Julie's Chocolate Euphoria Recipe

I made this for Eva’s first birthday party along with a strawberry cake. We also had three ice cream choices (all Edy’s): Espresso Chip (my favorite!), Vanilla and Double Fudge Brownie.

This recipe can also be found in my book The Tater Tot Casserole Cookbook on Amazon!

Julie's Chocolate Euphoria

You will need:

1 box Devil's food cake mix (including the ingredients needed: eggs, oil, water)
12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/3 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter

Bake cake according to directions. Let cool completely.

Ganache:
Place chocolate chips in a medium-sized bowl.
In saucepan, heat cream and butter until mixture boils.
Pour mixture over chocolate chips and let stand for 30 seconds.
Whisk until smooth.
Let cool for 15-20 minutes

Cake:
Crumble cooled cake into small pieces and put into a large bowl.
Add half the ganache mixture and mix well (it should resemble fudge).
Place in prepared cake pan, press down, and smooth the top.
Freeze for one hour.

Remove cake from freezer, cover top with remaining ganache.

You can put berries on it to make it look pretty or just dig in! 

Make provisions for your small children if you have some still living at home because you will go into a chocolate coma and might be unavailable for a few hours!

A birthday FYI: I did a PowerPoint slideshow for Eva’s birthday with EMF’s song “UnbeliEVAble” (available on request). I also do a birthday letter for each kid for their birthday every single year. I put a copy in a binder, a copy in our fireproof box for the kids to have someday and a copy in my scrapbook.

2026 update: Yeah, I don't do any of that birthday stuff anymore because it got very overwhelming. Be careful what traditions you choose to start when your kids are little because they will come to expect them. And if you have a large family, and if you started having kids when you were older like I did, your brain will start to glitch and you will forget some of the traditions, you'll go into a guilt-spiral, etc. and we don't need that happening!

Originally published 12/8/2008

4/25/26 423

Book Review: No One Cares What You Had for Lunch (100 Ideas for Your Blog)

In the book No One Cares What You Had for Lunch (100 Ideas for Your Blog), Margaret Mason knows her blogging stuff. She ought to: her personal blog, Mighty Girl (www.mightygirl.com) and her shopping blog, Mighty Goods (www.mightygoods.com) draw 50,000 visitors per week combined. This book is broken down into 5 parts:

Fifteen Minutes to Fame — These are ideas for a blog post that should only take about 15 minutes to crank out. One idea is #6: Count your blessings. The author suggests blogging about things that have gone right for you recently, things you are lucky or blessed to have or do or be.

Thirty Minutes Away from the TV — Idea #28 wants you to “imagine you’ve just come into ten million dollars. How do you spend it?”

An Hour at the Screen — Idea #48 wants you to “outline your gravest humiliation.” Blogging about and posting pictures of items you are giving away but need to tell a story about is idea #50, titled “Clean house.”

Tame Your Time — Chronicling a day in your life is Idea #67. What you do all day may actually be interesting to someone else, or at least make them feel better about themselves!

Think Like a Writer — I’m considering trying #81 “Exit the comfort zone.” The author wants bloggers to start saying yes to all kinds of invitations they’d never usually accept. I have found it to be true that the best writing experiences come from things you didn’t want to do (like working a crappy job or attending the party of someone you don’t really like). With 4 kids up my sleeve, experiences get even MORE interesting!

Bottom line: I give it 8 Dove chocolate hearts out of 10

Originally published 10/9/2008

6

Book Review: Who Pooped in the Park?

Back in 2005 my mom and stepdad got the book Who Pooped in the Park? by Gary D. Robson for my kids.

It’s the story of a family on a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The son is afraid he’ll be eaten by a grizzly bear, but his parents explain how there aren’t any grizzly bears left in Colorado. Then the parents take the kids on a hike to teach them how to find out which animals have been there by identifying all kinds of marks, especially scat (POOP!!!).

This is a great book for kids who are interested in nature, hiking or animals. It’s great for boys since it talks about lots of poop!

Bottom line: I give it 9 carrot sticks with some Newman's Own Light Balsamic Vinaigrette since I'm trying to get healthy and am growing a person and all that.

Originally published 2/15/2009

9

Prairie Village Turns 75 in 2026 and Celebrates Big!

 

Flat Stanley's Adventures in Kansas City

Flat Stanley came to me in Peculiar, Missouri, in the mail from Maineville, Ohio. 

I took him about half an hour away (everything fun is at least half an hour away from Peculiar) to Crown Center, where the headquarters for Hallmark Cards is located (you know, like the Hallmark Channel!). He wanted a couple of photos in the main entryway, and also a couple at the restaurant where I went to work while my son was ice skating. 

The restaurant is called Fritz's Railroad Restaurant, and you order your food by using a telephone at your table. Then the food is delivered by a train that goes around the entire restaurant!

It was too late to go to SeaLife Aquarium and Legoland Discovery Center, though.