As Told By Molly

This weekend our cars devised a plot to both have brake downs within twelve hours of each other. Uncool. This put a little damper on our weekend plans. Gratefully my in-laws lent us their car while Olen used his mechanical genius to bring our cars back to life.

Saturday after having a good time with Clar and Kristen showing them houses in Laveen (this girl works hard for the money), the kiddies and I got to hang out in Mesa with Nana and Papa and watch them reseed their lawn. Porter was having so much fun playing in the old hen house with Aubrey, so Elle and I dashed over to watch Bethany and Chase's engagement picture photo shoot. It made me so excited for our upcoming family pictures that I had to go out and get our new picture duds that night. Kohl's was having a killer sale so I went and scored big time. I spied an awesome $50 dress on the clearance rack {the place I go to first} and after all my discounts I scored it for - drum roll please - $2.75! Ha! So I wore my new dress to church the next day. Too bad I didn't take any pictures. I totally rocked that two-seventy-five dress in a fifty-dollar way.

Sunday evening we got to host the monthly Reynolds FHE and potluck. Aren't potlucks the best? I don't think they get the credit they deserve. I mean, c'mon, you only have to make one dish but you get to enjoy the whole meal. I believe a lot of world peace would occur if we just looked at life like one big potluck.

My one dish was the dessert. Olen made homemade ice cream (from milking Peter we get a lot of cream around here) and I made Big Mama Lou's Texas Sheet Cake. It's pretty much the best food there is. I had some for breakfast already. And I'll probably have some for lunch, too. It's that good. It's my mother's recipe and a sure crowd pleaser. Here's the how-to so you can go please your crowd today.

Big Mama Lou's Texas Sheet Cake

2c sugar

2c flour

1/4c cocoa

1T cinnamon

1T chili powder (my own rendition)

1c melted butter

1c warm water

2 eggs

1/2c butter milk

1t baking soda

Pour butter over mixed sugar, flour,cocoa, cinnamon and chili powder in large mixing bowl. Mix till combined. Dissolve baking soda in milk and set aside. Add water and eggs and mix well. Add milk and soda mixture. I use the whip attachment and whip till smooth. Whip it good. Pour into greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Allow to cool for ten to fifteen minutes then frost. The secret to a really moist cake is to frost it while still a little warm.

Frosting

1/2c melted butter

1/4c cocoa

1 bag powder sugar

milk as needed

Pour melted butter over mixed cocoa and 2 cups sugar. Mix till combined. Continue to add sugar and milk till desired consistency is reached. Family favorite add ins: mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, walnuts or pecans, toffee bits...anything.

Shown here with mini marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles (meant as an ice cream topping) frosting.