This coming Sunday is Valentine's Day. Yes… already!

Wasn't Christmas last week?? Holiday to holiday, the calendar flips on, whether we are ready or not. I guess it seems to have arrived so quickly because I lost a few weeks of my life to my eye surgery and the plague running through the house. Now that we are all healthy, I feel like Rip Van Winkle, waking up but feeling a little confused about the sudden passage of time. So, like it or not, the big day of love will be here in less than a week and food will probably come into play. For me, only one thing comes to mind when I think of the holiday in culinary terms…CHOCOLATE! This works out perfect, as I have been promising a chocolate day to the studio guys since before I was out for a week.

I was trying to think of something chocolaty that anyone could make (actually, when thinking of the term "anyone" I was really thinking of men). Even if you order or go out to eat, how nice would it be to surprise your significant other with a decadent dessert? Now, for demonstration, let's say you are married. Rule one: if you are going to surprise your wife by cooking anything, do not leave your dirty cooking dishes in the sink to wash later. That negates the surprise and will probably tick her off, especially if you are like the majority of men and somehow use every pot, pan and bowl in the kitchen when cooking. Now that I think about it, y'all probably do that on purpose. Is it one of those secret man "if I do this bad enough, she will never ask me to do it again" things? I know about those things. I've got your number, mister. I know you really do know the difference between hand towels and pillowcases. You just hate doing laundry.

Okay, pay attention… this cake requires one mixing bowl, one Bundt pan, one two-cup measuring cup, one fork, and one rubber spatula (or mixing spoon). Assuming you are using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment that will be 6 items (counting the paddle) you will have to wash. Six items aren't even a full dishwasher load. If you are wondering about the two-cup measuring cup, since everything is thrown in the mixing bowl at once, you can use one cup to measure everything, if you do it in this order: water, oil, eggs (beat with fork in the cup), and then sour cream. Don' worry about measuring the chocolate chips. Just throw the whole bag in. It contains roughly two cups. So, Rule Two: If you are using more than a dishwasher load of dishes to make this cake, you are doing it wrong (possibly on purpose).

Now go plan something special to sweep her off her feet!

Happy Cooking,

Shannon