Sunday Blathering & Weekend Cooking: Mother's Day Edition

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.  My own poor mother came down Friday and then got sick today. Thankfully, we got a chance to go to see The Great Gatsby and go out to dinner yesterday with some work friends before she got sick.  Today she has basically been on the couch, drinking tea and Sprite.  Sad! 

As mentioned in my last post, this last week we had our AP Literature test.  I swear I stopped sleeping, and in its place I had frantic dreams that I was teaching Elizabethan sonnets, lecturing on Oscar Wilde, and quizzing them on essay writing.  I'm glad the test is over now and I can look towards the end of the school year!  Can I believe it's almost here?  Yes.  I'm feeling it this year, more than ever before.

I'm starting to think about what I'd like to accomplish over the summer, which includes getting my health back on track and reading some more literary fiction.  I'm excited to tackle a different set of goals and focus on me.  I know that sounds selfish, but it's so necessary!

Well, I thought I'd share a family favorite today, which is a Texas Sheet Cake.  Growing up, I think it was the #1 food that my dad would make on a weekend.  We would eat a big Sunday lunch, and then we would just have cut up fruit, cheese slices, popcorn, and this Texas Sheet Cake.  In hindsight, I'm thinking that dinner wasn't so healthy or light, but for some reason it was our "light" supper.  Anyway, I whipped up a 1/2 recipe of this yummy chocolate cake and baked it in my small bundt pan for my mom for Mother's Day.  I thought I'd share the recipe.  We switched things up and put a chocolate glaze on it, but the frosting we usually put on it is yummy.  Enjoy!

Dad's Texas Sheet Cake
(Modified by my Dad, over 20 years ago...Thanks Dad! This is exactly as he wrote it.)
Yields:  One Large Sheet Cake Pan

Mix in a large bowl:  2 c. sugar and 2 c. flour.  Set aside.

Boil:  1 cube butter, 4 Tbsp cocoa powder, 1 c. water, and 1/2 c. oil.  Boil these together in the microwave for a minute.

Mix the hot cocoa mixture into the flour and sugar.  While still hot, add 1/2 c. buttermilk, 2 eggs, 1 tsp. soda, and 1 tsp. vanilla.  Mix well and pour into a well greased and floured cookie sheet pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 

Frosting:  Combine 1 cube of softened butter, 4 Tbsp. cocoa, 6 Tbsp. milk, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 2 c. powdered sugar

Weekend Cooking is a great, weekly post run by Beth Fish Reads.  There are some really great food-related posts there.  Stop by to check out other great posts from this weekend.