Chocolate Muffins

Okay, so not your perfect "I want to lose weight and start the new year on the right foot" kind of recipe, but thought I should share.

My older daughter, was surfing the net this morning and she came across a recipe she wanted to try. It is from the Holly Hobbie website. So we tried it and they are delicious and thought you all might want to try it too.

Chocolate Muffins

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease or line a cupcake pan.
2. Combine dry ingredients and stir. Add wet ingredients and blend until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Pour into cupcake pan about 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack before topping or serving.

Top with icing, chololate chips, peanut butter, or not at all!

Corn Chowder

A month ago or so I gave out a recipe for Parmesan Corn Chowder. I was scanning through my recipes yesterday and decided to make this. It tasted great, until I added the cheese. Word to the wise, don't add the cheese just make it a corn chowder instead. It tastes great without the cheese. So here is the revised recipe.

(Vegetarians-you can use veggie stock instead of chicken stock)

Corn Chowder

2 cups chicken stock
1 onion, diced (about a cup)
1/2 cup celery, diced small
2 potatoes, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 cups milk
2 TBS corn starch
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 can corn, drained
1 can creamed corn

In a 4 quart pot heat chicken stock, onion, celery, carrot, and potatoes to boiling. Turn down heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the creamed corn, corn and black pepper. Cook another 2-3 minutes until warmed. Add the milk except 2 TBS. Use the 2TBS milk to mix with the corn starch and then add to the soup. Stir until hot and thick. Serve with warm bisquets or rolls.

(At the end of the cooking process I mashed it all slightly with a potato masher to make the potatoes and the carrots smaller.)

What have you been cooking?

With the holidays, I am sure everyone is cooking up a storm. When we got back from Disney on the 23rd, I began baking. I baked 6 dozen cookies. 2 dozen sugar cookies with red and green sprinkles, 2 dozen mini chocolate chip cookies, and 2 dozen "Mickey Magic" chocolate chip cookies. I used the store-bought refrigerated dough and 'doctored' it up with sprinkles and jimmies.

I baked 4 cheesecakes. I used my uncle's recipe and poured the mixtures in to store-bought graham cracker crusts. I made two plain cheesecakes, one chocolate cheesecake, and one chocolate chip cheesecake.

For Christmas eve dinner with my mother and father, I made the mashed potatoes. The best potatoes I have made was when I used half and half to cream the potatoes. It made them so rich and yummy.

We had Christmas dinner at our house and we had a pre-cooked ham that I heated up, sweet potatoes, green beans (recipe at the bottom) stuffing, and rolls. In the stuffing I saute onions, celery and then added the water and when it boils I pour it into the bread crumbs.

Halfway House Green Beans
4 slices bacon
1 small onion (about a cup)
2 cans french style green beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes with juices
1 TBS sugar

Fry bacon and remove to a paper towel lined plate. In the bacon fat cook the onions until soft. Add sugar and the tomatoes and the juice in the the can to the onions. Cook on medium low for about 10 minutes. Add the green beans and cook covered until heated through. Remove from heat and place in serving dish. Crumple up the bacon and sprinkle on top. Serve imediately.

Whitney's Beefaroni

1 lb ground beef

1 small to medium onion, diced

1 can (14 1/2 oz) peeled tomatoes, diced

1/2 jar plain spaghetti sauce (I use Prego, traditional)

1 TBS Italian Seasoning

3/4 cup mild cheddar cheese, shredded

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 lb box of elbow macaroni pasta, cooked

Brown ground beef and cook onion at the same time in a skillet. Drain juices and return to skillet. Add Italian Seasoning, tomatoes, and spaghetti sauce. Let simmer for about 10 minutes until all is hot and bubbly. In a 9x13x2 casserole dish mix the macaroni and meat sauce together and spread out evenly in the dish. Mix the two cheeses and sprinkle all over the top. Bake in a 350 degree oven until cheese is melted, about 5-10 minutes. Serve with green beans, a salad and warm bread.

Soup's On

Parmesan Corn Chowder

2 cups chicken broth
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 tsp pepper
1-1 1/4 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 can cream style corn
2 cups milk
2 TBS cornstarch
1 cup parmesan cheese

In a 4 qt pot, bring the broth, potatoes,celery, carrot and onion to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add the corn, cream corn and all but 2 TBS milk to the mixture. Dissolve the cornstarch in the 2 TBS milk. Add. Cook one minute and add the cheese. Stir until melted. Serve (Serves 6)

Crab Bisque

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of asparagus soup
2 cups milk
1 cup half & half
1 6oz can crabmeat
1/3 cup sherry

Combine first 4 ingredients in saucepan. Heat thoroughly, stirring often. Add crabmeat and wine. Heat through.

Here's one for the turkey leftovers!


Turkey-Zucchini Soup

1 pkg (8oz) frozen cut green beans
2 cups thin sliced zucchini
2 cups chopped cooked turkey
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
½ cup fine chopped onion
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp dried savory
Dash pepper
1 pkg (3 oz) cream cheese

1. Place first 11 ingredients in crockpot.
2. Cook on high setting for 3 hours.
3. Blend approx. 1 cup hot soup mix with cream cheese. Return to cooker.
4. Heat through.
8 Servings

Comfort Foods

It is a rainy day here in Richmond and I thought I would pull out some comfort foods to post from Dad's files. Dad was famous for his meatloaf!

Em's Mac n' Cheese
(Emeril Lagasse, 2002)

6 TBS unsalted butter
½ lb elbow macaroni
6 TBS all-purpose flour
3 cups whole mile
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne
2 ½ cups grated cheddar (about 6 oz)
½ cup fine bread crumbs
1 tsp Essence (Can be bought in the spice aisle at the grocery store)

1.Preheat oven to 350^o. Butter a 2 QT baking dish with 1 TBS of the butter and set aside.
2.Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Drain well.
3. Melt the remaining 5 TBS butter in a heavy 3 QT saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, and stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, being careful not to let the flour brown. Using a whisk, add the milk in a steady stream and cook, whisking constantly, until thick and smooth, 4 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the salt, pepper, cayenne, and 2 cups of the cheese, and stir well. Add the noodles and stir well. Pour into the prepared dish.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of cheese with the bread crumbs and Essence. Sprinkle evenly over the macaroni and bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 25 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Meat Loaf

11/2 lbs ground beef

½ cup cracker crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1 8oz can tomato sauce
¼ cup finely chopped onion
2 TBS chopped green pepper
Dash- thyme, crushed
Dash- marjoram crushed

Combine all ingredients and 1 tsp salt; mix well. Put into 12x71/2x2 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350^oF for 1 ¼ hours.

Potato Casseroles and Slow Cooker Recipes

It is getting chilly outside and I thought I would post a few casseroles and slow cooker recipes from Dad's stash.

Three Potato Gratin

1 TBS Butter
2 Heads of Garlic, split in half
1 Qt Cream
1 lb peeled white potato slices
1 lb peeled sweet potato slices
1 lb peeled red potato slices
2 cups grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
salt and white pepper
Old Bay Seasoning (secret ingredient)
2 TBS Chopped chives

1. pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Grease souffle dish with butter
3. In a small sauce pot bring garlic and cream up to a simmer, add salt and pepper and Old Bay and simmer 15 minutes until 1/4 reduction.
4. Layer potatoes in souffle dish with cheese-six layers.
5. Remove Garlic from cream and pour over potatoes
6. Cover dish and bake 30-35 minutes.
7. Remove foil and cook 10 minutes till golden brown.
8. Garnish with seasoning and chives.


Seafood, Potato, and Corn Chowder

3 - 16 oz cans of chicken broth
1 onion chopped
2 large potatoes 1/2" dice
1 can whole corn, drained
1/4 cup flour
2 TBS dill
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 lb white fish, 1/2" dice (Can substitute crab meat)
1/2 lb cooked shrimp
1/4 tsp pepper
dash garlic
2/3 cup instant mashed potatoes
Salt to taste

1. In a 3 1/2 QT slow cooker, combine first 5 ingredients and 5 tsp of dill.
2. Cover and cook on low heat about 5 1/2-6 hours.
3. Increase the setting to high. Stir in rest of dill, cream, seafood, pepper, salt and potato buds.
4. Cook 35-45 min longer until slightly thickened.
5. Season with salt.

Serves 4-6.


Potato Casserole

3 lbs potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup butter
2- 3 oz pkgs cream cheese softened
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 - 2 oz jar diced pimento, drained
1 small green pepper, finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp salt

1. Cook potatoes in boiling watter 15 minutes. Drain and mash.
2. Add butter and cream cheese. Beat at medium speed till smoth.
3. Stir 1/2 cup cheddar and next 6 ingredients. Spoon into a lightly greased 11 x 7 x 1 1/2 baking dish. Cover and chill.
4. Remove casserole and let stand at room temp. 30 minutes, then bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
5. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar and bake 5 minutes or until cheese melts.