Plei, how is it going? I've been curious and as a someone already drawn into the cult, I feel it's my duty to check up on you. Ellie has almost outgrown the diapers I have for her (good up to 13 lbs) so it's about time for me to do more diaper-buying of my own.

Pretty well. We're still using the occasional disposable when we go out visiting friends, but we're using cloth at night and at home, so she's in maybe 1 disposable a day.

I have to start a load of diapers tonight, this reminds me.

I am home. Thank you cookbookistas for coming through with answering all the questions and stuff. You're the best.

Also, thanks everyone for all of the recipes you sent in while I was a way. They look yum, yum, YUM.

I had a really nice weekend in NH. As most things nice, it went too quickly. But, I met lots of nice people and am really glad that I went.

Poptarts:

What a crazy day it is here! Old Not!Emily finished moving out. New Not!Emily is now moving in (and having a somewhat difficult time with the stuff he brought, poor guy!). And, we're getting a new toilet. Yay!

Quite frankly, it's a little more excitement than I wanted for today. I mean, yay new toilet, but did the landlord have to decide to fix it today?

Cool, Hec. Yes, I come from a fairly long line of white folks that should not dance at weddings. Sad but true. And nobody who likes for me to curse at him as much as you seem to could be Canadian.

Butting in with a question for the cooks: Is there any kind of buttercream frosting you can make without vanilla or solid chocolate (I do have cocoa) that would taste okay on a chocolate cake? I don't feel like going out just for vanilla.

Thanks.

I usually make chocolate butter cream with cocoa. This [link] (at bottom) is pretty much the recipe I use. (Not the cake. It uses *shudder* vegetable oil.)

That calls for vanilla, Ginger.

I'm thinking I might try a coffee buttercream. The one on this page looks doable, though I'd probably just make coffee as our instant is truly ancient.

Oops. I should have added that you can pretty much substitute a compatible brandy or liqueur for vanilla, plus it doesn't make as much difference with chocolate.

Cointreau would make a nice flavoring, chocolate and orange, yum.

I think the cake may be a failure anyhow. I was trying the How to Cook Everything recipe for a "Death by Chocolate Torte" and I think I didn't beat the eggs enough, or something. There are weird dents in the underside of the cake, the whole thing feels rubbery, and the very top of it was brittle and shattered and mostly fell off as I put the cake on a rack to cool. I'll let it cool an hour before deciding whether it's even worth frosting.

Mostly, I'm annoyed that I wasted the chocolate on it.