A Chocolate Fix

I found this great recipe for a chocolate lava cake. You make it in a mug and cook it in the microwave for less than a minute. Mixing this up is so easy. I'm WARNING you though, you might find yourself making this too often. It's great for when you are really craving something chocolaty and homemade.

Try it you'll love it!!!!!
INSTANT CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE
2 T. sugar
2 T. flour
2 T. cocoa pwdr
1/4 tsp. Baking pwdr
3 T. (soy)milk
1 T. oil
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1 heaping T. of choco chips
1.In a mug, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa and baking pwdr until well mixed. Add milk, oil and vanilla, whisking just until smooth and no lumps. Add choco chips and mix a little more.
2.Place the mug in the microwave and start with about 40 secs (my micro is 900 watts and it takes about 5o secs). The exact time will depend on your microwave. The cake is still cooking for a while so let it sit for about 5 minutes. This is really good with ice cream.

Microwave Cake

I tried to microwave a cake in my new silicone cake pan and it worked out great. Bonus was that it only took about 9-10 minutes. It looked so nice Olivia said we should show it on our blog.

Olivia and William are always excited to share my successes in the kitchen. I do like to experiment and it isn't always to their liking so it's nice to see them this excited. You can never be sure what I'm going to do next. But I always try to keep things interesting. Microwave cake was one of my more successful baking adventures.

Happy 14th Birthday William

William had an amazing B-day weekend. He had his two friends come and visit from out of town. They spent the time just hanging out playing video games and just doing the boy thing. They arrived Friday the 26th of March evening and William B. left Sunday morning and Austin left Monday evening. I didn't take pictures but the boys went bowling which they mostly sucked at. William B. got the hightest score and sadly the birthday boy had the lowest. They also went to see the movie How to Train your Dragon which they said was awesome.

It was awesome hanging out with his buds. And now with summer coming they will be able to get together more often. It's hard to believe that he is 14 already the time is going so fast. William is a great kid who loves to read and play video games all day if I'd let him. Sadly I'm a mean mom. He's very keen on these Keva planks that we played with in San Diego so I'm ordering him some. Check'em out!!

Random Things

How great that it is now Spring. The snow has disappeared and left the ground bare and yellow and the trees naked waiting for spring buds. This past weekend we have enjoyed such warm weather that we know that summer is on its way. We are all filled with hope.
As I looked through my pictures that were downloaded I just couldn't help noticing the silly ones that Olivia and William often take. I wanted to share some of them with you hoping to bring you a chuckle or at least a smile.




The Epic Doll

I had the most amazing time in California. It was such a gift to be with my little sister Cheryl. It seemed that we went some where different everyday. The weather was wonderful especially because we were coming from snowy Montreal. For two weeks I got to wear capris and flip flops in February!!! I can never thank my mom and Jasmine enough for this time we had to be together. They were there for the first week with us as we crazily visited all these places. We were able to stay for another week and still Gary and Cheryl had us doing so many things. I was just happy to be able to be with them especially Madison, Sydney, Thys and Kendall. These have to be the most adorable kids. Madison so sweet and motherly, welcomed her cousins with open arms. Sydney she's so crazy and she loved William - a little too much. Thys always has a smile on his face weather he's behaving or up to no good. I just wanted to squeeze Kendall she's so adorable and loves her mom so much. Kendall gave me more than hugs though because I came back to Montreal I brought her cold. So here are some more pictures of our time in California.
The San Diego Temple was so beautiful. Families are forever!

Then we visited this amazing Children's Science museum in San Diego where the children could actually participate in the experiments.


On both days we visited the Disney parks we wore our Canadian Olympic t-shirts. The Olympics were happening right then. It was so cool we stuck out and a lot of people commented positively. It was also great because we could see each other really easily.

As you can see in this next photo I need a better camera. This is grandma Snyder in Minnie or Mickey's house. She's eyeing all their cleaning supplies and thinking about how she can get her next job to be in Toontown.

How exciting to pick our own oranges. If you look back in our blog you will see that we went apple picking not too long ago. How cool is this!


One of the best places we visited was Newport beach. Again the weather was perfect and because it was February there were not the crowds.


And then after a walk on the pier we had some ice cold Lemonade. Thanks Uncle Gary it was delish!


I am so blessed to have such wonderful family that live in these great places to visit. I love making memories like this. I'm so looking forward to having Cheryl and Gary bring their family to Quebec and visit us. I really miss them. Thanks Grandma and Jasmine. We love you.

Olivia's Day at Disneyland

Disneyland was awesome. It was better than any amusement park I've ever been to. My favorite ride was probably Indiana Jones and Autotopia. In Indiana Jones it looks like a big boulder is going to crush you and just when you think you might go backwards the ride takes you right for the boulder. In the last second you go under and barely miss being flattened. Autotopia you get to drive your own car. Jasmine came with me but let me drive. I wasn't very good at first but then I got the hang of it. It's a good thing I have to wait six years to get my learners permit. William on the other hand didn't even know you had to steer and he was bumping all over the place. It looked so funny to see us all driving.



I liked downtown Disney with all its stores. I got a Mickey ears hat with my name stitched on it. We stayed all day until it closed and our feet were so sore from walking and waiting in lines. But at the end of the day just before leaving we ran into Mickey and Minnie and I got their autographs. I would love to visit Disneyland again and this time bring my Dad.


Another great thing that we did on this Californian vacation was go and visit the American Girl store. Thank you Aunty Cheryl for driving all us girls to LA to see this store. I have the Samantha doll and even though they no longer carry this doll I was able to get her some great new clothes. Grandma bought Sydney, Madison and I AG t-shirts with matching doll shirts. The store is huge and it even has a doll hair salon and restaurant where you can eat with your doll. I'll always have fond memories of visiting the American Girls store with my cousins.

William's CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE 2010

The day after we arrived in California. We went to "California Adventure". It was awesome. We were there with our cousins and Jasmine and Grandma Snyder. All day we went on ride after ride. The weather was perfect and the line ups weren't that bad. Some of my favorite rides were the new Toy Story, California Souring,and Tower of Terror. I also went on the roller coaster "California Screamin" it was intense. There was no slow start your roller car was rocketed from the very beginning. My mom even went on it even though she had her eyes closed most of the way. Olivia, Madison and I went on it twice.





California Adventure and Disney were so incredible because of the detail in all the areas and rides it really is a world of its own. Thank you Aunty Cheryl and Uncle Gary for taking us to these great places and letting us stay at your home and also for introducing me to O'Hanna. You have to go there for me - I miss it sooooo much. I also want to thank my sister Jasmine and Grandma Snyder for this great adventure.