Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

This was an incredible cake.  Even I, with my massive sweet tooth, could only handle a sliver at a time - and that was with milk.  I don't care how many calories were in each sliver, because it was worth every one of them. 

It's a sour cream chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting and a chocolate peanut butter ganache.  I made it for my birthday since I wanted to bake, and I wanted something really indulgent.  The big slice you see missing is the piece I kept at home for the family to eat.  Everything else visible was taken to work to share with my coworkers; cake that good is too dangerous to keep in the house!  It was popular at work, too, as there was none left for me to bring home at the end of the day.

I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, so I'll link you directly to her post.  I didn't change anything at all about the recipe, so I'm not going to retype it here.  And this way you can go admire her photos, which are much more attractive than mine!

Make this cake.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Shameless

I've been shameless in ignoring the blog lately. 

I have plenty of excuses - I've been doing some editing (paid editing jobs, which I love!); we just had a wonderful, long family visit that took some planning and time; we're in the midst of a whirlwind of birthday parties, all of which require me to shop for presents on my lunch break when I would normally be preparing blog posts...

They're all excuses, though - I could make time.

But the more I ignore it, the guiltier I feel.  And the guiltier I feel, the more I want to ignore it.

So maybe "shameless" is the wrong word, because I feel ashamed of having ignore it for so long when I know there are people out there checking here for updates on the kids.  Updates that I've been very delinquent in providing.

I apologize for making you wait, and I will get back to posting.  I won't say I'll do it when life gets less hectic, because I'm beginning to think that time will never come.  I'll just promise to get back to it.  Soon. 

Thanks for hanging in there!

Aubiere, France - 9/3/00

9/3/00

I woke up at 11:30ish this morning and stayed in bed until almost noon.  Then I played cards for a while before showering.  Then Sarah and I talked for a long time - Hertz vs. Avis, our trips, etc.  We decided to go for a short walk and Aimee came, too.  We walked a short ways into Aubière ( a really pretty walk through a neighborhood area) and found a market that's there every Sunday.  It was huge!  And fun!  We bought crepes with filling (two of us got chocolate, and one got strawberry jam), a sausage in a baguette, and looked at a bunch of stuff.  We also found a bus stop we like better than the other one.  We think it's a bit closer and we know it's a nicer walk, so we're going go go there tomorrow morning.  Classes start tomorrow!  I really don't feel like having to do schoolwork of any kind.  I'm going to start a letter to Jamie now!

[Later]

Sarah and I planned out our trips last night and tonight.  No details yet, really.  On weekends we want to visit Lyon, Switzerland, & chateaus in the Loire Valley.  Between September & October (we're not sure exactly how long a break we have) we're going to Paris for sight-seeing and shopping.  Christmas I'll have Jamie (!) of course, and Sarah's not sure what she's going to do.  February we're going to St. Malo/Mont St. Michel, the northern coast of France, Lille, Belgium, and Amsterdam (the Anne Frank museum!)  Spring vacation we'll do northern Italy, southern France, Spain, & Portugal.  After final tests in June we're going to do England, Scotland, & Ireland.  And I think we're going to take a weekend for tax-free shopping in Andorra (I think that's how it's spelled - the tiny place between France and Spain.)  I'll visit Matt & Nat a few times, too - I'll be staying with them after our England, etc. trip until I leave.  I also need to see if Brandi is serious about coming - she could come for the London, etc. trip and even stay to visit Matt & Nat!  Time for bed.  I have to be up in six and a half hours to get ready for class!  I love you, Jamie!!!

Church in Aubiere

Building in Aubiere