These are two pieces of chocolate deliciousness that I made with my daughter and proceeded to have for dessert every night for a week.
This past summer my family celebrated the birthday of our friend Roe by joining a bunch of friends on Shelter Island for an epic celebration that involved kids, a raw bar, corn on the cob, home made pizzas, bbq steak, multiple bottles of tequila, a brilliant sunset, Creedence Clearwater Revival and three (yep, 3) birthday cakes all made by the inimitable Stephanie Mankins.
The cakes were magnificent, and I (of course) begged Stephanie to tell me how to make them. Turns out the recipes had been lovingly passed down from her grandmother, which somehow made the cakes that much more delicious. Especially the chocolate one. True to Ms Mankins’ old school and most excellent ways, my answer came not in the form of an e mail with a link to the recipe, but as a beautifully handwritten recipe card enclosed in an envelope and sent to me via– gasp– the United States Postal Service.
So here it is, in all of it’s glory. This cake is beyond easy to make, and will keep wrapped up on the counter for up to a week. And a beautiful week it was, let me tell you. We snacked and deserted (as in ate desert, not left the premises) like royalty.
ps: By the way, where the recipe says “soda” she means baking soda.
In honor of National Poetry Day (which is today, in case you all missed the memo), please take 5 minutes out and listen to Maya Angelou, one of the most profound poets to come out of this country, if not the world, read her poem “The Mask”. It is words like these which remind us all of what a monumental feat it has been for so many just to hang on to their humanity in this world.
It’s not the best recording, but the combination of watching Angelou’s face and listening to her voice dig deep into this profound subject is well worth the video glitches.
Here are the words:
We wear the mask that grins and lies.
It shades our cheeks and hides our eyes.
This debt we pay to human guile
With torn and bleeding hearts…
We smile and mouth the myriad subtleties.
Why should the world think otherwise
In counting all our tears and sighs.
Nay let them only see us while
We wear the mask.
We smile but oh my God
Our tears to thee from tortured souls arise
And we sing Oh Baby doll, now we sing…
The clay is vile beneath our feet
And long the mile
But let the world think otherwise.
We wear the mask.
When I think about myself
I almost laugh myself to death.
My life has been one great big joke!
A dance that’s walked a song that’s spoke.
I laugh so hard HA! HA! I almos’ choke
When I think about myself.
Seventy years in these folks’ world
The child I works for calls me girl
I say “HA! HA! HA! Yes ma’am!”
For workin’s sake
I’m too proud to bend and
Too poor to break
So…I laugh! Until my stomach ache
When I think about myself.
My folks can make me split my side
I laugh so hard, HA! HA! I nearly died
The tales they tell sound just like lying
They grow the fruit but eat the rind.
Hmm huh! I laugh uhuh huh huh…
Until I start to cry when I think about myself
And my folks and the children.
My fathers sit on benches,
Their flesh count every plank,
The slats leave dents of darkness
Deep in their withered flank.
And they gnarled like broken candles,
All waxed and burned profound.
They say, but sugar, it was our submission
that made your world go round.
There in those pleated faces
I see the auction block
The chains and slavery’s coffles
The whip and lash and stock.
My fathers speak in voices
That shred my fact and sound
They say, but sugar, it was our submission
that made your world go round.
They laugh to conceal their crying,
They shuffle through their dreams
They stepped ’n fetched a country
And wrote the blues in screams.
I understand their meaning,
It could an did derive
From living on the edge of death
They kept my race alive
By wearing the mask! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
For any of you who want to dig deeper, this poem is actually an adaptation of an earlier poem by Paul Lawrence called “We Wear The Mask.” There is a very thoughtful post by Marie-Thérèse O’Loughlin which compares the two works that is well worth reading.
A trowel and a bulb planter. But not just any trowel and bulb planter, no! These are BEAUTIFUL PERFECT tools that will of course yield far superior plants… and eternal happiness, too. (All photos courtesy The Garden Edit)
You know it’s bad when you get an e mail from your husband in which the subject reads “hide your credit card before you open this e mail” (like I sit around with my Amex on my lap or something… but I digress.) Because it turns out, this was very good advice which I am desperately trying to heed by writing about the website he linked to in the aforementioned message, rather than buying things from it.
The site is called The Garden Edit, and it is pure evil because it basically sells a more beautiful version of every garden tool you already have. And some thoughtfully designed books, and some meticulously handmade vases, and some original artwork, and an art journal/magazine all about plants, etc etc. It is based out of England, which may deter some, though it seems they are happy to ship most of the items worldwide. (So much for that excuse.) And the dollar is looking good these days, so now is the time to strike.
Just don’t tell your bank account it was my fault…
And will you just look at these vases by Dana Bechert? I mean, who doesn’t want all of these?
Another beautiful DIY project coming at you from the FreePeopleBlog (via one of Krrb’s Pinterest boards)
Halloween is coming sooner than you think, so now is the time to start getting inspired to craft your kids’ get-ups. Here’s a list of 50 costumes (and how to make them) to get the juices flowing.
Malcom Gladwell preaches the gospel of Fleetwood Mac and how practice really does make perfect.
Going to the Frieze Art Fair next week? Artsy brings together some of the UK’s art world luminaries to create a special guide to London that will help you navigate The Big Smoke like an insider.
And last, but perhaps most importantly, if you haven’t listened to President Obama’s speech right after the recent Oregon mass shooting you should watch it now. And then give a bit of money, sign a petition, make a phone call and, of course, vote in such a way that reasonable gun control becomes a reality in the US, instead of some kind of esoteric joke.
Yesterday, while running some errands in the east village, I looked up and saw Momofuku Noodle Bar across the street. And I am happy to say that I had the good sense to stop in for lunch.
The place was packed, and I was squeezed in between two parties at the bar with basically no place to keep my bag… And yet my Spicy Miso Ramen was so delicious I didn’t mind at all.
The lesson? Always treat yourself to lunch when you can. You will never regret the extra 45ish minutes of relative peace and culinary satisfaction.
___________________________________ Yesterday, at some point is a series of photographs that describe a moment I experienced during the previous day. The posts are meant to be stand alone images, though at times I can’t control myself, and I end up expanding the caption into a more lengthy bit of text. Hopefully the extra information is useful, or at least interesting. If not, feel free to ignore it.
