There has been a lot of sick and not a lot of sleep around here this week. Baby girl had croup, I’ve got crazy headaches, and Chicago is in a serious deep freeze. So I haven’t been motivated to get much done lately, cooking and blogging included.

This past summer we moved into a new apartment, which I love overall. But we now live on the third floor- almost fourth considering the first floor isn’t at ground level- with no elevator. And the stairs with access to our garage (having a garage is heavenly though) are outside and exposed to the cold and wind and snow. And I have a 21-month-old that can’t climb them on her own. This means me + overstuffed purse + baby + groceries up and down those slippery icy stairs. You’d think I’d be in incredible shape. But what it really means is I avoid going out frequently, if at all when it’s particularly treacherous.  And I can’t buy much at once and have a perpetually empty fridge, despite visiting the grocery store practically every day. Some things just aren’t convenient about the city.

I suppose I should mention that I really enjoy Chicago. Dustin often reminds me how much I’ll miss the city and probably think the suburbs (or wherever we end up) is so boring in comparison. It’s true. This is a fantastic, exciting place. I could just do without the winter.

On to more pertinent things…

I’m hoping to finish a post within the next week that will include my first GIVEAWAY! I’d like the details to be a surprise, but I’ve want to give you, my readers, a little gift of appreciation and I’ve found just the recipe to include it with. (So stay tuned…)

Over our sick and snowy weekend I cheered myself up with some chocolate cake. The original author called it “Sunday Chocolate Cake” and since I made it on a lazy Sunday afternoon, it seems fitting. It takes minimal effort and doesn’t require any fancy ingredients (or a mixer- just a stove and saucepan). I halved the recipe because it was just the three of us and a 9×13 pan-full sounded like too much cake. My husband who has been hoarding the leftovers would disagree. But it was a smart move- we would have not been able to resist eating the entire thing.

Sunday Chocolate Cake

INGREDIENTS

Cake:
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 Tbsp. white vinegar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter (if using unsalted, add a pinch of salt)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
6 Tbsp. milk
5 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Butter or grease a 9×13 baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vinegar, and vanilla and set aside.

3. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and cocoa powder together, whisking until completely smooth. Remove from the heat and pour into the flour mixture and then add the other liquid ingredients. Mix until completely smooth (no more lumps).

4. Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until the center of the cake is set. While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting.

5. To make the frosting, melt the butter, cocoa powder, and milk together in a saucepan over medium heat (you can use the same saucepan from above). Bring just to a boil and remove from the heat. Whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla until there are no lumps.

6. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the icing over top of the cake, spreading to the edges if necessary. All of the cake to cool before slicing and serving.

(NOTE: This cake will keep for several days at room temperature or can be frozen and reheated at room temperature or in the microwave.)

Makes a 9×13 cake (or is easily halved to fit an 8×8 pan).

(Adapted from Cookies and Cups)