Failure, Meatloaf, and Perfect Chocolate Cake

I'm feeling lazy; it's been a long day with lots of cooking. Two thirds of my attempts were scrumptious.. the third, not so much. BUT I did buy my first vanilla bean today; I shall hopefully use it tomorrow. I've decided not to retype any of the recipes as I followed them exactly.

So I was super excited to make these garlic rolls; I love garlic and I love bread so HELLO awesome recipe to try right? Well, mine DID not look like the photo. I knew something was up when my dough did not rise at all during the set rising time. But, I soldiered on and continued.. They didn't rise at all during the baking. I talked to my mom, and she said she's never seen a recipe that didn't call for dissolving the yeast in liquid before adding it to everything else (disregarding bread machines). Also, there could have been a slight issue with the conversions.. but oh well. Perhaps I'll tweak the recipe and try again. However, mine were edible (though hard) and really didn't taste phenomenally garlicky. I'll tweak that as well. Good idea though. These are my sad results; most of the rolls fell apart, having never joined spheres... Sadness..


Okay. So, I was raised with the whole "meatloaf is disgusting and a horrible idea" mantra. My mom NEVER made meatloaf that I can remember. I avoided it at school... I just never ate it until about a year ago. I was curious and hubby likes it. It really wasn't that bad, though nothing I think I would ever write home about. There are much more fun things to make than a loaf of meat. BUT then I came across this meatloaf recipe. It's turkey (I've discovered I really enjoy cooking with turkey!) I might not have double-glazed it, but that's just me being picky about sauces. Pretty tasty; like it says with the original recipe, this can turn a lover to a hater. (Of course, I served it with mashed potatoes and peas...which should be mixed together!)


Now the fun part of the evening came when my friend let me know she was craving warm, chocolate cake. Me, being the crazy that I am, immediately offered to make her one. And who in their right mind would turn away fresh, warm, homemade chocolate cake, especially when craving it? It took awhile to narrow down the recipe choices. I had two that I flitted between for awhile, but one mandated being served warm. Since she didn't get off work til 1 am, I figured I should go with the second cake. It's someone's grandma's Hershey Chocolate Cake. It's a lighter, cakier cake than some chocolate cakes can be, but the icing on top makes it super-sweet and chocolatey. The recipe calls for pouring the hot icing over the hot cake, which resulted in sizzling bubbles around the edges. See?


Anyway. This cake is like crack. I'm going to have to bring it to work tomorrow so I don't eat it all myself and gain 500 pounds in a night. So simple and so good.


Also, I had the tastiest hot cross bun today from Panera. I always imagined hot cross buns had raisins in them.. These did not; instead they had candied oranges and strawberries. AMAZING. I have never had strawberries baked into anything. The bun itself was sweet and slightly cinnamony. I actually pulled off the little cross of icing; it really didn't need it. So good though. I'll have to somehow make these myself. People will think I am a goddess.