German's Sweet Chocolate Cake

I had never made a German Chocolate Cake, or as it's called in the linked recipe, German's Sweet Chocolate Cake. So after a funny exchange with my Tia about what to make for Memorial Day, I decided to make one for that holiday's dessert.

I don't have three 9-inch round cake pans, so I did two layers and had a lot of frosting leftovers as a consequence. Still, it looked and tasted like classic German Chocolate Cake (I should have taken a better side picture to show the filling between the layers.) The gooey frosting was a perfect match to the sweet and light chocolate cake.

Pat the Bunny

A few weeks ago, this guy was in my backyard. You can tell it's May because of the beautiful purple and white wildflowers that bloom around my house during that month.

More recently, I've seen two or three munching on the lawn at one time. This pair didn't seem to care that I was walking through their breakfast spot and just kept eating the grass as I passed them.

Press the Eject

This band is as good as chocolate cake!
 

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I offered to make cupcakes for a friend's last day at Pub Quiz. I was going to make chocolate/chocolate since everyone likes chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, but the guest of honor told me he liked the combination of peanut butter and chocolate (who doesn't?) I told him that the peanut butter frosting I've made before is sensitive to heat and the cupcakes were going to have to sit in my hot office all day. So I had the thought of doing the reverse: peanut butter cupcakes and chocolate frosting.

A quick internet search led me to a new recipe. These cupcakes were winners! They had enough peanut butter flavor to stand up to the double serving of chocolate frosting with which I topped them. I do think the baking time of the linked recipe is off (at least for my oven) since when I checked them at 17 minutes they were already done (and might have been with a minute less baking.) I was inspired to top them with a few roasted and salted peanuts and that extra peanut flavor made them pop. Without doubt I will be making this recipe again.

On a sad note, the main recipient stated that, although he liked these cupcakes he liked chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting better since he loves chocolate cake. I should point out that this preference didn't stop him from eating one and a half cupcakes that night.

Let's Do the Time Warp!

A friend of mine turned me on to a weekly radio show called Time Warp on 89X, which is an alternative rock station in Detroit (The Only New Rock Alternative, according to their slogan). The show is four hours of early alternative music: new wave, punk, grunge, synthpop, etc. The best thing about it? You don't have to actually be in Detroit to listen to it! You can listen online!

The show is on from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Sundays. It's hosted by the one-named DJ Cristina, who fills the gaps in the music with interesting information about "classic alternative" artists. She also writes a blog called Hang the DJ that includes playlists from past Time Warp broadcasts among the posts about Morrissey, Alison Moyet, The Cure, et al.

And just like when you were listening to the radio when the songs were new, you can make requests to Cristina. I suppose you could call the station if you wanted to be really old school but email, Twitter or Facebook are probably better options.

But don't ask her to play "Stay" by Oingo Boingo. I don't think she likes it.

Easter Roll-Out Cookies

I felt like trying a new cut-out cookie recipe for Easter so I took this one off of my box of 101 cookie cutters.

Basic recipe

Tools of the trade

Finished product

The dough was really easy to work with and rolled out very smoothly. The taste of the cookies was different from the usual recipe I use but not better or worse. Actually, it was hard to compare since the last time I made the others was at Christmas. If I use this recipe again I would add more vanilla. The other recipe calls for a tablespoon per batch. That really ramps up the deliciousness.

Free Stuff Tomorrow!

This tax day I will try to bleed for a good cause at the mostly annual Bloodsuckers Buffet Blood Drive. My appointment is late in the day, so I won't get the usual bounty I might have gotten if I scheduled a lunchtime session. Still, I hope to get some complimentary food, a goodie bag and maybe a raffle prize.

You can schedule your own appointment here. If you can't make it out to Windows on the River tomorrow, you may still be able to take advantage of other freebies offered around the country.

Lifehacker, one of my favorite websites, pointed me to the Dealnews website, which lists lots of free stuff on and around April 15. Sandwiches! Popcorn! Sweets! Curly Fries! Get out there and grab a freebie or two!