Happy Friday 5 – Celebrate like nobody’s calling the cops.
[Note: On or about Fridays, I’m posting five things that I’m enjoying, that inspire me, or that make me happy. I’m totally ripping off this concept from Tim Ferriss’ 5-Bullet Friday. (It is highly likely I am not as organized as Tim and may not post exactly on Friday. You can wait until Friday to read them if it makes you feel better.) Tim’s five bullet points are typically highly useful mini life hacks and recommendations. Mine will be some semi-useful life hacks, with more fluff (which means a cute puppy or kitty picture here and there). These posts, intended to brighten your day, will be fairly short and something for you to do if work is slow. Or if you’re avoiding doing something, like I am.]
Celebrate like nobody’s calling the cops.
Here’s this week’s Happy Friday 5:
What I’m watching: “Kitty Love Song” by the cute engineers who brought us “An Engineer’s Guide to Cat Yodeling” and many others that will have you laughing out loud.
Quote I’m pondering:
“Can you imagine feeling at home in the world no matter where you are? If you eventually master this art, outer circumstances won’t distort your relationship with yourself. No matter how crazy or chaotic the people around you might be, you will remain rooted in your unshakable sense of purpose; you will respond to any given situation in ways that make you both calm and alert, amused and curious, compassionate for the suffering of others and determined to do what’s best for you. If you think these are goals worth seeking, you can make dramatic progress toward them in the coming weeks.”
This is from Rob Brezsny’s FreeWillAstrology.com. I’ve long been a fan of Mr. Brezsny because his are not your typical horoscopes, but are quite appropriate. (This horoscope was for Aries, week of August 18 – but I think it can apply to any of us, at any time.)
What I’m eating: 5-minute Chocolate Lava Cake. Five minutes from scratch. Really. And it’s awesome! The base recipe has been around a long time, but I’ve tweaked it a bit to make it more yummy.
- 1 large coffee mug
- 4 Tbsp. cake flour (plain, not self-rising)
- 3 Tbsp. white sugar
- 2 Tbsp. cocoa (I use Ghirardelli or Hershey dark cocoa powder)
- 1 small egg
- 3 Tbsp. milk (I use almond milk)
- 3 Tbsp. oil (I usually mix coconut oil and grapeseed oil)
- Small splash of almond or orange extract (you can use vanilla)
- 3 Tbsp. chocolate chips (optional)
- Frozen berries, thawed (optional)
Add dry ingredients together in the mug, mix well with fork. Add egg and liquid ingredients, mix well. Add chocolate chips to center of mug, gently push level with top of better – do not stir. Microwave for about 2 minutes 10 seconds. (Note: You might have to play with the time, based on your microwave wattage. The original recipe called for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. I found that to be far too long. Whatever you do, don’t over cook this – it gets chewy.) Once done, tip cup on to plate.
Serve warm, topped with the thawed berries or with a scoop of ice cream. Just remember to choose a topping that will compliment the extract flavor you used.
You can also use a berry jam or orange marmalade slightly watered down into a thick liquid. Drizzle over cake.
Serves two, or one person twice – one serving for dinner, and one serving for breakfast. Yup, that’s how I roll. Hey, it has fruit in it.
I made this last night (without chocolate chips). The hint of almond extract added to the batter went very well with the berries. To the batter I added a Tbsp. or so of butter, and about 2 Tbsp. of berry juice (from thawed berries). I microwaved it for 2 minutes 10 seconds and it came out very dense and moist, almost like a torte. Next time I add the extra butter and liquid, I will try cooking an extra 5 seconds. I liked this more dense and moist version better, but it’s still in the experimental stages so try it at your own risk. I suggest first getting the cooking time of main recipe above in sync with your microwave before experimenting.
What I’m listening to: “My House” by Kacey Musgraves – it’s a song all RVers will identify with. If you have an RV or dream of RVing, you’ll enjoy this song.
What I’m dreaming about: I’m dreaming of living in the Florida panhandle this winter. I’m picturing myself lounging on the beach, getting a tan while writing, reading and meditating. My friend sent me this picture from the Florida panhandle:
My Texas friend sent this picture while visiting her family in the Florida panhandle. I plan to spend this winter there. If you know of any jobs or workcamper opportunities in the area, please let me know!
Are you enjoying the Happy Friday 5? If so, please share this post on social media, or send it to a friend and suggest they sign up for the Happy!
If you have any recommendations for funny movies, YouTube videos, inspiring books, funny or happy anything, please post in the comments!
Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend!
Kernut