Friday Friday Friday!!

[stoney321]

Oh, man, HELLO WEEKEND! Mr. S got home late last night and filled me in on tales of the BFF and her husband - he's on a project 40 miles from them in Ann Arbor. They went out for dinner the night before and lunch yesterday on his way to the airport. And no, I'm not jealous. *sigh* It sucks that she and I will most likely never live close to each other again. She is anti-city, and I like to be close enough to have all of the benefits of a city. Plus, I don't know that I'd ever leave Texas. *waves flag*

SPEAKING OF: if you aren't watching Friday Night Lights, you are missing a fantastic show. Even if you aren't into football, you can appreciate the human interest, the lack of broadly drawn characterizations (no, really! Complex characters!) Check out my previous post for screencaps *cough* and a link in the post before can hook you up with the ep. Lemme know if it no longer works. I'm on a mission to make sure they get a contract beyond their 13 episodes! The music is another level of awesome: if you're itching in your seat towards the end with pent up energy, that's why. The best way for me to describe what living in a small (possibly dying) town can feel like is the movie "The Last Picture Show," a film in my top 10. There's a restlessness and need to GET OUT that the film captures, and I think it's there in FNL, too. WATCH IT! Tuesday nights at 8/7. NBC.

So... SPN is hooking me. I don't think I'm interested in fic. I just like watching it, so far. The Office still pleases me, and there were seeds planted that I'm intrigued by. I'll leave it at that to spare me the need for a cut-tag. Because now is time for RECIPE! I'm baking a Texas Sheet Cake in honor of The Boy returning from camp today - missed the little trouble maker - and how do we celebrate or show our love in my family? With delectable treats, that's how.


This can be made quickly and easily. Be sure to put the frosting on right when you pull the cake out - when it's all hot, the frosting seeps into the cake and makes it SO MOIST. Also, use a 10x15 JELLY ROLL PAN. Anything smaller and it won't turn out in the center. Seriously. And not in the good goopy way. Like, undone frustration.

Texas Sheet Cake

1/4 C cocoa
1 C margarine or butter
2 C water
2 C flour
2 beaten eggs
1/2 C buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
Frosting (below)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease and flour 10x15x1 pan. (Use cocoa to flour if you don't like white specks on the bottom) In medium saucepan, bring cocoa, margarine (or butter) and water to a boil, stirring CONTSTANTLY, over medium heat. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar and flour. Pour the cocoa mixture over and blend well. Add the eggs, buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla. Spread evenly in the pan and bake for 20 minutes. When the cake is done, immediately pour the frosting over and spread evenly.

Frosting

In medium saucepan, bring to a boil 1/2 C margarine, 1/4 C cocoa and 6 TBSP of milk. Add 1 pound powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 1 C chopped pecans.

You could substitute the pecans with toffee bits. Oh god. You can also add a tsp. of cinnamon to the batter for a Mexican Chocolate flair.

Mr. S went on my 10 mile training walk this morning and he's passed out on the sofa. Heh. *is strong, yo* HAVE FANTASTIC WEEKENDS!!

Comments

[pernickety.livejournal.com]

This is me pining for a kitchen. Oh, toffee bits.

Ha! Mr. S. passed out. You are strongerer than anyone! ... As a non-running sort of person, I'll just have to stick to shots of vodka when trying to get a man unconscious. :D

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

HELLO!! Man, you have been LIVING LIFE lately. What with Iggy crotch, and various other exciting concerts! You are living the dream, baby. THE DREAM. Toffee. THere is no bad here. Mmmmm.

I fully support getting men drunk and having your way with them. Starting with painting their toenails and shaving their balls. What?

[lanapanda.livejournal.com]

That cake sounds delicious. I am now compelled to go and test this theory through practical exercises.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I FULLY SUPPORT YOUR SCIENTIFIC APPROACH. It's really the best way. Think of the rest of the world as your control group.

IT IS DELICIOUS. To the point of me writing in all caps. Even you icon is anticipating the goodness!! :D

[lettered.livejournal.com]

I'm still not ready to watch my highschool.

I had Texas Sheet Cake for my birthday every year for 15 years.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

You are BRILLIANT, because you know that there is none better than the Texas Sheet Cake. Mmmmm. (Oooh, take out the vanilla and put in peppermint, and crush up peppermints for the frosting. Unless you are like me and HAAAAAAATE peppermints.)

And seriously? No? The show is v v compelling for that very reason. But, I've got a few more years on the other side, so I can appreciate your reluctance. I GUESS. ;)

[lettered.livejournal.com]

No, my mommy is brilliant.

I...don't really like chocolate cake that much. But I'm baking one today because it's my BFF's birthday. I'll take a picture of it, because it's one snazzy cake (it's from a recipe from a book I got from the best bakery in Fredricksburg).

If I hadn't been in band, the whole football thing would've felt a little more removed, but as is it feels like all that drama is still yesterday. However, we actually weren't quite a stereotypical Texan school about football, because my school was mostly immigrants. But the ones who did play football...man.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I like GOOD chocolate cake. I don't like grocery store cakes too much - things that have a hint of artificial about them. SORRY, SNOW! /snob

Mr. S was in Drum Corps, so he was very involved in the whole thing. What did you play?

[lettered.livejournal.com]

I like fudgey chocolate cake. I have a great coffe toffee chocolate cake recipe, if you want. Your slices, they can't be thicker than like, 3 cm or you'll die of richness.

Whoa! Drum Corps is the awesomest awesome! Dude, we would sit for hours and just watch old tapes of Drum Corps competitions. We were so dorky.

I played clarinet. I kinda sucked, but I was really really good at yelling at people and keeping them in line. That part was fun.

It ate my life, completely. The only thing I think of when I think of highschool is football games.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

UM, YES PLEASE ON THE RECIPE.

Man, I am ALL ABOUT the drummer. Seriously. It's... it's my blonde vampire, if you will. And you will. :D

And if you need cool points, I played VIOLA. So. Band is WAY cooler than Orch dorks. And I was in theater, so when I think of high school, I think of that and the boys I crushed on, because I was shy and didn't know how to make my presence known. Mmmm, boys.

[lettered.livejournal.com]

Yeah band was so much cooler than you. Bahahahahah! Yeah, I was in theatre too, but I think it's funny you were shy and in theatre. In highschool, I considered myself a pretty big extrovert--loud, hyper, always being crazy. I did theatre for a year and dropped out because those people? Made me feel like a complete wallflower, they were so freakishly the opposite of anything shy. The drummers in our band were bad, bad folks. My brother was one. Hahahahahah! He was always off doing weed somewhere. Viola is cool. Do you still play? I'm on rambley sonuva, sometimes.

[lettered.livejournal.com]

Oh, except Kim. She was a drummer and I was a little bit in love with her. One out of the very few girl crushes I've ever had. Sometimes I'm maybe less straight than I think I am.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Heee! (Me, too.)

And no, I don't still play, but I've inherited the family violin (my g-grandfather was a Dutch violin maker) and I want to take lessons soon.

And as for shy, I was shy in the hall, around boys, making new friends outside of my social circle. My older sister (one grade ahead) was an IT girl. Cheerleader, huge boobs, v v popular. She was also absolutely horrible to me, so I hid a lot. I came alive in theater, really.

Hee! WEED. Yeah, I think that's a prerequisite for drum corps.

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

Awww, Mr. Stoney is a champ for training with you, even though you are TEH WINNAR!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Heee! I know. I think I'll keep him. He was all cocky starting out, out pacing me, then as we got to mile 5 and 6, he got v v quiet.

Haha. WHO'S THE WINNER NOW? I don't think he "got" how hard this was going to be. I reminded him when we got back that I have to do twice that distance. Every day. :) (I'm hoping to get flowers the last day. *leaves notes lying about*)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, are those the poop cookies? The no-bake peanut butter/cocoa/oatmeal cookies, because those are SO GOOD except for the whole "holy pooping, Batman!" factor.

SEE YOU TONIGHT, but WHEN AND WHERE??

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

CRAP. I've been picking up The Boy from camp, SORRY! And yes, I'm also a phone sex operator.

WE ARE MEETING AT DAD'S AT 5:30, okay? You and Chris wanna ride with us? You good? He is sofa king wee todd it.

Or, R tard.

[anelith.livejournal.com]

YUM. That cake sounds so good! Will make it sometime soon.

Tell us how the Boy liked his camp when he gets home! I bet he had a fabulous time.

There was a time when Ron was travelling a lot that it seemed he was always going to cities that my friends lived. MY friends, I say, even though he liked them a bunch too. He'd go out for dinner with them and have a good time, and I'd get second-hand reports of what their houses/apartments/neighborhoods looked like... Oh well, better that at least one of us sees them than none of us.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

It is SO GOOD. You should make it - rare is the person that can resist the Texas sheet cake. It's like brownies and chocolate cake as ONE.

I will be filled with tales of camp soon, I'm sure. I drove out there yesterday to drop off his 'jamas (jeez, mom!) and it's SO COOL. It was built specifically for our school district for science learning. AWESOME.

And right - ditto on the "at least SOMEONE gets to visit." But then, I really can't complain. All of the frequent flyer miles he gets enable me to do a lot of traveling, so I'll just quit whining now. :D

ONE WEEK!!

[anelith.livejournal.com]

By the way, how did Mr. S transfer his miles to you? Ron's parents tried to do that once and it didn't work, the airline didn't let him. Just curious how it works?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

The boy has JUST NOW stopped talking. (We picked him up 2 hours ago. It was a success, btw.)

Well, I'm his spouse, so he just buys tickets for me in my name. I don't know if Ron's parents aren't able to do that for their children? It's AA miles, so I wonder if they have a different protocol from, say, United or Continental? I'll ask the husband...

[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

Even if you aren't into football...no, really! Complex characters!

Are they vampire football players? Do they fly? Are there zombies? Can they bend space and time? ::waves off gooberhead sports television:: If they ain't supernatural, I ain't interested.

(Plus, having grown up in the south, I have a deep and abiding hatred for football. Really.)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha, OKAY. Point taken. I've started watching Supernatural, and have to say... I'm enjoying it. It's no Angel or Buffy, but it's entertaining.

Really? They just overwhelmed you with the sport, huh? Now, I tend to not like the Uber Fans. You know juuuuuuust what I'm talking about. But man, we go to the high school games here in our little town and it's so much fun. But sure - there are some idiots into the game, and that can turn you off, yeah.

[moosesal.livejournal.com]

I'm bookmarking this recipe. I'll have to look into modifying it for altitude, but the thinness of using the jelly roll pan might make that a little easier.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

You know what? I'll check with my aunt. (She lives in the Wasatch mountains outside of SLC.) SHe has loads of modified recipes, so I'll see what adjustments need to be made. It is SO GOOD, SAL!!

(Also, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, or the Friday or Saturday AFTER Thanksgiving. You and Chris gonna be around?)

[moosesal.livejournal.com]

That would rock. I've got some good baking books with info on modifying for my elevation (8,000 ft.), but still haven't tried it yet with any of my real recipes.

[redbrickrose.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched Friday Night Lights yet, but I'm going to. I love the movie, and I tend to dislike things about football so if the show nails the story as well as the movie did, I'm probably in. I've been meaning to read the book for years, but I haven't gotten around to it. I need to, because the movie really hit home for me. I spent enough years in the marching band in small town Southeastern New Mexico (not quite West Texas, but damn near, both figuratively and literally) for FNL to feel almost uncomfortably true.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Man, it's GREAT. I have yet to see the movie, which... HOW DID I MISS IT?? But the show is so well crafted. It just nails that small town life, how there's nothing else but football most of the time, and how people break away. Um... I'm projecting. BECAUSE I CAN SEE THE POTENTIAL, OMG!!

:D

ANd yeah, you know JUST what it's like back in NM. Oooh, I made a small quibble note in one of my earlier posts about how if this was outside of Midland and Odessa (towards El Paso) there would be HISPANIC GIRLS on the cheer team. I mean, come on. They did a great job with everything else, however.

[xochitl42.livejournal.com]

Ooooh. Texas sheet cake recipe--with homemade frosting recipe to match. [shivering with sugary glee!]

Toffee -or- pecans? Why not both? (Ow, my teeth hurt.)

If you want a twist on that Mexican chocolate flair, add cinnamon and 0.5-1.0 tsp of cayenne pepper. It sounds insane, but it works. You can do the same for drinking chocolate, especially in the winter!

(Alas, I'm rarely home in the evenings, so I miss out on so much TV! Maybe I'll succumb to the Bittorrent and watch on computer.)

And frankly, both of you deserve a slice of cake after a 10 mile walk. :)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oooh, cayenne is EXCELLENT with sweet, yes. That's one of my favorite flavor combinations. (That's very common here in Texas. I know some people think it's weird, but not me! YUM.)

ANd seriously: that show is so wonderful. It could have been inspired by Larry McMurtry. It's got "The Last Picture Show" feel, you know? Good stuff. Not all straightforward "praise football!" but how towns exist when football is king and there's naught else to do.

[leighm.livejournal.com]

Yay for SPN hooking you:)

If you ever think you may be interested in some really good Wincest or J2-I have some very good recs:D

That cake sounds fabulous.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I've got quite a number of SPN fans on my flist, it seems, so the good thing is I know I don't have to go hunting around, should the need arise!

THE CAKE IS SO GROOD, ZOMG. Eat eat eat it!!