What a week!

Last week, I had to go to UNC-CH for a public employment law class. I was both dreading it and looking forward to it. I hate going somewhere unknown by myself but I had heard from people who had been in the past that it was an awesome class.

The drive to Chapel Hill was largely uneventful until I got almost there. My check oil light came on. I stopped to buy oil but the engine was too hot to fill the tank so I decided I'd drive the 10 miles to the school and then put it in after class once the car was cool. I got lost on the way to the school and my car shut off. I put oil in it and it started back up but I began to panic. I finally had to stop and ask someone where the school was and he gave me a landmark I could follow.

I tried all day to get in touch with Matthew and his cell phone would not let me through for some reason. I finally got in touch with him after class and he talked me home to my parents' house where I was staying all last week. I got there with no problems and I let my parents know what was going on.

Tuesday morning, I got out and checked the oil and everything was fine. So, I started on my way to Chapel Hill. I had gotten about 10 miles away when my car broke down. I coasted into the parking lot of a diner in Garner and called my parents. My dad came and got me and took me to school and arranged for my car to be taken to their mechanic. My parents had to drive me from their house to Chapel Hill and back Tuesday and Wednesday.

Wednesday, we found out my engine was blown. Ouch. So, I had to borrow my dad's Explorer for the rest of the week after he went back out to work (he drives a tractor trailer).

Thursday morning, after it had rained nonstop at home for four days, Matthew went through a puddle of water because he could not see that it was there. His truck malfunctioned and his check engine light came on. He got it to a mechanic in Cedar Point and got it fixed. It was not a good week for mechanical things.

Friday, I got out of class at 12:30 and was supposed to pick up my grandmother from my parents' house and drive back home. However, the rains at home had caused so much flooding we were cautioned to stay another night.

We finally got home Saturday morning. I had to drive my dad's car home until mine is fixed. I have been mentally and physically exhausted all weekend.

Things can only go up from here, right?!

Mischief

16 years ago, we saw an ad in the newspaper for the Wake County SPCA. In it, there was a black cat that looked like he would live up to his name, Mischief. We took a trip to to the SPCA to look at him and it was love at first sight. I convinced my dad to get him.

He started living up to his name right away. Not long after we got him, my mother had punished him for chewing a cable. He was perched on a recliner in my parents' rec room and waited for her to walk by and jumped on her back.

When I got married in 2000 and moved into my own home, I brought him with me. Over the years he would be a mischievous and moody sweetheart.

I am sad to report that my poor kitty died yesterday. While I knew that it was inevitable and would probably happen in the near future, I still cannot believe that he is gone.

I will miss my moody old man.

Beaufort Pirate Invasion

Last Saturday, we went to the Beaufort Pirate Invasion. It was a lot of fun. The fighting seemed shorter this year than when we went two years ago but I really enjoyed the pirate songs the group sang.

(click on thumbnails for larger images)

The guitar project begins

After researching guitars online and looking around at the different stores in Jacksonville, I found a guitar at Woodson's Pawn in Midway Park. The guy who sold it to me was awesome and gave me a better deal than I found online! It came with a gig bag that contained a beginners book (yay freebies) and I bought a 10-watt amplifier to go with it.

I was planning to get an acoustic guitar but Matthew talked me into an electric because he has a small urge to learn to play and was not at all interested in anything but electric.

The only problem with the guitar is that it was missing its first (thinnest) string. So, yesterday, I had to go into a music store, being the novice that I am, and purchase a string. Today, I replaced the string and tuned it using resources from http://guitar.about.com (which is turning out to be a great online resource).

I have used the book to teach myself the notes on each string and have been practicing those for a couple of days.

A project for the rest of the year

Granddaddy Morton at Jan's Grocery
Store in Stella, NC - March 1980

I've been thinking about my paternal grandfather a lot lately for some reason. He's been gone 10 1/2 years and he loved  playing the guitar.

At our monthly family dinner this past Saturday, one of my great uncles asked what type of guitar he played. I couldn't remember. I thought it was a Gibson or a Martin and my mom knew it had a hummingbird on it. On Sunday, we visited Grandmama Morton and pulled the guitar out.

Granddaddy Morton playing the guitar
in 1965 (picture by Lois House)

I have always loved music myself. I think it is a trait I get from both sides of the family. My grandfather sang and played the guitar. My dad's brother sings. My mom and her younger brother played the piano when they were younger. I took piano lessons as a child but quit when I moved to Raleigh in 1985. Boy, how do I regret that decision. In High School, I was in the chorus and love it.

My grandfather's guitar.
A Gibson Hummingbird that was manufactured
in 1978 (judging by the serial number)

In the last ten to fifteen years, I have not really done anything to make music or to learn to make music better. My voice is weak from lack of singing and I don't have a functioning piano or keyboard. I sing in the car the shower and when I play Rock Band, but it isn't the same.

My new goal for the rest of the year is to procure an acoustic guitar that is reasonable in price and suitable for a beginner and learn to play (at least) one song and to play it well. I'll keep you posted on the results of this project.

Scrunchy Puppy

I took this on my way out the door this morning. Since Murphy is so long, he usually stretches out the long way in his crate. I thought it was funny he was all scrunched up on the short side.

Demonically Chocolate Cake (Part 4) - Putting It All Together

My brother contacted me a month or so ago and told me he wanted me to make him a cake for his birthday. Typically, he gives me a challenge when he wants me to make his cake and this year was no different. The challenge was to bake a "demon chocolate cake."

The slice of cake we took to my Grandmama Morton

I made 2 9-inch chocolate cake layers. I let them sit overnight so that they would be firmer. I filled the layers with half a recipe of chocolate mousse filling and frosted it with half a recipe of chocolate frosting.

In the future, I would advise chilling the cake layers and mousse together before frosting them. It was very hot both outside and in the house yesterday and the mousse was so soft, when I frosted over it it mixed with the frosting and didn't make for a very pretty cake once it was all together.

The taste, however, was perfect. The layers were moist and dense. The mousse was the perfect consistency and the icing was dark and fudgy. This is an extremely rich cake and even I, the Queen of the Sweet Tooth, could only eat a small piece before going into chocolate overload.

Demonically Chocolate Cake (Part 3) - The Frosting

This is my take on my maternal Grandmother's chocolate frosting recipe. The measurements were guesses because she does everything from sight and taste and doesn't measure.

Grandmama Pittman's Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

1 stick of butter, softened

1 lb. powdered sugar

¾ cup cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa)

½ cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. coffee liqueur

1 tsp. crème de cacao

Directions

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add cocoa and milk and beat until combined. If mixture is too thick, you can add more milk. Add vanilla and liqueurs. Will frost 2 9-inch layers.

Thoughts

The frosting came out perfectly and was far better than canned chocolate frosting. My grandmother's recipe includes prepared coffee as part of the liquid instead of all milk and she only uses the vanilla flavoring.

Demonically Chocolate Cake (Part 2) - The Filling

Chocolate Mousse Filling

Ingredients

1 packet gelatin

Mousse on bottom layer

½ cup milk

4 tbsp butter

12 oz. semisweet chocolate (I used 13 oz. - 7 oz. of 90% cocoa and 6 oz. of 67% cocoa chocolate)

2 cups heavy cream

½ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp coffee liqueur

1 tsp crème de cacao

Directions

Put mixing bowl and beaters into the freezer to chill. Dissolve the gelatin in ¼ cup of milk. In a glass bowl or double boiler, melt remaining ¼ cup milk, butter and chocolate. Cook in microwave or over low heat until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Swirl gelatin over heat until melted and milk is hot. Do not boil. Stir hot gelatin mixture into chocolate. Transfer to a mixing bowl and let cool.

While chocolate is cooling, whip heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and liqueurs until stiff peaks form. Stir ¼ of whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Then gently fold remaining whipped cream into the chocolate mixture in two stages. Do not over mix or your mousse will go flat. Chill in refrigerator before filling cake.

Thoughts

I thought when I first set out making this that the chocolate mixture would be too grainy. Once I began adding the whipped cream, it seemed too wet but it got thicker as I folded in the rest of the cream. Once it was chilled, the texture and consistency were perfect. If I were to make this again, I'd use chocolate with a little less % of cocoa because it was not quite sweet enough.

Demonically Chocolate Cake (Part 1) - The Cake

My brother asked me to make him a "demon chocolate cake" for his birthday this year so this is what I have come up with.

Chocolate Layer Cake

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1 ½ cups sugar

4 eggs (the eggs I used were small to medium in size)

2 cups sifted flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

¾ cup cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa)

1 ½ cups milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp coffee liqueur

1 tsp crème de cacao

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 9-inch cake pans. In a mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and liqueurs and beat until combined. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling racks.

Thoughts
The cake is very moist and tender and is flavored quite well. Very dark from the dark cocoa and very very chocolate without being too sweet.

The Presence

As she rode the lawnmower in the twilight under the mimosa trees in the backyard of her childhood home, she was vaguely reminiscing about her summers in this same yard when she was a child and she drove happily along. As she turned the corner and faced the old blue pickup truck she felt a presence watching her. Without hearing a voice or seeing a face, she knew who it was.

She continued driving, trying to beat the darkness, and her mind turned from happy memories to past regrets.

"I miss you," she thought, "I'm sorry for all the time I could have spent with you but didn't. I wish you were still here."

The presence faded and she vaguely wondered if it had gone to visit the house next door.

Nature Lovers?

You just have to admire the people who come out to enjoy natural treasures...

Seriously, people, CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELVES! This is disgusting!

This was taken at one of the parking areas around Catfish Lake in the Croatan National Forest.

Croatan National Forest - Catfish Lake

This was the last place we explored in the Croatan National Forest this past weekend. We still need to explore some of the hiking trails and such.

Croatan National Forest - Flanners Beach on the Neuse River

We found a nice little beach off of Highway 70 in Havelock that is on the Neuse River and part of the Croatan National Forest. There were several dogs running around off-leash and we think it could be a good place to take the dogs, at least Angus and Brogan, for right now, to get the accustomed to playing in the water. It also has a cool forest view!

Two Dogs, One Bone

Sometimes Angus and Murphy will chew on or play with the same toy.

Picture of the Day: Nearby Haunted House?

There are some conflicting accounts about whether or not this house is haunted but it's fun to speculate! This is a few miles from our house.

(The picture is not great because we were stopped at a stop sign with someone directly behind us...)

Here are some stories I found about it:

Get Out! (there is music here imbedded in the site)
Hearing Noises in the Night (JDNews)
Home Sweet Home or Haunted House (JDNews)

Picture of the Day: Croatan National Forest - Great Lake Area

I've been on hiatus a couple of days with my blog entries. I've been engrossed in a book which I just finished yesterday and didn't even think about this blog.

Anyway, Matthew and I drove around in the Croatan National Forest today to find Great Lake. It is only about 12 miles from our house and it's very pretty. However, we forgot to bring insect repellent and almost got eaten alive by the deer flies.