Mary's Chocolate Cake

This is not my recipe. I post this only for my own reference. This is Williams most favorite cake recipe and we love it more because we love the woman you made this for us for years! We miss you turner Fam!!

Chocolate Cake

Pre-heat oven 375 degrees.  Grease and flour a jelly roll pan.

 

Bring these ingredients to a boil, then add to flour and sugar mixture:

 

1 cup water

1 stick margarine

4 tablespoons of cocoa

 

Flour / Sugar mixture:

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

 

Mix well, then add:

 

½ cup butter milk or sour milk (to make sour milk, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to milk and let set for a few minutes)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon soda

 

 

Pour into prepared pan and bake 20 minutes.  Cake will look moist on top.  Let cool and frost.

Bake Marinated Chicken Fingers

equal parts of a vinegar and an oil (I usually use olive oil and have tried both cider and balsamic vinegar)
salt and pepper
1 tsp ground garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
Other dried spices as your tastes prefer (I have done celery seed, poultry seasoning, etc)
1-2 tbsp mustard (dijon, grainy, or other mustard you prefer)
1 pkg chicken breasts or tenderloins
ziplock or other pkg to marinate in

mix the first 6 ingreds until well blended. Add the chicken and turn to coat each piece. Place in fridge for 8 hours or over night. Preheat oven to 375 and place the chicken on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for 15-25 minutes or until chix is golden and tender and cooked through. Eat and enjoy!

Chicken Flautas

I made chicken flautas for dinner the other night from a food network recipe and they were really good, VERY filling (I only ate one and Will only ate two). Here is what I did and where I got my inspiration!

Shredded Chicken Breast:
placed 3 chix breats in a crock pot and then in a bowl I mixed about 1 c of water with garlic powder, galic salt, chopped garlic, and some boullion mix (not much) and some pepper. I then poured that over top and cooked on high for 3 hours, shredded it and used it in place of rotisseri chix called for in the following recipe.

Chicken Flautas with Avocado creme


These made ALOT of food and we ate this for three days!! Seriously! They were good though. I don't think I will make them often as it is just so much, unless I made them for a party or something.

Easter Menu Change...

After planing my menu for Easter dinner we figured the scheduled plan would not be enough and decided to make a caserole of the sweet potatoes instead of roasting them. Here is the recipe we found which I made some changes to.

Ingredients
8 sweet potato, baked until soft and then flesh removed to a bowl
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Mash sweet potato flesh first.
2.In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, white sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla extract and cinnamon. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish, greased baking dish.
3.In medium bowl, mix the brown sugar and flour and pecans. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture.
4.Bake in the preheated oven 30-40 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

Lemon Blueberry cake

1 box lemon cake mix
20 oz can crushed pineapple, do not drain
20 oz can blueberry pie filling

Mix dry cake mix with pineapple. Pour into a 13x9 inch greased baking dish. Spoon blueberry filling over mix. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes at 350. Serve with ice cream. 10 servings

Welsh Rarebit

6 tbsp butter
3 tbsp bacon grease
3/4 c beer
20 oz shredded sharp cheddar
salt and white pepper to taste

Heat butter, bacon grease and beer over med heat until bubbles appear. Reduce heat slightly and stir in the cheese until just melted. Add slat and pepper. Serve with toasted bread slices.

This is obviously TERRIBLE for you! But it is GOOOOOODDDD!! So don't indulge too often! Our whole family like this recipe for a meal. Obviously this isn't all we eat! I would like to find a good recipe for onion sandwhiches and then we can really emulate an early 20th century family!

Quick Coconut Cream Pie

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 c cold milk
1 carton frozen whipped topping
1 c. flaked coconut toasted, divided
1 graham cracker crust

In a bowl, beat pudding and milk on low, 2 mins. Fold in half of the whipped topping and 1/2-3/4 c coconut. Pour into crust. Top with rest of the whipped topping and the 1/4 c coconut. Chill until totally set.

Will loves this and you can get everything, save the coconut, fat free, so this is definately a keeper recipe!

Salsa and Guacamole

Salsa:
1/2 jalapeno
1/4 small red onion
1 small garlic clove
2 tbsp cilantro
2 tsp lime juice
1 can diced tomatoes or 2 ripe tomatoes cut into eighths

chop in blender or food processor.

Guacamole:
2 small avacadoes
1 tbsp red onion minced
1 small garlic clove minced
1/2 jalapeno
2 tbsp fresh cilantro
1 tbsp lime juice

mix in a bowl, mushing and stiring until ready.

Peanut Butter Fudge

2 c. sugar (no subs)
1/2 c. milk
1 1/3 c. peanut butter
1 jar ( 7oz) marshmellow creme

In a sauce pan, bring sugar and milk to a boil, boil for 3 mins. Add peanut butter and marshmallow creme. Mix well. Quickly pour into a buttered 8x8 inch square pan. Chill until set. Cut when fully set and cool.

Corn bread Stuffing

This is a favorite for our family on holidays and sometimes when I am feeling like making a giant meal with roast chicken and all the fixin's I will make this to accompany.

1 pan 8x8 of baked and cooled cornbread
1 c chopped celery with leaves
1/2 chopped onions
1 stick butter
1/4 c chicken broth or stock

break corn bread into small pieces, I just leave it in the pan it baked in until I need to add it to the veggies. Cook celery and onion in the butter until soft, but not browned (I often add some celery seed or thyme at this point and allow the heat of the butter to release some of the good stuff in the herbs, but it isn't necessary). Add broth and mix well, then add the corn bread to the pan (I use a huge skillet that I have) and toss lightly. Pour into another baking pan and bake in a preheated 350 oven for 30-40 minutes or until the top is crusty and golden. I don't stuff turkeys or chickens (I don't like my stuffing that way) but if you like it you can skip the baking and just stuff your bird.

Springfield Cashew Chicken

Spingfield cashew chicken is a missouri favorite. During our five years there we met an amazing family who made us one of their own. They became our surrogate parents, they are two of the most wonderful people you will every meet! We love them so much today and not simply because they introduced us to this recipe!

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
5 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups canola oil for frying
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon white sugar (don't sub this out)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 tablespoons chopped green onion for topping
2 cups cashew halves (we use unsalted canned)
White Rice, enough for each person you are feeding to have two servings.

In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch. In another dish or bowl beat the eggs. Dip chicken pieces into flour mixture, then eggs, then flour mixture again. Heat peanut oil in a large skillet and deep fry coated chicken in hot oil for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
Meanwhile (while frying chicken), heat broth to boiling in a medium saucepan. Add oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce and white pepper. Mix remaining 4 tablespoons cornstarch with a small amount of cold water in a cup. Stir cornstarch mixture slowly into broth mixture to thicken, then cook for another 5 minutes over medium-low heat.
Serve the fried chicken on top of the white rice topped with the green onions and cashews, then pour the sauce over all. I usually just set everything out on the table and let people make their own piles, it works well and then everyone can have what they want in the amount they want, Will always takes less cashews than green onions and I ften make a pile of just rice, onions cashews and sauce. So go to town and then imagine you have actually been to Missouri.

Hot Artichoke Dip

So I am absolutely cheating on this one! It is totally a Lipton recipe! But it is good! Enjoy it!

1 can artichoke hearts drained and chopped (not marinated!)
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. sour cream
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese (or one cup shredded mozzarella, we prefer parm)
1 pkg. onion soup mix

mix all ingredients together in a bowl and pour into a 1 quart casserole. Bake 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until edges and top are browned. If using mozzarella, top with Parmesan and bake as directed! Super easy and tastes great!!!

note: if you are in the mood for cold dip, simply use just the parm and serve dip chilled--this also is convenient if you are in a pinch!