Chocolate Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Chocolate Cake

 

Beware this cake is 

Very rich.

Very chocolatey.

Very good.

Very much in need of a

tall, cool glass of milk.

If you are looking for a delicious chocolate cake

then you have come to the right place.

We have been making this for so many years

and weren't sure where we had gotten the recipe.

Turns out it is from HERSHEY'S!

 Right on the cocoa box! 

Thanks HERSHEY'S!

This is great for birthday parties. 

(A certain family member always

requests this cake for her birthday.)

It's great for picnics, cookouts, potlucks,

and any other time you have chocolate cravings.

Start with some sugar, flour, and cocoa.

Add some milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

Yum. 

This looks good just like this.

Into the pans it goes. 

Make sure you grease and flour the pans well.

A circle of parchment paper in the bottom works also.

Don't forget to grease the paper.

While the cake is cooling start on the frosting.

When you add the ingredients 

to the butter, make sure

to add them in increments.

Mixing well each time.

Some butter and powdered sugar.

Then some milk & vanilla.

Then the

cocoa.

Wow! 

Look at that frosting.

Then start all over again.

Repeat until all is added.

Scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.

Layer the cakes with frosting in between.

Frost the sides next and finally the top.

Grab that tall glass of milk 

and enjoy.

Chocolate Chocolate Cake

 2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup oil

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup boiling water

Mix the first six ingredients together.

Then add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.

Mix well.

Add the boiling water and mix slowly. 

(Trust us on this one.)

Pour into 2 greased and floured round pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Let cool for about 15 minutes in the pans.

Turn them out of the pans onto cooling racks or plates.

Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

12 Tbsp. butter, softened

5 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup cocoa

2/3 cup milk

2 tsp. vanilla

Add butter to bowl.

Then add about 1/3 of the powdered sugar.

Mix well.

Then about a 1/3 of the milk and vanilla.

Mix well.

Next 1/3 of the cocoa. 

Mixing well after each addition

and scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Repeat until all is added.

Simple Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

A cool fall evening.

A busy evening.

What to make?

Something warm.

Something tasty.

Something easy! 

Chicken Pot Pie

We found this recipe about eighteen years ago 
in a magazine and it has been a favorite ever since.

Incredibly easy to make.

Some cubed cooked chicken.

Some soup, veggies, and pie crust.

A little milk and salt & pepper...

Ready-made crusts are awesome and so, so easy.

 

Bake in a 375 degree oven
and...

Dinner is ready!

Comfort food...

doesn't get any better than this.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 cans (10 3/4 oz.) Cream of Potato soup
1 (16oz.) can veg-all mixed vegetables, drained
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
1/3 cup of milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg, slightly beaten (optional)
2 - 9 inch pie crust

Put one of the pie crust into the bottom of a pie plate.
Combine the first 6 ingredients.
Spoon into the pie crust.
Cover with second pie crust.
Crimp the edges to seal.
Slit top crust to vent. 
Brush with egg if desired.


Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.
You can cover the edge of the crust 
with strips of foil if it starts to get too brown
before the pie is done.
Cool for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Magic Cookie Bars

I remember having my very first 

Magic Cookie Bar at 

my Aunt Sharon's house 

many many...many years ago. 

Wow!

I had never tasted butterscotch chips before.

Where had they been hiding?

Dakota has always known these bars.

And loved them. 

For years I remember loving

Magic Cookie Bars.

Then when I was away at college,

I found a recipe that included

butterscotch chips.

Where had they been hiding?

Mom had been leaving them

out of her recipe because

my sisters didn't like them.

Welcome back, butterscotch chips.

 

Magic cookie bars ARE magical.

The graham crackers,

the brown sugar,

the  butter...

Chocolate chips 

and

butterscotch chips.

Don't forget the coconut 

AND

the Sweetened Condensed Milk!

What can we say about that? 

Pure heaven in a can.

(Mom gets angry if I throw it out

before she licks the lid.) 

Binder clips are great to use to 

hold down your parchment paper. 

They can go right in the oven.

When your magic cookie bars are cool,

just unclip them and 

lift the bars out using the paper.

The clips make it much 
easier to cut the bars.

Add a sprinkling of pecans 

and that makes it perfect.
Or hold the pecans...
some of us only eat them candied
or covered in cinnamon and sugar.  

Magic cookie bars

½ cup butter, melted

½ cup brown sugar

1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup of Nestles semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup of  Nestles butterscotch chips 
7 oz. bag of Baker's coconut

1 can Eagles sweetened condensed milk 

3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Mix together the butter, brown sugar, 

and graham cracker crumbs. 

Press into the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan 

that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

You can also line the pan with 

parchment paper for easier removal.

Spray that too.

Next sprinkle on 

the chocolate and butterscotch chips.

Then the coconut.

Then pour the sweetened condensed milk 

evenly over the coconut.

Sprinkle with the pecans.

Bake in a 350 degrees preheated oven for 25 minutes.

Until golden brown.

Let cool.

(OK, so let's be real here.  

We don't always let it cool before we eat some.)

Cut.

And ahhhhh...enjoy.

 

 I also enjoy drizzling a 

little warm caramel sauce on it too. 

Although Dakota is a purist and 

likes them just the way they are.

Either way they are delicious.  

Chicken Broccoli Braid

Flaky crescent roll, tender chicken, 

crunchy broccoli, and gooey cheese.  

Yum.

Now that fall is fast approaching 

it is time to start breaking out

the warm comfort foods.

This comfort food has 

lots of good-for-you

broccoli.

Most of our family like this healthy green stuff.

BUT there are a few 

(who shall remain nameless)

who are anti-"trees".

So we have made this braid,

  which is one half broccoli-filled

and the other half broccoli-lacking

(but equally delicious). 

Mix Cheddar cheese

with some chicken, dill, garlic powder, and broccoli.

Unroll your roll of crescent rolls into a rectangle.

 Line the long sides with cuts.

Load it up with the chicken mixture.

"Braid" it up and bake it.

And then bring it out.

All golden brown on the outside...

 

 And gooey, cheesy

deliciousness on the inside.

Chicken Broccoli Braid

(adapted from the Pampered Chef recipe)

2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls

2 cups cooked, chopped chicken

2 cups chopped broccoli 

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 to 1 cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp. dried dill

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together the chicken, broccoli, cheese, 

mayo, dill, salt, and garlic powder. 

Unroll the crescent rolls on a 

rectangle baking sheet or stone.

Do not separate. Press the seams together.

On the longest sides cut strips into the dough.

About 1 1/2 inches apart and about 3 inches long.

Place the chicken mixture evenly 

down the middle of the rolls.

Bring the strips together over the chicken mixture.

We have overlapped the strips 

but find it better to bring them together 

just until they touch.  

Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.

Until golden brown.

Don't want to miss a post? 

Sign up to follow us by email!