Monday, May 10, 2010

5 Minute Chocolate Tires.


A delicious aspect of homeschooling is that, on occasion, one can sleep in until 11:30 and stay in one's pajamas until past noon, and better yet, decide to eschew the normal book work, handwriting practice, and paper crafts and decide to... bake cake instead. Today was that day for me.

Of course, this is The UNlikely. That means it won't turn out the way I imagined it in my head. That's the way it goes.

After much deliberation and a serendipitous encounter with a Facebook page devoted to the 5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake, I told Micah that today's lesson was very special. Home Economics is special. Cake is special. Chocolate is special. And a 5 minute lesson is special. Go us!

First, we assembled the ingredients:
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Micah added all the dry ingredients and stirred.

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meanwhile, I moved the almost-crawling wiggly baby from her escape path
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and back on to her play mat. "I a goo girl, Mama. I stay where put... "
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Micah was still busy stirring.
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We added the egg. "It looks like a juicy eyeball, Mommy!"
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We dumped in the milk and vanilla extract, and Micah stirred it without too much mess. I added some mini marshmallows on top, just for good measure.
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I forgot to time our endeavor. All of that should have taken two minutes, according to the 5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake gurus.

We put the mug in the microwave and set it for 3 minutes. During those three minutes I...
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...put away the ingredients
... Said "not yet" three times to the question, "Is it done yet?"
...Sliced a strawberry for my soon-to-be delicious chocolate cake
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... Picked up the baby and put her in her high chair with a toy
... Picked up the toy she threw down 4 times
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The microwave dinged. Micah and I cautiously opened the door to see...
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...Uh. OK, not what I expected.

Maybe if I put it out onto the plate it will look more appetizing?
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Excuse me, but I think someone's pet Martian defecated on my china-ware.

OK, if I cut it in half and put pretty red strawberries on it...
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It'll still kind of look like poop.

Annabelle is disgusted. Micah is intrigued and tempted by the chocolate.
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So he decides to eat the strawberry part first.
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And the rest can only be said with pictures.

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I commend my boy for tasting it. He insists it tasted good. I dubiously tasted a corner of it, and Andrew Zimmern critiqued my cake in my head: "MM-hmm. Rubbery. Semi-truck tires with just a hint of chocolate. Fantastic."

And so yet again, the UNlikely hits my latest project. It isn't pretty. It's barely edible. I documented the process diligently and ... am still unpopular.