The Sewing Mom

From the time my daughter was old enough to hold a crayon in her little hand, I’ve had her sending notes and cards to relatives. In this age of email and text messaging, the old fashioned type of snail mail can be easily forgotten, but I still think it’s touching to get a note or card in the mailbox, it’s so much more personal.

My daughter is now 12 and I have to tell you, she loves sending letters and cards through the mail almost as much as she loves receiving them in our mailbox. Whenever she receives a letter from a friend or relative, she will usually sit right down and write a note back. Since moving from Illinois, she’s been sending letters and small packages back and forth with her friends. Just before moving, she and a friend purchased a stuffed animal that they decided they would share. Each would have the animal for one month and then send it to the other. It’s been 12 months now and they’re still doing this. They include notes, candies, and little trinkets in the box with the stuffed animal and it’s fun to see what they think of when it’s their turn to mail it.

The one thing I’ve always instilled in my daughter is that not only is it nice to acknowledge people when they send you a note or letter, but it’s important to say “thank you” when they send a gift, no matter what the reason and no matter how big or small. I know that there are times when I’ve personally sent a gift and never heard anything from the recipient. It drives me nuts because I don’t know if they got it or maybe they got it and didn’t like it? I just can never understand why anyone wouldn’t say “thank you”.

I’ve always made it easy for my daughter too. She loves having personalized note cards and Thank you cards that reflect her own personality. She loves shopping in card shops and has found stationary online as well. We recently discovered these cards and found out that we can not only personalize the cards, but can have the return address printed right on the envelope.

My daughter just received a package in the mail yesterday from a friend of hers who moved to Pennsylvania. It was a belated birthday gift for her and a bag of dog biscuits for our puppy who will be having her own birthday next week. I thought that was so cute! Guess my daughter will be writing a note to her over the weekend.

This is not only my favorite meme, but this week, the questions revolve around one of my favorite foods, chocolate. I can’t go wrong with this one! If you’d like to participate in this meme, be sure to visit Fun, Crafts and Recipes and get in on the fun!

Here are this week’s questions:

#1. What’s your favorite beverage containing chocolate or chocolate flavoring? I love the chocolate and strawberry side-by-side milkshake at Steak and Shake. If I’m really treating myself, I’ll take a mudslide any day of the week!

#2. What’s your favorite chocolate bar? OR Share a pic of your favorite candy, chocolate or otherwise. Give me a Cadbury Caramello bar and I’m soooo happy! My husband just brought me a whole back of mini bite size caramellos and it’s all I can do to not eat the entire bag!

#3. What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten that had chocolate in it? I really can’t think of anything, I don’t tend to order or make foods that are too unusual. I’m sure that if I keep watching Top Chef though, I’ll no doubt see chocolate used in some unusual way.

#4. Share a recipe using chocolate. I’m going to share a crockpot Hot Fudge Sundae Cake recipe.

Spray crock pot with cooking spray.
Mix 1 c. flour, 1/2 c. sugar, 2 T baking cocoa, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt in medium bowl. Stir in 1/2 c. milk, 2 T vegetable oil, 1 tsp. vanilla. Spread this batter evenly in the bottom of the crock pot.
Mix 3/4 c. brown sugar and 1/4 c. baking cocoa in a small bowl. Stir in 1 1/2 c. hot water until smooth. Pour evenly over batter in the crock pot.
Cover and cook on high heat for 2 - 2 1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Turn off cooker. Let stand uncovered for 30-40 minutes before serving. Spoon cake into serving dish and spoon sauce over the top. This can definitely be served with ice cream!