Wilmington Island Marsh Mud Cake

Ever since the kids got out of school a week and a half ago (Could it be just a week and a half? It feels like last year!), we have all been running. My brother visited with his kids starting the afternoon the kids got out of school. And it's been crazy ever since. But fun. Lots of fun. While we had everyone here, Jim cooked as usual. I handled dessert. But what to make with 5 kids and 4 adults for dinner? It had to appeal to everyone. Well, Paula Deen came up with the answer for me, with a little spin. This is from her The Lady Just Desserts cookbook. This recipe was easy and everyone enjoyed it. It was gone within a day. Can't have a better endorsement than that!

Wilmington Island Marsh Mud Cake

Cake:
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted, plus extra butter for greasing pan
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Frosting:
1 (16-ounce) box light brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup milk, scalded
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (10.5 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan with butter.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cocoa and the melted butter. Add the eggs, flour, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat well with a hand-held electric mixer. Add nuts, stirring with a rubber spatula. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes.

While cake is baking, prepare the frosting. Beat the brown sugar and butter. Add the cocoa and beat. Stir in the scalded milk and vanilla together in a mixing bowl and beat with the hand-held mixer until smooth. Set aside.

Remove the cake from the oven, and pour the marshmallows over the cake while it is still hot. Pour the frosting over the marshmallows. Let cool slightly before cutting into pieces.

"A happy family is but an earlier heaven."
George Bernard Shaw

Lemonade Pie

Over the Memorial Day weekend, I went a little crazy making food for our family get together. Considering that we were only having two people over and there is five of us, I made enough to feed an Army! But it was fun. And, of course, I had to make dessert. Being that I was so tired from making all the salads, drinks, and other food for the party, the dessert had to be simple. Plus it was over 90 degrees here that day, so the dessert also had to be light and refreshing. This recipe was perfect. It was so simple and so good. It's great for a picnic or get together or just on a hot summer night.

Lemonade Pie

1 store bought graham cracker pie crust
1 14 oz size sweetened condensed milk, chilled
1 12 oz container Cool Whip, thawed
1 6 oz can frozen lemonade concentrate, still frozen

In a bowl, gently fold the condensed milk and the Cool Whip together until blended. Add the frozen lemonade concentrate and stir until mixed. Pour into the pie shell and freeze several hours or overnight.


"We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons.”
-Alfred E. Neuman

Devilishly Good Chocolate Cupcakes

After several weeks without having a chance to bake, I finally got back to it this week. It felt good to be at it again! I decided to start off slow and easy, especially since it was another busy week and because I will be making lots of desserts for our family get together this weekend. I've been saving this recipe for a while now. I have no idea why because it's so easy it's ridiculous. It only uses two ingredients and totals one Weight Watcher point, if you follow the diet. I added icing and chocolate chips just because I knew my kids would want something extra.

Devilishly Good Chocolate Cupcakes

1 box Devil's Food chocolate cake
15 oz pumpkin puree
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, if desired

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Beat cake mix and pumpkin together until blended. Add chocolate chips if desired. Batter will be thick.

Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Fill cups 3/4 full.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
Makes about 24 cupcakes.


Icing:

6 tablespoons softened butter
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time until blended. Add milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

"Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with cupcakes"
-unknown

Welcome Home USS Kearsarge

After the stress of the adoption situation, our family was anxious to get out of town for a break. We had already planned to go to meet my brother this past weekend when his ship, the USS Kearsarge, came home to Norfolk Naval Base after 9 months on tour, including a stint as the flag ship in the Libya conflict. After many emails to the ship's Ombudsmen (contact personnel for military families) and much planning, we got to the Naval Base on Monday at 6:30 am.

The Ombudsmen, military and businesses around Norfolk set up a very nice area at the pier for the military families. We had chairs under a large tent, lots and lots of food, music and much hoopla to keep us entertained.

Around 9:00, everyone started moving towards the railings. Someone saw the ship come around the corner and cheers and screams went up! Flags were flying everywhere and everyone who had a sign held it high in the air. You could just about make out the sailors in their whites all standing at attention around the ship perimeter. It was a sight to behold. As the ship slowly made it's way around the pier, tug boats went out to greet it. They helped to pull the ship in and dock it, a long and slow process.

Finally, the ship was docked. After a bit more waiting the families were allowed on the pier. We waited anxiously for my brother, who had warned me that he might be one of the last off the ship. True to his word, he was. But I was so happy to see him I didn't care. He dropped his sea bags as soon as he saw me running towards him. We had a long hug then the kids joined in. My brother and husband even gave each other one of those manly hugs, the ones that end with pats on the back.

My brother was able to give us a tour of the ship. I have no idea how the Sailors and Marines handle being in such tight quarters for months at a time, but they should get special awards just for being able to handle that :) The ship was quite impressive and gives you a new appreciation for what the military does to protect us all.

After the tour, we gave my brother a ride home to Chesapeake and took him out to lunch. I asked him about his plans for the next few weeks, and he said all he wants to do is sleep.

Welcome Home, Jim! We are so proud of you.

Not So Good News

Things did not turn out so well in the adoption situation. I had such hopes that I could finally, after three long years, have a child or children as part of our family. But it seems it isn't meant to be.

The situation I wrote about in my last post with the respite for the two children not only didn't work out, it ended up with my husband and I being called liars and everyone angry at us.

The initial meeting with these children was with me, the adoption counselor, the pre adoptive mom, and the kids. We met at my house, so the kids could meet me and my kids and get used to the surroundings. We met for over 3 hours. I was a little concerned when most of the meeting was about the pre adoptive mom and no one told me any information or was able to answer my questions, but I chalked it up to her bad situation. By the end of the meeting, the agreement was for us to take the kids starting Saturday until Tuesday. Then we would take them again for a longer periods of time until the pre adoptive mom had a chance to make up her mind about the adoption and we had a chance to get to know the kids.

Well, she dropped them off Saturday without car seats, medical cards or even so much as telling us their last names. We coped the best we could, going out and buying all the supplies they needed ourselves. We tried to keep them busy all weekend running in the yard, going to McDonald's, and having as much fun as we could fit in.

Then, come Sunday night, the pre adoptive mom calls and tells us she is not coming back to get the kids. We were floored. We called the adoption counselor and explained what had happened. We were told, "Well, aren't you were interested in adopting?" After a series of phone calls and emails, it was decided that the pre adoptive mom would come back as planned on Tuesday. On Tuesday she did show up but she was very angry. She came, grabbed the kids and left.

I contacted the adoption counselor and asked what was happening. She explained that the pre adoptive mom could never have abandoned the kids like we told her and that we were wrong by not taking the kids on permanently. I explained that a day and a half was not long enough to decide if we were a good fit (the agency promotes a good fit ad nauseum in their trainings), and she kept implying we were wrong not to take the kids. I also asked why we didn't get any support with this situation and she again said we were wrong and that she did support us.

My husband was pretty upset by this whole conversation and decided to contact the director of the agency. She listened to him, had me send all the relevant emails between us and the counselor, then never contacted us again. My husband emailed her yesterday after waiting a week and she told him that we were liars (it was all "miscommunication") and that the counselor did everything right. She refused to allow us to change counselors, saying this counselor is the only one who does matching (we know there are two) and basically blew us off. So much for being the best adoption agency in Pittsburgh.

So ends our adoption attempts. My husband keeps saying we should try again with another agency, but that means starting all over from the beginning with trainings, CPR certifications, clearances, letters of reference, home inspections and all the stacks of forms you have to fill out. I just can't bring myself to go through it all again, just to sit and hope. It's time to count my blessings and move on. It breaks my heart and I can't stop crying about it, but sometimes you just have to know when it's over. And it's over.

Good News

Sometimes, in those rare moments, the sun seems to be shining right on you. That is how I've felt the past few weeks. It so rarely happens so all this good news has me on cloud nine.

A week before Easter we took the family on a long awaited vacation. We hadn't gone for over a year and a half, partly because of the economy and partly because it was just too hard to get away. So to make up for it, we took a long vacation. First stop was Danville, Va, my home town. There are no words to describe how much I had missed it. I think it was even a surprise to me how much. I finally got to take my kids to Skatetown USA where I skated every week growing up. We ate at Pete's Pizza, who has the best pizza ever (at least in my limited experience!). For only being there a day and a half, we fit a lot in.

Then it was off to Outer Banks for a week. We hadn't been there for over 6 years so my youngest, who is 7, didn't remember it. The look on his face when he saw the ocean was priceless and worth all the effort getting there.


On the way back, we stopped in Winchester, VA. Not as southern as it used to be but still nice. You may think we are strange, but we love the Mt. Hebron Cemetary. The history is unbelievable. And the Virginia Farm market is a definite each time we are there.

Overall, we drove over 600 miles. We even fit in a half hour stop in Williamsburg, which had the only down point of the trip. We saw they are tearing down part of the pottery. Very sad. I grew up going to the pottery every year on my family vacation. We decided that next vacation, we are going back to visit Willamsburg.

While we were on vacation, I got an email from our adoption counselor. They have two kids, ages 3 (girl) and 4 (boy), they want us to take as a respite situation, until their pre adoptive mom can decide if she can adopt them or not. She may not be able to adopt them because of a changed family situation. It's hard to balance my joy of finally having kids in our home with her loss. She is one brave lady to put the kids first and to try to decide if she can let them go. But while she decides, we can care for them and pray for the best decision for everyone.

And last but not least, it looks like my brother may be on schedule to come home from his deployment next month. Yippeeee! He is thrilled to be finally done (and safe). They have a virus going around the ship which he caught so I haven't been able to talk too much to him lately, but I was able to email him about us being there to meet his ship next month. All the arrangements still need to be made (special passes to get on base, hotels, etc) but if it all goes well, we will get to see him come off the ship.

I am so glad to be able to share all the good news, for a change. Although I know things will calm down soon, just to finally have good things happen feels so wonderful.

Cherry Fluff

Yes, I am a little nuts about the fluff these past two weeks! But I just feel the need to have something light and airy after the long winter. Plus, it's so easy to make and to eat. This is a great dessert just to have around or to take to some of those first picnics of the season.

Cherry Fluff

21 ounces cherry pie filling
8 ounces Cool Whip
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
8 ounces crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup of chopped pecans, if desired

Mix all ingredients together and refridgerate for at least two hours. Serve.


"Break open a cherry tree and there are no flowers, but the spring breeze brings forth myriad blossoms."
-Ikkyu Sojun