I’m what the psychology types call an introvert.
My personal motto is, “The fewer, the merrier.”
And I love to be alone. I almost never get lonely.
When it comes to making new friends, I can put on my extrovert face and pretend to be social and outgoing. But in general, I prefer the company of old friends who already “get” me. 🙂
But when a guy as cute as this one comes along, I’m pretty excited to have a new friend. This is Owen, y’all. He was born on July 6 to Mike’s cousin John (aka DJ Blista) and his wife, Alexi.
As an excuse to come over and meet Owen, I made the new parents a big batch of my mother-in-law’s famous bolognese sauce and a loaf of sour cream chocolate chip cake. They totally fell for my trick. 😉
Congratulations to John & Alexi on their precious arrival! And congratulations to YOU, blog readers, on the fortuitous occasion that you have come across this really fabulous cake recipe. I happened to find it the other day in the Joy of Cooking, and it has quickly become a new favorite. You do not want to miss out on this one.
SOUR CREAM CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE
From the Joy of Cooking
5 T butter, melted and cooled slightly
2/3 C sugar
1 t vanilla
1/4 t salt
1 C sour cream
1 large egg
3/4 t baking soda
3/4 t baking powder
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C miniature or regular chocolate chips (Joy suggests semisweet. I used milk chocolate.)
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour one 9×5 inch loaf pan. Pour melted butter into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, vanilla, salt, sour cream, and egg and stir together until smooth. Whisk baking soda and baking powder together in a small bowl to break up any lumps. Add to mixture in pinches and whisk in. Stir in flour until just combined. (Over-mixing will overstimulate the gluten in the flour and make your cake tough.) Stir in chocolate chips.
Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. (Mine took longer, about an hour.) Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the cake to detach it from the pan. Invert the cake and let it cool right side up on the rack.
I sliced my cake up, put the slices in cellophane bags from Michael’s Craft Store, and took some to the new parents and some for our Hollywood Bowl picnic.
xoxo,
