Guuten aabend!

That's Cimbrian for "Good Evening".

I hadn't heard of Cimbrian either... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimbrian <--- everything you wanted to know and more about the language. To make a long story short, its a German dialect spoken in northeastern Italy.

Yesterday was lovely. Parkholm was fun, as usual, and then I headed upstairs for a quick visit to mom who gave me my Valentines Day gift. She spoiled me rotten (new socks, pens, a loose tea strainer, a book on soup, and these really rad straws that turn white milk into chocolate milk)! I hoofed it back home with enough time to watch the last 10 minutes of my Little House on the Prairie episode, chug a class of water and wash the ever growing pile of dishes... and then *poof* Aunt Aileen and my cousin Janet were on my door step. It was SO good to see them!

They also spoiled me... knitted dishcloths, tea towels, cookies... but most special of all, she gave me some of my Grandma Demerse (dad's mom)'s recipes for fudge and pastry and gave Jill and I each one of her mom's tea cups and saucers (my great-grandma, Janet Helen Demerse). What an incredibly special gift. I couldn't thank her enough and had to hold back the tears that were threatening! Aunt also told me stories about the cups and saucers - so special! Jill and I have lots of history and things from mom's side of the family but we don't have much on dad's side. I'm so thankful for these pieces of history!

The three of us chatted away and before I knew it they were out the door. I didn't know what to do with myself after that so I thought I would give dad a call and tell him about the tea cups. He invited me over to the house for Valentines supper. I made a few paper decorations which were kinda corny but fun, too. I helped dad with supper, Jill made dessert and we surprised mom with supper and presents when she got off work at 7. After supper Jill attacked my eyebrows with tweezers (not my idea of fun but we laughed a lot!). And then home I went and worked on my triangle shawl.

It was a busy day!

Today was fun. Jill picked me up and we both went to uncle Bill's birthday party - had a hoot. Jill left early but dad and I stayed until 5, chatting away with the family. Uncle George came for a little bit. I crocheted quite a bit on my shawl and chatted with the rest of my extended family. Dad dropped me off afterwards and I made a pot of vegetable soup. I cooked a bit of maccaroni on the side and threw it into my bowl. It would have been better to boil it in the soup broth but I didn't think that far ahead. It was pretty delicious and I have left-overs for tomorrow.

Was bumming around the internet earlier this evening and checked the food blog "Mennonite Girls can Cook" and came across this recipe: http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/2009/02/5-minute-chocolate-cake-in-mug.html Its a recipe for chocolate cake in a mug (you 'bake' it in the microwave)! So I gave that a try tonight. Like the site says, its pretty dense and is waaaay more then one person could eat by themselves but with a little vanilla ice cream, the half that I ate was pretty darn good. It calls for a 1000 watt microwave... I don't know what my microwave is (couldn't find the manual and I didn't feel like turning the unit around to check on the back) but it was still a bit goo-ey on the bottom when I dumped it out of the mug... I popped it back in the microwave on a plate for 45 seconds which didn't fix it 100% but it cooked up most of the goo. The next time I do this, I'll add another tablespoon of sugar... it wasn't very sweet... but the chocolate chips make it taste pretty ok. I'll put the recipe at the bottom of this post.

Am going to bed in a bit. Am pretty tired.

Church is tomorrow - I'm helping with Sunday School. Should be good. Afterwards I plan on stopping in to Jen and Jenny's to drop of their Valentines gifts.

Hope you guys had a good Valentines Day!

Talk to you soon!

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Chocolate Cake in a Mug

http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/2009/02/5-minute-chocolate-cake-in-mug.html

This cake in a mug was fun to make! The cake is slightly dense but still quite delicious served warm with a scoop of ice cream. Sounds like an idea for Valentine's Day. I got this recipe from my long time friend, Em.

4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp choc chips
small splash of vanilla
1 large mug

Put dry ingredients in mug and mix. Add egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in milk and oil and mix well. Add choc chips and vanilla and mix again.Place mug in microwave (1000 watts) and cook for 3 min. The cake will rise over the top of the mug but don't be alarmed. Allow to cool a bit and tip out on a plate if desired or eat right out of the mug.
Dessert for two