Crock Pot Hot Fudge Cake

Good Tuesday morning!

Monday was a beautiful spring day in Alabama, but they are telling us Wednesday through Saturday is probably going to be a wash. As always, in Alabama we'll take what we can get! It was hard to get up and get going yesterday morning after a whole week off... but we did it! Today was a little easier, but I have to say we are suffering from Severe Spring Fever. It's going to be a long nine weeks.

I'm still keeping an eye out for the parsnip, but I have a feeling most people will enjoy today's chocolate dessert more than the roasted carrots and parsnips. I know in my pre-diabetic days, I would have taken chocolate over anything. And I mean ANYTHING!

Wedding Week - Part 2 - Dino

This story is similar to yesterday's story in that I have to remind you once again I am a sheet music musician. That's not a bad thing. It's just not a "go-with-the-flow" thing.

I had been asked to play for a wedding of an acquaintance. It was going to be a small affair and she asked me to play the Processional and the Recessional. The soloist had tapes he liked to use, and the bride had a favorite tape she wanted to use for the prelude music. That was fine with me. I was going to receive $25 for playing two songs, a free meal at the rehearsal dinner and two kinds of cake (with slushy punch... my favorite kind) at the reception. For me, that came under the category of "great weekend." (I know. I think we've already established my social life was a little on the pathetic side in my earlier "pre-Mikie" years.)

The rehearsal went very well. The aisle was the perfect length for one entire play of the Processional. (Depending on the aisle length and the speed of the bride and her father, this can sometimes be a tricky thing. You don't want to be one-third of the way through the second playing of the Processional when the bride and father arrive. The final two-thirds of the song takes forever and the wait is awkward. Very awkward. You also don't want to just stop it there. There are only one or two places where it is "acceptable" to end the Processional before the natural end. That's more than you would normally need to know, but I want you to understand the intricacies of being a wedding musician. It ain't always easy.)

Being a little over cautious, I checked the soloist's tapes myself. They were new and in good shape. GOOD. He was also going to leave them at the church locked up with the sound equipment, so I didn't have to worry about him forgetting his tapes and having to play for him to sing at the last minute. VERY GOOD. Did the sound guy have the prelude music tape supposedly delivered by the bride before the rehearsal? Yes, he did. EXCELLENT. I was ready. I was prepared. Things were good. Until...

I arrived at the church 45 minutes early. I set up my music and sat in a chair in the choir loft behind the piano. Exactly 20 minutes before the wedding was to start, the sound guy popped in the prelude music tape. People were still talking. Uh-oh. I knew that tape. People started getting quieter and quieter. Oh, no! How could I have not thought to ask about the prelude music? ROOKIE MISTAKE! ROOKIE MISTAKE! And you all know how I feel about those!

The following is a strange phenomenon. Half of all weddings treat the prelude music as a time to whisper, but still visit and socialize waiting for the actual ceremony to begin. I love those weddings. There is an air of excitement and anticipation for the BIG EVENT that will be happening exactly 22 minutes from the the time the prelude music begins.

However, the other half of all weddings fall deadly silent as soon as the music begins. Almost as if the mothers of the bride and groom are standing in the front of the church hissing, "Be quiet. We're paying good money for you to hear the prelude music."

As stated before, this wedding fell in the latter category. Deadly silence. And I can really understand why. The bride's favorite tape which she had wanted played as the prelude music for her very special day was none other than DINO! DINO... one of the greatest pianists of our time. The man sounds like he's playing with 19 fingers. His music is so rich and full and beautiful and perfect. And, as was my custom in those days, flop sweat began appearing... in all the obvious places.

How could I play after DINO? I know it was just a tape, but that didn't matter. As soon as I got to the piano to play the Processional, no matter how well I played, it was going to sound like Chopsticks in comparison. Think. Think. Think. Got it!

I quickly stood up from the chair in the choir loft and slid onto the piano bench. The piano was set up on a platform AND it was also enclosed so people in the audience couldn't see my hands. Perfect. Thankfully, a large flower arrangement had been placed strategically in front of the piano, too. I wasn't totally covered, but there was some camouflage... which I was going to need.

I sat there for a moment trying to decide if my idea was a deception or just a remedy to a problem that had to be solved (and solved quickly). I went with the "remedy" theory. I then started to slightly sway back and forth with the music, giving the illusion of playing. Now, I did NOT put my hands on the keyboard and lift them every now and again. I decided that would fall under the "deception" category, and we were in church after all.

All in all, I think it worked. I didn't know many of the people in the sanctuary since it was an "acquaintance" wedding, so no one approached me after the ceremony regarding the music. The simplicity in which the Processional and Recessional were played could have fallen under the category of "keeping it simple to keep the focus on the bride and groom." Good.

I was a little upset (more flop sweat) when I noticed the bride and her father were definitely "fast walkers," but... well, since I had done so well on the prelude music, ending a little abruptly on the Processional was forgivable, wasn't it?

I decided to skip the two kinds of wedding cake waiting at the reception and just head home. I had pulled it off as best I could, and sometimes that's all you can ask. (That, and "What KIND of tape are you using for the prelude music?" I may have made that mistake once, but never twice!)

Crock Pot Hot Fudge Cake

You will need:

1 3/4 cups brown sugar, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons, plus 1/4 cup, unsweetened cocoa, divided
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups boiling water

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup brown sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt.

2. Stir in milk, butter and vanilla.

3. Pour into crock pot sprayed with cooking spray.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Sprinkle over batter in the crock pot. DO NOT STIR.

5. Pour boiling water over mixture. DO NOT STIR.

6. Cover. Cook on high 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.

Serve with ice cream. YUM! It serves 8 or a few more if you add ice cream with the dish.

I hope you have the best Tuesday ever. Come back tomorrow for our Seasonal Tradition of taking a day trip to Noccalula Falls. And don't forget, Thursday's date(s) will be very fun, too.

I'll talk to you tomorrow!