Chocolate Sheet Cake

This is a birthday must-have for our family!

INGREDIENTS:

3 sticks of butter or margarine

1 cup water

7 TBL cocoa

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup and 6 TBL buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. In a saucepan, melt 2 sticks of butter/margarine, and add water and 4 TBL cocoa. Bring the mixture to a boil. Meanwhile, mix sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt. Pour boiling mixture into the dry mixture. Beat until smooth and add eggs, 1/2 cup buttermilk, and vanilla. Pour into a greased and floured cookie sheet (with sides- a jelly roll pan) and bake for 25 minutes. In a saucepan, melt 1 stick margarine/butter, 4 TBL cocoa and 6 TBL buttermilk. Heat until boiling and add the sifted powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and pour immediately over cake (the icing should still be in liquid form). Let cool, and enjoy!

Reese's Cookie

Another cookie recipe from my mother-in-law! My husband LOVES these cookies!!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup Crisco

1 stick margarine

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

Dash of salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. vanilla
Large bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

DIRECTIONS:

Cream sugars, Crisco, margarine, and eggs. Add peanut butter and remaining ingredients. Roll in ball. Bake in small muffin tin (should have about 24 mini muffin spaces). Bake at 350 for 11-12 minutes. (While baking, remove wrappers from Reese's peanut butter cups). Immediately push in Reese's peanut butter cups in center of cookie. Let cool completely before removing from tin.

Ultimate Chocolate Dipped Cookies

My mother-in-law is an incredible baker! I fell in love with these cookies last year when she made them, and convinced her to give me her recipe to make for our Christmas cookies this year! If you love chocolate, you will LOVE these cookies. Trust me on this!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 12 oz. package plus 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 TBL granulated sugar

1 TBL butter

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325. Stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Combine the 12 ounce chocolate chips and 2 TBL of butter. Cook over low heat until melted, cool slightly. Note- be very careful to continue to stir and not burn the chocolate. A double boiler often works best.

Beat remaining butter, then add eggs one at a time. Beat in the melted chocolate, sugar and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in one cup of chocolate chips. (You could use white chocolate chips for this step if you'd like)

Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cooking sheet. Bake in preheated over for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm and surface is slightly cracked. Be careful not to over bake. Transfer to wire rack, cool. Dip each cookie into the Chocolate Ganache (recipe below). Place onto wax paper until set. Makes about six dozen.

Chocolate Ganache:

In saucepan, combine 1/2 cup whipping cream, 1 TBL butter, and 1 TBL granulated sugar. Bring just to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Place 1 cup semisweet chips in bowl. Pour hot cream mixture over chips, let stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth, cool until room temperature.

Left Over Roast Part 3

I made a roast yesterday- and for something different for the left-overs, I put the meat, onions and au jus into my food processor and blended it together. Served over a warm bagel with cream cheese, it's so yummy!!

Taco Soup

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs ground beef

2 cups diced onions

2 (15 1/2 oz) cans pinto beans

1 (15 1/2 oz) can pink kidney beans

1 (15 1/4 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (14 1/2 oz) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes

1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (14 1/2 oz) can tomatoes with chilies

2 (4 1/2 oz) cans diced green chilies

1 (4.6 oz) can black olives, drained and sliced (optional)

1/2 cup green olives, drained and sliced (optional)

1 (1 1/4 oz) package taco seasoning mix

1 (1 oz) package ranch salad dressing mix

Corn Chips, for serving (I use very small strips of tortilla chips)

Sour Cream, for garnish

Grated Cheese, for garnish

Chopped Green Onions, for garnish

Pickled Jalapenos, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat , then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large slow cooker or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chilies, black olives, green olives, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing mix, and cook in a slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a pot on the stove. To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with sour cream, cheese, green onions and jalapenos.

Pumpkin Bars

INGREDIENTS:

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

15 oz. canned pumpkin

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

Icing:

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until lightly fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10 inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Pasta Caprese

INGREDIENTS:

2 TBL Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1-2 tsp Juice of 1 Lemon

1 Garlic Clove, minced

1 Small Shallot, minced

Salt and Pepper

2 ripe tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cute into 1/2 inch pieces

6 ounces of Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 pound pasta

2 TBL shredded fresh basil

1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Whisk the oil, 1 tsp of the lemon juice, garlic, shallot, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper together in a bowl. Add the tomatoes and gently toss to combine; set aside for at least 10 minutes but no longer than 45 minutes. Place the mozzarella on a plate and freeze until slightly firm, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the pasta and 1 TBL salt and cook until al dente. Drain.

Add the pasta and partially frozen mozarella to the tomato mixture and gently toss to combine. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the basil and season with salt, pepper and the remaining 1 tsp lemon juice and sugar to taste. Serve immediately.