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Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Cake

Christine

Some time ago, mom bought this box of Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder. As you know, I’ve long been a fan of the box mix and a whiz at doctoring a box mix, so I don’t often make cake from scratch. I’ll admit, it is better, but I used to make cake more frequently than I do now. (They were baked goods fiends at my old job.)

Well, someone in mom’s office brought in this cake one day and mom just loved it, asking for the recipe. She was told it was the one from the back of the cocoa can.

So, I decided to to make this last week, partly for mom, partly to take a few slices to my friend Jessica, who just had her baby, and partly because I had a hankering for some serious chocolate.
Straight from the back of the Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa box.
Well, let me tell you, folks. This is a good chocolate cake recipe. And the icing recipe isn’t bad either. But together… it is a bit much. I was afraid it might be. I called mom to see if she wanted something light and fluffy to go with this rich dark chocolate cake. Maybe whipped white or peanut butter? No, she assured me, it sounds like a lot, chocolate on chocolate, but it is good.

She only took two pieces.

Now I’m stuck with about 1/3 of a super sweet cake!

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Zucchini Let-Down

Christine

Have you ever heard of not having enough zucchini? Sounds like I’m being sarcastic, doesn’t it? Well, our crop was pitiful this year. As I mentioned earlier this summer, our zucchini crop wasn’t doing so well. In fact, only two plants ever did anything at all. The others just died off.

This one has a big bloom on it, but so far has not produced anything. I doubt it will because we just had our first hard frost this week. This other plant has two small zucchini struggling to grow.I was worried about what the frost would do to literally 50% of my zucchini crop, so I dug some old windows out of the basement (my stash for wavy 1930s glass) and propped them together, making a temporary cold-frame.

Come to think of it, this would be a great place to get stuff started earlier next year…
Well, we’ll see if my little zucchini make it. I’ll have to pick them soon, regardless.
I’m just disappointed. I had such high hopes of freezing squash to use all winter. I even bought this nifty crinkle cutter from OXO. As it turns out, it works very nicely on cucumbers. And I think Lewis really enjoys using it!
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Black Heirloom Tomatoes

Christine

Here it is, nearly November, and we are still talking tomatoes. November is the time to be talking turkey!

Ah! My favourites, the black tomatoes. I am now determined to plant a black tomato every year. So heavy and flavorful and meaty, almost no juice or seeds. Just absolutely the most perfect slicing tomato. This is what the grandparents mean when they talk about what tomatoes used to taste like. I can’t say enough good things about them.

I think the only bad thing I can say is that I didn’t get enough! The plants are not heavy producers, so maybe I’ll get two black tomato plants next year. That way I’ll have more to share, and maybe I can convince other gardners that these black tomatoes are worthy of space in their gardens!
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White Cucumbers

Christine
Last fall, my friends and I visited the beautiful Landis Valley Museum, just outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is a really neat restored and recreated small village and farm, with tons of interesting stuff to see. I understand they are always doing demonstrations and things. The Union Army was there the day we visited. We could have spent several more hours exploring, but we were tired. As with all good museums, we ended the day by perusing their gift shop. Where they sell heirloom seeds. Yeah. You know that was trouble. Those little paper packets hold so much promise! It is easy to go overboard. In fact, the white cucumbers were the only seeds I managed to get started at all this year.

Maybe I got them in too late. Maybe they didn’t get the right sun/temperature/soil conditions. Maybe I left them on the vine too long and they got too big. Or maybe white cucumbers just aren’t as good as they sound. We were not impressed with the flavor. They looked pretty, though.

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Yellow Pear Tomatoes

Christine

I guess I wasn’t sure what to expect from these, having compulsively picked up so many varieties of tomato at the plant nursery. As it turned out, they are a sort of cherry tomato. Sweet, yes, but the can’t even begin to compare to my Sweet Millions.The plant is a heavy producer, we had way more of these little guys than we could eat. The were very pretty in salads and salsa, but you could easily get that color from a more flavorful tomato. I won’t plant this variety again, but I’m glad I tried something new.