Happy Aniversary

On April 8th, we celebrated 15 years of marriage. There have been wonderful experiences, two beautiful children and a wonderful new home. I am thankful for my husband and what a good man he is. He's a great dad and does so many great things for our family. I appreciate him.


The weekend before our anniversary my sisters, Christy and Maury watched the kids, so Mike and I could go away. We just went down to Palm Desert and stayed at a Marriott there. (Thank you Priceline! We got a hotel room for $65.) Mike took me to my favorite restaurant, Kobe's. It is a Japanese steak house that I love. It is kind of like Benihana where they cook the food in front of you. We also went to see, Monsters and Aliens in 3D. We had a fun night away and I know the kids enjoyed the spoiling they got from their beloved aunties!


Our actual anniversary was on a Wednesday. It was spring break for the kids and I, but not for Mike. So we decided to make it a family celebration. I made a special dinner of Mike's choosing: homemade egg rolls, vegetable fried rice, sparkling cider, and my special chocolate cake. Mike loves this cake more than anything else. I agree it is pretty good. You should make it as soon as possible and taste it!

Chocolate Brownie Torte

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 10 inch spring form pan and lightly coat pan with cocoa powder (you can also use the Pam spray for baking with flour in it.)

2. Combine 1 3/4 C. flour, 3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa, and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl and set aside.

3. Beat 1 C. softened butter with 1 3/4 Cup sugar with the mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in 2/3 C. light corn syrup. Add 3 large eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. At low speed beat in dry ingredients, alternately with 1/2 C. milk.

5. If you want, at this point you can add 2 C. chopped pecans. I usually leave this out, because my kids hate nuts.

6. Spread batter into pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 55 -60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

7. For ganache bring 1 C heavy cream to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add 1 8 oz. package semi sweet chocolate squares, shopped. Stir until melted. Cool completely.

8. Remove ring from pan and remove cake from bottom. Place on cake platter and tuck strips of waxed paper under the cake. Pour ganache over tope and spread with a metal spatula to cover top and side of cake. Let stand until set. Serve cake with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.