Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I got this cake recipe from a dear friend of mine and since we had so much zucchini from our garden this year, I decided to give it a try. I made it a couple weeks ago, thinking we would have occasion to eat it, but then plans changed and so I froze it. I took it out yesterday and then frosted it with this delicious coffee/cinnamon frosting. And then I added some fall-ish sprinkles to make it pretty. =) It is a delicious and moist cake and froze really well. 

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon salt 

1 3/4 cups sugar 

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

2 large eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk 

2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (about 2 1/2 medium) 

1 6-ounce package (about 1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips 

3/4 cup chopped walnuts 

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter and flour 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into medium bowl. Beat sugar, butter and oil in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Mix in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions each. Mix in grated zucchini. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts over.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan. 

Frosting

10 Tbsp. softened butter

3 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. cocoa

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2-4 Tbsp. strong coffee

Place ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Beat with the wire whip

attachment, adding coffee 1 T. at a time.  Add more coffee if

necessary.  Frosting should be smooth and able to hold a

swirl with the back of a spoon.

The Old Turned New

Recently I took a skirt I had made a couple years ago and decided to alter it. It was a little hard to get up the courage take it apart for two reasons; 1. the skirt was a part of an outfit that won first place at the fair, and 2. altering it would mean basically taking it all apart, french seams and all, and putting it back together.

I wanted to alter it because I found the last couple years I didn't wear it very much because it was really long and had an elastic waist which I wasn't too fond of.

I took out the elastic and casing and shortened it from the top. I then made a yoke, and added a zipper on the side.

Before

 After

Up close of the waist band.

Chicago - Oct. 23-26th

Dad had a business meeting in Chicago this past Tuesday, and asked if I'd like to go with him. We left on Sunday afternoon and had a delicious dinner at Daddy's favorite steakhouse in Chicago that night.
We had all of Monday to spend together. We went to the top of the John Hancock building (94 floors up), took an architectural tour on the Chicago river, walk  up and down Michigan Ave., enjoyed a hot drink and a pumpkin muffin at Starbucks, and walked through part of the Art Institute of Chicago (which is HUGE). Dad had a short meeting and then a business dinner which I went to with him.
Tuesday Daddy had meetings all day, so I took a train out to Harvard, IL to visit a friend of mine who lives out there. We had a great time walking around and talking at an apple orchard. Later that evening we drove into Chicago with a few of her siblings and another friend of theirs for a Blackhawks hockey game. I'd never been to a real hockey game before, so that was a really fun and exciting adventure.
Wednesday Dad had a half day of meetings and then we walked around downtown Chicago and did a little shopping. Then we took a cab out to the airport and waited around there for a couple hours before our 8:45 flight.
I thoroughly enjoyed spending lots of time with Daddy, just the two of us. We don't get that very often. =) That trip was definitely full of new experiences like taking a taxi, figuring out public transportation, walking around in such a huge city, going to a pro hockey game, and going to a business dinner with Dad. It was all fantastic.
I'm glad to be home now though. I'm looking forward to being home for a long time and not traveling anywhere. =)

Moscow - Oct. 6-15

A couple weeks I spontaneously flew up to Moscow, Idaho to spend 9 days with my siblings at college. Since they were on fall break I got to spend lots of concentrated time with them. I got to meet Caity's new room mates and we spent lots of time talking, shooting, laughing, playing games, watching movies, hanging with friends, going to coffee, painting pottery, playing volleyball, cooking, driving to Spokane and Couer D'Alene, walking, and just sitting on the couch saying nothing and yet everything. It was a wonderful time and such a blessing to be able to go up there and see my best friends, for that really what my siblings are.