Company Chocolate Cake

We had out-of-state guests visit on very short notice this past week. I baked a three-layer cake using two Duncan Hines cake mixes. This was my shortcut, but I always make my own buttercream frosting. Here's the easy recipe:

1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened

2 pounds powdered sugar (2 boxes)

powdered baking chocolate

hot water and vanilla

Beat the butter until very soft. Slowly add the sugar alternately with hot water until it is the consistency you want. Add the powdered chocolate to the desired shade of chocolate. Finally, add about 2 teaspoons of vanilla.

My little dessert forks are part of a silver plated set I scored from a garage sale. They happen to be monogrammed with our last name initial!

Valentine Pinks

Cottage Magpie has a Valentine invitation on her blog for readers to post some "pinks" from their homes. The top photo shows a cute new little pillow I found for five dollars followed by a photo of one of a pair of chairs in our great room. The next photo displays a doll dish plate belonging to my mother's set (circa 1933), a reproduction sampler I cross-stitched, a small rose creamer, and a teapot from Portugal I found at a garage sale for two dollars. In the bottom photo is a quilt I hand appliqued and quilted over 20 years ago.