Sandy's Chocolate Cake

Sandy was the winner of the Hershey's Chocolate Cake challenge a few years ago at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. I think she should just re-submit this cake every year as I can't imagine any could top this recipe! If you don't want a giant seven pound three layer cake you could cut back the recipe 1/3 for a 2 layer cake or in half for a 13x9. It's best with ice cream of course. Oh, and if you don't use all the frosting called for you really ought to add more ;) A certain lucky little boy had this cake for his second birthday.

• 3 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cups sour cream
• 1 1/3 cups boiling water
• FROSTING:
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 3 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
• 3 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
• 5 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream brown sugar and butter. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add alternately with sour cream to creamed mixture. Mix on low just until combined. Stir in water until blended. Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. For frosting, in a medium saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Cool several minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, sour cream and vanilla. Add chocolate mixture and beat until smooth. Frost cooled cake. 

EDIT: I've made this cake three times now. Most recently it baked in only 25 minutes. I'm not sure if the oven was just running hot that day or if I made a mistake setting the timer, but you might want to check the cake 10 minutes early just in case.

 This is also good with a vanilla whoopie filling in between the layers, like the filling found here...

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whoopie-pies-vii/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=whoopie%20filling&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e13=A%3aSearch%20Results-List%28control%29&e7=Recipe

Spinach and Ham Quiche

Spring showers bring May flowers, and May brings mothers day, (and for my family, it also brings  my mom's birthday!) My mom is an incredible lady. Not only did she manage to homeschool us 5 crazy kids, she is a perfect cook, a great listener, and a wealth of wisdom.  This mother's day, I wanted to make a nice family brunch. Something healthy and delicious, and a bit outside the box. Quiche seemed to fit the bill, but after looking at kajillions of recipes, I couldn't quite find one that I liked. Fortunately, I was able to use them as a guide to create my own. Ecce ("behold!") healtified ham and spinach quiche!

4 oz chopped ham (I just ordered a hunk of it from the deli counter, then chopped it)

1 cup shredded cheese (I used reduced fat cheddar)

16 oz cottage cheese (I used 2% fat)

4 eggs, beaten

pepper to taste 

1 10oz package frozen chopped spinach,  thawed

Roughly 1/3 cup chopped onion (I used 1/4 of a large vidalia)

Brown onion in skillet coated lightly in cooking spray/oil.  In another skillet, cook spinach until soft, drain off water. (I just drained it, didn't squeeze it dry) In a separate bowl, combine all other ingredients. Add in spinach and onion. Pour into pie plate coated with cooking spray.  Bake on 350 for about 50-60 minutes or until golden brown

My family loved this! The flavor was great, and it reheated just as well the next day. (And the day after that..)

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Once upon a time, I was browsing through our discount grocery store, past bargain boxes of dented cereal and outdated condiments. When I came across a giant bag of whole-wheat flour for 50 cents, I couldn't resist. Since then, the bag has been sitting in my kitchen, only to be pulled out handful of times for kitchen experiments--some turning out well, others...um..not so much. (think dry peanut butter bread, but tasty pizza dough) Anyways, I decided not to give up on such a healthy, cheap ingredient. Behold: whole wheat pancakes. I was pleased out how light and tasty they turned out! This is gonna be a keeper recipe for me.

2c. whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1.5 - 2 c. milk (use the lesser amount if you like them thicker)
4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
4 Tbsp oil

Mix together dry ingredients. Beat eggs in separate bowl, then add to dry ingredients, along with the milk and oil.  Stir together, but  don't over-mix, or they will turn out flat, not fluffy)

Homemade Oreos

The next time you find yourself with some extra time (and butter!) on your hands you must make this. Wow do they taste like the real thing! I often have a hard time with cookies that have to be cut out, but these roll out very easily! I placed the dough in between two sheets of aluminum foil for rolling. They didn't stick to the counter or the rolling pin.

Recipe adapted (by me!) from the Smitten Kitchen and Bless This Mess

Dough
1 1/4 cups butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa  powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour

Filling
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening (crisco)
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract  


Cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add the flour and mix until you get a pretty dry dough. You don't want the dough to be sticky at all and it might even crumble just a little.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Roll your dough out between two pieces of parchment paper or aluminum foil.. Roll the dough thin, 1/4 inch to an 1/8 inch thick. Use a 2 inch circle cutter to cut out the cookies. (I used the top of a baby bottle!) Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 8. Take off pan after two minutes.

To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. (or use a ziplock baggie with a corner cut out) Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.

Banana Scramble

Best quick, easy, and delicious breakfast ever! When I first saw recipes for something called "banana scramble", I was quite skeptical. Who puts bananas in their scrambled eggs?? Fortunately, I continued on to read the recipe more thoroughly, and I discovered that the bananas are combined not with eggs, but with a fantastic combination of oats and peanut butter. The result? A warm, gooey cookie-like creation that is also super nutrition-packed. I found the idea on Food Doodles and Edible Perspective, which, by the way, are cool blogs to check out.
 

• 1/2 banana, mashed
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 2-3 tbsp milk
• 1/2-1 tsp spices(cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, etc)
• 1 tbsp ground flax (or other dry ingredients such as oat bran, ground nuts, wheat germ, etc)
• 3 tbsp rolled oats
• optional--1 tbsp nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and mush them all together.  It will form a slightly sloppy mess-- wet, but not runny.  Form into a patty shape, and place in a skillet (I coated with mine cooking spray, just in case), over medium heat.  Cook for a few minutes on each side. I considered mine "done" when it was browned slightly on the outside, but still gooey on the inside. It was delicious with fresh fruit, but you can also top it with yogurt, jelly, peanut butter, syrup, etc!! 

Butter Chicken

This one was so good we ate it before I took any pictures. Same goes for the leftovers! It's an Indian dish, a type of cuisine I am completely unfamiliar with. It calls for a spice blend called garam masala which I have never heard of. Allrecipe's came to the rescue with a substitute blend of spices I could use instead. We ate it with brown rice, so good! I did skip the 1/4 cup of heavy cream at the end. It seemed creamy enough with the yogurt.

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup plain yogurt (not nonfat)
• 2 teaspoons garam masala or substitute (1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp ground cloves)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, optional

Preparation

1. 1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened and beginning to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Scrape into slow cooker. Place chicken pieces on top.
2. 2. Combine ginger, garlic, almonds, yogurt, garam masala and salt in a food processor and process until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula as necessary. Add tomatoes and pulse once to combine. Pour mixture over chicken. Cover and cook in crockpot on low until chicken is tender, 4 to 5 hours. Stir in heavy cream, cover and cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro just before serving, if desired.

Italian Pork Chops

I love AllRecipes ingredient search. I had sausage in the fridge and lots of pork chops in the freezer. I plugged in my ingredients and out came this little beauty. Andy said it gets 9 1/2 stars. He kindly clarified that only pepperoni pizza can get 10 stars.

• 4 thick cut pork chops
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 1 onion, slivered
• 1/4 pound mushrooms, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan, brown well in olive oil. Remove chops from pan and set aside. Pour off and discard all but 1 tablespoon pan drippings.
3. Remove casing from sausage and crumble meat into same pan. Mix in onions and mushrooms. Cook, stirring until onions and sausage brown slightly. Mix in garlic. Place pork chops in casserole dish, spooning sausage mixture over them. Pour tomato sauce over the meat. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.