I have recently been thumbing through my past “Works For Me Wednesday” posts and realized I’d been taking part in this round-up for quite a while! I have some backlogged posts I thought I’d pull out today….a couple of them being the most-searched-for topics on Muses of Megret.

So, today, enjoy what has workED for me!
Then head over to this week’s guest host, Rocks In My Dryer, for more WFMWs. Lots of great ideas!

1. For the perfect cup of coffee, do these things.

2. Cleaning and sanitizing bath toys

3. Softer nose wiping solution

4. Organizing Barbie (and her many accessories!)

Sometimes the best things that “work for me” are the things that have worked for, well, a very long time.

Like a good recipe for something that you don’t want to let go. It took many trials and errors to find just the right version of a dish. Once you find that true one, why look elsewhere?

This couldn’t be more true when it comes to the quintessential chocolate layer cake. I’ve eaten and baked many of them. Yet this one stands out among them all. It’s foolproof. It’s decadent. It’s simple yet unforgettable.

I give you:

Hershey’s Deep Dark Chocolate Cake
(recipe via Hershey’s)

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey’s cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

One-Bowl Buttercream Frosting:
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2-2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup Hershey’s cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans or one 13×9x2-inch baking pan. (*I use 2 8-inch round pans to make a taller cake.)
Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. (Cake may be left in rectangular pan, if desired.)

To make frosting, beat butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla. Frost in between layers and on sides and top of stacked round cake layers, or just the top of a rectangular cake.

Enjoy!

Head to Rocks In My Dryer, this week’s host of Works for Me Wednesday, for more terrific tips and ideas!

Growing up, I loved books with audio tapes. (Or records — remember those?) I had several myself, but I also remember that swell of excitement when I checked out book/tape baggies from the school or county library.

My kids love listening to books being read aloud, too. They could listen to me read all day — but we all know that’s not feasible (and all moms would lose their voices). Books with tapes/records/CDs? YES. But how to keep them all together?

I brought out the handy basket. It gets repurposed every few months for something else. This time, it’s the perfect housing for books and their corresponding audio recordings. I gathered the reserves from my childhood collection, as well as newer versions I’ve snagged from yard sales and ebay. I simply dropped one book and tape into several separate zip-across closure plastic storage bags, stacked them neatly in the basket.

I watched. And waited. The children….they swarmed to the basket like flies….arguing over the titles available, grappling for first dips at the tape player. And suddenly two things which used to have different living areas in our home are now happily residing together. In other words, being used. And that’s a very good thing.

Head over to We Are THAT Family for more WFMW tips today!

Any avid reader craves bookmarks. Why not make them a little more personalized, little gifts for those you love most?

We made these bookmarks for my Grandma a few weeks ago, a little birthday token that she can use and smile at every single day.

Simply layer cardstock with decorative scrapbooking paper, get creative with photos & thought bubbles OR just let your child draw a mini masterpiece. Punch a hole in the top, tie on a decorative tassel or ribbons, and you have a bookmark that’s not just a placeholder…it’s a keepsake.

Personalized, kid-crafted, made-with-love bookmarks work for me!

Head over to We Are THAT Family for more WFMW ideas today!

(Photo from stock.xchng)

This month’s “Works for Me Wednesday” theme is “blogging tips.” For me, running two different blogs (this one and my reviews blog), organization is key. Here are some of the ways I stay organized within the “blogosphere:”

- I use the BusyBodyBook for scheduling my blog posts. There are five columns per day, which allows for both blogs, technical to-dos, and things to research…plus one miscellaneous category. Though this planner can be used for almost anything, it works best for my blogging.

- I have a list of blogging topics in my “Book of Lists,” which is basically a little blank journal where I make list of, well, pretty much everything. When I lack inspiration for a post or see something which I think would be a good idea for a post/discussion starter, I jot it down for later.

- I stay ahead of blog posts by writing several at once, usually during the kids’ afternoon quiet times or after they’ve gone to bed in the evenings. I post-date my posts through Wordpress so that I don’t have to worry about logging on to put them up each day.

- I added a blog search box which not only helps my readers search my site, it helps me locate past articles, crafts, or recipes with ease.

- I have a bookmark folder in the top of my browser titled “To Blog.” Any website or online article/tidbit I see as post-worthy, I add to this tab so that I can link to it later on my Monday links post.

- I label everything….most especially, photos. I name/label photos by subject matter so that I can find past photos easily when I need an image for a blog article.

Blog organization really, really works for me! Head over to We Are THAT Family for more WFMW tips on blogging. Have a wonderful Wednesday!