My Cottage Life

Celebrating 

Homekeeping 

Nesting

I shared earlier how and why I put a chicken in my kitchen.

I believe our homes are a reflection of ourselves.

When we know guests are to arrive we busy ourselves

with dusting and straightening - to get your home just right.

You want your guests to feel at home - but as they look around

to see what you love about your home - to see what you've

placed in your home to make it especially yours.

Someone I know stated that she doesn't like housekeeping,

she calls it 'domestic work'.

I admit, I feel my home grows dirt - but I look at the walls, the 

trim, the windows, the wood floors - I look at every nook

and cranny and am in awe - this is mine. This home is mine

to care for and to decorate.

I love to go about and to run my finger along those things

that I call treasures - those that hold special memory or 

are dear to my heart.

Homekeeping and/or nesting, to me, is one of those things we

have the privilege to do to make our home a haven for ourselves

and for our families.

I admit, there are times I seem to have precious little time to do

the necessary chores - I would give my home what my grandmother 

would call, 'a lick and a promise'.

Then I come back to the straightening, the dusting, the polishing

the shining and the vacuuming....bringing back an air of cleanliness

and order - I keep it as comfortable as possible - but, I also 

want to keep it as lovely as possible.

With this comes the ability to change decor as the season comes

or as a whim lights in my heart.

Today, I am celebrating my ability to keep my home for

myself, my family and my friends.

I am also sharing with you the recipe for the

Chocolate Cake

I made for my daughter's birthday.

Cake Mix Doctor

Ever So Moist Chocolate Cake

Serves: 16
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 28 to 32 minutes
Assembly time: 10 minutes

Solid vegetable shortening for greasing the pans
Flour for dusting the pans

1 package (18.25 ounces) devil's food cake mix with pudding
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure  vanilla extract

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.

2. Place the cake mix, sour cream, water, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look well combined. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.

3. Bake the cakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 28 to 32 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each layer and invert each onto a rack, then invert again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Allow to cool completely, 30 minutes more.

Perfect Chocolate Frosting 

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup half-n-half

1 cup butter cut into tablespoons (2 sticks)

2 1/2 cups  confectioner's sugar sifted

Place a large mixing bowl full of ice in the kitchen sink.

Place the chocolate chips, half and half, and butter in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat.

Stir the mixture constantly until the chips and butter melt and the mixture thickens, 5 to 6 minutes. Do not let it boil.

Remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk the confectioners' sugar into the mixture until it becomes smooth.

Then, place the saucepan in the bowl of ice, taking special care not to let any of the ice water spill into the saucepan.

Beat the mixture with an electric mixer set on low speed until the frosting thickens and is satiny and fudgelike in appearance, 4 to 5 minutes.

Spread onto the cake of your choice. The frosting will stiffen up as it sets. If it gets too hard to spread, simply place the saucepan back over low heat and stir until it reaches spreading consistency.

Thank you for stopping by,

I am sharing this post with

Cielo's 

Show off Your Cottage Monday

Categories: cooking , Cottage , decorating , homekeeping , recipes , show off Cottage