The perfect little black dress of chcolates cakes

I told the girls we could make cake the next time I had to bake something. Of course I knew it would be Crazy Cake. My food philosophies have changed some since I first posted this recipe. So I use all whole wheat flour (my fresh ground mix of grains still turns out very light, can't vouch for the store bought stuff) and just because of a habit I have formed I cut the sugar in half. I automatically cut the sugar in any modern recipe in half. I've found that a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream really goes a long way in this. The cake turns out moist and delish every time I've made it over the years. I've decided I like to keep it simple and the sugar in-take low by just eating a square of it all by it's self, no frosting. It makes for a nice quick and light treat. I can imagine the girls mixing this up all on their own in a few years. I have grandiose goals of making them even more useful in the kitchen, which is why it's so good to bake this up together now.

There are scads of easy ways to dress this little cake up. Try any of these in the cake batter. Mint Extract. Chocolate Chips. Coconut Flakes. Mix up as easy cream cheese frosting (cream cream cheese, honey or maple syrup, butter, vanilla and keep tasting and adding until it tastes good) and drop spoonfuls of it into the batter, for Earthquake Cake, or go a step father and add peanut butter to the cream cheese frosting. I was very sceptical about that the first time I made it, and I must say it's been a HUGE winner at our house.  Cream butter and brown sugar and mix in coconut and chopped nuts. Put it on top of the cooled cake and back in the oven under the boiler. Don't leave it for heaven's sake! Stand right there the whole time, make the little ones watch through the window if they are nagging, and pull it out as soon as it's brown and bubbly. Whipped cream...I actually like it with no sugar. Ice cream. Double the recipe, make it in a 13x9 and take it to your next pot luck gathering. It's cheep and not any harder than a box mix in my book. Or double it and bake it in round cake pans and top with a lovely chocolate butter cream, and fill the between layers with strawberry jam...for those really special times when 'how-much sugar' doesn't matter.  I think I'm out of ideas. Let me know if you think of something else. What ever you do with it, even it 's plain jane like ours right now, it probably won't last long.

Enjoy!c

Mama's Medicine Chest: Onions and Garlic

One of the wonderful things about working with herbs is that you can always learn more. I learned about this cough syrup from a friend about a week ago, just in time to help kick the lingering cough floating around our house. She said they have such great results with it that they share it with everyone. My friend learned this technique from her pediatrician. Here are the very complicated directions. Chop an onion. Layer it in a jar with honey or sugar. Let it set at room temp until the juices start coming out of the onion. That juice is your cough syrup.
I was really curious how this would taste, but I found it smells a lot worse than it tastes. Ours mainly tasted like water downed honey...though I do still have a cold right now, so it could have an effect on my taste buds. I would use sugar if you are making this for a little one too small to eat honey. If you are using honey it will be worth your time to find a local source of unpasteurised unfiltered honey to make this with, as it will help with the cold. If you have trouble locating some try looking for a nearby bee keeping association, or asking at your local health food store (not a chain store, a local owned one). My mother-in-law says she remembers her mom making a version of this and putting it in their chest too. Sounds pretty messy to me, but I would try it if I was desperate.
This second remedy is a garlic salve that I learned on-line called GOOT...I've not seem WHY it's called GOOT, my guess is Garlic Olive Oil Treatment, but I don't know. I really love this stuff. And since I learned it I try to always keep about five heads of garlic in the house, since I don't want to make a special trip to the store when I need it. I like to make this up in small batches whenever an illness hits. It can loose potency if it gets old. If all of us are sick at once it's best to make a larger batch. These instructions are pretty flexible; I don't measure, but just guess. I use about a tablespoon of coconut oil, two large garlic cloves, a teaspoon of olive oil, 7 drops of oregano oil, and 10 drops of lavender. I mash up my garlic in my little mortar and pestle. If you can't think of any way to smash it just chop it as fine and small as you can. Put your coconut oil in a jar and apply some low heat to melt it. It melts at 76 degrees so I set it outside or in the car or by the woodstove in the winter. I wouldn't microwave it, but I don't microwave anything. Then mix in the rest of your ingredients and let it chill in the fridge. I apply it to our feet and cover with old socks. I also apply it to any swollen lymph nodes on the neck.

Garlic is a natural anti-biotic, anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-cancer. It's as powerful as penicillin, but with no side effects, except smell. I understand it works best taken orally, but that's hard to get a two year old to do. You can chop it fine and cover it with honey. I like to chop it pill size and swallow. If I'm very sick I set a timer (or else I will forget) and take a clove every hour. Oregano is anti-bacterial, and some people say an anti-biotic. It helps break up congestion. You can find wild Mediterranean oregano to be taken orally at your health food store or on-line (I would call to see which is meant for oral dosage). The Man and I take it under our tongue. It is VERY hot, and needs a quick chaser. I saw on-line where one lady had taught her 5 years old and older children to drink some water and hold it at the back of their mouth and she would drop some into their mouths in the water and them tell them to swallow. You don't want to use this remedy if you are pregnant. Lavender is an anti-septic and helps people relax, lowers fevers, and it smells much better than garlic. These are the reasons I've included these things. It helps to know the why, because then you know better how to use them. For instance, if there are a lot of colds going around you might want to do a lot of cooking with garlic and oregano, even if your family isn't sick.
I love how simple many of these remedies are. Another wonderful thing about these particular remedies is that I have personally found them to be very effective, but they are gentle enough to be used on very small children. Because of the things I have read, and that these remedies are food based, I personally would feel comfortable using them one of my children at as young as three months, though you need to seek your own advice and prayerfully make your own decisions on these things.
May God grant you wisdom and knowledge as you help keep your family healthy! c

Read other posts in this series:
Blackberries- tummy trouble

Gaining wisdom and knowledge

I read the best article encouraging parents to mentor their children, to feed them mentally, to be their best teacher. Rising to the challenge of putting my girls ahead of my to-do list and whatever I am trying to achieve, and making them a part of most everything I do during the day, instead of trying to keep them out of my way, has been one of the most rewarding and challenging things I've done as a parent. If this isn't what you are striving towards with your kids (if you have any), then I challenge you to re-think. And I have found so far as I develop better habits, it gets so much easier. Seeing their confidence and hearing the happy words, "I deed (did) it!" and their faces beam with pride makes it all worth it.
Blessings and grace to all you parents! c 

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.