Favorite Chocolate Cake

My friend, Marie, shared this recipe and it is possibly my favorite dessert of all time.  I like it right out of the oven, with molten frosting on top and a side of ice cream, or even the day after because it stays so moist.  It's a winner.  Chocoholics BEWARE!

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

In saucepan melt and let cool

2 cubes butter

4 Tbsp. cocoa

1 cup water

Pour over dry ingredients and mix well, add...

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

(mix bottom of the bowl in kitchen aid)

Pour into 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 min or until the center is cooked. Make sure you don't over cook the cake, it is supposed to be very moist.

Frosting

In saucepan melt and let cool

1 cube butter

4 Tbsp cocoa

6 Tbsp buttermilk  (smidgen more than 1/3 c)

Beat with a mixer 1 lb box of powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Pour frosting over warm cake.

White Chicken Chili

1 lbs chicken cut into cubes

1 med. onion

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 Tablespoon oil

2-15.5 oz cans great northern beans

1-14.5 oz can chicken broth

1-4oz can green chilies

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I use half the amount)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 cup sour cream or 1 cup greek yogurt

1/2 cup whipping cream or 1/2 cup milk

If chicken is not cooked, cook in pan with onion, garlic powder, and oil.

Add drained and rinsed beans and the ingredients down to the cumin.

Bring to boil and cook for 5 min, reduce heat to simmer for 30 min

If cooking in crock pot, just put all ingredients in and cook for 4 hours

Just before serving add:

1 cup sour cream or greek yogurt

1/2 cup whipping cream or milk

Stir well and serve:)

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Before baking:

After baking:

If you want to make the dough from scratch, use this recipe.

As for toppings, this is what you'll need:

1 cup BBQ sauce (I have used Bullseye Original, and we love it)

1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 chicken breast, cooked, cubed or shredded

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1 small jalapeno, thinly sliced, seeds removed

Put on the pizza crust in that order. Bake at 500 degrees for 13 - 15 minutes.

Pizza Dough

For years now my Mom and Mother-in-Law have been dazzling me with their delicious breads, rolls, and pizza crusts. They both claim it is easy! I have had a lingering fear of using yeast for some reason. I have never bought it. I don't even know where it is at the store or what kind of container it is in. I don't know how to store it at home. I don't know how to activate it. It has just intimidated me, so I haven't tried it... until now! I have to admit, I sent my husband to the store to buy the yeast, so I still don't know where it is in the store. This is what the packages look like that he brought home:

And I still don't know where you are SUPPOSED to store it, but I put it in the fridge just in case. :)

Another thing I was worried about is that I don't have a dough hook on my Kitchen Aid Mixer or a bread maker machiner thing, so I resorted to kneading by hand.

knead \ned\ {verb} 1 To work and press into a mass, usually with the hands; esp., to work, as by repeated pressure with the knuckles, into a well mixed mass, the materials of bread, cake, etc

I know! Am I the pioneer woman, or what?!

Okay, so the first two times I made this recipe I used HOT water to activiate the yeast. Well, I think I killed the yeast because my dough never raised. (We still ate it and it was actually still pretty good). The third time was the charm because the dough was nice and fluffy.

Pizza Dough:

1 package instant yeast

1 cup warm water

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 Tbsp oil

2 1/2 cups flour

Combine the yeast, water, salt and sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl. Allow this to sit for ten minutes while the yeast activates.

Add the oil. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour. When the flour is mostly incorporated, transfer the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface (I just do it on my countertop). Knead the dough for 5 minutes. I would set your timer, because if you are like me you're going to feel like its been 5 after about 2 1/2 minutes. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. This will need to sit for at least a couple of hours at room tempertaure. If you don't get around to finishing the pizza that day, put the dough in the fridge and it will be good for a couple of days.

When you are ready to finish it, roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. The dough always has a lot of elasticity, but if I roll and roll I can get it into shape. You can either do one larger pizza or two smaller. If you have a pizza stone, cook it on that, but if you don't, just use a cookie sheet. Top with sause, cheese, and any other fixings and bake at 350 degrees. You'll know it is finished when the cheese is completely melted and the crust looks a golden brown on the edges. Ballpark: 15-20 minutes.

We LOVE this pizza crust recipe at our house! My hubby asks for pizza at least once a week!

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

You'll need:

-Strawberries

-Chocolate chips or chocolate candy melts

-chopped nuts (optional)

-Ziploc Bags

What to do:

-Rinse the strawberries.

-Be sure to dry them thoroughly with a paper or dish towel.

-Put the chocolate in a glass bowl and in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir, and continue putting the chocolate in the microwave for 30 second intervals, then stirring, until the chocolate is completely melted.

-Hold the strawberries by the stem and dip one at a time into the chocolate. If dipping in nuts, dip the strawberry immediately into a small bowl of chopped nuts.

-Lay the dipped strawberries on wax paper that is placed on a cookie sheet (easier to transfer to the fridge later).

-Melt and spoon a different kind of chocolate into a Ziploc bag (freezer bags are thicker and work a little better, but a regular one will work too)

-Cut the tiniest corner off of the bag.

-In very fast, wide motions, squirt the chocolate in a zigzag pattern on the dipped strawberries.

-Allow them to set in the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.

I made this as a last minute gift for my sweeters on Valentine's Day and they were delish! He couldn't believe I made them all by myself. :)

Creamy Syrup

1 cube butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan and heat up (without boiling) until everything is melted and dissolved. Let it cool, then serve!