Dessert and a Coke, Please!

Can you say *heaven*? How about *chocolate heaven*? Let's all take a moment and revere at the above picture of chocolate heaven. Thanks to Marjie at Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet, we experienced said glory today in the form of a splendid Chocolate Roll. Check out Marjie's post for ingredients and instructions on how to make this baby. Marjie's called for coffee to create a Mocha Roll; I went for the straight up chocolate flavor. It's a unique combo of textures with the cake portion being actually very light, and the cream filling ... well, it's cream, so it's dreamy and rich. This rolled up little giver of joy served as hubby man's birthday cake, and let me tell you, he was a happy birthday boy when he got his chocolate fix. The man is so transparent ... feed him chocolate and he thinks I'm a goddess. Oh, and it's gluten free, too, so little miss had her first baked dessert in long, long time. Hallelujah! Thanks, Marjie!

Actually, tonight's birthday meal was derived from multiple online and blog posts. Let me tell ya, the kitchen smelled awesome! We had a Mexican Fiesta of pork tamales, beef tacos, and Mexican Rice. Salad, salsa, and an assortment of toppings rounded out the meal. The garden contributed cilantro and I got such a thrill just stepping outside to pick what I needed. Check out Homesick Texan's recipe for Mexican Rice. It was soooo yummy! My oldest daughter commented on how many new things we are eating now! Yep, the world is my teacher, babe.

Along those lines, several days ago, I read on Homesick Texan's site a post about Dr. Pepper. I didn't know that folks in Texas liked to put peanuts in their Dr. Pepper! I guess there is a tiny town that still processes making Dr. Pepper with real cane sugar. The ensuing conversation talked about how folks are seeking out and ordering Coke products that are made with real cane sugar. One catch ... they are bottled in Mexico and hard to find in the States. Fast forward to this past weekend where I'm wielding my gigantic spaceship of a cart through Costco and low and behold what do I see? A HUGE display of imported Coke made with real cane sugar. A case of glass bottles no less. Hmm ... what do you think I did? Oh yeah, I muscled that huge, hefty case into my cart. Just look at that little bottled beauty. Isn't it cute? The bottles are small, like what they used to sell in those decades old vending machines where you reached in and had to pull out the bottle. Remember how on the side of the vending machine, there was a built-in bottle opener with a little hopper underneath to catch the lids? The bottles were only $.10 then ... okay, I better stop before I launch into walking to school, uphill, in a winter blizzard .....




I've got to tell you ... this stuff tastes pretty good! It's not as fizzy as regular "Coke", and the taste is both familiar and new. You can definitely tell there is sugar in it. My kids were fascinated watching me use a bottle opener. They live in a world of twist off caps for everything, so this crinkled metal thing sealing the bottle was oh so interesting. Thus my offspring got a lesson in using that old fashioned, had to dig around the utensil drawer to find it, hand held bottle opener. Limber up those wrists, children, I've got an almost full case yet to go!