Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake

While this is not at all a traditional birthday cake, I did make it for Justin’s birthday last week.  It is every bit as amazingly decadent as it sounds.  I completely recommend it to your taste buds, but I would keep it a secret from your heart and your thighs.

Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake (click for recipe)

A Tasty Meal

It’s been quite a while since I added anything to my “Sustenance” category, so I thought I’d overwhelm you with four recipes in one post.  You’re completely welcome. 

 

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GRILLED HONEY APPLE PORK CHOPS
INGREDIENTS:
4 pork loin chops
1½C apple cider (I use apple juice)
¼C soy sauce
1 garlic, minced
¼C lemon juice
2T honey
¼t pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Combine all ingredients (except the meat) and mix well.  Place chops in a shallow baking dish and pour marinade over chops.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Grill chops, turning and basting with marinade. 

 

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THE BEST MASHED POTATOES EVER
INGREDIENTS:
4½ lb red potatoes
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1C sour cream, at room temperature
2t garlic salt
½ t ground black pepper
¼C butter, cut in pieces
paprika for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Wash potatoes, cut into quarters (leave the skins on), and boil in a large pot until tender and easily mashable.  Drain potatoes and mash well.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sour cream until smooth.  Gradually add potatoes while continuing to run the mixer until smooth.  Beat in garlic salt and pepper.  Transfer to a greased, shallow casserole dish and dot with butter.  Garnish with paprika.  Cover and bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes.

(Thanks, Pinch My Salt!)

 

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STEAMED BROCCOLI W/CREAMY CILANTRO LEMON DIP
INGREDIENTS:
Steamed broccoli
zest of one lemon
2T fresh squeezed lemon juice
2T chopped cilantro leaves
¼C mayonnaise
¾C thick yogurt (strain regular yogurt through cheese cloth to get moisture out)
¼t salt (plus more, to taste)
fresh ground black pepper (to taste)

DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together everything except the broccoli.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with steamed broccoli.  (FYI – don’t rely on the taste of the dip alone.  It’s a little gross by itself.  But it’s quite good with the broccoli!)

(Thanks again, Pinch My Salt!)

 

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AMERICAN BERRY NO-BAKE CHEESECAKE
INGREDIENTS:
2 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/3C sugar
1 graham cracker crust (although I’m thinking of trying chocolate next time)
1 tub Cool Whip, thawed and divided
2T lemon juice (optional)
Strawberry halves
Blueberries

DIRECTIONS:
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice on medium speed until well blended.  Gently stir in 2C of the cool whip.  Spoon into crust. Refrigerate for 3 hours.  Spread the rest of the cool whip onto the top of the cake and arrange the blueberries and strawberries into an American flag!

 

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I personally did not make all of this in one day.  I did the mashed potatoes with some steak one night.  I did the cheesecake later and had it ready for the day I did the chops and the broccoli.  If you want it to be all in one day, I suggest doing the cheesecake ahead of time as well as the potatoes.  You can refrigerate the potatoes in the casserole dish for a day or two before you actually bake them. 

Happy cooking, baking, and eating!

Sunday Survey

What’s your favorite recipe?  It doesn’t matter if it’s an appetizer, dessert, breakfast, or whatever.  Just your very favorite.

Drunken Chili Recipe

My recipe bears this title because I know that if my mother-in-law reads this and notices “beer” in the ingredients list, it’s precisely what she’ll be thinking about the chili I made tonight.  And she’ll be praying for my immortal soul and asking God, “Why, oh why, did my son marry this heathen?”  Haha.  It’s true. 

In any event, it’s not my recipe at all.  I got it here.  I tweaked it ever so slightly due to a sissy-level tolerance for heat and because I didn’t have one of the spices and I didn’t want to buy it for merely two teaspoons.  Although this is essentially the same recipe, I’ll list it below as I made it.  The changes to the ingredients will be in red. 

Ingredients:

• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• one large yellow onion, chopped
• one green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• two cloves of garlic, minced
• omitted – [one large jalapeno, minced (seeds and all)]
• one pound of ground beef (I used 85% lean)
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• omitted — [2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder]
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 cup of your favorite beer (I used Coors Light)
• one 14.5 oz. can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• one 14.5 oz. can of fire-roasted crushed tomatoes (I used one 28 oz. can of  diced tomatoes in lieu of these two cans)
• omitted — [one can of water (just fill an empty tomato can with water)]
• one small can of tomato paste
• one can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• one can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• one can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-2 cups of frozen corn (optional)  I used 1 cup
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste  I used table salt liberally
• sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Procedure:
In a large pot, saute onion and green pepper in olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for about 1 minute.  Add beef and cook until just browned; drain.  Return to pot and stir in chili powder, red pepper flakes, cumin, and beer.  Allow to cook while you open cans and prepare the beans.  Add the beans, tomatoes, and tomato paste.  Mix well.  After it reaches a boil, reduce heat, cover partially, and simmer for about an hour.  Stir occasionally and adjust spices to taste.  At the end, toss in your cup of frozen corn and allow to heat through for a couple of minutes.  Serve with cheese!

Thanks, Pinch My Salt, for a great recipe!  Sorry if I messed with perfection…  But it sure tasted awesome to me!

Love/Hate Relationship

I love them.  They usually love me.  But, sometimes, they make me cry.  I really thought we had gotten past all of this nonsense.  They haven’t made me cry in months…  nay, years!  But, today, I felt the hot, stinging tears welling up in my eyes and I knew I had lost today’s battle. 

It was a battle against an onion.

You see, I am trying a new chili recipe (I’ll share it if I love it) and it called for chopped onions.  Right-o!  I love onions.  And, since I had previously learned an excellent method for staying the tears, I had no qualms about chopping. 

Here’s the method: chew gum while you chop.  I have never had any idea why this worked, but it did.  As soon as I began using this method, onion tears became a thing of the past!  I keep gum in my pantry for whenever I need to chop. 

Today, as mentioned above, was a different story.  My gum failed me.  I cried.  It’s been an hour since I chopped, the onions are mixed with other yummies and safely tucked away in my crockpot, and my eyes are still stinging.  What happened?

I scoured the internet and found lots of interesting information.  I came to the conclusion that it didn’t work this time because my husband had already chopped some of the onion two days ago for a chicken cordon bleu recipe.  That gave the noxious fumes time to rally their forces against me and my knife.  I don’t know if it’s true, but it could be.

Do you have onion-cutting woes?  Here are a few tips I’ve found on the internet. 

1. Chew gum.  I still think it works.  It has to do with the extra saliva produced so that the fumes will react with that water instead of the water in your eyes.  Weird, but I don’t care.  It has had about a 99% success rate in my kitchen. 
2. Have running water nearby.  This works on the same principle, but I haven’t tried it.  I will definitely not try it, because it’s a total waste of water!  There are people DYING out there because they don’t have water!  Don’t be a jerk.
3. Have an open flame nearby.  I haven’t tried it and I have no idea why it would work.
4. Wear goggles.  Now if that isn’t sexy, I don’t know what is.  You can buy some goggles here.  Let me know if they’re awesome. 
5. Freeze your onion before chopping.  This was my previous method.  It works.  But, it makes for a soggy onion.
6. Chop underwater.  I’ll remember this next time I go SCUBA diving.
7. Chop strategically.  I have never really known how to efficiently chop an onion.  Here’s a great post I found and I will use her method next time, in conjunction with the gum! 

Anyway, my eyes are still burning.

Good Monday Morning to You

We are home for the holiday!  I can’t even express to you how awesome it is to have a whole week with Justin.  He works so much and our schedules so often conflict that we don’t see as much of each other as we should.  It’s often just a sleepy kiss as he leaves for work in the morning and a sleepy kiss as I walk in the door late at night.  But we get A WHOLE WEEK TOGETHER this week!  I wish we had it all to ourselves, but I guess seeing other people we love is nice, too. 

 

Thanksgiving, I think, has surpassed Christmas in my heart as my favorite holiday.  I love the food so very, very much.  I also love the premise of actually taking time to be thankful.  It’s really just a wonderful holiday that is in a very biblical spirit.  God was all about feasting and giving thanks.  So, Thanksgiving is really just kickin’ it Old Testament style.  I’m down with that.  Not too much commercialism, except the Macy’s Day Parade.  But that’s just fun and it’s free to me! 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to share something I’m thankful for that recently happened.  I got a call last Friday from the vice principal of a middle school.  He said he had received my resume and cover letter that I recently sent (oh yeah – you just noticed it?  It’s about the 17th time I’ve sent it, but whatever!) and he was impressed.  He said he was impressed with my initiative and with my credentials.  He has an opening for a 25-day interim substitute and wanted to offer it to me.  He doesn’t know me or anything and he doesn’t know anyone who knows me, so that’s pretty cool!  He seemed genuinely helpful and he said that even though it’s probably not my ideal position, it will hopefully give me some contacts and some local references.  Yay!  I go in on a 3-day trial basis the week after Thanksgiving.  He said if I want to stay the whole time and if they want me to stay the whole time, then I can stay the whole time! 

What’s the job, you ask?  Oh, it’s none other than an English / History / Math classroom for kids who don’t speak English.  And no, they don’t speak Spanish, either; that would be easier!  He said they’re from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.  Hahahahaha  I really think God has an amazing sense of humor.  He probably can’t contain Himself over how funny this is going to be!

It’s definitely time to pull out my old ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) training packet and brush up a little.  I’m certified in it, but I’ve never had a whole class full of them!  Either way, I am honestly thankful…  even though He’s laughing at me. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

OKAY this is an awesome pie.  It’s pretty easy to make and it comes out awesome every time!  I’m so excited every Thanksgiving because I get to make it!

Ingredients:
2 pkgs cream cheese, softened
½ C pumpkin purée
½ C sugar
½ t vanilla extract
½ t ground cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
dash of cloves
2 large eggs
1 9-in. graham cracker crust

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine cheese, pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, and all spices.  Mix with a hand mixer on medium until well blended.  Add eggs, mix until blended.  Pour into crust.  Bake 35-45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  (Be sure to check at 35 minutes because you don’t want cracks or burn spots on the top!)  Allow to cool, then refrigerate at least three hours.  Serve with whipped topping.

Prepare to receive compliments for your awesome pie!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  (Just don’t ask me how to do turkey.  Mine was a bust two years in a row.)

Greek Shrimp Casserole

So, it’s been a while since I posted a recipe, huh?  Well, here ya go.  I just tried this one and we both liked it!  It’s really pretty different than anything we ever make, so I was really thinking I would hate it.  But, it was good! 

Ingredients:
8 oz uncooked orzo
1 10oz box frozen chopped spinach
1 14.5oz can diced tomato
1T orange juice
1T extra-virgin olive oil
1/2t dried marjoram
1C crumbled feta cheese
1lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (the recipe calls for large shrimp, but I used small and I think it’s better because you get shrimp in every bite!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.  Grease a 2 quart baking dish.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add orzo and spinach.  Cook 9 minutes, or until orzo is al dente and spinach is thawed.  Drain well.  Toss pasta mixture with diced tomato, orange juice, olive oil, and marjoram.  Stir in feta and shrimp and transfer to baking dish.  Bake 22-26 minutes, or until shrimp is cooked through.  If the top begins to brown too much, cover loosely with foil. 

Enjoy!

Yay!

I came home from work today to find my husband cooking dinner!  He made me pad Thai and then crépes for dessert…  A little eurasian dining experience!  It was really good and I think it makes him a really good husband for making me food. 

Aren’t you jealous?

Post #100!

Yay!  I don’t have anything significant to say other than I’m super-stoked to have hit this milestone AND I’m having sushi tonight with my friend, Lindsay!  (And neither of those is insignificant!)