Romancing The Chocolate: National Chocolate Cake Day Today! 2 Recipes

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Romancing The Chocolate: National Chocolate Cake Day Today! 2 Recipes: From Denny: Like anyone had to inform the chocolate hounds that today is a special day. We all know we sure don't pay much attention to any other holiday - excepting Valentine's Day - 'cause only chocolate holidays rule. :)

What are the goals of National Chocolate Cake Day? The Obvious: bake and decorate a wonderful chocolate cake and then enjoy it with a few friends! Now that's what I call a plum assignment.

First off, everyone should have at least one basic good Simple Chocolate Sheet Cake in their bag of magic baking tricks. This will make you a big hit at family or sports gatherings - read that at tailgating too.

People can cut the small or large size they desire. Of course, the cake can end up looking like a bit of a messy disaster that way so usually most cooks choose to pre-cut the pieces. I usually cut mine into long fingers like 1-inch x 3-inches. The dieters (and the diabetics who are supposed to behave but can't) can slice that in half - and the Hungry Jacks can take two. Everyone is happy!

Then try the Mexican Chocolate Fudge Pecan Cake where cinnamon is added to a basic chocolate and buttermilk cake. Chocolate and cinnamon are natural pairings and the result is wonderful.

Related articles

• Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Double Chocolate Chunk Mint (unusual2tasty.blogspot.com)
• Romancing The Chocolate: Decadent Chocolate Cake (dennysfoodandrecipes.blogspot.com)
• Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Chocolate Crackled (thehealingwaters.blogspot.com)
• Romancing The Chocolate: Flourless Chocolate Cake and Mocha Buttercream Icing (dennysfoodandrecipes.blogspot.com)
• Comfort Food From Louisiana: Mardi Gras: New Orleans Zulu King Cake (thehealingwaters.blogspot.com)
• Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Triple Chocolate Pistachio Mint (dennysguestbloggers.blogspot.com)

The Social Poets: Jon Stewart Interview: How Your Employer Is Screwing Your Pension Fund

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The Social Poets: Jon Stewart Interview: How Your Employer Is Screwing Your Pension Fund: From Denny: Ellen Schultz, an investigative reporter, discovered that Big Business has taken the private pension plans for millions of workers - to the tune of 44 million people - and, instead, "turned them into profit centers for their companies." As a result, the plans are severely underfunded.

Did you know that as recently as 10 years ago, these same retirement plans were so flush with cash that they experienced a quarter of a trillion dollar surplus?

How did they drain that surplus? Big Business did the following:

The Soul Calendar: Jon Stewart Interview: Why Fear Mongers Will Not Accept Science

Image via WikipediaThe Soul Calendar: Jon Stewart Interview: Why Fear Mongers Will Not Accept Science: From Denny: Stewart interviews author and physicist Lisa Randall, of the new book "Knocking On Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World."

Stewart asks, "Why do we fight so hard to be illuminated by it?" He is referencing the conservative political atmosphere that fears science unreasonably.

Randall offers up that perhaps the reason science is not so easily accepted is because "so many of the theories are far removed from what we see in our daily lives - and not necessarily the most intuitive."

She believes that if people would go beyond just human scale - where only technology can measure - that perhaps they will not be so afraid if they learn more about it and be more interested.

Stewart poses the question as to why are God and science incompatible? Clearly, that is what so many people fear - like science will be 100 percent provable and certain, eliminating room for God.

The Social Poets: Jon Stewart Interviews Boomerang Author Michael Lewis About Global Big Banks Disaster

The Social Poets: Jon Stewart Interviews Boomerang Author Michael Lewis About Global Big Banks Disaster: From Denny: This author decided to go on a walkabout. Actually, Michael Lewis went on a financial disaster tour of several European countries: Iceland, Ireland, Greece and Germany.

He wanted to view the global financial disaster through the prism of each culture and what a view he got. (He is also the author of Moneyball that was recently made into a movie.)

In Iceland he discovered that up until seven years ago the only way to make money in Iceland was fishing. But, seven years ago," the men literally walked off the fishing boats and walked into the banks deciding to become currency traders in a matter of days."

The Social Poets: Funny Jon Stewart Mocks What It Took to Humanize Dick Cheney

The Social Poets: Funny Jon Stewart Mocks What It Took to Humanize Dick Cheney: From Denny: Jon Stewart loves to talk about the Darth Vadar metaphor in regards to former Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney has a new book out, called "In My Time," and is busy hawking it on every talk show that will take him.

Stewart gives us many clips of Cheney hard at work selling his piece of fiction he claims is nonfiction. What's amusing is how "The View" talk show just had to say, "Mr. Vice President, let's talk about this little bulge here." She patted his chest. Jon thought that funny as he wondered out loud "how that (statement) played to the radio broadcast audience."

As Cheney launches into his "old man talks about his health issues" talk on "The View," Stewart is speechless, unable to mock. Can it be there is finally something Jon cannot mock successfully? Find out why in this funny clip:

The Social Poets: Darth Vadar VP Cheney Crosses Bush In New Book

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The Social Poets: Darth Vadar VP Cheney Crosses Bush In New Book: From Denny: Former VP Dick Cheney is out to settle the score with his former boss, President Bush 43. Cheney, often likened to the villain in Star Wars, Darth Vadar, is best known for his reputation as the GOP hatchet man. He is also now literally the man with no heart. What beats inside his chest is a mechanical heart. He plugs himself into the electrical outlet every night. Talk about the creep factor.

In this news clip he contradicts Bush's account of how it happened when he and Bush made the decision to go into Iraq. Yeah? Well, what I remember is the New York Times article back in August of 2001 - before the terrorist attack - detailing how the Pentagon had plans to go into Iraq. That article also discussed how Bush and Cheney told the Pentagon to dust off the plan, take it off the shelf and put it into action. Somehow, that little factoid has escaped public attention all these years.

The Social Poets: Jon Stewart Interviews Egypt Revolution Activist Gigi Ibrahim

The Social Poets: Jon Stewart Interviews Egypt Revolution Activist Gigi Ibrahim: "From Denny: Stewart dishes out the political satire in a semi-serious interview aimed at exposing how for decades American policy has had little to do with the reality of every day Egyptians.

What is so funny about the experience of this young woman is how she became involved in the Egypt Revolution this past January in Tahrir Square.  She went to a class, 'The Social Mobilization Under Authoritarian Regime,' at the American University in Cairo."

Poems From A Spiritual Heart: Stephen Colbert Interviews Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg About Poetry

Poems From A Spiritual Heart: Stephen Colbert Interviews Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg About Poetry: "From Denny: While Stephen Colbert, of The Colbert Report, is known for his satire and wildly funny self, he does manage to do some almost serious interviews. In this case, Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, is rolling out a book of poetry.

This book, 'She Walks In Beauty,' is comprised of men writing poems about women to celebrate them. The collection is about women celebrating themselves, describing the special connection women have to poetry from growing up in the world of emotion."