Craving Chocolate/Cookie Recipe

I have been eyeing this recipe and have been looking for an excuse to make it.  Since the majority of U.S. is in celebration of the new President, this is a great excuse.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1-cup cocoa

1-teaspoon baking soda

1-teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups of firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups chopped bittersweet chocolate

You can add 1 1/2 cups of dried cherries or cranberries if you desire.  I think I will instead go for 3/4 cup of walnuts instead. 

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Line pans with parchment paper and aside

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

In another bowl beat on medium speed mixer, butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

Beat one egg in at a time and then add vanilla.  Reduce speed of mixer and add the flour mixture, until combine.  Stir in your dried fruits or nuts. 

Shape 2 tablespoons of dough into balls and place them 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.  Bake 11 to 13 minutes, transfer to wire rack to cool.

Doesn’t this look really decadent, yummy!!!! Enjoy with a lovely cup of tea or a tall glass of milk.

 

Shopper’s guide-Press release from the North Pole

This is what I heard…

Top three gifts Men want for Christmas
Watch
DVDs or DVD set
Tickets to a game

Top three gifts Men Do Not want for Christmas
Scarf
Bathrobe
Wallet

Man pleaser food.
Sausage Balls
Recipe:
Two rolls of Jimmy Dean spicy sausage,
Shredded cheese
Bisquick.
Mix equal amounts of sausage and bisquick in a bowl, add desired amount of shredded cheese.  Use hands and mix all ingredients well.  Roll into bite size pieces and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Baked cheese;
Small wheel of Gouda cheese.
Pillsbury dinner rolls dough.
Wrap cheese in dough, bake according to the instructions on the dough package.  Serve with crackers or bread

 

Ice Cream

 

With the hot weather, it is time for Ice Cream.   Ready, lets all scream for ice cream.
Here is a nice sauce to put on top of your ice cream.

Nectarine -Red Wine Sauce
1 cup dry red wine
1-cup sugar
1/2-cup water
1 – 3-inch cinnamon stick
1 – 3x 1/2-inch strip orange peel
3 1/2 cups 1/2 inch cubes of nectarines with peel (From 4-5 medium)
Stir the first 6 ingredients in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil syrup 1 minute.  Reduce heat.  Add nectarines simmer until nectarines are tender but still hold shape, about ten minutes.  Transfer sauce to bowl and cook.  Can be made one day ahead… Serve over vanilla ice cream and yum….

 

Mojitos

We tired the Virgin Mojitos, and they are so good and would be really excellent on a hot summer night.
Big Sis got this recipe from one of her friends for the best Mojitos.

MOJITOS
NEVER use a mix!
Fresh mint,
1 Tablespoon lime juice( per drink )
2 Tablespoons of fine cane sugar,
One or two shots of rum or not if you do not want the rum.
Fresh lime slices
Spritzer, or sparkling water
Ice if you feel the need.
Yummmmmmy & refreshing.

 

Crab Cake with Yummy Dip

INGREDIENTS

* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1/4 cup plain yogurt
* 1 teaspoon curry powder
* 1 teaspoon ground ancho chile pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 tablespoon mango chutney
*

* 1/2 Anaheim pepper, minced
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
* 1 cup low sodium buttery round crackers, crushed
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 dash lemon juice
2 TBSP of dried of fresh chives
* 1 (6 ounce) can lump crabmeat, drained
* 2 tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS
Sauce
1. In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup mayonnaise and yogurt. Season with curry powder, chile pepper, and garlic powder. Stir in the mango chutney. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.
Crab cake
2. In a separate bowl, toss together the chives, Anaheim pepper, garlic, bread crumbs, and 1/2 the crackers. Mix in the egg, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, Fold in the crabmeat. Form the mixture into 6 cakes and evenly coat with the remaining cracker crumbs.
3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook each cake about 5 minutes on each side, until heated through and golden brown. Serve with the chilled sauce mixture.

****Feel free to add or reduce any of ingredients to make it your own.

 

New Pumpkin pie recipe

21/2 cups flour
2Tsp. Granulated sugar
2tsp. Salt
16 Tbs. 2(sticks) cold sticks butter cut into 1/4 inch pieces
6-8 Tbs. Ice water
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 Tbs. water.
To make dough place ingredients in food processor.  Starting with flour sugar and salt. Pulse.  Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles course meal. Add 6 Tbs. water pulse twice.  The dough should hold together when squeezed with fingers. If crumbles add another Tbs. of water.  Until dough holds together. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 2 days.
Roll out dough between two sheets of wax paper. Place in 9-inch pie pan.

Filling
1 1/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1Tbs. cornstarch
1/2 salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
2 cups pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1cup heavy cream
1/3cup milk

Mix in a bowl the brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Add pumpkin, eggs cream and milk and whisk to combine.

 

Magnolia

I was reading in a magazine about The Magnolia Bakery.  People line up outside the bakery just to try the famous cupcakes.  It is three blocks away for Gwyneth Paltrow’s home.  She and Hilary Swank are among the stars that line up for these cupcakes.

I saw Hilary this weekend in the Movie Black Dahlia, which I absolutely will not recommend.  Hilary lost so much weight, she looks like a stick.

They published the recipe.  Here it is.

Traditional Vanilla Cup Cakes

2 Sticks unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cup self-rising flour

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven 350

line 2 – 12 cup muffin tins with cupcake papers

Cream butter at medium speed in a large bowl.

Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy.  Then add eggs.

Combine flours.  Add to butter mixture in four parts alternating with milk and vanilla extract.

Spoon the batter into cups so they are 3/4 full.

Bake until the tops spring back when touched about 20 minutes.

Vanilla Butter-cream Icing

2 sticks unsalted butter

8 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Place butter, milk, vanilla and 4 cups of sugar in a large bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.  Gradually add the remaining sugar one cup at a time until thick.  Add a few drops of food coloring if desired and mix.

Spread icing on cupcakes.

Eat … Yum, yum …. I made this recipe for Gaytor’s birthday, and a Easy Autumn Cake, Pumpkin Spice Pecan Cake.

 

Basic Vanilla Cake

This is a really good recipe, remember to follow to the “T”          

1 1/2 cups shifted Cake flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (Check due date make sure it is not expired)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 Large eggs (room temperature)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole milk

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In 8 inches baking pan lightly coat with butter and dust with flour.

The Hard part…

Sift the cake flour ( to like, almost angle dust :0)…)

then sift in baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Beat in butter 1/4 teaspoon full at a time with your electric mixer until it looks like coarse sand at a low speed. Beat in sugar a tablespoon at a time until mixture looks damp. beat in egg one at a time. Add vanilla and milk, pick up speed to medium – high just until blended. Do not over beat pour mixture in a pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes (do tooth pick test ) until tooth pick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove to place on a wire rack to cool further.

I just dust the cake with powder sugar. It is really good with a nice cup of tea.

 

Cake Cake and More Cake

Annalee just loves cake.       She could eat it morning noon and night. Her favorite books were wonderful picture books of cakes. She would check out the TV guide weekly for their cake segments on the food channel. Her parents let her indulge in her unusual fixation. After all it was better than listening to the current music trends over and over again like Annalee brother did day in and day out.

Annalee did odd jobs like mowing lawns, weeding, cleaning dogie doo doo and walking dogs for the neighbors. She would earn real good money for an eleven year old. What Annalee did with her money was really unusual. She visited every bakery and restaurant and try their cakes. She knew where to go for the best and who to avoid for the driest cake.

Annalee’s family planned a vacation accross country to her grandmother. They were planning to drive. Her father posted on the fridge a map with all the places they were going to visit on their way to grandma’s. Annalee studied that map,she wrote down all the stops. She took that info and went off to the town library and did her home work. Using the yellow pages, she found many diners. She wrote down all the diners she wanted to visit for the cake of course and posted it next to her father map on the fridge. She then went to work really hard and earned a good sum of money for the cake journey of her life.

The day came, Annalee father and mom loaded up the car and the whole family started on the journey. Her father was really cool and stopped at every diner on her list. He even stopped at ones that were not on the list and treated Annalee to many pieces of cake. Now you would think this would be cake Heaven for Annalee. But none of those cakes hit the spot. They all lacked that one special ummmph. Now don’t get me wrong the company was great , but the cake was not as good as she had anticipted. Annalee got the opportunity to get to know her siblings really well, some times too well, like her brother’s music was just weird and he never say more that 3 words for some times several hours. Her baby brother must have requested to stop at every public rest room known to man. Her Mother’s singing along with the radio was like being in a time warp. Her father, well he was just perfect, his burps sounded like sonic booms and his laughter was like the best sound on earth.

After 5 whole days they reached grandma’s house. They all unloaded the car and got settled. Grandma called every one to the dinner table. She made the most delicious meal. Annalee begged her dad to take her out for cake. She saw a bakery as they came into town. Her father said that he would think about it. Grandma and her mother cleared the table and her mother brought in cake plates. Annalee eyes became big like moons. Her grand mother brought in a large chocolate cake with frosting smooth as ice. Grandma cut Annalee the first piece. Annalee scoop up a large piece of moist warm aromatic mouth watering chocolate dream and literally inhaled it. It was like she was in heaven. This was the master cake of all cakes. This was it, she had never had a piece of cake this good in her whole life. She had eaten thousands of slices of cake, but this cake put them all to shame. She said, grandma what is in this cake , this is the best. Her Grandma looked into Annalee eyes and said I made it with love Annalee.

Make all your cakes with love and you will never have anything but perfection.

The end