Cake Balls & Other Things

Oh man! These things are SOOOOOO good! And they yield more than a plain 'ol cake cut into slices. I forgot to count, but I think I got about 36 cake balls from one batch.

You'll never want to make a regular cake again....

I don't.

Cake Balls

(Warning: This recipe is easy, but part of it needs to be in the freezer OVERNIGHT, so allow yourself enough time! I always hate it when I start a recipe then realize it takes more than one day....)

Ingredients:
1 box of cake mix (I used Funfetti but you can use any flavor you like)
1 can of frosting (I used vanilla)
1 package of candy making chocolate
sprinkles

Directions:

1. Bake the cake according to the package directions. It doesn't even matter what kind of pan you bake it in because after the next step, you won't even know.

2. Allow cake to cool, then crumble into a large bowl.

3. Add entire can of frosting to crumbled cake. Mix until cake is moist.

4. Use a spoon (or your hands) to form small balls.


5. Place the balls on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer overnight.

6. Melt the candy chocolate (according to the package directions) in a small but deep dish - either a glass pyrex measuring cup or even a coffee mug works too.

7. Dunk the cake ball into the melted chocolate and place back on the cookie sheet. This is the trickiest part of the whole process. I dropped the balls in and used a spoon to roll it around in the chocolate then fish it out.

8. Top with sprinkles (or anything else for that matter) immediately or else the chocolate hardens and nothing sticks. :)

9. Once the chocolate hardens, the cake balls are ready to eat! You could put them back in the freezer if you wish to keep them firm. Just take them out shortly before serving.

The combinations for these are pretty much endless... peanut butter cake and chocolate frosting, carrot cake and cream cheese frosting, red velvet cake and whipped frosting....

MMMMM! I'm going to go eat another one right now! Maybe not. Maybe later.

Hope you're all having a great weekend! We just got back from cleaning out our new house! We didn't buy a house, just renting again, but it's a great little house! It's cute. And blue. And it's a farm. We did lots of vacuuming (the whole house is carpet) and took all the nails and screws out of the walls (they liked to hang things up!). The carpet is getting cleaned professionally sometime next week then we can start moving boxes and furniture over after that. We won't need to do any painting, only spackling? spacking? a few holes leftover from all the nails and a touch up of paint over that and we'll be good to go.

Official move in date is October 1st. I'm excited because the kitchen is HUGE and it's closer to town so that means a shorter drive in the morning for me. (5:45AM wake up time has not been good to me this week....)

Here's one teaser photo. I'll post more some other time.

Okay, two. I can't resist showing you the kitchen! I'm done.

Dad's football team got smoked again last night. Final score: Ashley 47, CCA 14. It's hard to see them lose so much... The game was a blowout but ALMOST my whole family was home!

Amy, Travis, Rachel, Justin

We were just missing Katie. Plus it was Amy's 19th birthday yesterday! Happy Birthday, AMY LEIGH!

Love,

Sarah

The Weekend in General

Well, after months of searching and praying for the right car, we think we've found it! On Friday I found an ad on Craigslist for a 2003 Pontiac Vibe in Alma. I e-mailed, Zach called, then he test drove it later that night. When we finally got home Friday night, after work, school, and a double header softball game, Zach gave me a card. He wrote this great letter to me and then had something wrapped up inside the letter. It was the key to the car! So Monday (tomorrow) I have to go in to the Secretary of State with my dad and switch over all the paperwork from the other car into my name so that the dealership can get all the paperwork done so we can bring home the Vibe! Woo! I'm sooooooo excited! I'll post pics as soon as it's home.

Saturday was GREAT! It was raining so Zach didn't have to go to work! woo-hoo!!!! We went in to CCA and played basketball from 8-10. I love it when he can come too and we get to do active things together. Most of my family was there too, surprise surprise. If it involves a ball and competition, my family is there! After that we ran some errands and headed home. Zach got so much yard work done around here it was amazing. He got all the remaining trees cut up and stacked in piles. Then he mowed the front and back lawn and spread grass seed so we will have a lawn. (Right now it's mostly brown dirt and weeds because the trees didn't let enough light in for grass to grow.) Next step is to get a tractor tire rim from the farm to make a bonfire pit and we are good to go. He's such a hard worker and I appreciate everything he does around here. After all his hard work outside, we had a nice dinner together of taco salad and a cold beer. Zach loves Mexican food and I cracked up when he said this last night, "If I wasn't Polish, I'd be Italian first and Mexican second." Ha ha ha! For the end of our at home date night, we watched the movie, "Food Inc." Our cousin Chaeli recommended it to us and wanted to know what Zach thought since he works in the farming industry. It was quite interesting and raised so many questions about my food and where it comes from. Luckily, most of our meats are locally raised: beef from the Jefts and pork from, well, home! Zach and his dad have raised pigs for the past handful of years and we've been blessed with homegrown pork. After that movie I'll definitely be paying closer attention to the ingredients label on the foods I purchase. I'll have Zach post his thoughts about the film later.

Today was a fun day with my family. After church, Zach and I headed out to my parents house for lunch. EVERYONE was home! All 7 kids and then some. Add in a boyfriend and his siblings (my siblings friends) we had quite the crew. My sisters and I managed to make enough spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad for the group and we had a great lunch. Thorne family lunches are never quiet. NEVER! It's loud and borderline insanity, but so much fun to laugh and have everyone there. We also watched a few home videos which were hilarious! I wish I had them on DVD so I could post clips on here. Our little voices were high pitched and cute. In one scene, Katie and I are taking turns reading some commentary out of the back of a Bible. I'm maybe 8 and Katie 7. I was teaching Katie to read... "Katie, do you see an "R" in that word?" or "Katie, no, that's a long "a" sound." Surprisingly I was fairly patient and kind to her, which didn't happen much as a child. My family watched this video last night and showed it to me today and when my dad was watching it he said, "Now one's a teacher and one's a nurse." Oh, the nostalgia...

Speaking of nurse, Katie passed her boards! Woo! She is now, Kaitlynn Elizabeth Thorne, RN! She's on the hunt for a job and Rachel is trying to convince her to get a job in GR so they can get an apartment together. I have to admit, I wouldn't mind having here that close. :)

Someone not so close is still Candace. :( She just moved to Minneapolis to start a job at Target headquarters later this month. I'm trying to figure out a long weekend to go see her this summer. That's seriously one of the best parts of being a teacher. I love having the summer off to do whatever. Work another job. See friends. Travel. Stay home. Anything. Since I've got some time, I want to make it out there to see her and hang out with her. I wish flights to anywhere were cheaper because I'd be out there all the time! Can't wait to see her new place and the city of Minni.

-Sarah