Chatbug Karen

Saturday evening, my son and daughter in-law made a wonderful dinner for us. I was so full that I thought I might explode! I knew though, that in a few hours my stomach would cry out for dessert so I began to try to think of a quick dessert I could make. I remembered reading in the newspaper, just the day before, about a recipe that was popular during the depression. This cake was popular during the depression, and does not have eggs in it.

I made Crazy Cake and it was so good! You should make it. I can just about guarantee that you will love it.

Crazy Cake
Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoons baking soda
* 3 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
* 5 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup cold water

Directions

1. Sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, and cocoa together into a 8 x 8 inch ungreased cake pan. Make three wells. Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well. Pour cold water over all, and stir well with fork.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Icing
1/4 cup melted margarine
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salad oil

Mix all the icing ingredients together and pour over warm cake.

Serve and enjoy!

Last night, while visiting in St. Louis, we visited an interesting restaurant. The Jazz Bistro is noted for the jazz musicians who perform every weekend. We weren’t there long enough to enjoy the music but it looked like it was going to be a lot of fun. The Bistro hosts nationally recognized musicians from September to June.

I don’t know if the hostess was new or not but she was a bubble brain! When she directed us to our table, she told us to wait as she folded the sides of the table down. Folding the sides made a large round table into a small square table that was more fitting for us. She didn’t move any of the plates and when she put the sides down, each table setting fell to the floor! It was comical.

The antics of the hostess didn’t act as an appetite suppressant for us at all. We ate a wonderfully prepared meal. I had chicken madeira and my husband had New York strip steak. The flavor of both entrees was amazing.

If you are ever in St. Louis, I recommend the Jazz Bistro. The Bistro at Grand Center is located just East of the Fox Theater overlooking beautiful Strauss Park, perfect for dining prior to a show at the Fox.

The Fabulous Fox Theater looked like a place to check out in the future. Last night, Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy was being performed. Cirque Dream are enhanced with over 150 spectacular costumes and set in a fantastical jungle ignited by striking visual effects. It was fun to see everyone dressed up, eating their dinner, and preparing to go to the theater. Fun!

Sad news for the guys but good news for bunnies.

Every February, my dh goes to our church to fry up rabbit for the men’s annual rabbit dinner. The guys have a great time goofing off and cooking. They rarely get together just for fun and so they catch up on fishing tales and the latest news. The menu is always the same, fried rabbit, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits and brownies. The ladies have a dinner at a different location and then we join the guys in the sanctuary for entertainment. The entertainment varies. Last year it was Dueling pianos.

This past year, the guys made their own brownies where in the past I made them. Last year I made 250 3″ brownies for the rabbit dinner. Our church bought the old fire station in our town and did a huge renovation to it. It has a state of the art kitchen. I made the brownies in that kitchen. It went so fast because they have a huge kitchen-aid mixer. The baking sheets are twice the size of mine and the oven bakes 10 trays at a time! I baked 5 trays of brownies at one time!

When my husband finished cooking for the dinner this year, he came home and plopped down onto the couch. He was so tired. He and two other men did the majority of the work for the dinner this year. They have decided that they are getting too old to spend a day cooking. This was the last year for the rabbit supper.

One more Christmas Dinner! I am grateful that my friend, Tina, wants to have us over for dinner. Our friends are here from Georgia and this way we can all get together and share what has been happening in our lives. Our Georgia friends just recently moved there so they will have lots of stories to tell, I am sure. They recently moved from Indiana to Michigan and when that job didn’t work out, found themselves moving to Georgia. They keep smiling even though I am sure they are terrified of what the world has in store for them. More people will be experiencing this as our economy struggles to gain its foothold. All of their kids and grand kids live here so they came back for the holidays to visit. Gotta keep a stiff upper lip for the kiddos.

We had snow but it warmed up and made water puddles. Of course, today it got cold and so now we have ice. Fog is rolling in as I type this. I am glad we don’t have far to travel this evening.

Tomorrow might be a day of sewing for me. I received two new quilt books and some fabric that I can’t wait to put to use. I have a purse request to finish and a binding to put on my civil war quilt. I may not know which to do first! LOL

I hope everyone stays safe and warm tonight.