Happy Birthday Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

My family has a lot to celebrate during the month of May. There's Mother's Day, my nephew's birthday, my daughter's birthday, my birthday and Memorial Day. That was a lot of family get-togethers when we lived in Pa. ...not so much here. Boy do we miss it.

Since we are planning a carnival birthday party in 2 weeks for my daughter, we decided that we would make one birthday cake this weekend for both of us to share to celebrate our birthdays.


She asked for a chocolate cake with white icing. Since I like chocolate frosting better, we compromised and made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

I found a recipe for Chocolate Sour Cream Cake w/ Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting in a Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking cookbook.

The instructions are simple to follow. The recipe calls for baking the cake in 2 round cake pans. I dug out my cake pans to discover that they were rusty in spots....AAAKKK! My back up plan was to bake the cake in a 9 x13 pan, cut the cake in half and stack it, making a nice, neat small rectangle cake.

Let's just say that my idea didn't pan out. The cake seemed to do fine in the oven, taking 36 minutes to bake. I took it out of the oven and allowed it to cool completely.

In the meantime I whipped up the icing --chocolatey delicious!

Fast forward.... Now it's time to remove the cake from the pan. Not happening!! The cake was stuck in the pan. I'm not sure why. I greased and floured it like I was supposed to. The cake wasn't burnt so that's not why it stuck to the pan. I kept turning the pan over and tapping on the bottom of it, hoping that it would just decide to come loose. Well, it did....in pieces. **Update** I'm sitting here laughing at myself because I totally overlooked the directions that said to line the pans with waxed paper!

I surprised myself and didn't scream about it. Instead, I stuck the pieces back into the pan and decided to frost it in the pan and not tell anyone about it. I didn't need any more family ribbing today. I'm already getting tons of it from my fall in our front yard the day before - but that's another story that I would love to be able to forget very soon! The scrape on my leg is enough of a reminder but having a 6 year old remind you about it every time you step outside is almost too much to contend with. They don't forget anything!

Back to the cake. Sprinkles, Jimmies, candy toppings...whatever you call them...they are a magical tool in decorating to my family. Thank goodness. I managed to save face by sprinkling on some red, white and blue Jimmies.


We sang "Happy Birthday" and ate the cake. It was good. That's all that matters, right?

Pillsbury Chocolate Sour Cream Cake w/
Chocolate Sour Cream Icing

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup water
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
4 oz unsweetened chocolate

Heat oven to 350. Grease & flour two 8" or 9" round cake pans; line bottom with waxed paper.

Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, & baking powder. Stir well & set aside.

In large bowl, combine remaining cake ingredients; add dry ingredients. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at highest speed.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until pick inserted in center comes our clean.

Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans & cool completely.

Frosting:
3 cups powdered sugar - I added about 1 1/2 C. more p. sugar for a stiffer icing
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup softened butter or margarine
3 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 oz unsweetened chocolate

In small bowl, combine all frosting ingredients at low speed until moistened; beat at highest speed until smooth & creamy.

Place 1 cake layer top side down on serving plate; spread evenly with about 1/4 of the frosting.

Top with remaining cake layer, top side up.

Spread sides & top of cake with remaining frosting.

Makes 12 servings.

Spring Bug Cupcakes

Do you have kids who are crazy about flying bugs? These sweet treats are made from their favorite candies. One look at them and who could resist smiling? They'll bring out the bug lover in all of us!


What You Need
1 box white cake mix + ingredients need to prepare mix
cupcake liners
vanilla frosting
paste food coloring in bright colors

Candies for Bugs
sour gummi worms
gumdrop fruit slices
mini jawbreakers
pull-a-part licorice
mini chocolate chips

What You Do
Prepare cupcakes as directed on box using cupcake liners. Cool completely.

To Assemble Bugs:

Butterfly:
* Body - one gummi worm
* Wings - 4 fruit slices cut in half. Use tops of each fruit slice only for the pretty decorated lines
* Head - mini jawbreaker
* Antennae - licorice

Frost the top of cupcake white before assembling butterflies.

Lady Bug:
* Body - vanilla icing tinted black
* Wings - 2 red fruit slices, cut in half -use tops only. Use a toothpick to dig out tiny holes for the mini chocolate chips. Press chocolate chips into the holes in the fruit slices.
* Head - red icing. Mini chocolate chips for eyes
* Antennae - licorice

Frost the top of cupcake red before assembling ladybugs.

Dragon Fly:
* Body - 1 piece of pull-a-part licorice, end rolled into a point. Colored icing for dots on body.
* Wings - 4 sour gummi worms trimmed to fit
* Head - mini jawbreaker
* Antennae - licorice

Frost top of cupcake green before assembling dragon flies.

Crockpot Blueberry Grunt

A blueberry what?

What is a grunt? (no chuckling now!)

Early attempts to adapt the English steamed pudding to the primitive cooking equipment available to the Colonists in New England resulted in the grunt and the slump, a simple dumpling-like pudding (basically a cobbler) using local fruit. Usually cooked on top of the stove - now we've adapted it to a crockpot! In Massachusetts, they were known as a grunt (thought to be a description of the sound the berries make as they stew). In Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island, the dessert was referred to as a slump.

You will definitely want to try this recipe. If the aroma of blueberries wafting through the house all day long doesn't convince you that it's going to be tasty, wait until you try the first spoonful. My husband said that this is quite possibly the best dessert that I've ever made. What can I say...he's a sucker for dumplings like this and he love blueberries.


Crockpot Blueberry Grunt

2 pints fresh or frozen blueberries - I used frozen
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 cup water (use warm water is using frozen berries)
2 tablespoons instant tapioca - I used 5 TBSP to make it thick enough
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons light brown sugar

Instructions

In a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker, combine the blueberries, the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the water, and tapioca. Cover and slow-cook until the berries have formed a thick sauce, 5 to 6 hours on low (200-degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, the baking powder, and salt to combine. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

In a small bowl, beat the milk and egg together. Stir into the flour mixture to form a soft dough.

Turn the heat to high (300-degreesF). Drop the dough by tablespoons on top of the blueberries. Cover and slow-cook until the topping is firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the dumplings with the brown sugar.


Let the grunt stand for 5 minutes before serving, then spoon into individual bowls.


This blueberry grunt recipe can be found at Annie's Recipes.

I'm entering this recipe into this month's Cooking with Alicia & Annies Blog Event.

Tomato Soup Cake - Cooking with Alicia and Annie Contest

That's a strange name for a cake, huh? The first thing that came to my mind was this unappealing red-colored cake. (For those who don't know, red icing and red cake just doesn't appeal to me at all). I skipped over the recipe but then kept thinking about it because using tomato soup in a cake intrigued me.

I decided to make it last night for dessert. I figured what the heck, I had everything on hand to make it so I might as well try it.

The recipe is very simple:

2 1/4 c. cake flour or 2 c. all purpose flour

1 1/3 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. allspice 1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can Campbell's tomato soup
1/2 c. hydrogenated shortening
2 eggs
1/4 c. water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and flour two round layer pans, 8 or 9 inches or 13 x 9 pan. Measure dry ingredients into large bowl. Add soup and shortening.

Beat at low to medium speed for 2 minutes (300 strokes with a spoon) scraping sides and bottom of bowl constantly. Add eggs and water. Beat 2 minutes more, scraping bowl frequently. Pour into pans.

Bake 35 or 40 minutes. Let stand in pans 10 minutes; remove and cool on rack. Frost with cream cheese frosting or favorite white frosting

VARIATIONS: For a 9 inch tube pan, prepare as above; bake 1 hour. Nut or Raisin: After mixing, fold in 1 cup chopped nuts or raisins. Bake 35 to 40 minutes.

Date and Nut: After mixing, fold in 1 cup chopped walnuts and 1 cup chopped dates. (Use 1 to 2 tablespoons flour to sprinkle over dates while chopping them.) Bake in 9 inch layers or 13 x 9 inch pan for 40 to 45 minutes.

******

The spices in the cake will make your kitchen smell wonderful. I love, love, love cloves and this spice added a really nice taste to the cake.

The batter turns out to be a really pretty salmon color, not red like I was expecting to see.

It turned out perfect baking it for 35 minutes. The cake is light, airy and a little on the sweet side.

I topped it with canned cream cheese frosting. It was really good but almost too sweet for my liking. I will make this cake again but the next time I will use only a dusting of powdered sugar on top. It would also be good topped with whipped cream.


I found this cake recipe at Annies Recipes.

I'm entering this one in the Annie and Alicia Blog Event.

Strawberry Shortcake Squares

My husband is from Upstate NY - where they believe that strawberry shortcake is served on biscuits, NOT cake of any type. I'm from PA and I grew up eating it as strawberries on angelfood cake or pound cake. Lately I've been on the hunt for a recipe that would appease both of us.

I found a great recipe today. To be honest, it was the picture on Ezra Pound Cakes' blog that lured me in. After reading, it turns out that she adapted a recipe from Alice Water's cookbook The Art of Simple Food. The name of the recipe is Alice Waters’ Strawberry Shortcake.

The "biscuit" is more like a sweet shortbread cookie to me. The combination of the fresh berries, homemade whipped cream and the shortcake make a delightful dessert.

I followed Ezra's recipe to a "T" and it turned out perfect.


Strawberry Shortcakes

Makes 6

Strawberries

4 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup sugar

Topping:

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste

6 baked 2-inch Cream Biscuits (recipe below)

Powdered sugar (optional)

In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries and sugar.

Remove 1 cup of the strawberry mixture, and purée it in a blender or food processor. Return the purée to the rest of the strawberries; stir. Set aside at least 15 minutes.

In a standing mixer with the whisk attachment, whip together the cream, vanilla and sugar until it starts to form soft peaks.

Slice the Cream Biscuits in half. For each biscuit, spoon the strawberry mixture onto the bottom half, and add a dollop of whipped cream. Top with the other biscuit half, and dust it with powdered sugar.


Cream Biscuits

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons sugar (optional)
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar (if using) and baking powder.

Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingertips. The pieces should be the size of small peas.

Measure cream; set aside 1 tablespoon. Add the remaining cream to the flour, and stir with a fork until the mixture just comes together. Lightly knead the dough a few times in the bowl, turn it out onto a lightly floured board, and roll out about 3/4 inch thick.

Cut six 2-inch circles or squares out of the dough. Reroll the scraps, if necessary.

Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment, and brush the tops with the tablespoon of cream.

Bake for 17 minutes or until golden and done.

ABCs & 123s - Cookies for Teacher Appreciation Week

Teacher Appreciation week is May 3-9 this year.

Looking for something fun and tasty to give to your favorite teacher? Bake a batch of these cinnamon sugar cookies to say "Thank You" for all of their hard work.


What You Need

1/2 cup shortening (part butter or margarine)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream


What You Do

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix shortening, sugar, egg, & vanilla thoroughly. Blend dry ingredients. Add to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream. Divide dough; roll out on a well-floured board. Cut with cookie cutters (metal cookie cutters w/ open tops are the easiest) You can make these as thick as you want... the thicker, the chewier.

Place cookies on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake 6-7 minutes or until very lightly browned around the edges. Remove to cooling racks to cool completely before icing.


Choose The Right Icing:
If you are planning on eating the cookies immediately and not storing them, you can frost them with confectioner's sugar icing. This quick and easy icing will harden slightly once it's on the cookies but will not harden enough to stack the cookies without ruining the designs on your cookies.


Confectioner's Sugar Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar
2 TBSP water
1/4 tsp. of flavored extract such as vanilla (optional). Make sure to use clear extract because any color will tint the icing.

If you are planning on packing the cookies in containers, I would recommend using this Royal Icing recipe. It takes a bit more work in the beginning but the end results are quite worth it when the cookies keep their "freshly made" appearance. This icing will harden to allow stacking in containers without ruining any of the cookie's designs.

Royal Icing:

1 1/2 TBSP meringue powder
2 cups sifted icing sugar
3 tablespoons cold water

Mix on low with a hand mixer for 10 minutes.


Decorating Cookies:
Divide icing into 3 bowls. Tint one bowl of icing green, one bowl red and one bowl blue. Decorate cookies and give ample time to air dry.

Freezing Cookies:
Line a baking sheet with wax paper, then lay cookies in a single layer onto the paper. Freeze. Once frozen, the cookies can be stacked on top of each other. To thaw, place cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet or plate-do not thaw cookies while they are stacked together or the icing will stick to the other cookies.

Earth Day Globe Cookies

Going green is an important lesson to teach the next generation. What a great way to share the importance of keeping our planet green by making these sweet Earth cookies together.


What You Need

1 1/2 C. white sugar
1 1/2 C. brown sugar
3/4 C. butter, softened but not melted
3/4 C. butter flavored shortening
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3 C. flour
4 1/2 C. regular (not quick cooking!) oatmeal
1 1/2 C. white chocolate chips (optional)
can add nuts if desired


What You Do

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream together both sugars, butter, and shortening. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then add vanilla and mix well. Combine soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and flour. Add slowly to the butter and sugar mixture making sure to mix well. Stir in oatmeal, and then add chocolate chips at the end.

Drop by scant 1/4 C. onto cookie sheet, leaving some room in-between cookies for the cookies to spread during baking.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Do not over bake if chewy cookies are desired. Immediately remove from the cookie sheet to a cooling rack.

Once cookies have completely cooled, frost with royal icing* to look like planet Earth.

Royal Icing

4 egg whites
4 C. sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. clear vanilla extract


Beat egg whites in clean, large bowl with mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add sugar and clear vanilla extract. Beat at high speed until thickened. If you desire a thicker icing, slowly add more confectioner's sugar until you reached your desired consistency.

For "Earth" cookies you will need:

blue paste food coloring
green paste food coloring
3 Ziploc baggies or icing bags

Divide the icing into: 1/2 to color blue, 1/4 to color green and 1/4 white. Fill in green for land, blue for water and use the white to outline the land.

Let the cookies dry completely before stacking in containers.


More fun Earth Day kids' recipes.
More fun Earth Day craft and other ideas.

Bookmarked Recipes - Rice Krispies Treats

I've been cleaning out my cupboards trying to use up some of the extra baking supplies that have accumulated over the last few months. I came across a bag of mini marshmallows and I knew that there was half of a large box of Rice Krispies left over from my kids. Since I needed to make something for their school lunches anyway, Rice Krispies treats seemed to be the perfect answer.

It's been quite a while since we've eaten these treats. My daughter was so excited that I was going to make them for her. She's lost two teeth this weekend for a total of 3 missing now. Finding things that she can (and will) eat has been a bit tricky. lol!



I went to the Kellogg's website and followed the directions for the original Rice Krispies Treats. Nothing could be any simpler. :)

3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
- OR -
4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

2. Add Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

Store no more than two days at room temperature in airtight container. To freeze, place in layers separated by wax paper in airtight container. Freeze for up to 6 weeks. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.



I'm submitting this as a favorite Bookmarked Recipe this week!

Be sure to check back here tomorrow because I am hosting this week's round up!

It's not too late to join us this week! It's EASY & FUN!!

Here's what you have to do:

To take part here's what you do.......
1. Pick a recipe from a book/magazine/blog/website/tv show and make it. (Note you can only submit 1 recipe per week)

2. Blog about it
- include where you got the recipe in your blog post (including a link to their website if possible)
- include a link to this post or this blog in your blog post
- include the logo (see above) for Bookmarked Recipes in your blog post
- include a photo of your recreation on your blog post

3. Email bookmarkedrecipes[AT]gmail[DOT]com with the following information:
- Your name and where you're from
- The name of your blog
- The permalink for your entry
- A photo of your entry
- A note of where you got your recipe from


YUMMY!

Berry Dumplings

My husband grew up with his Mom making dumplings in soups, desserts...etc. He was really happy when I told him that I found a recipe for a dumpling dessert.

The original recipe is called "Strawberry Dumplings", made by WendyMichelle at FamilyCorner.com.

I subbed mixed berries instead of using all strawberries. This was my first attempt at making any type of dumpling dessert so my dumplings weren't really pretty. Even so, the dessert was really good! The thought of dumplings cooked this way wasn't appealing to me at first but since I'm usually game for tasting everything that I make, I tried it. Boy was I surprised how much I liked it!


Here's my recipe with a couple of changes:

Berry Dumplings

4 eggs
4 Tbsp. melted butter
4 tsp. baking powder
4 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp. flour - I had to add 4 more TBSP of flour to make the batter stiff enough to spoon into the pot.

Combine to make stiff batter to hold shape.

4 cups
strawberries
2 cups sugar - I would only use 1 - 1 /2 C. of sugar the next time.

Mash berries with sugar. Bring to boil in a large pot
with a tight
lid. Drop dumplings into hot liquid, reduce heat and
simmer, with lid on, for 15 minutes. Don't lift lid - don't peek!

Remove dumplings carefully to dessert dishes and spoon berries
over.

A quick and easy dessert for any night of the week!

Cookie Carnival - Inside Out Carrot Cake Cookies

I couldn't decide whether or not I was going to bake this month's cookie selection because I was afraid that I would be the only one in my family who would eat them. I've stared at the recipe the entire month and finally today I decided to make them. I'm really glad that I did.

Even though my cookies seemed to have flattened out more than the others I've seen, they were still really good. My husband started eating them while they were still cooling on the racks.


I had to stop him from eating some of them so that I could try them with the cream cheese filling.


Which version did we like better - the plain carrot cake cookies or carrot cake cookies with cream cheese and honey filling?

The verdict:
My husband and I both liked the plain cookies much better. Neither of us were crazy about the cream cheese filling. We both thought that the cookies were plenty sweet enough without it.

I'm really not sure what caused my cookies to flatten out so much. The only change that I made was to sub more raisins for the nuts. Oh well, at the rate he is eating them, they won't last long anyway!

You can view the recipe for the March Cookie Carnival here.

If you would like to join us in the Cookie Carnival, you can sign up here.

I'm looking forward to seeing what April brings! :)

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I came across a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that said "These are the best chocolate chip cookies ever!", I just had to try them. Let's just say that they don't disappoint! These cookies are thick and chewy, just like we like them.



I found the recipe on a blog called Chocolate Bytes.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups + 2 Tb all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix flour, baking soda and salt together, set aside. Mix butter and sugars in mixer until well combined. Beat in egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Using a cookie scoop, place cookies two inches apart on greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.



Whoops! I stuck my finger in one by accident. (well, I just HAD to lick it off of my finger instead of wiping it off!) MMM...ooey, gooey chocolatey heaven!

TWD - Blackberry Crumb Muffins

This week's Tuesday with Dorie recipe was Blueberry Crumb Cake. It was chosen by Sihan of Befuddlement. Thanks for choosing a great recipe!

I decided to make muffins instead of the cake, as they are easier to pack up to send with my husband for his lunch.


I replaced the nuts in the recipe with almonds and the blueberries with blackberries. The baking time was shortened to about 30 minutes. I got 20 muffins out of this recipe. They turned out very light and moist. My husband and I really liked them.

Be sure to check out Sihan's blog for the recipe. Take a look at the TWD blogroll to see many wonderful variations of this recipe. I love reading all of the different twists that were tried with this one. Warning.....you will probably leave the blogroll very hungry!

TWD - French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze

This week's TWD recipe, French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze, has grown on me to the point that I am now liking it. The description of the cake that Dorie uses in her cookbook is right on the mark - it's somewhat of a pound cake and somewhat of a sponge cake. The cake itself is moist and has a nice texture to it, but it is also sort of bland to me. I tasted a piece of it while it was still warm and really didn't care for it. I decided to give it another try once I read all of the rave reviews that it was getting from everyone else. The cake had had time to cool completely and it tasted much better. The nuttiness came through a bit more this time. I bet that it would taste really good toasted just a bit.


I didn't make the marmalade glaze to go with it. For those who did, I bet that it was great. I pureed some strawberries and sugar, and then stirred in a little of the left over almonds from the cake recipe for my topping. With the strawberry topping, it was more like a strawberry shortcake, I guess.


We have Liliana of My Cookbook Addiction to thank for choosing this week's recipe. You can see the recipe for this French yogurt cake on her blog.

Pot O' Gold Soup + Lucky Lemon - Lime Drops

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

If you've ever eaten at Chili's, chances are you've tried their Chicken Enchilada soup. My husband and I ate lunch there for the first time about a month ago. We both ordered the soup and salad lunch special. We took a chance on trying something new. When they sat the bowl of soup down in front of my husband, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The soup was a bright yellowish-orangish color and it was topped with diced tomatoes. Now...you have to know my husband... if it doesn't look "normal" to him, he's NOT going to eat it. It took some prodding to get him to try it. One spoonful in.... ok...he's not spitting it out. Hey, wait! Is that another spoonful going into his mouth? He LIKES it! I'm shocked! Now it was my turn to try it.... I liked it, too, but I wasn't nearly as dramatic as he was. The combination of chicken, cheese, spices and the crunch of tortillas chips (add them or you will miss something!) made for a great combination.

I was so happy to have another soup to add to my menu at home. After searching through many recipes, I put together one of my own using this-n-that from several recipes. It's a very, very close to the original - in fact, my husband liked mine better because it wasn't quite as thick as the restaurant's version.

So here we go for St. Patrick's Day.... no, not an Irish dish, but it is a beautiful goldish color.

Alongside, I served simple chicken and cheese quesadillas.

MMM! Cheesy!


Pot O' Gold Soup (Chicken Enchilada Soup)

1 TBSP oil
1/2 rotisserie chicken, shredded
1/2 cup diced onion
1 TBSP minced garlic
4 C chicken broth
1 C Masa Harina
1 1/2 C hot water
1 can of Rotel tomatoes
1 1/2 C water
1 small can enchilada sauce
2 C. Velveeta cheese. cubed
2 TSP cumin

Top with: corn tortilla chips

Saute diced onion and garlic together until onion is opaque. Stir in chicken broth.
Turn heat to medium/low and continue cooking while you are preparing the rest
of the recipe.

In a large bowl, stir together the masa harina (found near flour in store) and
1 1/2 C. hot water until smooth and no lumps remain. Stir this mixture into
the pot with the onion, garlic and chicken broth. Add Rotel tomatoes.

Stir in remaining 1 1/2 C. water, enchilada sauce, Velveeta and cumin. Add shredded chicken and
bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat and cook 40 minutes or until desired thickness. Stir frequently
to avoid scorching.

Serve in bowls and top with corn tortilla chips.

The soup was a big hit with my whole family. I have to warn you, though, it IS spicy. If you do not want it to be spicy, simply add plain, chopped tomatoes in place of the Rotel tomatoes. Don't leave out the corn tortilla chips. The crunchy chips really add a nice texture to the soup when they are crushed up and stirred in. Enjoy!

We topped our dinner off with Lucky Lemon Lime Drops. If you have room for dessert after this meal, these cookies are pretty good. They have a very light lemon-lime taste to them. My husband and kids liked them but I would prefer a stronger lemon-lime taste if I were to make them again.


Lucky Lemon Lime Drops

1/2 C. butter
1 C. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/4 C. lemon juice
1/4 C. lime juice
3 C. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
green paste food coloring

Preheat over to 350*

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in lemon and lime juice, and then the egg.
Sift in flour and baking powder. Beat in green food coloring.

Roll into balls about the size of a walnut and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly.

Bake for 9 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove immediately to a cooling rack.

The icing is simply powdered sugar thinned with lemon juice. Drizzle on top of cookies and
allow icing to dry before eating.

Word of warning....!!!!

Don't turn your back on these cookies like I did!! This might happen to you!


Those darn Leprechauns never miss an opportunity to eat cookies!

Sharing with The Gooseberry Patch: Round Up for St. Patrick's Day

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Tonight's dessert was supposed to be a regular coffee cake - until I realized that the only instant pudding that I had in the house was pumpkin. Since we all love pumpkin cake, I used it in place of the vanilla pudding that the recipe called for.


The original recipe, Mish's Coffee Cake, comes from Mish @ FamilyCorner.com. The only changes that I made to her recipe was the swapping of instant pumpkin pudding for the instant vanilla pudding and the addition of raisins.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake
1 package yellow cake mix
1 small instant pumpkin pudding
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanillia

Filling
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup nuts
1 C. raisins
4 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix ingredients together for 6-8 mintues at high speed. Grease bundt pan well. Layer cake in thirds with filling between each layer. Bake 40-45 min. at 350 degrees. Cool for 5-8 min. before removing from the pan. Drizzle with glaze if desired.

The cake looked beautiful when it came out of the pan. It is very rich so I would advise tasting it first before covering the whole thing with glaze or icing.




My tips
Use a heavy duty mixer to mix this. I had to transfer the batter to my Kitchen Aid mixer because it was too thick and heavy for my hand mixer.

Spray or grease the pan really well so that the cake does not stick.

Keep the sugar filling in the middle of the batter. Do not allow the sugars to touch the outside or inside of the pan. The sugars can start to burn on the pan before the inside of the cake has finished baking.

Keep a close eye on the cake once it has baked for 40 minutes - do not overbake it. My cake baked for 44 minutes.

I think that you could safely omit the white sugar from the filling for a less sweet cake.

Store in a sealed container to keep it moist.

February Cookie Carnival - Chocolate Fudge Cookies with Toffee & Dried Cherries

I was happy to see the Cookie Carnival come back into action this month.

This month we made Chocolate Fudge Cookies with Toffee & Dried Cherries.

These chocolate cookies were full of melted chocolate pieces, toffee bits and dried cherries. They were incredibly good when eaten right off the cookie sheet, while they were still warm - although I would've liked to have tasted more flavor from the cherries and toffee.

From In The Sweet Kitchen
by Regan Daley

makes 40 large cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup tightly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup plump, moist, dried sour cherries
8 oz. bitter or semisweet chocolate chopped into chunks about the size of the cherries
1 cup English toffee pieces for baking such as Skor Bits

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two heavy baking sheets, not non-stick, with parchment paper and set aside. sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together into a bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars until light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla. stir in the flour-mixture in 3 additions, blending just until the dry ingredients are moistened. I find this part of the job easier with a wooden spoon, rather than a mixer, as I can see better which parts of the batter need more attention without overmixing. Stir in the chunky ingredients and mix until they seem evenly distributed. (the dough may be frozen at this point for up to 4 months: wrap the dough securely in plastic wrap, then in a plastic freezer bag. Thaw the dough in the refrigerator without removing its wrapping before portioning the cookies and baking.)

2. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets and place them in the center of the oven. If you have a large, evenly tempered oven, place the 2 sheets in at once, onto racks positioned close to the middle of the oven. Switch the position of the trays once during baking. If your oven is small, or tends to have hot or cold spots, bake one tray at a time so the cookies bake evenly.

3. Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes, or until barely set in the center and just firm around the
edges. Rotate the sheets once or twice. Cool the cookies on the tray for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely before storing. (feel free to eat them at any point.) Run the hot tray under cold water to cool it, dry thoroughly and repeat with remaining dough. Store the cookies in airtight containers, layered between sheets of parchment or waxed paper for up to 5 days.


My Changes:

I cut the recipe in half because I knew that my kids wouldn't eat them because of the cherries in them.

To make the cherries a little more plump, I soaked them for 5 minutes in boiling water and then drained them well before adding them to the mix. I subbed light brown sugar for the dark brown sugar.

The recipe is very simple and easy to follow. It's a plus, to me, that this cookie dough can be frozen. It's also great that this recipe is very versatile. Once the chocolate dough is mixed up, you can just about any "extra" to the batter to personalize it.

I didn't have any parchment paper so I lightly sprayed my cookie sheets with cooking spray and then proceeded to place the scooped cookies onto the sheets. I used a large ice cream scoop to scoop out 9 cookies. My cookies baked for 16 minutes. They do spread out quite a bit so be sure to leave plenty of room between the cookies when you are placing them on the trays.

Once I took them out of the oven, instead of allowing them to cool on the trays as in the directions, I immediately removed the cookies from the trays to cooling racks.

I ate another one for dessert --it's still chewy and the chocolate is still soft. YUM! They go great with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee. My kids don't know what they are missing. ;)

TWD ~ Caramel Crunch Bars

It's been a while since I've made a cookie bar like this that everyone in my family has really liked. Finally, the Caramel Crunch Bars that Whitney of What's Left on the Table chose for this week's TWD, hit that mark. Everyone enjoyed them.

The mix of chocolate cookie with the crunchy topping was a nice combination. The fact that it was easy to make was a great relief this week.

Check out what the other TWD bloggers had to say about these yummy cookie bars.

German Chocolate Cherry Brownies - Cooking with Alicia & Annie Contest

Tonight's dessert had all of my favorites in it--chocolate, cherries, and coconut pecan frosting. German Chocolate Cherry Brownies are from Annie's Recipes.

The brownies turned out to be more of a cake. It was very rich, almost too rich to eat in the size of a piece of cake. Also, because it is so moist, it's very hard to cut a piece of it and serve it without it falling apart. In my opinion, this recipe would be much better suited for cupcakes. I would top them with a chocolate ganache instead of the melted chocolate chips. That would be the perfect size for this rather strange -but oh so good!-combination.

German Chocolate Cherry Brownies

1 pkg. German chocolate cake mix
1 can coconut - pecan frosting
1 can cherry pie filling
1 egg
4 tbsp. butter or oleo

Instructions

Put all ingredients into medium size bowl. Mix well with wooden spoon, until evenly mixed. Pour into 9 x 13 inch pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and pour 1 cup chocolate chips on top. Let stand for 5 minutes. Then spread chocolate chips evenly over brownies. Let cool completely before cutting.

This is an entry into the February Cooking with Alicia & Annie event. Be sure to check it out if you don't know about it!

Conversation Heart Cookies

It wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without Conversation Hearts. I've created a way to express your feelings in a BIG way by making these conversation heart cookies. Don’t hold back…show your Valentine how you really feel!




What you need for cookies:
1 roll of refrigerated sugar cookie mixor your favorite sugar cookie recipe**
Heart-shaped cookie cutter

What you need for icing:
Red, yellow, green, blue and purple paste food coloring
4 cups powdered sugar
4TBSP water


Making Cookies: ** See Tami's favorite sugar cookie recipe below.**

Roll out chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to a 3/8-inch thickness. Cut out hearts and bake as per directed on the package or follow the directions in the recipebelow. Cool completely before icing.


Decorating Cookies

Mix the powdered sugar and water in a bowl until smooth; adding more water, if needed, a few drops at a time. Divide into 6 bowls for pink, yellow, green, blue & purple and leaving one bowl to color red - it will be used to write the words on the cookies. Color the icing using the paste food coloring. **Tip - you only need just a dab of the food coloring to get a light pastel color for the cookies but you will need to use slightly more red for a nice, deep red writing color. Ice cookies following the outline of each heart, stopping short of the edge of the cookie.

Add the red icing to a plastic baggie. Push the icing into one corner of the baggie. Snip off the very end point to make an icing bag. Print Valentine’s Day words and sayings onto the cookies. (Refer to the cookies in the picture above for ideas)

To store these cookies, line a baking sheet with wax paper, then lay cookies in a single layer onto the paper. Freeze. Once frozen, the cookies can be stacked on top of each other. To thaw, place cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet or plate—do not thaw cookies while they are stacked together or the icing will stick to the other cookies.


**Tami's Favorite Soft Sugar Cookies


1/2 cup shortening (part butter or margarine)

1 cup sugar1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 2/3 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional) - I leave it out for white cookies

1/2 cup sour cream


Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix shortening, sugar, egg, & vanilla thoroughly. Blend dry ingredients. Add to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream.

Divide dough; roll out on a well-floured board. Cut with cookie cutters (metal cookie cutters w/ open tops are the easiest) You can make these as thick as you want... the thicker, the chewier.

Place cookies on lightly greased baking sheets. Sprinkle with sugar unless you are going to ice them. Bake 7-8 minutes or until very lightly browned around the edges. Makes 3-4 dozen but I never get this many because I make mine thicker.

If you use the nutmeg in them, you don't even need the icing but it will give your cookies a slight off-white appearance if they are left un-iced.

If you like chewy cookies, roll them out a little thicker. If you like thin, crispy cookies, roll a kind of thin but not real thin or you wont be able to remove to them from cookie pan.

This dough is very easy to work with too! I always double it because I like the thicker cookies.

Oatmeal Cookies - Cooking with Alicia & Annie Contest

We like cake mix cookie recipes for the convenience and ease of making after dinner during a busy week. This recipe for oatmeal cookies is simple enough that you can get the kids involved, too!

Although this recipe will never take the place of our family recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies, they were really good as a quick dessert. My kids took them in their lunch boxes the next day, too.

You can find the original recipe here.

In my version of the recipe below, I used 2 C. of raisins instead of raisins & nuts. A good tip for soft, chewy raisins is to soak the raisins in very hot water for at least 10 minutes. Make sure to drain well before adding the raisins into the batter. I used light brown sugar instead of dark brown because that's what I had on hand and they turned just fine.

Oatmeal Cookies

1 pkg. spice cake mix (2 layer)
2 1/2 c. uncooked rolled oats
2 eggs
3/4 c. cooking oil
1/2 c. milk
1 c. raisins
2 c. chopped nuts
1/4 c. light brown sugar

Instructions

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Drop from
a teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.

This is other entry into the February edition of the Cooking with Alicia & Annie contest.



Second photo deleted while I try to find out what I did to have it violate Photobucket's policies. I'm at a loss on this one. I uploaded it like any other photo.