German Chocolate Cake Day

Happy German Chocolate Cake Day! Here's a little bit of trivia on the origination of German Chocolate Cake and then some ways to celebrate!

National German Chocolate Cake Day is observed by chocolate lovers annually on June 11.

Although the name may sound like the cake originated in Germany, it did not.   The cake’s roots can be traced back to 1852 when American, Sam German, made a type of dark baking chocolate for the American Baker’s Chocolate Company.  Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate’s brand was named in honor of Sam German.

Over 100 years later in 1957, a recipe for “German’s Chocolate Cake” appeared as the Recipe of the Day in the Dallas Morning Star.  This recipe, created by Mrs. George Clay, used the Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate, and it became quite popular.  During this time, General Foods owned the Baker’s brand and distributed Mrs. Clay’s recipe to other newspapers around the country.  The current name of German Chocolate Cake, as we know it today, came to be as publications started dropping the ‘s.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Celebrate by enjoying a piece of German Chocolate Cake with friends.  Include photos on social media using #GermanChocolateCakeDay.

So here are a couple of recipes for you to try...I included the traditional one with coconut in the frosting and one without because I am no fan of coconut. The flavor's fine, but the little bits that stick around and you end up finding in your teeth later don't thrill me. My husband says that's the fun of coconut...I am not convinced.

This cake recipe is from Taste of Home and I tend to like most of their recipes that I try.

Here's a recipe from All Recipes that makes a German Chocolate Cake Caramel Icing without the coconut if you're like me and just want a yummy cake, no little bits in your teeth. Because I'm a crafter and cardmaker, I've included some fun cake stamps you could purchase, even if they aren't specifically German Chocolate Cake stamps.

These stamps are from Jane's Doodles and are clear stamps.

This set is from Spellbinders and can be found at Scrapbook.com, one of my fave shops online.

And here's a card I made for a2z Scrapbooking, featuring the new digital Sugartree Stamps, available only at a2z. 

Happy Monday!

Chark

Happy "It's New To Me" Year!

Hiya, friends, I have a post up today over at the a2z Scrapbooking Blog, where the challenge for January is to use a Hero Arts stamp, stencil or embossing folder that is new to you. I love that theme! I ended up using the little bitty stamps that come in my clear sets that I've never inked up. They are new to me, no matter how old the stamp set is!

Here's a peek at my post project. Hope you'll jump over and see! If you link a Hero Arts project up this month, you could win $25 to the store! Yay for free crafty supplies! I just ordered some paint daubers to try out.

Aaannnddd, a2z Scrapbooking Supplies is sponsoring the prize over at the CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration blog and I have two projects that will be featured this month—how cool is that? Their challenges are fun because you pick and choose from a list of ideas and combine them to create a layout to try to win prizes. You look at the case file and the evidence and testimony. It's very Nancy Drew-ish!

Happy 2015!!
Chark

Christmas For Whovians

I haven't watched the new season with the new Doctor, but I will once it's out on DVD. In the meantime, I made this card to submit to Papercrafts Magazine before they closed their doors. Susan Opel did, in fact, love it though she doesn't watch Dr. Who, so that made me happy. I have a couple of projects coming up in the last online edition—January/February—which also makes me happy, even though the loss of the mag is felt. 

Here's my last submission card. It's the Tardis (blue phone box time machine)—the stamp came from Viva Las VegaStamps. They have some very artsy and fun images, including a steampunk octopus or two!

If you want to create a vortex of sorts like I did, get some Raspberry, Cranberry and Ocean Blue Adirondack alcohol inks, drip them on acetate (stamp packaging here) and lightly swirl with the felt applicator. Let dry, trim and adhere to white cardstock to really show off the color. I used dot adhesive in just a few places so it didn't show through too much.

I stamped the Tardis, colored with color pencils and also Tombow markers, trimmed it out and then popped it slightly up with dimensional tape.

The sentiment is also Viva Las VegaStamps and goes right along with this card. River Song is played by Alex Kingston and her signature phrase is "Hello Sweetie."

Hope you have a happy Monday,
Chark

Paper And Pencils And Notebooks, Oh My!

It's that time of year around here, school has started and the buses are lurching through the neighborhood. There's something pretty cool about starting school—fun supplies, fresh starts, new outfits. But for me, the worst part is and was always the waking up at the crack of dawn. Yikes! I'm not good at it, no matter when I go to bed.

To celebrate, this is the Book Cover of the Week.

It's the back cover that I like best. David is a character that David Shannon made based on one of his childhood drawings his mom had tucked away. And David gets into a lot of trouble. The first book is called No, David! You can imagine what David is like.

And here are a couple of free digi images for you that are school-related. I love this vintage one for a teacher card.

Here's a cute little image for coloring. Check out Whimsie Doodles for this.

Happy Back-to-School Days!
Chark