Who doesn't love Texas Sheetcake??!!

So, last night I realized that we needed treats for a meeting my husband was having at our house this afternoon.  It was after 9:00 and I was contemplating serving Rice Crispy Treats because I could whip up a batch pretty quick... then, sudden inspiration came-- my sister's birthday was yesterday.....she lives in Texas.... see where my mind was going? (birthday's have birthday cake, my sister lives in Texas, the first time I saw this recipe was in a cookbook from her)......I knew I had to make a Texas Sheet Cake!!! --Thank you Leila for the idea!! --and I hope you had a wonderful birthday!!!!

We were finished by 10:00 last night, quick and easy and super delicious!!!

I got carried away cutting big slices of this delicious treat but our guests devoured them...yum!!!

 

Texas Sheet Cake



• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup water
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Grease and flour a  jelly roll pan.  In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium saucepan combine 1 cup butter, 1/3 cup cocoa, and 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. With a mixer, beat chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, 1/2 cup of buttermilk, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla. Beat for 1 minute (batter will be thin). Pour batter into the prepared pan.Bake in a 350° oven about 22 to 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

 

Chocolate Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 6 tablespoons buttermilk
• 4 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting:
In a medium saucepan combine butter, cocoa powder and  buttermilk. Bring to a boil, stirring, over medium heat. Remove from heat; add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add more powdered sugar or buttermilk, if needed, for a spreadable frosting.  Spread the warm frosting over the cake and sprinkle chopped nuts on top. Mmmm!!

Serve with cold milk.

Makes 24 servings. (or 12 huge servings!!!) 

 

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Have you ever made these cute little can presents? I've seen them before but never made any and then recently saw them pinned on Pinterest so I saved some cans and this is what I came up with!!

You need a can that has a pop-top on it and then open the bottom of the can to get your food out. Next rinse the can out good and let it dry well. You can put little treats and a note inside, glue the bottom on and then decorate with ribbons and paper.

What a fun little Valentine!!

I started with this...

and ended up with this...

Get crafty!!!!

I love Pinterest!!! I fought joining the bandwagon for quite awhile but about a year ago gave in and haven't stopped pinning! I find myself soaking up all the creativness of fellow pinners, a lot! It's the little things I guess; I'm always so excited to see someone starting to follow one of my boards or repinned something I thought was awesome!!

I made this card today that was inspired by a stitched card I found on Pinterest awhile back. It said to use scraps, which I have a ton of......somewhere!!!-I recycle all kinds of things and have boxes of recycled 'junk' and paper scraps.... somewhere!!! We moved this summer and I remember lovingly boxing up these scraps but still can't find where I put them....so, for this card I got out a paper stack from My Minds Eye (one of my favorite design companies) and pulled out these papers to cut flower petals from. I stitched them onto my paper with white thread and then took brown ink on a sponge to grunge it up.

I need to work on my scanning, but, what do you think?