Monday, September 15, 2008

Tunnel of Fudge Cake



Growing up this is the cake I would beg to have for my birthday. I don't know if this is a recipe my aunt created or just one that she introduced to us. This is still my most favorite cake, but one of the main ingredients stopped being made by the two companies that made it. I think it has been about 20 years since I have been able to have my Tunnel of Fudge Cake. I found the key ingredient made now by another company, and gave the recipe a whirl.


Here is the recipe:

Tunnel of Fudge Cake from S. Lowe

Beat until fluffy 1 1/2 c. butter
Beat in 1 1/2 c. sugar
Beat in 6 eggs (one at a time)
Then BY HAND stir in:
2 c. flour
2 c. chopped walnuts (pecans are yummy too!)
1 pkg. (dry) Fudge Frosting Mix (Sweet N Low makes one)
Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes in a greased angel food pan (the middle should be fudge like so the regular method of checking for doneness doesn't work).
Let cool in the pan for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
This is seriously the yummiest cake ever!
Cooling in the pan.....

Look at the yummy fudge in the middle...

Friday, September 5, 2008

Human Slinkey?

So a week ago I was carrying S down the stairs, I know I shouldn't be carrying him, but he was poopy and I didn't have any diapers upstairs and I didn't want him scooting down the stairs and risk a gross mess. I stopped about 3 steps down when B started to ask me a question and next thing I knew I had lost my balance. I felt myself falling forward so I threw my weight backward to steady myself but I guess I threw too much because I ended up with my left leg getting crumpled under me and going down about 6 or 7 stairs still holding S. I was in immediate pain and and crying. S was scared from the fall and from my crying, but he was OK. My knee and ankle were all red and starting to swell.

I somehow managed to change S's diaper and get Little J and B out the door to school. I then called my friend/neighbor over to help me. I was in so much pain I couldn't think straight so I needed her to help me figure out what to do. I sent a quick email to J letting him know, just in case I had to contact him later through the American Red Cross, I didn't want him freaking out.

My friend discovered that one of our other neighbors was heading to the hospital in Provo (this hospital has a really good NICU just in case there was something wrong with the baby). We got to the ER about 10:15 AM and was finally seen about 11:30 AM. They gave me some percocet (sp?) at noon and I got an x-ray about 12:45 PM. They came in and told me nothing was broken and splinted my ankle about 1:30 PM. Somewhere in there they used a Doppler to listen to the baby's heart beat, and pronounced her fine since the heart rate was about 140 per min. I put in a call to my OB to see if he thought I should go to Labor and Delivery to double check. She was moving a lot and I didn't have any cramping or bleeding, but I was having contractions, and I couldn't be 100% sure I didn't bump my belly in the fall. My Dr told me to go to Labor and Delivery after the ER discharged me and he ordered a non-stress test as well as an ultra sound.

I made it to Labor and Delivery at about 2:00 PM and was feeling quite loopy, but could still feel the pain in my ankle. The started the non-stress test and were concerned that she wasn't moving a whole lot and her heart rate was a little lower. I told them that the ER gave me meds so they scheduled my ultra sound and decided to do the non-stress test while we waited for my turn for the ultra sound.

By the time I got to have my ultra sound (about 3:00 PM) the drugs were starting to wear off. The technician said everything looked good and gave me a few pictures from the ultrasound. Then another person came in reviewed what she had done and looked at some other things to determine that there wasn't a big tear or bleeding in or around the uterus. They called my DR and told him what they found. My Dr then ordered a 4 hour non-stress test. This test started about 3:30 PM and I wasn't actually released until about 8:15 PM with my Dr, the nurses and myself confident that all was OK. I didn't get home until almost 9:30 PM and was completely exhausted. I wasn't able to sleep when I was in the hospital because I was in pain the the beds were so uncomfortable.

I don't have any pictures of my ankle, but here are the pictures I received from the ultra sound.



This is a profile shot of her face.

Another profile.

Her sweet little foot!