Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Life is unpredictable; Eat dessert first.

In anticipation of the holiday weekend I am overwhelmed by "sweet" memories of my grandmother.   She was a loving, wonderful woman and a fantastic cook.  I have discovered that while she left behind many a "secret recipe" that the true secret in her culinary skills came not from measurable ingredients or her technique, but from many years of practice--most of which I'm sure went unappreciated.  In anticipation of the arrival of six grandsons --who visited with bottemless bellies and a reckless disregard for the amount of sugar in their diets-- she would prepare, accordingly.  The cache of sweet snacks would include chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, butterscotch cookies, pinwheels, no bake cookies, cobblers, pies and my favorite, "Greek Cake".  My cousins didn't know how highly they rated; she never made Greek Cake for my me, despite my love of chocolate!

So, in honor of the impending Labor Day Holiday, my cousins, the Herrings and the Knowlings,  and in memory of my grandmother,  ENJOY this homemade recipe which is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth and your chocolate craving.  And remember: life is unpredictable. Eat dessert first.  

Grandma Robey's "Greek Cake" 
  • In a saucepan, heat to boiling:  2 sticks of margarine or butter, 1 cup of water, and 3 TBS of Cocoa
  • In a bowel, sift together:  2 Cups flour, 2 Cups sugar,  1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp baking soda
  • Mix all ingredients together until smooth then add:  2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla
  • and Mix again then pour into a greased & floured sheet cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes
Icing:  (Ice the cake when it is warm)
1 stick of margarine or butter
3 TBSP of cocoa
1 Box of confectioner's sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
6 TBSP of milk (2% or 4% only)
Mix until smooth and spread on the cake while it is WARM

    

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Every 7 Seconds

This is my first attempt at "blogging".  I tend to "think a lot" and I'm hoping this process will bring some organization to the seemingly random, sometimes complex, and often simple thoughts and observations that    race through my mind on a daily basis and keep me awake at night.  I am also hoping to share some laughs and find a common thread with the many people I have met and grown close to over the years. 

I am actually a little excited and anxious about this new level of public exposure! And, I'm curious to see what ends up on the page (visually speaking) as I stumbled through the creation phase of making this blog "live".  I felt awkward and insecure with the software, and since I am a Baby Boomer, this is no surprise.  We Boomers like technology so long as we can figure out how to use it.  Turning it on, of course, is the first challenge.  Strangely enough, it seemed a bit easier than my first attempt at using the tv/satellite remote control--where I failed miserably and was forced to ask my youngest son to assist (he then mocked me and thought it was absurd that I didn't know how to turn on the television--and my unspoken response was, "yeah, just you wait until 2052 when you're 50 and we'll see what technological advances are in store for you!".

Ah! But there is comfort in numbers and I know that I am not alone. Recently I read that "every 7 seconds, another Baby Boomer turns 50".  Wow!  Surely, there is something lucrative I can do knowing this important statistical piece of information.   I also learned that with the exception of 1957, (the year that the birth control pill was introduced),  there were more babies born in 1961 than in any other year between 1946 and 1964--the years that define "Boomers".  And to that I say this:  apparently, those pills didn't work and thank God my mother didn't have a prescription.  Speaking of my mother.... 

It is scary to think that only five years separate my mother and I from being  counted in the "same generation" and clearly that is not the case! How can that be??  My mother will turn 70 in a week! My God, she was born during WWII!   Twenty years separates us in age, but growing up it felt like like a century divided us in thought! Now I realize that over the past few years I have gone through a metamorphisis where my thoughts and my behavior has become more akin to her own.  I have been transformed from the rebellious,  "you can't tell me what to do" catepillar to the more mild-mannered and respectful mother-of- three "butterfly."  And since the butterfly lives a remarkable life that features incredibly dramatic and beautiful changes that few other species experience, it is exactly what I want to be.