I can see these dishes on a table
In a country kitchen years ago,
Sitting on this tablecloth
Starched and ironed, white as snow.
If all of them could tell their stories,
I wonder what each one would say.
I have a feeling they'd be glad
To have belonged to yesterday.
~ Ruth Shuey Hower ~
During a walk through the woods, I discovered a grouping of lady slipper's, wet from rain, but clumped together like little soldiers, them against the world! It's unusual to see these orchids in clusters like this, as usually they grow individually and sometimes in pairs. It's always such a treat to find such pretty treasures!
Driving until you break through the clouds, finding sunshine, was an awsome experience today! Looking across the ridge, puffy clouds lingered in the ridges and slopes of the mountains, looking like cotton candy as they drifted with the breeze. The perspective is so unusual to one who usually has to look up to see clouds!
It was such a rainy day in the woods! It seems like we are having more rain than sunshine, and that is so unusual for June. The curvy and hilly trek through the woods to the cabin was muddy and steep, but we made the trip safely. Once we reached the mountain top we we delighted to break through the clouds and see some sunshine! The break was momentary, though, and the rain started up again before we left for home. Even when the skies were clear and without rain, the moisture in the trees continued to drip, so walking through the woods was like walking in the rain anyway. I enjoyed finding several more kinds of mountain flowers in blooming and delighted to find another grouping of Calypso orchids. Except for a mountain squirrel and a pair of deer, no wildlife were seen today.
Recently Rylan asked me for a 'good' cake recipe. I recommended a recipe for golden cake and he said he had chocolate in mind. So, I recommended a recipe for Chocolate Wacky Cake. Hmmm, he didn't have that in mind either. After much searching he found a recipe that met his approval. He turns 18 this week, so the family was teasing him, that he baked his own birthday cake, but he shrugged and said that 'no', this wasn't his birthday cake. It was a suggestion to mom that he wants another on Friday. Here's the Martha Stewart recipe he selected:
Chocolate Devil's Food Cake
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter three 9-inch round cake pans.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. In a bowl, stir the baking soda into the 1/2 cup boiling water; stir this liquid into the chocolate. Set aside to cool slightly.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and pale yellow in color. Add the eggs, on at a time, and continue to mix until thoroughly incorporated. Alternately add the flour and buttermilk in small amounts, and blend well.
Add the melted chocolate and the vanilla to the batter and stir well. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of each cake. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool briefly in the pans before inserting onto racks to cool thoroughly.
Rylan frosted his cake with a prepared coconut-pecan frosting mix. The miniature roses are from our garden. The cake was delicious! Good job, Rylan!
