Wednesday, February 19, 2025

A Puzzler Of A Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Or all the bloggers before you if you've got the time. Here we go-

From this Side of the Pond

1. Many of our earliest presidents created words or expressions widely used today. Teddy Roosevelt is credited with mollycoddle, pack rat, frazzle, and loose cannon...which of those words/phrases currently relates to your life in some way? 

Hmmm...none truly apply at the moment. We try not to mollycoddle the grands and I'm married to the opposite of a pack rat so neither of those work. Am I frazzled? A teensy bit, mostly about three or four semi-large bits of paperwork/organization I need to take care of, but just can't seem to get to. 

I guess I'm going with frazzle. 

2. Have you visited many (or any) of the US Presidents homes, monuments, libraries or related sites? If so what's been your favorite? Are there any you particularly want to see? Here's a link to presidential sites listed by state which is kind of fun to read-Presidential Places by State. And since several bloggers who participate in the HP each week live outside the US, here's a link to Presidential Places Outside the US. Have you seen any of those? 

I've lived a fair chunk of my life on the East Coast, with easy access to many historic and presidential sites. I'm not sure I can even list them all but...Mount Vernon, George Washington's Birthplace, the capitol building in Annapolis, the capitol building in Austin Texas, the capitol building in Richmond Virginia (all of these buildings have a lot of statues relating to Presidents), Monticello, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, allllll the Washington D.C. Presidential memorials/monuments, the White House, the U.S. Capitol building, Arlington National Cemetery (JFK and William Taft are both buried here) and then further west the LBJohnson Library in Austin TX, and the Reagan Library in California. 

3. February 20th is National Cherry Pie Day...will you celebrate? Given your choice of cherry pie, cherry cobbler, cheesecake with a cherry topping, or black forest cake which would you choose? 

I'm not opposed to celebrating but someone would have to bring me the cherry pie because I also have no plans to bake one. I like all of the desserts mentioned so it would kind of just depend on what I was in the mood for at the time. Right now I'd go for the pie or cobbler. 

4. Last time you worked a puzzle of some kind? Something that had you puzzled recently? 

I worked a puzzle with my two oldest grandsons over the weekend. It was a map of the United States. 

Something that's had me puzzled recently? 

AI, 4D printing, the size of our galaxy, and hypocrisy in politics among other things

5. Of the early blooming flowers (January-early March depending on your zone) which one's your favorite? 

snowdrops, lenten roses, pansies, violets, snapdragons, reticulated iris, crocus, winter jasmine

Do you have any of these in your own yard/garden? 

I love them all...how do you choose a favorite flower? We had snowdrops in our English garden and they're definitely a favorite, but I don't have any here. We have lenten roses and iris in our garden and I sometimes have pansies, violets, and snapdragons in pots but currently do not. I love iris and they always make me think of my mom who used to have an enormous bed of iris in one corner of our yard. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

This year I'm trying to bake all the cakes on the Southern Living calendar. They suggest one for each month and I mentioned January's cake in a post here-Buttermilk Cake. 

I made the February cake on Sunday-Raspberry Molten Chocolate Cake-

before baking

This was scrumptious! Normally lava cakes are made in ramekins and baked individually, but this version was baked in an 8 x 8 pan, and it was really easy. 

I wondered if you'd get the 'lava' texture and you definitely do. This cake needs to be eaten pretty soon after  removing it from the oven, and needs a  scoop of vanilla ice cream on top as it's quite rich. It's surprisingly light too, and sooo good! I'll absolutely be making this one again. 


28 comments:

  1. The cake looks fabulous! I made the buttermilk cake since my sister raved about it; I thought it was just okay. No chocolate, so it's not a keeper! :)

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  2. That cake looks scrumptious! AI is a good one for being puzzled about. Shew, so much about it I don't understand including how it's going to impact jobs. I guess we'll all find out in due time... My husband isn't a pack rat either, but I am, so we have too much stuff!! That's neat that you've seen so many monuments- I love that the East Coast is so full of historical markers; unfortunately, I, personally have not spent much time on the East Coast but would love to spend more time there at some point.

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  3. I agree with all of the things that have you puzzled right now. The cake looks good and a lava cake is always so good. It makes me think of being on a cruise. Thanks for hosting and have a good day!

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  4. Mark nor I are pack rats, but we each have/had a family member that is/was. I used to love reading Southern Living magazine. Southern LIving magazine was located in Birmingham and we have several church members who worked there doing all sorts of things from test kitchen to writing and everything in between!

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  5. That cake does look yummy! Such fun topics this month Joyce-thanks so much for hosting!

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  6. Ohh! I never thought of those things, they puzzle me too, especially AI.
    Yum! That raspberry cake looks so good.

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  7. That cake looks so good! What a fun challenge this month.

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  8. That cake looks delicious and I love your advice about eating it quickly lol. Another good set of questions Joyce.

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  9. That cake looks good. Dare I say better than a cherry pie!

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  10. I don't eat cake but I LOVE LOVE LOVE CHocolate Raspberry ice cream and brownies!!
    I ended up just listing the site related to Presidents but yes, living in NYS and traveling all throughout New England I've been to SO many historical sites. I love them all! We do have Virginia on our bucket list for once my husband retires. I want to get to Williamsburg and Mt Vernon and hike in the Blue Ridge mountains :)

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  11. I enjoyed the questions this week....Thanks for the Hodgepodge. I also enjoyed reading your answers. Hope you have a great day!

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  12. I'm sure you will get to that paperwork when they settle into a house. How wonderful that you have been to all of those presidential places. How fun working with the boys on that puzzle. Yep, those have me puzzled too. I bet your English garden was lovely. Yum, the cake looks delicious. Glad you loved it so much. Have a great day and enjoy the family time you are having.

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  13. Hi Joyce, how fun to bake all the cakes featured in the calendar. My friend Lori does the same with Our Wisconsin magazine. She bakes up or cooks up all the recipes featured. :-)
    Enjoy your week!
    Carla

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  14. Hey Joyce - 2nd comment from me today - sorry :-) I forgot to tell you that Reverend Dr. Russell Leverson, pastor to the Bush family, will be speaking at one of our Holy Week noon day services. I won't be visiting a presidential site BUT I will be listening to a presidential pastor. I just think this is cool!!

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  15. I have never attempted to make a lava cake; maybe some day!

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  16. Thanks for the recipe link. East coast does afford you with so many presidential and U.S. olden history and sites. Ha, it completely escaped me that I mollycoddle my grandkids!! That won't change anytime soon, either. :) Have a fabulous Wednesday!

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  17. All those things puzzle me too although I am starting to get to grips with AI. That cake looks delicious, I love the fresh raspberries in it.

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  18. The cake looks delicious. I made the buttermilk cake last month but it didn't turn out quite right. I'm not sure what I did wrong! I forgot to list all those DC sites on my presidential list. The northeast would be a great place to live to see all that history! Thanks for the fun link up!

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  19. I need to cut back on my carbs but if somebody were to bring me a cherry pie today, I would definitely have a [large] slice of it.

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  20. The cake looks delicious!! My grands love puzzles. The oldest grandson, Blake, is better than me doing puzzles.

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  21. That cake sounds pretty good!! Thanks for another fun Hodgepodge, Joyce!! I look forward to answering and I also look forward to YOUR answers!! xo

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  22. That cake looks wonderful! I love chocolate and raspberry together, so I'm sure I'd love it. Have a great week!

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  23. I do puzzles to keep my brain active, also I like the look of the cake

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  24. This was a fun Hodge Podge! I need to join back in soon.

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  25. Ohh that cake looks good and what a fun idea to cook all the things on the calendar!! I enjoyed your answers.

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  26. I always love stopping byto see what you've been up to and I'm always amazed by how your Hodgepodge answers align with my own thoughts. After reading your post, I headed to the Southern Living website to get that recipe. YUM! Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead!

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  27. That cake looks absolutely amazing! I have pinned it and saved it as a pdf as well so that I will make sure to remember to try it. Thanks for sharing your tryouts of these calendar recipes!

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