Memo

Apparently, Florida, or for that matter, Mother Nature has not been receiving my memos!  Woke up this morning to cloudy skies - I figured okay, its supposed to be in the 20's I guess I can deal with that.  What do we get instead?  How about snow flurries and then wind, coming like no other from the Northwest.  This is creating below zero windchills.  Haven't we had enough of these days yet, Ms. Mother Nature?  If Florida isn't listening to my pleas to share their warmth and sunshine, I now turn to you!  I have lived in Minnesota my whole life, this is not to say I am opposed to moving to another state, I just need to get my husband on board with that plan.  My daughter, Jessica, however, has gotten the smarts to get out of this state while the getting is good!  She and her hubby are moving to San Diego, California!  Yes, that is a LONG ways from her mom in Morris, Minnesota, and I won't lie to you and tell you that at first I did not cry at this news.  Because I assure you I did.  The news has now had some time to absorb and I am more okay with it, I figure she is the smart one.  I am thinking Skype may be in my very near future.  In the meantime, I am going to leave you with this recipe that I found in a cake mix cookbook, I just made these yesterday for my daughter to serve at her "going to sunnier lands" going-away party!  I must inform you they were super simple and tasty too  :)

Marbled Chocolate Bars
1 box German Chocolate cake mix
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. milk chocolate chips
*Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions.  Pour into a greased 15x10x1 cookie sheet.  In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Stir in 1/4 c. of the chocolate chips.  Drop this mixture by spoonfuls over the cake mix batter.  Cut through the batter with a knife to create a swirling effect.  Sprinkle the remaining chips over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  Cool.  Cut into bars.