AMAZING chocolate chocolate chip cake

Okay, so I really like to bake. I also like to try new recipes. (Like making lemon meringue puffs... -hint- yours won't look exactly like Martha Stewart's. Mine look more like globs of white goop.) However, this recipe is one I come back to again and again. It was passed down from our beloved friend to my mama, then my mama to me. It {almost} never fails, and -did I forget to mention- it's TOTALLY DELICIOUS. If you don't like don't like sweet, if you don't like moist, if you don't like chocolate, keep on moving, but for the other 98% of us, here is the perfect recipe for you.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake

1 box of yellow cake mix (any kind, you can even use a gluten free one to make it gluten free)
1 box of instant chocolate pudding
1/2 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of oil
3/4 cup of water
1 cup of sour cream (or yogurt, either one works fine, plain yogurt is best, but vanilla yogurt is fine, too, it just makes it sweeter)
4 eggs
1 to 2 cups of chocolate chips- depending on how much you love chocolate. you can even make it without them, but I only do that when we forget to buy more chocolate chips. ;)

1) Preheat the oven to 350

2)Mix it all up- I don't really follow any particular order.... usually the dry ingredients first- cake mix, pudding, & sugar, sift them together, then add the other ingredients. I use a kitchen aid, so I just dump all the wet ingredients in and mix it up.

3) Grease and flour a bundt pan- or use spray... what I do is use a paper towel and spread the oil evenly around the pan with it, then sprinkle flour in- to make it easier to get out of the pan. Another alternative is to use a 13x9 pan, then you just have to grease it- not flour it. ;)

4) Bake the cake. If you are doing it in a bundt pan, it takes somewhere between 45-60 minutes. I just made one, and it took exactly 50 minutes to get it perfect. If you are using a 13x9 pan, it usually takes around 30 minutes.

5) Let it cool. Not completely, because this cake always tastes better warm. Then take it out of the pan. (only if you are using a bundt pan. Trying to take it out of a 13x9 pan might be a little tricky) This cake is sweet and moist enough that you shouldn't need icing, but if you think that it does, you can use the glaze from my hummingbird cake recipe.

6) Enjoy! I hope you like this recipe as much as I do. (and by like I mean LOVE)

Summer Stuff

Hello, totally awesome people!
I know you know that I haven't been posting at all this summer, but I do have a reason. It's simple. LIFE. From planning camps to going to camps, from working to playing, from reading to writing, this summer has breezed past me in the blink of an eye.

Here are a few highlights...

Civil War Camp- planned and led by me and our awesome team, we enjoyed three summer days of craziness and fun. We did crafts, games, cooking, history and oh so much more. I'm extremely grateful for days without rain, smiles without tears, and fun without fights.

Yes, we are all VERY serious and responsible at camp!

Fabulous Friends- I am so totally thrilled that some of our closest friends moved within fifteen minutes of us. After 15 or so years of moving around, (for both families) we finally are sort-of-neighbors! I'm grateful for our mamas who met in college, our daddies who talk about politics and outdoors and stuff, and all of us crazy kids who get along fabulously.

Summer Camp- After an amazing week at AHG summer camp, I'm sore, tired, and happy. At the beginning of the week, I don't think we were entirely comfortable with each other, but by the end, we were all completely weird and funny with each other. I'm grateful for CPR training, freezing swimming, late night giggles, and all the amazing girls at camp.

So thankful for these awesome girls!

Though those are just a few highlights since my last post, this entire summer has been filled with blessing after blessing. I'm so grateful for every person God has placed in my life this summer.

Thoughts on Thursday

One of my awesome piano students wrote an essay on someone she admired for school. Her mama gave me a copy of this sweet essay. This essay brought a smile to my face and a tug on my heart.

you see, I want to be the type of girl others can admire and look up to. Someone who people can see as a role model. I don't want people to just admire my clothes or appearance, but my heart. 

This verse has been whispering to my heart, and I want to share it with you today~

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. 

1 Timothy 4:12

So, I'll keep this short and sweet because I have a kitchen that won't clean itself, but here is my thought for Thursday~

Be the type of girl {or boy} that others want to be like. be a role model and example in your thought life, your love life, your work life, every aspect of your life.

blessings,
Sophia

home.

ahhh... home.
i guess a little less than a month away from it leaves you to appreciate this special place. (by the way, that was why i haven't been blogging)

from islands to ferrys to sand dunes to plays to horses to hotels to shopping to museums, the best part of my trip was reuniting with my crazy brothers and awesome parents. They surprised me for my birthday by driving three hours to where I was staying and blessing me with smiles and laughter and fun.

 I guess I realized that I wasn't homesick for my beautiful bedroom or our lovely gardens, but homesick for those awesome people who have my heart and share my last name. From the boy who is almost taller to me to the one who still likes to sleep in my room, I missed them.

So hopefully for you, it doesn't take you nearly a month away from these people we call family to realize that they are a part of you, they are your home.


{on another note, I've made up my mind to start blogging more. here's what i'm thinking-
music on Mondays- an inspirational song, a song I've written, something musical
tea on Tuesdays- have a cup of tea with me! i'll share my recipes with you.
words of the wise on Wednesdays- special bible verses I've found
thoughts on Thursdays- just little thoughts I've had, little things happening in my life
fun on Friday-  laughs, fun games, celebration! after all, it is Friday. ;)
i'll try to do at least a couple of these each week... and we'll see how it goes. }

Vacation Bible School, Miracles, & Standing Strong

What do you post on a blog when you forget to post anything for a long time?
Well... The reason i've been sadly neglecting this blog is because of Vacation Bible School. Mama and me both volunteered and my four brothers were in it. (except for one little brother who refused to go to his class) My amazing mother lead the Kitchen crew and Theater, and I got to lead a group of awesome girls with the help of my great friend from AHG. The amazing part was that 69 kids came to Christ that week! Praise God. It truly is a miracle to see all the kids doing the hand motions to songs, all their voices praising Jesus, all their smiles of delight. I've truly witnessed a miracles this past week.

The theme for the week was standing strong.
God's love helps us... Stand Strong
Friends and Family help us... Stand Strong
Prayer helps us... Stand Strong
Trusting God helps us... Stand Strong
God's Word helps us... Stand Strong

So as you go about your day, remember to stand strong for Jesus- He truly does work miracles.

Hummingbird Cake

When life gets crazy... bake a cake. seriously. this is probably the best cake recipe from our home!
Presenting....

Hummingbird Cake

• 3 Cups Bread Flour (You can use All-purpose flour, but bread flour was just what we had on hand)
• 1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar (or you can do a half and half mix of white and brown sugar)
• 1 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp. Cinnamon
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 3/4 Cups Mashed Bananas
• 1 (8 oz. can) of crushed Pineapple ( i accidentally used cubed pineapple once- not as good results)
• 3/4 Cup Yogurt
• 1 1/2 Tsp. Vanilla
• 3/4 CupPecans

 Glaze~

• 4 oz. Cream Cheese
• 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• 1 to 2 Tsp. Milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
 2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

 

 Oh, and the tomatoes on the side are NOT going in the cake-

i'm not even sure how they ended up in the picture! ;)

3. Stir in the eggs, bananas, pineapple, yogurt and vanilla. stir just until moist. 

4. Grease and Flour (or use spray) a Bunt Pan heavily. Seriously, do is heavily. 

5. Sprinkle the Pecans into the bottom of the pan.

6. Pour the batter gently into the pan....

7. Bake for 1 hour, give or take a little, depending on the oven.

 

8. Let it cool... for about 15 minutes and then turn it over onto a plate 

9. Wait until it's COMPLETELY cool, and pour the glaze over it. 

Glaze~

1. Pretty simple. Whip the cream cheese and slowly add the powdered sugar.

2. Add the Vanilla, and if you think it needs it, add the milk. (some people like thicker glaze, some people like thinner)

Enjoy!

My prayer for you...

As I wave goodbye to my piano students for the summer, the feelings are a little weird. They're bittersweet, sad yet happy.

I'm sad to say goodbye to these giggly students who have made my day for the last eight months, but happy to see the accomplishment in their eyes after another year of piano. I'm sorry to watch them walk away, yet hopeful that they will use their talents for His glory.

and this is my prayer for them...
May your songs be a smile, may your songs be the sunshine, may your songs be the hope and light for all.

May your songs be testimony, may your songs be a witness, may your songs show that our God is great.

May your songs be a blessing, may your songs be an anthem, may your songs be a declaration of the goodness of our God.


And maybe your song isn't musical. maybe your song is teaching, writing, painting. This prayer is for you, too.

Pray that your life will be a song telling of Jesus, a song to Jesus, and a song from Jesus.