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.

Insent, cookbookistas.

I'm waiting for Aimee to check in about the Shower from Hell.

And I noticed today my dream house in my neighborhood sold recently. Compared to some in this part of town, it's perfectly reasonably priced. Too much for us, however.

Cashmere, I can see why that's your dream house!

Ginger, off to check!