Best Chocolate Cake Ever

Charmingly Chocolate: from Food and Family


Ingredients:
1/2 C chocolate syrup
1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 C water
1/3 C oil
7 eggs divided
1/2 C Sour cream
1 pkg. 8 oz cream cheese softened
1 C sugar
1 can(12oz) evaporated milk
4 squares baker's Semi-Sweet chocolate melted
1 cup whipped topping

1. Heat oven to 375, spray 12-cup bunt pan with cooking spray; pour in chocolate syrup

2. Beat cake mix, water, oil, and 3 eggs with mixer for 2 min. or until well blended; blend in sour cream.
    pour over syrup in pan.

3. Beat cream cheese and sugar with mixer until blended. Add remaining eggs; mix well.
    blend in milk and chocolate; gently spoon over cake batter. Cover with foil sprayed with
    cooking spray, sprayed-side down.

4. Place bunt ban in large pan. Add 2 inches water to larger pan. Bake 1 hour 30 min. or until toothpick
    inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate 2 hours.
    invert cake onto plate; remove pan. Serve with Cool Whip.

Note: for a 10- cup fluted tube pan
         Prepare cake as directed except reserve 2 cups cake batter before pouring batter into pan. continue as directed. reserved cake batter will make 9 cupcakes. bake as directed on cake mix box.

Grandma Francisco's Pumpkin Cake

Heat oven to 350degree - Grease and lightly flour a 9X13" baking pan
mix together for 4 min: 1 Yellow cake mix
                                   3/4C water
                                   2 eggs
                                   1t cinnamon
                                   1/2t cloves
                                   1/2t ginger
                                   1/2t nutmeg
                                   1/4 baking soda
                                   1 small(2oz) can pumpkin

 Bake 30-35 min. Frost when cool

Frosting:
1/2pt real whipping cream. whip until it starts to stiffen. mix in until dissolved 1/2C brown sugar
blend in 8oz cool whip.

Pecan Log from Mary Heaton obtained from Jackie Francisco

Center
     3 C. sugar
     1/4 C. Milk
     1/8 tsp. Salt
     1C. Cream
     1C. Butter
     3Tbsp. White Karo
Cook slowly till sugar is dissolved. Heat to medium(230 or soft ball stage)
Pour into glass cake pan. Cool quickly.
When you can touch and not burn hand start to beat for about 25 min.
When creamy make 9 small rolls. Cool.
Or use Dry Fondant 


Caramel
    2C. Sugar
    2C. Cream
    1 sq. Butter
    1/2C. Milk
    1C. Karo
    1/8 tsp. Salt
    1/2 C. Flour

Mix 1/2 cream and milk. set aside. put 1 C. cream in pan. add sugar, Karo and salt.
Cook slowly for 25 min. until pale. add rest of cream and cook to 224 degrees or until thickened.
Mix butter and flour. add to mixture. cook to 230 degrees.

Grease cookie sheet, spread 5 C. chopped pecans over it. Pour caramel over nuts.
Cool and cut into 9 pieces. Roll around Centers.


IDAHO SPUDS
Mary Heaton

2lg. Cool Whip
1lg pkg. milk chocolate chips
1lg. Hershey bar with or without almonds
1pkg. Knox gelatin

Melt chips and candy bar, when add cool whip and dry gelatin.
Mix well. Drop by tsp. into coconut or chopped nuts;
cover well. Put on waxed paper.

Holiday Favorites

Mint Oreo Truffles
1pkg(8oz) Cream Cheese
1pkg Mint Oreo Cookies
16 oz melted white chocolate melted

Mix: Cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended
Shape: into balls. Dip in melted chocolate, place on wax paper and sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs
Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm



Potato and Carrot Pudding
2C Grated Carrots
2C Grated Potatoes
2C Sugar
2C Flour
1TBS Cocoa
2t Salt
1C Raisins (or dried Cherries)
2t baking soda
1C Shortening
Cinnamon and Nutmeg to taste

Mix together and steam 3 hours

Butter Sauce for Carrot Pudding
1C Real Butter
3/4 c Heavy cream
1C sugar
1t Vanilla
Combine all but vanilla
Bring to a boil. simmer 10 minutes and vanilla and serve over carrot pudding

English Toffee

1Large (1/2 lb) Hershey Bar grated
Butter a cookie sheet and sprinkle 1/2 the chocolate on it.

1C Sugar
1/2lb butter
3TBS water
1t vanilla
Cook for about 10 min or until most of it loses its shine
stir constantly
pour over chocolate on cookie sheet and sprinkle remaining chocolate and chopped nuts on top

Creamless Tomato Soup given to us by Jan Francisco edited by: Blake Francisco

Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 medium onion, chopped medium (about 1 cup)
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon) Pinch red pepper flakes (OPTIONAL)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 large slices good quality white sandwich bread crusts removed, torn into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons brandy (OPTIONAL) salt & ground black pepper
• ¼ cup chopped fresh chives

1.     1.   Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering, about 1 minute. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, (if using), and bay leaf. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes with their juice. Using a potato masher, mash until no pieces bigger than2 inches remain. Stir in the sugar and bread; bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bread is completely saturated and starts to break down, about 5 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

2.       2. Remember to think about what a wonderful husband you have!

3.       3. Transfer half of the soup to a blender. Add 1 tablespoon more oil and process until the soup is smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with remaining soup and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Rinse out the Dutch oven and return the soup to the pot. Stir in the chicken broth and brandy (if using). Return the soup to a boil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the soup in individual bowls, each portion sprinkled with pepper and chopped chives and drizzled with olive oil.

4.      4.  Enjoy! Use caution while eating quickly it may be extremely hot. 

        Well, there you have it, the recipe of the day. I hope it is fabulous; until next time.

Pasta Crab Casserole

Living in the great North West you have to love the Seafood. Here is a great recipe. When i make it for just Blake and Myself i cut the recipe in half so keep that in mind when deciding how to prepare this meal for your family.

Ingredients:
8 oz uncooked spiral pasta
2 large onions, chopped(these may be a lot for some families)
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms sliced
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup butter
2 packages (8oz each) imitation crabmeat chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese

cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile in a skillet sauté the onions, mushrooms, green pepper and garlic in butter until crisp-tender( in order for mushrooms to brown the need air so don't crowd them, use a pan that is big enough and gives you room. also stirring to often with a metal utensil can tant the flavor of your food so toss it instead. your food will taste better and your family will think you're pretty cool.) remove from heat.

Drain pasta; add to the vegetable mixture. Stir in the crab, sour cream, salt and basil.

Transfer to 13 X 9 baking dishes. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Uncover bake 5 minutes longer or until heated through.

Makes 4-6 servings

Love it!!!
Enjoy!

Baked Southwest Sandwiches

I hate sandwiches I have my entire life. Over the years i have learned to gag them down when necessary. Having said that i now present you with an opened faced sandwich that even i enjoy.

1 Can chopped black olives (them come precut but i have found that i am completely capable of cutting my own olives)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of Mayonnaise (i use miracle whip lite, so use whatever you like)
1/3 cup of sour cream
1/3 cup chopped green onions
8 slices Italian or French bread (Italian bread is denser and holds up better)
3/4 to 1LB sliced turkey
2 tomatoes sliced
2 ripe avocados sliced
1 1/2 cups of the cheese of your liking.

In a bowl, combine the olives, chili powder, cumin and salt; set aside 2 tablespoons of this mixture.
add the mayonnaise, sour cream and onions to the remaining olive mixture.
Place bread on an ungreased baking sheet; spread 1 tablespoon of mayo mixture on each slice. Top with turkey and tomatoes. Spread with another tablespoon of mayonnaise mixture; top with avocados and cheese. sprinkle with reserved olive mixture. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until heated through. makes about 8 pieces of yummy lunch!

Enjoy!

Home-made Oreos

That is right folks Home-made Oreos and they are amazing!!!!
Now i am only putting this recipe out there with one stipulation...
I will not be held responsible for weight gain or Diet cheating.
Now i try my best to stay in a good weight and have found that if I allow myself a little bit of sugar a day I don't end up eating too much of it. But I do recommend making these for your husband, kids or neighbors so that they are not too much of a temptation for you.
ingredients for cookies:
1 box of Triple chocolate Fudge or Devil foods Cake box mix (Betty Crocker)
2 eggs
3/4 cup of Butter flavor Crisco

Mix these ingredients together
DON'T grease the cookie sheet
I use one of those cookie scooper so that they all come out the same size.
cook at 350 degrees for 8 minutes
when removing them from the oven let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes so that when you do remove them they keep there shape. place on wax paper to cool completely before frosting.
this recipe will make three dozen cookies or 18 finished cookies.

Icing Ingredients:
1/2 cup of margarine or butter
1/2 thing of cream cheese
an approx 1lb or powder sugar
and a splash of milk

Mix everything together slowly adding the powder sugar until it taste good and is the right consistency.
I make the frosting while the cookies are baking and then put it in the fridge to let it thicken while the cookies are cooling.

put it all together and what have you got?... Just kidding

Enjoy!