Hot Fudge Brownie Cake

This cake is super easy and super delicious. I found it on Southern Living, of course. I've made it the normal way and also the cherry and mocha way. I used canned dark cherries instead of frozen ones. I honestly can't pick a version I like best, you should try them all!

Prep: 15 min., Bake: 45 min., Cool: 25 min.
Yield: Makes 8 servings

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Whipped cream or ice cream

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Stir together flour, next 3 ingredients, and 3/4 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl; stir in milk, oil, and vanilla. Spread batter in a lightly greased 8-inch square pan.

2. Combine brown sugar, cocoa, and remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl; sprinkle over batter in pan. Using a spoon, gently drizzle 1 1/2 cups boiling water over batter, being careful not to disturb layers. (Do not stir.)

3. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a cake layer forms on top and layer springs back when touched. Let cool on a wire rack 25 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Chocolate-Cherry Pudding Cake: Thaw 1 (12-oz.) package frozen dark, sweet, pitted cherries; drain. Pat cherries dry with paper towels. Prepare recipe as directed through Step 2, gently sprinkling cherries over batter in pan. Proceed with recipe as directed.

Mocha Pudding Cake: Substitute hot freshly brewed coffee for boiling water. Proceed with recipe as directed.

Save the Dates, Part II

A lot of old Posh Purpose readers remember my strongly held opinion that Save the Dates are a waste of money. Of course, I wrote that article before I was engaged and, more importantly, planning a wedding for 12/1/12. Oh how the mighty have fallen..

Since my wedding is two Saturdays after Thanksgiving and right at the beginning of the Christmas party season, I have resigned myself to Save the Dates. I figure it is important that J's guests have a heads up since my hometown is technically a vacation destination. Those elderly golfing people eat up the hotel rooms like crazy, so all the out of town guests will have to plan far in advance if they don't want acres of cow pastures separating their hotel rooms from the church.

I want something fun and Florida, so that the out of town guests understand that shorts and flip flops are appropriate attire for the Florida Christmas season. I really like the idea of these cards that my mom found. So cute!

We will be sending out Save the Dates probably in June to give all the out of town people ample time to figure out accommodations. However, I still maintain that Save the Dates are definitely an area to cut to save money, assuming you aren't planning a wedding right in the middle of holiday season.

Nails!

I'm currently obsessed with nail polish. Ever since I graduated from MIT, I have felt liberated and free. Thus I spend my time painting my nails. It is a past time I enjoyed when I was little, right up until MIT took away my life. Now that I have reclaimed my life (along with a very pretty diploma), I have dedicated myself to having fun nails. You can have fun nails, too! Even better, you can have them without going to the salon all the time.

J is so awesome. I mentioned to him that I needed glitter for my nails, and he surprised me with a ton. More recently, I said I needed a really thin paint brush to do little designs. J decided to drop by a store on his way back from work the other day to pick one up for me! So today, I did my nails :)

I used Already Famous Sephora by OPI for the base color, and my little brush plus Patent Leather by Revlon for the little heart on my ring finger. I thought it was particularly appropriate since J got me the brush. Again, sorry for the low quality images: Photo Booth.

I cropped out my arm with my amazing photo editing skills

I took my really skinny brush and dipped it carefully into the black polish. I did not put too much on the brush at first, because I wanted to outline my heart without worrying about polish dripping everywhere. After I got the outline right, I put a bit more polish on my tiny brush and dabbed gently along the outline to get a thick solid heart. It was actually pretty easy, but I doubt I could do it with my left hand to my right.

Close up of the heart - I used Picasa to improve this
image slightly

I considered doing more designs, but I think Melinda has actually been getting through to me. I suppose sometimes, less is more.. I'm not entirely convinced, though, and may break out the glitter later tonight :D

Wedding Tip Wednesday: Go to San Francisco!

OK, so this isn't exactly a wedding tip...this is a life tip.  You absolutely must go to San Fran and while you are at it drive down Route 1 to Santa Cruz.  You might have noticed that I've been a little absent from the blog this week, that's because I've been on business out in beautiful California!  While I am a Southern Girl through and through, I find myself dreaming of relocation and I'm very tempted by the Bay area, gorgeous coastline, yummy sour dough bread, and perfect weather.  Mr. 3 is not as enthusiastic about my love for California and is eagerly waiting for my return to East Coast civilization....

When you do eventually wind up in San Francisco, make sure to check out the insane seven floors of the Macy's department store (including two floors devoted to home goods and registry) and the four floors of the Williams Sonoma (the two registry meccas are conveniently located across the street from one another).  They have EVERYTHING and because I was able to spend a little time over the weekend at both stores, I was able to 1) confirm my choice of crystal stemware and 2) reject my initial casual china choice (it wasn't available for me to see at any of the stores in DC).

I'll be back to blogging next week...although, I must say Briana is doing a great job manning the ship solo while I've been off in a different time zone, don't you think?

Fur Coats

While my mother was in the process of convincing me to go to MIT, she promised me a fur coat to combat my arguments that Boston was just far too cold for human existence. I was right, by the way. Anyway, we eventually got around to picking out a coat last Christmas. Fur is very expensive in department stores, so I will let you in on my secret: Ebay! 

I spent a lot of time reading through posts and figuring out dimensions and sizes with a measuring tape, but I found one that I absolutely love. There are a few things you should consider when buying a used fur coat. First of all, has it been stored well? I.e. no smokers, and cats are generally a bad sign as well. You don't want your coat having a funky odor! Also look for items that still have supple skins, meaning it bends easily and is not stiff. As fur gets older, the skin part gets tougher. The toughness can be prevented by having the coat conditioned regularly, but most people do not do so for their coats. You also want to avoid coats that have bare patches or "fuzzy" fur, meaning not sleek, silky and soft. 

Before starting your Ebay search, you should get an idea of what type of fur you want. Different animals give you different looks and insulation. Fox is very fluffy and warm (I love mine!). Mink has shorter hairs, but it is also very thick and very soft. Do some research on types, lengths and colors before jumping into Ebay. Otherwise, you risk becoming overwhelmed!

I am very impatient and prefer instantaneous gratification, so I only buy things on Ebay with a "buy it now" option. While I realize this kind of defeats the point of Ebay, I don't care. I bet you will have even more great coat options if you look at the bidding posts as well. Either way, Ebay is a great alternative to stores when in search for fur.