1930s Era Chocolate Cake

I found this recipe on Pinterest (the website is here: http://tastycheapskate.blogspot.ca/2011/01/wacky-cake.html) and pinned it immediately because I wanted to try it. I was especially intrigued because it was something my sister can eat, as it has no eggs, no milk and no butter. It's even more intriguing because you don't mix it in a bowl first, you do it right in the pan!

When you have a toddler, the less cleanup of things like dishes, the better.


2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
6 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (I used about half)
2 cups warm water
2/3 cups canola oil
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a 9x13 inch pan, mix all dry ingredients. Then add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly, until you have something that looks like this:

Bake in a 350F oven for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely and frost. You can use the frosting that's included on the website I got the recipe from, or you can do what I did and use a jar of betty crocker frosting.

The cake is VERY moist and chocolaty. I'm actually not a huge fan and probably won't be making it often. I kind of felt like I could taste the vinegar, and I didn't like that at all. I wonder if it would be possible to omit the vinegar from the recipe...

Homemade Lemonade

Something Alex has been doing lately is making lemonade. And OMG it's good. I think it's something from like the 1930s or thereabouts, but yeah. So easy, so good, and like with everything you make from scratch, you control what's in it.

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
5 whole cloves
1/3 of a cinnamon stick
2 tbsp zested lemon rind
1 cup lemon juice

1. In a pot, put all ingredients except for the lemon juice. Bring it to a boil and boil down about half.

2. Add the lemon juice, boil down again, this time about one quarter.

3. Strain and then let cool.

4. Pour yourself a glass of ginger ale (or water) with some ice. Add 2 tbsp of the syrup to the glass, stir and enjoy!

*The picture has the syrup itself, and what it looks like in a glass of ginger ale, which is my preferred way of drinking it.