Won't You Join Me For Coffee?

Please join me for coffee and fresh Cherry Chocolate Cake on this rainy afternoon here in California.

Cherry Chocolate Cake

1 box of Chocolate Cake Mix

Oil

Eggs

1 can Cherry Pie Filling

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix cake mix according to package instructions -

omitting the water and adding one extra

extra egg. Then add one can cherry pie filling

and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Bake

according to back of box.

When cool, frost with Betty Crocker Milk

Chocolate Frosting or do like I did and

make your own from the back of the

Unsweetened Cocoa container (Yum!).

BAD, BAD WEATHER

Oh my goodness ... look what the horrible rain and wind did to our backyard ...

This happened at 7:50 a.m. on Wednesday morning ... just as I was getting ready to go to work. I won't even go into the long story of what I did when this happened, but let's just say it ended with me having a huge bruise on my leg and hand and my coat was muddy and wet! LOL!! We had already talked to our neighbors the day before and knew the fence was falling, but I had hoped it would fall into their yard because when it fell over into mine, it crushed all of the bamboo plants I have been lovingly tending to for the last two years! But here it is that evening after hubby got some new posts and started to fix it ...

My bamboo made it through safely!! YEAH!!! We have been having horrible winds and rain here for the last week. I know the weather could be much worse but for us, this is as bad as it gets and it's bad ... mudslides, flooding, etc. Thankfully all we had was the fence. One bright spot ... maybe after all this rain, they will take us off water rationing!!! Stay tuned for a giveaway soon ... woohoo!!!!

YUMMY COMFORT FOOD!

There's been some cooking going on around here. Our weather has called for some comfort food and here's what I made:

Chicken Enchiladas

Here's what you need: Flour tortillas, shredded cheese (I used cheddar and Monterey Jack), Refried Beans, Sour Cream, Cream of Chicken soup (I used Cream of Mushroom this time because I didn't have the other), Enchilada Sauce (I love Trader Joe's bottled sauce), and diced, cooked chicken. First of all, mix the can of soup with about a cup of sour cream. I don't have a recipe for this so here goes: Use a 9x13" pan, put a little sauce in the bottom. Take each tortilla, put a dab of sauce on, put a spoonful of refried beans on the tortilla, then put a big spoonful of the soup mixture on top (spread around), then add some diced chicken and top with some cheese.

Roll it up and put it in the pan, seam side down. I could fit about 6 1/2 tortillas in a 9x13 pan. Once you have all the tortillas in the pan, pour the rest of the sauce over them, covering all. Then top with more cheese and cook uncovered in a 350 oven for about 35-40 minute ... just until hot and bubbly. YUM!!!! You could also put black olives on top but my family doesn't like them. I serve this with tortilla chips and sour cream!

I also made a Poppy Seed Cake -

This looks a bit funny on the platter but I guarentee you will LOVE. THIS. CAKE!!!! It is so moist and has a great flavor. Here is what you need:

Everything goes into a huge bowl ...

Mix it all together for five minutes (now is when I really love my Kitchen Aid!) ...

Pour it into a bundt pan that has been greased and coated with cinnamon & sugar ...

Bake for about 35-45 minutes in a 350 oven. Here is what it looks like right out of the oven ...

I let it cool a bit, then I turn it out onto a platter. My platter has a cover. Once covered, this stays moist for about 5 days just sitting on the counter. I did not have poppy seeds this time around, so I omitted them and it still tastes great! Actually I don't like the seeds as much because they get stuck in your teeth. Plus you better not eat too much of this cake with poppy seeds if you are having a drug test soon!! LOL

Poppy Seed Cake

1 box of yellow cake mix

4 eggs

1 small package of instant vanilla pudding

3/4 C. oil

1 C. cream sherry

2 Tblsp. of poppy seeds

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Mix all of the above together on medium speed for five minutes. Grease a bundt pan and mix 1 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and use like flour on inside of greased bundt pan. Pour out excess. Pour cake batter into pan and bake in 350 oven for 35-45 minutes, until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!

I bet it's cold in your neck of the woods ... know why I know that? Because I think it's cold EVERYWHERE in the US right now. It's 45 degrees here right now, which is summer compared to what some of you are going through and really isn't too bad for us but in the mornings, it gets into the 30s and that's cold for us!

Well, looking back on my last post and my "goals" ... I haven't yet lost those 20 pounds (just two), I haven't started walking yet (too cold), I don't know how in the world my new Ipod works ... BUT I have listed some stuff on ETSY!! Hooray!!!! One for six is not too, too bad!!!!! LOL! If you get a chance, please check out my ETSY site ... my name on there is beachdog7 ... they won't let me change it to Yellow Beach Dog. Boohoo!!! Here is a link that you will need to copy and paste (by the way ... can anyone tell me how to make a link?): http://www.etsy.com/shop/beachdog7

Last Saturday, my Mom, son (Ty) and I took the train up to Old Sacramento. We met my brother, his wife and her son & his family up there. It takes just about an hour to get up there by train. It was a bit chilly but we had fun walking around. Here's a picture of our train station (Ty took this one) ... make sure you click on it because it's really a neat picture.

I haven't been doing a whole lot lately. My work is going to be getting busier from now until March so I will most likely be working a few more hours each week. I did get to my local quilt shop and bought a couple patterns. I found out they have a drop-in embroidery class on the third Monday of the month so I think I will go to that next Monday. I have been wanting to brush up on my embroidery skills so that I can make dishtowels for the ladies in my family for Christmas. I also just found out that my church is hosting a quilting & knitting class on Monday afternoons. I know how to quilt and knit, but I need to brush up on my knitting skills. So these classes will be perfect for me!

I've been wanting to re-arrange the books and things in my bookcases for a while. So I've kind of started working on that.

See those cute red, striped baskets? I got those at Target a couple days ago. Along with these cute glasses. And the red ceramic utensil holder.

The glasses come four to a pack and were on sale for just $8.99. I also got four very cool goldish wood frames for just $3 to $4 each ... they were on clearance.

Here is a close up picture of the top of the bookcases.

I have red berry garland, with some ivy garland intertwined, and then I have a garland of white plastic dove lights. I got these dove lights on clearance at a Christmas store in our mall about 10 years ago. I still have one box left that I have never put out. I just love them! And I've never seen anything like them before.

See ya soon!