Chocolate

Sunday, October 17th was the first annual Bentabulous Day.

My mom's side of the family is addicted to chocolate, pretty much every one of us. Last week my cousin was saying how much she wanted to make a chocolate cake. For some reason, she felt she needed a reason to make a cake. So, we came up with a reason, Bentabulous Day!

I made a cake called the 15-minute Chocolate Cake. The recipe has been requested, so here it is! It was delicious. I will definitely be making it again, soon.

1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola or light olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
powdered sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 10 inch round cake pan. (I used cupcake tins)

2. In a large bowl, stir the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined. Add the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla to the flour mixture and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. With the mixer on low, beat in the water; the batter will be thin.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Unmold onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar and cut into edges to serve.

(Apparently, unmold is not a word, it keeps getting underlined by spell check!:)

Enjoy! Next time I will take pictures to post!

Recently

Monday was a national holiday here in Japan. Our mission family gathered at "Red Eye 48 Falls" for a time of hiking and enjoying God's creation and each others' company. It was a beautiful day!












Jonah found a crab!

Hiking and lunch were followed by a rehearsal for the Franklin Graham Festival next weekend. Then, after seeing Yuri off at Umeda station, I decided to grab a little supper before heading home. As I left the restaurant, I heard someone singing in English-wait, singing Gospel! So, I followed the music and found a group doing a street concert. Since it was night the pictures are dark. I also took a little video with my camera. I thought of it half way through "Oh Happy Day"! (It looks like the video may not work. Sorry if it doesn't. You can still get an idea from the picture, I think:)





As I was leaving the gal who had been standing next to me started talking to me. She is a recent university graduate who does concert promotions. I told her about the Franklin Graham Festival and she asked for a flyer.

Great day!

BTW, I am listening to Christmas music right now!