Chilled cake? Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake!



We threw a fun western-themed party for my youngest son's graduation.  Pulled pork and brisket sandwiches were the "main event" (along with cold Shiner Bock beer!), but this Texas Sheet Cake stole the show!

Going back to the 1960's, my mom baked this cake for bbq's and picnics.  It feeds a crowd and may be the best chocolate cake I've ever had.  

It's a scratch cake made in a jelly-roll pan, topped with a fudgy warm chocolate and walnut frosting that soaks into the cake.  Buttermilk keeps the cake moist. 

 

Mom kept our Texas Sheet Cakes refrigerated and served them chilled... a perfect, "cool" finish to a Borrego Springs meal! 


Cake Ingredients

2 C flour
2 C sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 sticks (1/2 pound) butter  

1 C water

4 Tbsp. cocoa powder

2 eggs

1/2 C buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

Frosting Ingredients

1 stick (1/4 pound) butter

4 Tbsp. cocoa powder

6 Tbsp. buttermilk

1 pound (entire box) confectioners sugar

1 C coarsely chopped walnuts

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon).

Making The Cake

Heat butter, water and cocoa in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Pour over the flour mixture. Mix together eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and then add to the dry ingredient mixture. Blend thoroughly.

Pour batter into a greased jelly roll pan (large cookie sheet with sides) and bake for 18 to 22 minutes in a 350 F. preheated oven.

To check if the cake is done cooking, insert a toothpick or knife into the center of the cake, which will come out clean if finished baking.  Don't overcook!  Remove from oven and frost while warm.

The Frosting (my favorite part)
Five minutes before the cake is finished baking, begin making your frosting.
 
Mix cocoa, butter and buttermilk in a saucepan. Bring just to a boil, then pull off the burner and immediately add powdered sugar and vanilla until well blended.  Fold in nuts.

Immediately pour warm frosting over the warm cake and spread as necessary.  Allow to cool before serving.
  

MAKE YOUR FROSTING WHILE CAKE IS BAKING AND FROST WHEN BOTH ARE WARM

I think these guys ate some Texas Sheet Cake in their day!


BONANZA



Cacti from Cuttings or Division

Cacti can be expensive, so learning we would be able to root cuttings or divide them from our existing plants was really great news! 

The first time I learned this, I watched our gardener cut an agave offshoot from our front bed, which he told me was the cactus "bebé".  Then he tucked it into an open space in the flower bed and pressed the dirt around it.  No rooting solution, no preparation.  He was so confident that it would grow into another big plant and seven months later, I can confirm he was right!  

Most cacti will come out of their winter rest around spring and will begin to grow - a great time to start a few new plants. 

Cuttings
Rooting a cactus cutting is much easier than rooting most other types of plants. Healthy pad-forming, columnar or segmented stem cacti are very easy to start from cuttings.   

1)  Cut the pad off with a clean, sharp knife. If the pad is large or woody, you can use a saw.  Unlike most plants, cacti love to be clipped and started in warm weather.  Late spring and summer are the best times.  

2) You could just stick the thing in the ground at this point, but for best results, dry the cutting in a dry, shady place until the cut area forms a callus.  This will take a few days to a week.  The larger the cut surface, the longer you should allow the cutting to dry.  Don't water the cutting during this time. 

3) Once the cutting is ready for planting, plant directly into your garden or in pure sand or a well-draining soil mixture (sand, perlite, pumice, gravel can be combined for a very good planting medium).

4) Water. After a couple of days, check the soil and water again after the soil is completely dry.  Continue watering until the winter months, when watering can be done on your normal drip or sprinkler system setting according to your flower bed's particular situation.

Root rot is a concern and may cause your cutting to die.  Don't over-water your cuttings!


Division
Division is an ideal method of propagating those types of cactus which bud off new plants from the side of the mother plant. These babies usually already have roots developed and should be carefully pulled or teased away from the parent plant and placed in a place of their own. The advantage of this type of propagation over the taking of cuttings is that division leaves the mother plant with almost no signs of disfigurement (e.g. natural childbirth vs. cesarean).


When it comes to soil type, cacti aren’t particular, but they do need good drainage.

Be Careful!
Prickly pears (Opuntia) have fine bristles, known as glochids, that fly off the plant with the merest disturbance. They’re relentless, invading cloth and skin, and they take a good washing with hot soap and water to remove.

Chollas (Cylindropuntia) have barbed spines that are downright painful – especially when you try to pull them out of pricked skin. And the spines on most other cactus are just plain sharp.The best strategy for moving prickly pears and chollas is to use tools. Never try to handle a piece of any prickly pear or cholla with your hands, even when wearing gloves!

For those wanting to learn more about the giant saguro cactus, here's a great book that we have on our Borrego Springs bookshelf for our younger guests.  Desert Giant is available at Amazon.com.

Uncommon and unspoiled. The Borrego Springs Life Experiment

The Very Happy Mr. W. and I live in a nice, older neighborhood ten minutes from downtown Seattle in a comfortable four-bedroom view home. We have alot of stuff. We are very happy.  But for the past couple of years, as semi-empty nesters, serious conversations have been focused on the next "phase" of our lives -- the "without the kids phase".

What do we want our lives to look like?
What will make us happy?

 When our kids start having kids, we want to live near them and play a significant roll in our grandkids' lives;

Spending more time during the year in a sunny location with (affordable) golf would make us happy;

An inexpensive vacation home would allow us to keep a home in Seattle;We would like a house (with a yard for gardening), rather than a condo, but also something that makes every day feel like a vacation;

Goal is to live healthy, active lives.

The simpler, the better, so that we can focus on what is really important - family, friends, "experiences" rather than "things", spending time outside and appreciating nature.

We started visiting warm locations and looking at real estate... Scottsdale, Phoenix, Tucson, Maui, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, central Oregon, Southern California. All of these could work, but would likely result in our living a somewhat fast paced, expensive lifestyle while there - dealing with traffic and lines, and surrounded by tons of shopping, $100+ rounds of golf and expensive restaurants. 

The places we researched and visited with a "second home" destination in mind ended up feeling an awful lot like Seattle after we had been there a few days. Life in those places would not necessarily be different than our life in Seattle.  Then we visited Borrego Springs.   

Borrego Springs people are friendly and down-to-earth;
The desert is breathtakingly beautiful;
It's really quiet in the middle of nowhere;
There are always stars in the night sky;
The desert is alive!  Filled with animals, cacti and flowers;
Most of the year, the days are warm and nights are chilly
(perfect for a cozy fire);
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park has dozens of amazing hiking trails and jeep/off-roading areas;
You can get by and be really happy with much less stuff than you think;
When removed from the distractions of a larger city, the days go on forever;
Desert flower beds are a dream to dig in;
There is no problem getting a tee time in Borrego Springs;
It's relatively difficult to spend money in Borrego Springs;
People care about and support each other in a small community;  
Humans can live without Starbucks (nearest Starbucks is 40 minutes away);
FedEx/UPS deliver to Borrego Springs every day;
A nice, comfortable home in Borrego Springs is quite affordable.




Borrego Springs "Christmas Circle"