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Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category

Coca Cola Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on December 3, 2011| 14 Comments »

Way back in July, my in-laws treated me to dinner at Cracker Barrel for my birthday.  The food was so yummy and the highlight was dessert-Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake.  Oh-my-goodness!  It was just a rich and decadent as it sounds.  One day at work, I was talking about this cake and one of my co-workers said that she had made it before.  Silly me had not thought about searching for a copy recipe but I did and found one on MayFlaum.com. This is so good and so decadent and so rich!  I could go on and on, but I won’t.  I will just show you the recipe so you can go quickly and make one for yourself and your family.

Here are two little notes before that though: 1. I left out the pecans and powdered sugar in the ingredients photo.  I didn’t read far enough into the recipe before I took the picture.  Oops!  2. I made this in two 8” baking pans instead of one 9×13” pan because I was sharing with C’s parents.

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 sticks unsalted butter, divided

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided

1 1/2 cup Coca-cola, divided

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 13×9” baking dish.  Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.  Set aside.  In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 sticks of butter with 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup Coca-cola and 1/2 cup buttermilk.  Cook until it boils.

Add the boiled mixture to the flour mixture and combine.  Then add eggs and vanilla extract.  Pour the batter into the baking pan and cook for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.

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During the last 10 minutes of baking, prepare the glaze.  In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the remaining 1 stick of butter with 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 1/2 cup Coca-cola.  Let this come to a boil and then remove from heat.  Beat in the 4 cups of powdered sugar and stir in the chopped pecans.  Pour the warm glaze over the hot cake.  Let the cake cool for a little while and then DIG IN!!!

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Join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday!

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Cooking, Menu Planning, tagged , on November 28, 2011|

Good morning to y’all!  I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday weekend.  We sure did.  C & I celebrated with family every night this weekend and we even had time to do some Christmas decorating and online shopping as well.  I spent my Black Friday shopping the easy way…in my comfy clothes in front of my computer monitor eating leftovers for breakfast.  Aahhh, no fighting crowds or getting up before the crack of dawn for me.

This week we will have a bit of traveling to do so my list is a little short, but I still found room for a couple of new recipes that I plan on trying. 

Hamburger Stew

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Peanut Butter Syrup (2 new recipes)

Grilled pork chops with oven baked fries

Sloppy Joes with oven baked fries

I need to update my oven baked fries recipe for you all.  I have tweaked it a little since I posted it with the steak sandwiches.  In fact, I updated the sandwich recipe, too. 

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Apple Butterscotch Bars

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on November 26, 2011| 8 Comments »

I still seem to be in the throes of cooking with apples so bear with me for one more week.  This recipe is from the same issue of Southern Living magazine as the Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake from last week, so it’s not my fault.  The recipes in that issue were just too good to pass up!  Here is the link to the original recipe on the MyRecipes website.

The only thing I changed was the type of apple used.  I used Jonathan because that is what I had and the recipe called for Granny Smith.  The Jonathans worked great and retained their crunchiness just as well.

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 cup butter, melted

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cups peeled and diced apples

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 13×9” baking dish. Stir together the brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla.

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Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt.  I just put a fine strainer right over the bowl with the butter mixture and sifted all of my dry ingredients directly in.

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Stir in the apples and pecans.  Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread in an even layer.

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Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely (1 hour or more) before cutting into bars.

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Please join me and other great cooks over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.  I am so honored to have been spotlighted this week for the apple cream cheese bundt cake.  Thanks, Miz Helen!

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged on November 21, 2011|

Happy Thanksgiving week to all of my readers!  It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is actually here and Christmas is only about a month away.  I need to get in gear with my Christmas shopping so I can get done and enjoy December and all of the holiday happenings around here. C & I do most of our shopping online since, to me, it is a whole lot more fun to shop from my home in my comfy clothes instead of fighting the crowds.  That’s just me though.  If you enjoy getting out there, have a great time!

Besides Thanksgiving cooking, I am keeping this week’s menu pretty simple.  For the holiday, I am cooking the meat and a dessert for C’s family lunch.  For my side’s supper, I am experimenting a little bit.  Happy Turkey Day!!!

 

Deep Dish Pizza Casserole

Tacos

Pizza Night

Beef Vegetable Soup

Pumpkin Cookies w/Brown Sugar Glaze (new recipe for the International Food Blogger Cookie Exchange)

Thanksgiving Cooking:

Italian Cream Cake

Sweet Potato Casserole

Butter Roasted Potatoes

Crock Pot Maple Ham (new)

Cranberry Mandarin Sauce (new)

Corn Bread Dressing (new)

Thanksgiving Leftovers Yay!

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Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on November 19, 2011| 14 Comments »

A little while ago, I paid a visit to Jackson’s Orchard and purchased a peck of Jonathan apples so I had to find new apple recipes to try.  This recipe was published in Southern Living a few months ago and I knew it would be a perfect test for fresh apples.  This cake turned out great!  The apples and cream cheese swirl kept the cake moist for days and the caramel topping was so good.

In fact, this is one of those cakes that is better a day or two after it is baked.  It just gets moister and more flavorful.  Do you have a fall potluck or party to go to?  Take this and everyone will be in apple heaven!

Note: I am not including quite as many photos as usual since this recipe is quite long already.  All of the methods used are pretty basic.

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Apple Cake Batter:

1 cup finely chopped pecans, lightly toasted

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup applesauce

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups peeled and finely chopped apples (The original recipe called for Galas, but I used Jonathans.)

For the Praline Frosting:

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

3 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup powdered sugar

Prepare the Filling:

Beat the cream cheese, butter, and granulated sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended and smooth.  Add the egg, flour and vanilla.  Beat just until blended.

Prepare the Batter:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 14-cup Bundt pan with non-stick spray and cover with flour. (Or do like I do and use Baker’s Joy.)  Stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and allspice.  Then add the eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla; stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Stir in the apples and pecans.

Spoon 2/3 of the apple batter into the prepared pan.  Spoon the cream cheese filling over the batter, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge of the pan.  Swirl the filling through the apple batter using a knife.  Spoon the remaining batter over the filling.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center come out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out on a cooling rack and let the cake cool down completely.

Prepare the Frosting:

Bring the brown sugar, butter, and milk to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.  Boil for 1 minute while still whisking constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Gradually whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth; stir gently for 3-5 minutes or until the frosting begins to cool and thickens slightly.  Pour immediately over the cooled cake.

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Join me over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday to see some yummy treats!

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged on November 14, 2011|

Monday has rolled around again so it is time for another menu plan.  This week’s list may be a little short because I need to go to the grocery one night to purchase my Thanksgiving ingredients for next week.  Wow, did I just say that Thanksgiving is next week?  Yes. Yes, I did.  That means Christmas is right around the corner.  Yikes!  I need to get busy!

There was a little change to last week’s menu.  I had planned on making the A1 Swiss Steak, but when I stopped at my local grocery store, they had a small pork loin at a very reasonable price so that became Sunday dinner instead.  The A1 Swiss Steak is back on the list for this week.

Bubble Up Pizza

Cheesy Steak Sandwiches with Oven Fries

Pizza Night

Seafood Night

Grocery Night

A1 Swiss Steak with Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes (both new)

Fauxreos (new)

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Ina Garten’s Corn Muffins

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on November 12, 2011| 7 Comments »

When my co-worker, A, had a baby a little while ago, I took her family food one night.  Before she went on maternity leave, I asked her what she would like and she said some kind of soup or stew.  Hamburger stew it was!  That was easy enough. 

The night I made the stew, I decided that it needed something to go with it so I went searching for a corn muffin recipe and found this one on Foodnetwork.com.  These are really good and last for a couple of days without becoming stale, but here is a little word to the wise…the recipe says it makes 12 muffins.  It really makes 22 BIG muffins!  Next time, I will cut the recipe in half.  I should have realized that there was too many ingredients for just 12 muffins.

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 tbsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups milk

2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin cups with paper liners and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate bowl, combine the milk, butter, and eggs.  With the mixer on the lowest speed, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until they are just blended.

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Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each one about 3/4 full.  Bake for 30 minutes until the tops are crisp and a toothpick comes out clean.

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Please join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday for this and other blogger’s delicious recipes!

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged on November 7, 2011|

Good Monday morning, folks!  Has the time change affected you as much as me? I loved getting that extra hour of sleep, but it takes me a while to get used to it, especially the early sunset.  It’s dark by the time I get off from work which is no fun at all. 

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and the parties and dinners are already starting to happen.  We have one get-together (not a Thanksgiving dinner) to attend this weekend with some friends of ours and it should be a lot of fun.  It’s potluck so I am taking a slow-cooker full of sausage cheese dip which is one of C’s favorites.  I am also starting to plan my holiday cooking by making a few mental lists and checking them twice! It will be here before we know it.

Grilled burgers with oven fries

Grilled pork chops with oven fries (These didn’t get made last week.)

Pizza night

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes w/ Peanut Butter Syrup (new)

Sausage Cheese Dip with Fritos Scoops

Slow Cooker A1 Swiss Steak (new) with Crispy Potato Bake (new)

Homemade Baby Ruth Bars (new)

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Bubble Up Pizza

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , on November 5, 2011| 22 Comments »

I found this recipe and a great new blog on Pinterest.  I had never heard of this blog before but now I am hooked!  The name is Plain Chicken and there is a funny story behind the name so go check it out as soon as you can!.  She is a fellow Southerner and the food on her site looks so good.

Bubble Up Pizza is easy, good, and the recipe makes a huge pan.  In fact, there was enough for two suppers for C and I and 2 lunches for me.  That is a lot of food from one pan.  The original recipe says to use the pizza toppings of your choice so I chose ground beef, Italian sausage, onions and green peppers, but the there are many, many combinations you can try.  Have fun with it and see what you can come up with.

2 cans (12oz. each) golden layer buttermilk biscuits

1 jar (15 oz.) pizza sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 lb. Italian sausage

1 bell pepper, diced

1/2 medium onion, diced

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Cook the ground beef, sausage, pepper and onion until the meat in thoroughly cooked and the veggies are soft. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9×13 inch baking pan with non-stick spray.  Cut the biscuits into quarters and place in a large bowl.  Toss the biscuits with the sauce.  Add the pizza toppings and half of the cheese.  Toss until well blended.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and top with remaining cheese.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until biscuits are done.  This is enough for a whole meal so I just served mine with some fresh chopped veggies on the side.

 

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Join me and some other wonderful cooks over at Miz Helen’s Full Plate Thursday.

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged on October 31, 2011|

Happy Halloween!  I hope everyone has a safe and fun trick or treating night.  C & I will be at home with the porch lights on just waiting for the little ghosts and goblins to stop by.  We celebrated a little earlier this weekend by going to a soup/chili supper/hayride given by our neighbor/cousin and had a great time.  I also had to work this Saturday and made it to the grocery as well.  Whew, it was a busy but good weekend!

I do have to admit that the new recipes on last week’s list did not get made.  Oops.  I just didn’t have enough time to get it all done, but hopefully this week will be better. 

Sausage Bake (2 nights)

Chunky Vegetable Soup (new)

Chili

Grilled Pork Chops & Oven Baked Fries

Classic Ziti

Easy Shredded BBQ

Snickerdoodle Cake (Let’s try this one more time-new.)

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