After being on "vacation" (do you still call it a vacation after you retire?) in CA for several weeks, I have had a number of readjustments to try to make. The biggest and hardest one is the time change. CA is two hours behind us since they are in the Pacific time zone and except for eating, I generally stayed on central time zone time while we were gone. It wasn't by choice, I just found myself sleepy at 9 PST and couldn't stay awake. That was actually midnight "back home" and I don't usually stay up that late. I thought after it panned out that way that I wouldn't have much adjustment being back home. The only problem is four days after we got back, we had to move the clocks forward an hour because of daylight savings time. I have more trouble with DST in the spring when we move the clocks ahead an hour than I do in the fall when we fall back. For as long as I can remember, it has usually taken me a week to get used to the "new" time.
Another adjustment I was hoping I wouldn't have to make was the temperature change. When we planned our trip to CA, I thought since we were getting back in March, that spring would have come to MO. That wasn't the case though. At least so far we haven't had any more snow. It has really been a rough February. It has been a little rough in CA also with temperatures at least 10 degrees below average and more rainfall than average. Friends in CA were shivering with the temperatures, while we were "almost" basking in the sun. It is all relative!
I thought I had signed up to "work" at the thrift shop before we left and so Sunday afternoon I started looking to see what I could make and take to the thrift shop yesterday for the volunteers. This is the second week in the month and I can't go in on my normal Tuesday morning because of our Blankets of Hope quilting meeting at the church. The second week I will volunteer on Monday because Wednesday is "Wacky Wednesday" and clothes are 50% off and I prefer not to work that busy, sometimes crazy, day. I found a recipe, made it Sunday afternoon, set the alarm Sunday night when I went to bed to make sure I would be up in time, and then went in Monday morning and saw that I had not signed up for any times in March. The good news other than everyone raving about the dessert, is those of us who work at the registers are creatures of habit, and since Jack and I had not signed up to work, Kelly who said she usually works 2nd or 3rd shifts, signed up to work. So we had three registers covered as Jack showed up also.
I know I don't usually "blab" so long, but if you knew me personally you know it takes me forever to tell a story. I do have an exceptional dessert so I hope you have stayed with me. Monday I shared Jan's Chocolate Kahlua Cake which my husband Wayne proclaimed at the best chocolate cake he has ever eaten. Well, Monday night when he finally got around to eating the piece I saved for him, he said it was the second best chocolate cake he had ever eaten. (It doesn't have any strong coffee in it which enhances the chocolate flavor so I told him that was probably why it wasn't quite as chocolaty as Jan's cake.)
If you follow my blog, you know I often make changes/substitutions in original recipes when I actually prepare them. I would have used a sugar-free devil's food cake mix if I were making the dessert for just us. I also usually substitute dark (60%) cacao chips for semisweet ones. I did do that when I made it. I didn't have a 10 - ounce jar of maraschino cherries so I opened my 16 - ounce jar and took the cherries out weighing them to get 10 ounces. Well, would you believe it took the whole jar of cherries to weigh 10 ounces? It did! I was really surprised. As I quartered the cherries, I placed them in a measuring cup. When they measured 1 cup, I decided I would stop. I don't know if I had too many or not enough. If you have a 10 - ounce jar, I would use just it. The next time I have a 10 - ounce jar, I will cut the cherries into fourths and measure how much it makes.
Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.
BURIED CHERRY BARS
1 jar (10 ounces) maraschino cherries (I had a larger jar and cut up cherries to measure 1 cup)
1 package devil's food cake mix (could use a sugar-free one)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used 60% cacao chips)
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or spray a 9 x 13 - inch baking pan.
Drain cherries reserving 2 tablespoons juice. Cut cherries into quarters.
Combine cake mix, butter, egg, and almond extract in large mixing bowl,
blending well. Batter will be thick.
Stir in cherries.
Spread batter in prepared pan.
Combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in small saucepan.
Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate melts.
Stir in reserved cherry juice .
Spread chocolate mixture over cake mixture in pan.
Sprinkle with pecans.
Bake 35 minutes or until center is firm to the touch.
Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
Cut into squares to serve. Keep covered.
Another adjustment I was hoping I wouldn't have to make was the temperature change. When we planned our trip to CA, I thought since we were getting back in March, that spring would have come to MO. That wasn't the case though. At least so far we haven't had any more snow. It has really been a rough February. It has been a little rough in CA also with temperatures at least 10 degrees below average and more rainfall than average. Friends in CA were shivering with the temperatures, while we were "almost" basking in the sun. It is all relative!
I thought I had signed up to "work" at the thrift shop before we left and so Sunday afternoon I started looking to see what I could make and take to the thrift shop yesterday for the volunteers. This is the second week in the month and I can't go in on my normal Tuesday morning because of our Blankets of Hope quilting meeting at the church. The second week I will volunteer on Monday because Wednesday is "Wacky Wednesday" and clothes are 50% off and I prefer not to work that busy, sometimes crazy, day. I found a recipe, made it Sunday afternoon, set the alarm Sunday night when I went to bed to make sure I would be up in time, and then went in Monday morning and saw that I had not signed up for any times in March. The good news other than everyone raving about the dessert, is those of us who work at the registers are creatures of habit, and since Jack and I had not signed up to work, Kelly who said she usually works 2nd or 3rd shifts, signed up to work. So we had three registers covered as Jack showed up also.
I know I don't usually "blab" so long, but if you knew me personally you know it takes me forever to tell a story. I do have an exceptional dessert so I hope you have stayed with me. Monday I shared Jan's Chocolate Kahlua Cake which my husband Wayne proclaimed at the best chocolate cake he has ever eaten. Well, Monday night when he finally got around to eating the piece I saved for him, he said it was the second best chocolate cake he had ever eaten. (It doesn't have any strong coffee in it which enhances the chocolate flavor so I told him that was probably why it wasn't quite as chocolaty as Jan's cake.)
If you follow my blog, you know I often make changes/substitutions in original recipes when I actually prepare them. I would have used a sugar-free devil's food cake mix if I were making the dessert for just us. I also usually substitute dark (60%) cacao chips for semisweet ones. I did do that when I made it. I didn't have a 10 - ounce jar of maraschino cherries so I opened my 16 - ounce jar and took the cherries out weighing them to get 10 ounces. Well, would you believe it took the whole jar of cherries to weigh 10 ounces? It did! I was really surprised. As I quartered the cherries, I placed them in a measuring cup. When they measured 1 cup, I decided I would stop. I don't know if I had too many or not enough. If you have a 10 - ounce jar, I would use just it. The next time I have a 10 - ounce jar, I will cut the cherries into fourths and measure how much it makes.
Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.
BURIED CHERRY BARS
1 jar (10 ounces) maraschino cherries (I had a larger jar and cut up cherries to measure 1 cup)
1 package devil's food cake mix (could use a sugar-free one)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used 60% cacao chips)
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
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