Unashamed Advertising

No one is paying me for this, no one put me up to this, but I have two very random advertisements for you. The first is only for people living in St. Louis. Well, I guess it could be for you if you don't live here, but since it involves car repairs, you would have to drive your in-need-of-repair car here and that probably does not make much sense. So if you live in St. Louis and have car problems (or even if you just need an oil change, inspection or emissions test) you absolutely need to go Rasch Service Center. They are the nicest, honest, most hard working car people around. I think the honest part is what seals the deal for me. We have been going there since I could drive and have never had anything but excellent service. So, like I said before, even if you just need an oil change, take your car there- they won't tell you you need a new air filter, windshield wiper blades, hoses and belts (unless you really do) and it will cost you the same amount as a chain store. We really have had wonderful experiences here, so I felt the need to pass that along.

Ok, that was ad #1, here is ad #2. And you can live anywhere for this one. If you have a child, know a child or are just in need of getting something cute for a child, buy them one of these t-shirts, from Honey Bees Tees. I learned about Darby from my sister-in-law Steph and Tripp just got his first shirt from Honey Bees Tees from James and Steph for Christmas. It is great. The t-shirt is soft, good quality and best of all, it does not have crazy words all over it, disney characters, etc (all things which I am not exactly a fan of on kids' clothing). If you are like me and don't spend a lot of money on your kid's clothes, then paying $13 for a t-shirt may seem like a lot. But it is totally worth the money and seeing as I just bought about 10 shirts for Tripp at a $1 each, I can justify spending more on a few of these tees. Besides, if you get one, your kid just might look as cute as this:

or they might take their modeling job more seriously and look like this:

(disregard the hair- he just woke up and had seen that his firetruck shirt was clean and could not wait any longer to wear it).

And finally, a shout out to Martha Stewart and her Molten Bittersweet Chocolate Cake. Don't you wish you were having this for dessert tonight?

Here's the recipe in case you do decide you want it for dessert tonight.

1 stick plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for ramekins

1/2 cup all purpose flour, plus more for ramekins

5 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), chopped (1 1/2 cups)

5 large eggs, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

pinch salt

1. butter and flour six 6-ounce ramekins

2. melt butter and chocolate in double boiler. meanwhile, whisk together eggs and sugar till pale and thick, about 4 mins. sift flour and salt into another bowl.

3. fold egg mixture into chocolate mixture. immediately fold in flour mixture. divide batter evenly among ramekins. refrigerate for at least an hour.

4. preheat oven to 400 degrees, back until just set, 14-16 mins. let cool for 3 mins, turn out cakes onto plates.

*you can keep ramekins in fridge for up to two days and bake whenever you want to.