making it. It's still good. :)

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  8. You had me at chocolate cake. =) It is one of my very favorite desserts. My grandmother used to make a similar recipe. I will have to scrounge around and see if I can find it. Since I now have a need for a piece of chocolate cake. I totally identify with living with mess makers. My nineteen year old son is the worst of it. If he is not currently using an article of clothing it resides on his bedroom floor, dirty or not. Don't even get me started on the marks from glasses on the furniture that was a nice antique. ;( The bathroom that belongs to the teenagers is ridiculous too. Heaven forbid when the married daughter comes back for visits the whole downstairs looks like a tornado hit. Loved your post...really made my day. Now to go bake a cake. ;) Blessing, Valerie

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    1. Right?! Who doesn't love chocolate cake??? :) Oh gosh, I didn't even mention the bathroom she uses. It's so bad, I won't go in there even to clean. I'll have to bulldoze it if she ever gets out of here. LOL Yes! When our oldest married daughter comes home she spreads out all over the place. Maybe I just need to move. :)

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Welcome, friends! Please spew forth some wisdom for me. I'm quite certain I need it!