Hello world!

Welcome to EOF737′s Mirth and Motivation. This is a positive kismet, motivational blog offering tips, advice, interviews, social media ruminations as well as creative, spiritual, inspirational insights on people, places, and the events that shape our lives. My wish is that this site will welcome, inform, and encourage you to connect and contribute to the ever growing online community and conversations.

One of the fundamental rules of blogging is to manage our message/content by adding value; I plan to do so here by honoring my commitment to you, dear reader, and seeking your expertise and feedback. Something I know for sure is that we all want to be heard, appreciated and respected; that truthful, timely and positive messages are far more appealing than incendiary angling for blog attention. If your blogosphere surfing brings you here, stay a while and share a positive tidbit on your worldview.

So, How should we handle the global economic shift? How do we stay mirthful and motivated?

Musings: National Chocolate Cake Day…

“Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me.” Audrey Hepburn

Musings: National Chocolate Cake Day... Chocolate fondant - Molten Lava Cake.

Musings: National Chocolate Cake Day... Chocolate Fudge cake

Ingredients: Molten Lava Cake via FoodNetwork.com
6 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
2 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 stick) butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 large eggs
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange liqueur
Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Grease 6 (6-ounce) custard cups. Melt the chocolates and butter in the microwave, or in a double boiler. Add the flour and sugar to chocolate mixture. Stir in the eggs and yolks until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and orange liqueur. Divide the batter evenly among the custard cups. Place in the oven and bake for 14 minutes. The edges should be firm but the center will be runny. Run a knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto dessert plates.

Happy Chocolate Cake Day! Did you know today, January 27, 2012, is National Chocolate cake day? I had no idea until my dear friend, Diahann, suggested I take a look at some of the cakes and recipes flying around the internet. I have to confess that even though I have a deadly sweet tooth, and love chocolate, ice cream, rhubarb pie and all manner of cakes, chocolate cake is not one of my favorite desserts.

Musings: National Chocolate Cake Day... Chocolate cake with Hazelnuts

Musings: National Chocolate Cake Day... Rose Cake.

Musings: National Chocolate Day... Sacher torte

I’ve enjoyed a chocolate hazelnut mousse cake that was to die for, ate a few lava molten chocolate cakes that made my heart sing, and even tried a few Black Forest cakes that would make your head spin. However, I love lemon cake, pineapple upside down cake, pecan and apple pies, and even the pedestrian pound cake.  Nevertheless, I’m a foodie/dessert lover, and I’m delighted to know that the delicious chocolate cake has its own special, divinely designated day of honor.

“I am not strict vegan, because I’m a hedonist pig. If I see a big chocolate cake that is made with eggs, I’ll have it.” Grace Slick

Musings: National Chocolate Cake Day… Flourless cake with berries

Musings: National Chocolate Cake Day... German Chocolate cake

Discovery of Chocolate by Dr Baker and Mr Hannon: In the mill they ground cocoa beans between huge millstones to make thick syrup. The chocolate syrup was poured into molds to make ‘cakes’ of chocolate. These were meant to be grated and mixed with hot water to make a chocolate beverage.

As you might have imagined, once I heard about the special Chocolate cake day, I immediately went in search of details on the origin of this American tradition; I found nothing about the actual day but found plenty on the origin of chocolate and cake making in the USA. For starters, Harvard trained Dr. James Baker and John Hannon, an Irish immigrant and chocolate maker/mill owner, are credited with discovering how to make chocolate by grinding cocoa beans between two milestones and using the grinds to make treats including chocolate cake; by 1764 chocolate cake became part of the historical landscape.

Musings: National Chocolate Cake Day... Chocolate cake with icing

Musings: National Chocolate Cake Day... Garash cake...

In 1828, Conrad van Houten from the Netherlands learned how to extract cocoa fat from cacao liquor and convert it to a solid and powder which made cooking with chocolate easier. Sometime later, Austrian chef Franz Sacher created a dessert for Austria’s Prince Mettermich. It was named the Sacher torte. He dared to spread apricot jam between layers of dense chocolate cake As interest grew, many women experimented in their kitchens, creating and sharing chocolate cake recipes with each other. By the late 1920s – mid 30s, The Duff Company of Pittsburgh, introduced Devil’s food chocolate cake mixes.

Musings: National Chocolate Cake Day... Varieties of chocolate..

Musings: National Chocolate Cake Day... Devil's Food cake

During the same period, Duncan Hines and General Mills introduced cake mixes that revolutionized the cake making process. Pillsbury made the process even easier when in 1948, it created the first instant cake mix. Today, cake making is ubiquitous and we enjoy it without much thought to its genesis. Enjoy the pictures of chocolate cakes. I’ll add another recipe or two below. More below.

On Music: At Last And More…

“Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.” Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

On Music: At Last And More... Etta James. RIP

Etta James – At Last

Etta James – At Last Lyrics via RomanticLyrics.com
At last, my love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song
Oh, yeah, yeah, at last
The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clovers
The night I looked at you

And I found a dream that I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to rest my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known
Oh, yeah when you smile, you smile
Oh, and then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven
For you are mine
At last…
Do you have songs that make you stop and smile or perhaps, cry? When the mind is restless, nerves frayed, and the body tired, a little music or perhaps a lot of great music helps us settle back into our groove again. Etta James gave us great music. Etta was a dynamic and powerful singer who didn’t hesitate to speak her mind when she saw fit. She was as passionate about her tumultuous life as she was about her music, and in her autobiography, “Rage to Survive,” she shared parts of her darkest hours. Even though she started her career singing gospel songs in church, her musical range covered a number of genres from rhythm & blues, to jazz and pop. Etta left this world on Friday; leukemia-related complications took her from us all. She was 73 years old. RIP Etta…

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” Plato

On Music: At Last And More... Ella Fitzgerald in 1947

Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love) by Cole Porter – Ella Fitzgerald singing Let’s Do It…

Last night, I watched the Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris, starring Owen Wilson, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni and Marion Cotillard. It’s a complex story about a young couple, who travel to Paris, and have their lives transformed; especially the man who happens to be a writer. No spoilers here. What I loved about the movie, aside from all the great artists/creatives who show up, was the music – Let’s Do It by Cole Porter, performed at one of the parties in Paris. Enjoy Ella’s version above. A little nostalgia goes a long way…

“Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite.” Thomas Carlyle

On Music: At Last And More... Ernest Ranglin

Ernest Ranglin – Below The Bassline – Live in NYC November 2010

Sometimes, words don’t do justice to our articulation of the beauty of a musical piece. We just have to listen to it and delve deep into the magic. I love this piece… Jazz guitarist, Ernest Ranglin’s music will calm your heart and soothe your soul… so divine. I believe Marsha of Inside Journeys introduced me to this one.. Enjoy! More below.

On The Environment: Thirty Go Green Tips…

“The environment is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing that all of us share. It is not only a mirror of ourselves, but a focusing lens on what we can become…” Lady Bird Johnson

On The Environment: Thirty Go Green Tips... Help reduce our environmental carbon footprint

“We all moan and groan about the loss of the quality of life through the destruction of our ecology, and yet every one of us, in our own little comfortable ways, contributes daily to that destruction. It’s time now to awaken in each one of us the respect and attention our beloved Mother deserves.” Ed Asner

What do you do to conserve energy, reduce your carbon footprint, and support the planet? By now most of us are aware of the need to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle our stuff to ensure the longevity and sustainability of our planet. Every day, even in smal ways, we consume and discard billions of stuff that add to our landfills, waste energy and deplete our environment. Did you know that at 18 mpg, a gas guzzling car emits about 6 tons of carbon dioxide per year? Below are thirty commonsense, easy to remember tips to help us go green and protect our environment.

♥Buy local produce from your farmer’s market.
♥Fix water leaks
♥Share rides by carpooling
♥Turn lights off when not in use
♥Choose to walk
♥Bring your own grocery bag to the supermarket
♥Use energy efficient “energy star” appliances
♥Do an energy audit of your space
♥Take short showers
♥Buy food items with the “Fair Trade” label

“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”  Aldo Leopold

On The Environment: Thirty Go Green Tips... Our carbon cycle

Annie Leonard: The Story of Stuff – Conversations
The Story of Stuff

This afternoon, I went to the post office to mail off a package. As I stood talking to the lady behind the mail room counter, she suggested I look at the new selection of novelty, forever stamps on file. The one on the environment (see first picture above) caught my eye because it was easy to read and offered practical, smart tips that we often forget.  I bought a booklet, took some pictures, and created this post… The muse was working overtime reading up on biochemical cycles.  Of course, the irony is that while we are encouraged to conserve energy, protect the environment, pay bills online, and cut back on mailers and paper usage, our post offices continue to offer commemorative stamps for our enjoyment and use.  The day will come when we’ll have specially designed, reusable, receptacles for our mail…

♥Create compost with leftovers and use it for gardening/farming
♥Hang clothes out to dry and let nature do the work
♥Recycle more
♥Ride a bicycle
♥Plant trees
♥Pay bills online
♥Use cloth instead of kitchen paper towels
♥Check if your utility company offers green power options
♥Switch off & unplug unused appliances including your computer
♥Stay educated and informed: subscribe, watch, read important information on the environment; Story of stuff, Food Inc, TreeHugger, Worldwatch Institute, Simple Organic, Keeper of the Home, The Daily Green, The Freecycle Network
Happy Australia Day! Read more on it on Barb’s blog.  More  on going green below.