I had a few people ask me for the recipe for the zucchini cake we made for Jonah's birthday. So, here it is:

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
2 C. all-purpose flour
2 C. white sugar
3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/2 C. vegetable oil (I did half applesauce to cut down on the fat)
3 C. grated zucchini
3/4 c. chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9X13 inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the eggs and oil, mix well. Fold in the nuts and zucchini until they are evenly distributed. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 50-60 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely before frosting with sour cream chocolate frosting or your favorite frosting.

Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting
1 C. semisweet chocolate chips
4 T. butter
1/2 C. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
2 3/4 C. confectioners' sugar

Melt chocolate and the butter together. Let cool and blend in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar until the frosting is of spreading consistency, beat well.

Thank You All Recipes! :)

Howdy!

Blog guilt is horrible. I'm finally getting around to posting a few pictures and an update on the Lowe family in Texas. Here's a short list of some of my thoughts/experiences here so far:
1. People weren't joking when they said it's H-O-T here. The OCD in me wants to take three showers a day.


2. Splash Parks and running through the sprinklers are a great thing.

3. Having our very own fenced in backyard is great. Mowing our very own backyard (and frontyard) is not so great. Looking at it after it's mowed and feeling proud of your sweaty labors, is the greatest.
4. I was worried my drive around town would be boring without all of the liberal bumper stickers I found in Bloomington to read. I've found that extreme conservatives are also very entertaining. Among my favorite bumper stickers thus far are: "I AM the NRA." and "Comrade Obama". Not conservative, but definitely Texan: "Howdy! Damn It" (Note: I was told by a very credible source that "Hell" and "Damn" are not swear words in Cache Valley, Utah, so forgive me for taking liberties all the way out here in Texas.)

5. People are very friendly. Our neighbor Greg brought us a Thanksgiving size aluminum foil pan full of smoked/barbecued hot links and chicken one of the first weekends we were here. They were incredible.
6. We have a garage! With these oh-so-fancy garage door openers. My life feels more complete every time I hit that little button when I drive away from the house.
7. Paint colors and more paint colors!
8. Having visitors makes me feel like we're living closer to home. Kelli and her "significant other" Steve, came to visit for a day.

It was so cute to see Jonah snuggle right up to Kelli after his nap.

We went out to eat at a great Mexican place that serves gigantic stuffed and deep-fried avocados. You know that now, you too, want to come and visit right?

Here are some pictures of our house. We still haven't painted, but I've got paint colors picked out and we'll hopefully tackle that project this weekend, so I'll be sure to post before and after pictures of our living room and master bedroom/bathroom.


Front of the house

Backyard

Backyard with a cringing (smiling...?) Jonah

Sideyard


Living room

Kitchen

Jonah's room

Third Bedroom (Pardon the boxes; those need to be taken to the attic.)

My recently completed project...a craft cabinet.

We really are liking it here in Texas. I think there's always a period of mourning (sorry if that sounds too dramatic) when you move. I feel like we're still in transition stage, but we're feeling more at home by the week. Mike is feeling like he can tackle his course work this semester and Jonah and I are finding some great friends in the ward. We miss Mike during the day, but he is so good about spending time with us from dinner to bedtime. I think that about wraps up life here in Texas for now. Until next time...