"It Never Rains in California"

Well, not much anyway. But when it does rain, it POURS! I'm sure you've heard recently all the news reports of the bad drought we are having out here in California. It's all over the news and it is a very real problem. That is one main reason we've put in our drought tolerant landscape in the last couple of years.  Last week, however, we had a little reprieve and had several huge storms comes through.

It was beautiful and scary all at the same time. The winds were craziness! Many trees fell in the area. Of course, several in our neighborhood fell because they were already dead and LAZY people didn't cut them down. Now those same people have dead trees laying across broken fences. I am probably not one to talk, but it is definitely smart to stay on top of your maintenance.  It will save more problems down the road.  I know, I know, you've heard that before.   

That faux stream bed wasn't so faux at one point.  

Sorry the gale force winds prevented taking a picture at the appropriate moment.  

Can you see my new/old sink just a sinking away out there? The dirt was soft where they had put the drain in that I had to go out there and lay that heavy thing down on its side.

 I know this is a bad picture, but there was major flooding going on.

We  had to pull out those bushes because they were floating in those holes. They were just sitting in their nursery pots, but we didn't want them to drown before they were even planted.  So much excitement around here last Friday.

Don't you just feel the need for grilled cheese and tomato soup on days like this?  Maybe homemade Chicken Noodle Soup fills that comfort food craving.  In 2009 I posted a recipe for a good one here.  Well, I wanted a little bitty warm dessert on Saturday.  Not something that would hang around here for days.  Chocolate is always (especially lately) my go to for dessert.  I remembered seeing Cake in a Cup recipes on Pinterest.  Sounded perfect.  Most of the recipes call for cake mixes, etc.  This one from Nana Clare's Kitchen is purely from scratch and it was REALLY GOOD.  Really, really good.  Nana Clare has other Cake in A Cup recipes she's perfected. Here are some not-so-great pictures I took of our Cake in a Cup dessert. It's not really like a cake, maybe more like a lava cake which is nice and gooey.

Strawberry ice cream made it even better. Have you tried a Cake In A Cup recipe? Let me know of any other good ones you've tried.