Last week my family (extended, 25 of us)  went on vacation to my favorite place in the whole world..........



My immediate family

The BEACH!!!!!

Now I have a great family, 2 brothers, 2 sisters and their children and my parents.  But what you need to know about my family is that we are a bunch of smarty pants.  When we get together there is much joking and laughing,  and with that comes.... S A R C A S M

So early in the week we decided that each time someone make a sarcastic comment, they would have to pay a fine and put it in this jar.

We had many laughs as we waited to catch each other making yet another sarcastic comment.  We were amazing at how effortless these remarks just flowed from our mouths.  After a while we all headed to the beach and forgot about filling the jar.  But what it left me with is how, in the name of humor and joking, sarcasm can get out of hand and peoples feelings can be hurt.  Sarcasm can be a very bad habit and damaging to those around us.  We can think we are just having fun, but words are powerful and can leave lasting scars.  It is not true that, "sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never harm me".  Words do matter and just saying, "I was kidding", does not void the offense.  It reminds me of a proverb, "death and life are in the power of the tongue".  I don't know about you, but I want to be a broker of "life" and not "death".  I am purposing to watch my tongue and it is not as easy as I had hoped.  But... I am trying.

Chocolate fudge cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache glaze

This is the cake I made for the fourth of July.  It is very rich, but on a special occasion, you can justify it!!!

Ingredients

Cake:

• 3 cups packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 2/3 cups flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/8 cups cocoa powder

Frosting:

• 1 1/2 pounds sweet butter, soft
• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt

Ganache:

• 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Oil 3 (10-inch) cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper. Alternately, oil the pans and then flour them.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the brown sugar and oil. Turn on the mixer to a low speed and mix in the eggs. Let the sugar, oil, and eggs mix while sifting together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Set this mixture aside.
In another small bowl, mix the vanilla into the milk and set this aside as well. Bring the water to a boil and pour over the cocoa and whisk it until it is smooth. To the egg mixture, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture beginning and ending with flour. With the mixer off, scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. With the mixture at a low speed add the cocoa. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and pour this mixture into the prepared cake pans. Bake the cake for approximately 15 minutes or until tester comes out clean. When cake layers have cooled, remove from pans and refrigerate until cold.
To make the frosting: In an electric mixing bowl place the soft butter and beat it on a low speed while adding powdered sugar. When all the sugar is mixed in, turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the vanilla and salt and let the mixer beat for 5 to 7 minutes on a medium speed. Fill and frost the cake and refrigerate it for 10 to 20 minutes to set up the frosting.
To make the ganache: In a heatproof bowl, place the chocolate chips and the corn syrup. Bring the heavy cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and whisk it until smooth then set it aside.Pour ganache over the top of the cake and, with a cake spatula, smooth the top of the cake and allow ganache to spill over the sides. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or longer.
Serve the cake cold or allow it to come to room temperature before serving.

Enjoy!!!!!!