Bake It Don't Break It!

just threw together a chocolate cake. you know, the kind that you add all the ingredients together with hot water and mix for 5 minutes. well, i should have used my hand mixer, but i couldn't be bothered looking for it. so there are these little clumps of baking powder all over the surface of the cake. i bet, when it's frosted no one will know the difference. and when they bite into the little lumps, hopefully, they'll think they are biting into tiny, chopped nuts. i already made some white chocolate hearts to put on top of the cake. these are a recent acquisition for my chocolate molds collection. i have fish molds and rose molds and tea cup molds. i also have "his" and "her" baby carriage molds. i have all the letters of the jewish alphabet and other jewish objects like : the shofar, star of david, sefer torah, ten commandments, and chanukiah. i also bought tefillin shaped molds for gal's brother's bar mitzvah, which will be in the year, 2012. i can smell the chocolate cake. as for the rule of thumb, when it smells like cake, it's ready; sure enough, it is ready now.! i opted for one large octagon shaped pan, rather than two layer cake pans. maybe tomorrow, i'll be able to slice this one in half and then frost it in the middle. or maybe, i'll just leave it, as it is, and just frost the top. i'm leaning towards making a spinach quiche tomorrow, instead of kugel. we shall, see.! i'm usually pretty quick in the kitchen but i can't hold a candle to my son's mother-in-law. she's a human cuisinart.! our menus vary, too. she will serve vats of spaghetti and, rice, and potatoes for an impromptu dinner. after all , she is feeding a small army. i , on the other hand, will serve a bowl of spaghetti, a plate of baked store bought fish sticks, a mixed salad and a bowl of steamed string beans for three. and that is exactly what i made for them tonight, minus the string beans. i even volunteered to make dinner without being asked . i used my recently, fixed dryer yesterday for the first time in over a year. and guess what? it took longer to dry than it would have if i had hung it outside on the lines. what a rip off! i went to a second hand clothes store today to buy a couple of 'new', used items. jewish law forbids a mourner from buying new clothes for an entire year, which is the length of our official mourning period for a parent. it is hard to believe that the year is coming to an end in december. i found a lovely thermal 'Lands End' zippered and hooded , full length robe for $4. i also bought two skirts, a vest, and a long dress top for $11. i'm sure i will enjoy the toasty, hooded robe, come this winter. it's now, midnite in the holy city of zefat and the coffee is just kicking in. i have lot's to do tomorrow for the surprise birthday dinner party. someone called before to see the downstairs apartment. but they didn't show up. they are doing some type of "healy"and "feely", motivational course for women and may want to rent my place. i really could use the money.! we shall see. in the mean time, i will resist from trying to slice the cake in half, right now with my trusted montra ," bake it and don't break it!"