One Bowl Cake

So after my epic failure at cupcakes the other day (too sad to post about), I decided to try to make something new, again. Definition of insanity right, but I did it anyway. Here are the results:

 It may not look like much, but for ten minutes prep time, I think it turned out pretty well. It kinda has that homemade, semisweet taste, but I think it's fine. Not phenomenal, but definitely a confidence booster :)

Here's the link of the recipe :)

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/chocolate-cakes/one-bowl-chocolate-cake/

I love love love Better Homes and Gardens. Even though I could never see myself as one of those moms, I think they have the cutest ideas, and it is fun to see the pictures. Maybe one day I will have the time to spend on sprucing up the house for the holidays, or to make homemade lemonade (I personally prefer the canned stuff), but for now I am content with playing around with little recipes like this cake.

Until next time,

Corinne

Piano :)

Hello again,
  So I have begun to teach my friend how to play piano. It's only been 3 lessons, but I think we will keep going, but that is not the point of this post. Teaching makes me think of my own teacher and the piano in general. You could call this pointless over-analyzing, but here it comes anyway :)



Judy Jenkins is the only piano teacher I have ever had, and in my opinion is the absolute best. She has total patience when I don't practice, at all. She is one of those people who gets that some stuff is pointless and some is essential to the instrument. She knows when she has to critique and when she has to praise. She understands children as well as adults, and is never ever condescending. Now I don't know about you but I know that not many students could say that about their teachers. She doesn't teach by fear, sometimes by guilt :), but never fear. She has the uncanny ability to make students practice using pure kindness. She deals with theory which other teachers ignore, ignorantly. If I hadn't had that knowledge, I never would have been able to teach piano or use it in my future, college life. I'm grateful for her sacrifice in teaching such lazy students. I don't think anybody else would deal with or craziness :)

okay, now the piano:

I used to think that every piano was the same, but as I have begun to play mine more often, I have learned that each is unique. I will play the Claire de Lune on our piano at home without dropping notes, and then get to my piano lesson and just butcher it. It just goes to show that you really do bond to your piano. You begin to understand just how hard you must push it to make the perfect sound or if you can hit that note in the bass, if the pedal will squeak if you push it that way. It gives me a new appreciation for our grand piano. Even if it is not high class, it is still a grand piano, not a keyboard or an upright. I have learned to love our piano for its little quirks, but it makes me excited for the possibilities of a high class grand piano. If I can learn to produce a good sound on our little samick, then what will that sound become when I play a nicer piano.


Just some thoughts,

Corinne