The Best Chocolate Cake

Sloan had a costume party for her birthday. A few of her friends came early and raided our costume box. Sloan is wearing my pink prom dress I made when I was 16.

Chauncey wore two of Sloan’s tutu’s and one of his favorite hats. We’re still not sure what he was suppose to be!

A couple of swim team friends came after the group picture.

I forgot to take a picture of the food table. We had a candy theme.

This is my daughter Jennie’s chocolate cake recipe, and it is the best and easiest chocolate cake ever! One of the things that make it so wonderful is the King Arthur Cocoa that I bought when I was in Maine.

The Best Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups cocoa powder*

3 cups flour

3 cups sugar

1 teaspoon soda

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cup hot water

3/4 cup oil

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8” round cake pans (or two 6” round pans and 24 cupcakes) with Baker’s Joy and parchment paper.

Sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into mixer bowl.

On low, stir in eggs, buttermilk, hot water, oil, and vanilla; beat until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping bowl as necessary.

Pour into prepared pans and bake, rotating the pans once, 35-45 minutes. (Less for the cupcakes)

Remove cakes to a cooling rack and let cool in the pans for 15 minutes before unmolding.

When the cakes (and cupcakes) are completely cool, frost with icing.

The Best Frosting

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

Heavy Cream

6-8 cups Confectioners Sugar, sifted

In a mixer beat the butter and vanilla until fluffy. Add 3 cups of confectioners sugar and beat well, Add some cream and 2 more cups of confectioners sugar beating well, add more cream and more confectioners sugar until you have the desired consistency.

Cream Puffs With Chocolate Pudding

When I was a teenager my mother bought herself a Betty Crocker Cookbook. We loved that cookbook, especially me! I seemed to spill a lot on the pages, so all my favorite recipes were marked with food. She bought me a notebook style one. After I was married I used my cookbook a lot, and soon all my favorite recipes were marked with food spots. One time when I was at my moms I decided to make something out of the favorite cookbook, and I grabbed hers and low and behold there were no food spots! She lovingly took it from my hands and replaced it with the old stained one! She didn't want me to stain her good one!

The other day I was at our local second hand store (D.I.) and I found another copy of my favorite cookbook. I decided to buy it for my 12 year old daughter, Sloan. I thought we could find some recipes that she would want to try (she's a very picky eater). She brought it to me the other day and asked if we could try cream puffs! I quickly told her yes! They are fun to eat and not to hard to make. We decided to fill them with chocolate pudding. The picture above is my cookbook on the right and my daughters on the left. Someone left some previous food spots to mark some recipes!

Cream Puffs

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
4 eggs

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour. Stir until it forms a ball. Remove from heat and add eggs all at once, stir vigorously until smooth. Drop dough by 1/4 cup full’s onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until puffed and golden. Cool. Cut off tops. Pull out filaments of soft dough. Carefully fill puffs with chocolate pudding and whipped cream. Dust tops with powdered sugar.
Makes 11 - 12 puffs.

This is how the dough looks after you add the eggs

Carefully drop onto ungreased cookie sheets

Chauncey takes a turn

After they are baked

Chocolate Pudding

2 cups milk
2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend sugar, cornstarch, salt and cocoa powder in a 2 qt saucepan. Add milk and egg and whisk well. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Pour in a bowl and press plastic wrap onto top of the pudding. Cool in refrigerator until cold.

Someone has to lick the pan, it's chocolate!

The Swim Meet and my Hand

                

The Regional Swim Meet was long! There were 9 heats of 500 Freestyle for both boys and girls. Chauncey came in 4th place overall for the boys and received a medal!

I went to see a surgeon yesterday for my hand. He gave me 3 shots in it to numb it, then he pulled on my little finger to try to set the joint in the right place. It didn’t work, so Monday morning they will do surgery and put a pin in it. My hand is really sore again from all the pulling, and the shots were so painful! I hate needles!

2 Shaved Heads, A Swim Meet and my hand

Chauncey is on the high school swim team and they have a tradition that they all shave their heads in a buzz when they go to the Regional Competition. Last night the team had a big spaghetti dinner, then all the boys that wanted to follow the tradition went over to the coach’s house to get their heads buzzed! It’s Chauncey’s first year on the team so he was pretty excited about it. Ken decided that he would shave his head in support of all of all of Chauncey’s hard work. Last night Chauncey shaved his dad’s head in a buzz. I’ve never seen my sweet hubby without hair!

So, how do you think my guys look?

Chauncey will be swimming the 200 Freestyle and the 500 Freestyle. He’s also an alternate for the 400 Freestyle Relay. I can’t wait to go watch the meet today!

Before we go to the meet I’m seeing a surgeon about my hand. So cross your fingers for me that I don’t need surgery.  It’s been two weeks and my hand has finally quit throbbing all the time.

The Winner Is and Cheddar Cream Biscuits

The winner of the Pillsbury Sweet Roll Coupon and the Hanging Photo Album is-

#2 Sew Fun

Congratulations, and please contact me so I can have your prize sent to you!

Thanks everyone for playing along in this giveaway. I have another one coming up on Monday, along with another makeover!



Chauncey did some sewing in one of his classes at school and made his pajama bottoms, a drawstring bag, and my favorite, a chicken!


These biscuits are super simple to make and taste amazing! They mix up really easy because you don't have to cut in any butter. All the fat is in the nice heavy cream, and you just stir the biscuits together.

Cheddar Cream Biscuits

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 cup grated cheese
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

In a bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cheese. Stir in cream until mixture comes together.

Sprinkle flour onto a counter and pat dough out to about 1 inch thick. Cut with a round cutter or a glass. Pat out remaining dough and cut out the rest of the biscuits. Brush with melted butter. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Nutritious Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you like to have fun with your food? We like to play with our orange slices. Sloan and Chauncey have been doing this since they were little!




Can a chocolate chip cookie really be nutritious? Hmm, lets see, the oatmeal is good, eggs are good, I added wheat germ, that's good, but I'm not so sure about the rest of the ingredients. There is still a lot of butter and sugar in these cookies, but hey, that's what makes them good! These are nice and moist, and everyone loved them! I didn't even tell them that they are suppose to be nutritious! Sloan won't eat a cookie once she finds out it has oatmeal in it. Even if she has enjoyed most of the cookie, she'll quit eating it if you tell her there is oatmeal in it! She's only 11, so I'm hoping she'll grow out of it! Everyone enjoyed eating these while we played Killer Bunnies. If you've never played it, it's a really fun game!

Nutritious Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
2 cups quick oats
2 cups chocolate chips

Optional Ingredients (use 1 or more of the following)

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup wheat germ (I only had 1/2 cup, so I added it)
1 cup flaked coconut (I added this)
1 cup dry milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl whisk the flour, oatmeal and soda.

In a mixer beat the butter and brown sugar for 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix well. Beat in the extra ingredients and the chocolate chips. Drop with a cookie scoop onto cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

The Best Beef Roast a blanket story and a giveaway

I was folding up Chauncey's blanket after it came out of the wash, and Sloan walked in and asked where Chauncey got the blanket. I told her that 14 years ago when she was born, she gave it to Chauncey. I told her that her dad helped me tie it. Sloan asked me why she gave Chauncey the blanket and I told her so that Chauncey would like her. Sloan said, well, it didn't work! I thought that was so funny! I had to take a picture of Chauncey with his puppy blanket. No, he doesn't use it any more, he wraps his dog in it at night. Actually Chauncey and Sloan get along pretty good most of the time. I love my kids at the age they are now, but they sure do grow up fast!

My family loves a roast when I cook it this way. We've been doing this to our roasts for years because it gives them the best flavor, and it's really pretty easy! We've used beef or pork roasts for this. It's a little messy, but the meat turns out nice and juicy. You can't make any gravy from it though. I don't have a picture of the sliced meat, because my family ate it all! If you have any left it makes a yummy sandwich!

The Best Beef Roast

1 beef roast
Mustard, I like a grainy mustard, but any mustard works
Kosher salt

Rinse your roast and pat dry. Cover top and sides with mustard (I just lay it in the pan, but if you have a helper have them hold it) Now pour the Kosher salt all over, real thick. Turn the roast over and do the other side. You want to try to cover all the mustard with the Kosher salt.

Now put it in the oven at 325 and bake for 2 hours. Test with a meat thermometer. I like to get it up to 160 degrees. Remove from the oven and use a spoon to break off all the salt. You should end up with just a little mustard on the roast. Put on a cutting board and slice and serve.



Head over to Beneath My Heart for a great giveaway! You could win jewelry!

Easy Smores and Some Gifts I Made

We decided to make smore's the other night without a campfire. First we crushed some graham crackers in a baggie, then poured it into a small bowl. Then we melted some chocolate chips in the microwave in a small bowl. Then we put a couple of large marshmallows on a small plate and microwaved them for 10-20 seconds. Then we put a fork in them and dipped a spoon in the chocolate and drizzled it over the marshmallow. Then we sprinkled the graham cracker crumbs over the chocolate, Yum!

So when we were done we had all some lovely melted chocolate left and not wanting it to go to waste the kids decorated their faces!


Here's a Chocolate Chauncey!


And a Chocolate Sloan!


I wanted to show you some presents I made for a dear friend of mine. I gave her a gift certificate for a new purse and these are the accessories I made to go in it. I found this pretty green floral print fabric at DI for $.50. I decorated everything with fabric yoyo's and buttons from my button jar and some yellow gingham fabric from an old crib sheet. I got a little carried away, but it was so fun!


On the left is a insulated water bottle holder, an Altoid tin filled with Milk Duds (her favorite candy) to the right of it is a package of Trident Gum decoupaged with the fabric, then below is a checkbook cover, below it is a wallet that I made (I took an old wallet apart for the pattern and zipper) a business card holder, to the right is a tissue holder.



The notebook has a decoupaged clip on it and a hair elastic to keep it shut and pen are decoupaged with the fabric, a cosmetic bag, a bottle of green lotion, a Burt's Bees Lip Balm decoupaged, a sewing kit and a key chain.


There's a great giveaway over at Tea Rose Home!

Swim Team and Chocolate Puddles

Sorry, I decided to take the day off yesterday from blogging. I got up at 4am and ran 5 miles, then I made some breakfast for my family and then we went to the kids swim meet. This is a picture of their coach at one of their practices. They practice every evening for 1 hour and 15 minutes and they work really get a workout!

The kids did really well at the meet. Sloan did 3 events and beat her previous times in all three events! Chauncey was amazing! He swam 5 events and won 1st place in all 5 events beating his previous times also! He has turned out to be an amazing swimmer! Next year he can try out for the High School Swim Team! I'm so excited about that!

I just had to brag on my kids a little. Here's a new family favorite cookie recipe for you!


I found this recipe in a Country Woman Christmas cookbook. These cookies have a yummy chocolate and brown sugar flavor. You can't really even tell that there is oatmeal in these. The kids love these! I love that they look like a lot of work, but they are super easy! I'll be making these again! The chocolate filling is so yummy!


Chocolate Puddles

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup miniature chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans, I left them out

Filling

1/2 cup (3 oz) chocolate chips
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

In a saucepan heat the filling ingredients just until chips start to melt. Stir until smooth.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl whisk the dry ingredients.

Beat the sugar and butter in a mixer for 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients and the chips. Drop onto cookie sheet with a cookie scoop. Take the end of a wooden spoon and make an indentation. Spoon some of the filling into the indentation. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until just set.

My daughter Jennie over at Tuffet has a story she shares about a very sick little girl (who has become like family to her) and a request for help. If you have a minute, please stop by her blog and watch the little video and see if you can help.

The Turkey Trot Race and Cereal Muffins

This is Chauncey and me before the Salt Lake Turkey Trot race. He's wearing a turkey on his hat! I have run this race for the last few years with one of my boys. This is Chauncey's second time to run it with me!

This is coming downhill near the beginning. He's hard to see, but two people after the dog there is a guy wearing an Indian headdress and a loin cloth and no shirt! It was around 30 degrees out! This race has gotten so big that they had to divide it up and have two races at different starting points.



This is Chauncey and me nearing the finish!


This dog is got a turkey costume on! I really look forward to running this race every year!





I needed to use up some cereal we had in the cupboard and so I came up with this recipe. I put chocolate chips in them so Sloan would eat them, and the kids both loved them! Sorry, mine got a little dark!


Cereal Muffins

2 cups cereal, Corn Flakes, Rice Crispies, etc
1 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with Pam

Whisk all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop into muffin tins with a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop. Bake 15-20 minutes.

There is a great giveaway for a pair of YMI Jeanswear jeans at Just For Me And You!

Curried Squash Soup and family pictures

Don't forget you can still sign up for my giveaway, just click here for the rules!





We got snow yesterday!

And under all the snow are the leaves that we still need to rake! At least the wind blew most of them off the trees.


Here's two of my boys, Mark and Chauncey having some fun making faces. Mark won!


Sloan took the pictures along with one of herself!



I'm going to share a super simple way to cook a squash! Put it on a large cookie sheet, pierce it with a sharp knife all over. Bake it in the oven at 400 degrees until a fork can pierce it easily.



This one took 2 hours. My mother's friend gave her two, and she gave me one. I never turn down vegetables! I knew just what I wanted to make with it!



My favorite Curried Squash Soup! Yum! I came up with this recipe last winter, and I love it! It's also super simple to make!

After the squash is done, let it cool. Cut it in half and scoop out the guts. Then just scoop out your squash and measure it. You can scoop out the rest and put it in a big bag and freeze it. Now don't worry about the black goo on your cookie sheet, it's just the natural sugar in the squash that caramelized. Just put it in your sink to soak, it will come right off, trust me!


Here's what it looks like without the seeds.


Curried Squash Soup

1 onion, chopped
2 apples, cored and chopped (leave the peel on)
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups cooked squash
6 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
2 tablespoons honey




In a large pot, saute the onion in the olive oil. Add the apples and cook for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook while you take your daughter for a walk, about 30 to 45 minutes. Puree the soup in batches in a blender. Return to the soup pot and cook for a few more minutes. You'll need to taste it and see if it needs more salt. I don't eat a lot of salt, so keep that in mind.