Mama’s Chocolate Chess Pie

3 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 stick salted butter, melted
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 refrigerated deep-dish pie crust

Mix cocoa, sugar, flour, and eggs. Beat well with an electric mixer until smooth. Add butter, milk, and vanilla. Mix well and pour into pie crust. Bake at 325 degrees about 50 minutes. After 25 minutes of baking, cover crust with a pie shield. When pie is done the center will be a bit shaky. It must cool completely before slicing or the pie will be runny. Top with whipped topping and enjoy!

Diane Berry has been happily married to her husband Todd for 29 years. They have 2 children, daughter Amelia, 16 and a son Taylor, 20. She’s a stay-at-home Mom who enjoys photography, antiquing, reading and baking with her daughter.

Breakfast: German Puffy Pancake

For those of you with more than one child, you know the feeling of success when all the children pronounce a recipe a keeper. Puffy German Pancake is that recipe in my home. A favorite breakfast request, it is fast, simple, and of course economical to put together.

It’s a favorite recipe across the internet with all kinds of names—and I have no clue whether it is an actual German recipe or not. I did read where it can be made in a muffin pan for individual servings. Something to try one day when there’s time. After all these years, I’m still enjoying the bliss of mixing ingredients in one bowl and dumping it all into a casserole dish.

The children and I enjoy watching the pancake, which is nothing like a pancake at all, puff up like a blow-fish.

The first five minutes in the oven are tricky—the first time we made it, we thought we had used the wrong type of flour. True to its word, puffing action began and did not stop until pulled from the oven. There were more ohhhs and ahhhs as the pancake became flat-as-a-flitter with tall sides.

Sprinkled with powdered sugar, drizzled with syrup, and topped with sliced strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries (my favorite), it is out-of-this-world delicious.

Puffy German Pancake

1/4 cup butter

5 eggs

1 1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Melt butter in 9 x13 pan in the oven while oven is preheating to 425 degrees. Mix eggs, flour, and milk with an electric blender. Add batter to dish and bake for 25 minutes or until center is set and sides are golden brown.

Christmas Petit Fours

When I tasted these delicious petit fours at my sister’s baby shower, I knew I had to make them for my family’s Christmas celebration.  Although mine did not look as perfect as the ones I had eaten at the shower, they were every bit as yummy.  These decadent treats are well worth the extra time and effort they take to make.  I owe a debt of gratitude to Kaaren Rue for giving me this fantastic recipe which will now be an annual Christmas tradition for our family!

1)  Bake this cream cheese pound cake in a jelly roll pan, so that the cake is about 1” thick.  Instructions for making the petit fours are below the cake recipe.

Cream cheese poundcake:

2 sticks margarine (softened to room temperature)

1 stick butter (softened to room temperature)

One 8 oz package cream cheese (softened to room temperature)

3 cups sugar

6 eggs (room temperature)

3 cups sifted cake flour (if cake flour is unavailable, sift all purpose flour twice)

2 tsps vanilla

1)   Cream the margarine, butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until very fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add sugar and beat for 5 additional minutes. Add eggs two at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sifted flour and vanilla and mix well.

Bake in a 325F oven for 1+ hour in a greased and floured pan.  Start testing for doneness after 1 hour.

2)   Remove cake from pan and allow to cool.  Cool the pound cake thoroughly, wrap well in saran wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. Freeze the cooled cake solid until you are ready to cut it into squares and glaze it.  This can be done weeks in advance if desired.  The frozen cake is much easier to cut and has less crumbs, so this is an important step even if you are not making it far in advance.

3)      Remove frozen sheet cake from freezer.  With a very sharp serrated knife, trim all edges off frozen cake.  Score cake in 1 x 1” squares.  You can use a ruler so the lines are straight.  Cut the cake into squares and set on cooling racks with cookie sheets placed underneath.  If your cake is more than approximately 1” thick, you may need to trim off the bottom of the squares so that the glaze will cover them evenly.

4)      Make Petit Four Glaze:

Petit Four Glaze

9 cups sifted powdered sugar (this will take 2 pounds)

½ cup light corn syrup

½ cup water

2 tsps almond extract

4 oz. melted vanilla almond bark

Melt all ingredients together in a double boiler or large melt-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Melt and stir until the mixture becomes very smooth.  You can add a tiny bit of water, a little at a time, if the mixture is too thick.  Be careful not to overheat.  The glaze should pour easily from a metal ladle.

5)      When the glaze is the consistency you like, begin pouring it gently and slowly over each square of cake.  The cookie sheet underneath the cooling rack will catch all the drips.

6)      It will take multiple layers of glaze to get good coverage.  You may need to double or triple the above glaze recipe if you don’t want to see any cake through the glaze. Be sure to reserve a small amount of glaze for decorating your petit fours.

7)      Let the glaze dry. Tint some of the glaze and put it into a Ziploc bag.  Cut a very tiny hole in the tip of the bag and decorate the cakes with lines, swirls, hearts, etc.

8)      My friend discovered that you can scrape the icing from the cookie sheet and reheat it one time.  After more than one reheating, however, the icing starts to get gloppy.  Also, if you are reheating the icing, make sure there are no cake crumbs in it.

9)      I kept half the sheet cake frozen for later use, and refrigerated half the glaze for about 3 weeks.  This enabled me to serve the petit fours at two different occasions, since this recipe makes a large quantity of this decadent dessert.  I did not notice any major differences in the look or taste of the cakes or glaze the second time around.

German Apple Strudel

This recipe makes about 2 strudels. I usually make this for a crowd, quadruple the recipe (4x) and get about 7 or 8 strudels out of it.
Ingredients:
Strudel pastry: I prefer to purchase Phyllo Dough (sometimes spelled Fillo) from the frozen fruit section of my grocery store. It makes a wonderful flaky pastry, it’s perfect for apple strudel, and it is fast and easy.

Filling: 2 pounds ripe apples, 1/2 stick butter, 1/2 cup raisins (optional), 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, cinnamon to taste (about 1/2 tbsp).

Slice the apples as thin as possible (I use a food processor, but it isn’t necessary). You can choose to peel or not, according to taste. Mix the apples with the sugar and cinnamon to taste. Add raisins if using.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet. Fry the breadcrumbs in the butter until golden brown.

The Phyllo dough box will have two packaged rolls of dough in it. ONE roll of dough makes about 6 to 8 strudels. Keep one frozen for future use. Thaw the other roll at room temperature for about 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge. When it is thawed, open the package and unroll the dough. You’ll have a stack of about 15 sheets. Lay a dishtowl out flat on your work space and place one sheet of phyllo on the towel. Brush about a teaspoon or two of vegetable oil onto the phyllo sheet with a pastry brush or your fingers. Then lay a second sheet on top and brush more vegetable oil onto the sheet. Place a third layer on top (do not brush with oil). Cover the remaining phyllo with a slightly damp dish cloth, as it dries out very quickly.

Scatter the fried breadcrumbs in a line over the top and middle of the pastry (from left to right)…so the pastry should be empty at the bottom, with the entire top and middle covered with a stripe of breadcrumbs about 2 inches wide. Make sure it covers the entire pastry left to right so that the end pieces aren’t “empty” of filling!

Next, scoop up some of the apple/raisin filling and spread it over the breadcrumbs.

Now, this part is easy once you get the hang of it. Roll the strudel together with the help of the cloth so that the bare 1/3 is rolled in last. Place it on a baking tray and brush with butter. Bake in a 350F oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cherries can be substituted for the apples; omit the cinnamon and raisins.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Good old-fashioned Christmas cookies are simple to make and can be the perfect gift. I used to make these for the children in our church on Christmas Eve. The icing recipe is included below too.

Christmas Sugar Cookies
3 eggs
2 softened sticks of margarine
1 cup of sugar
2 tsps. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsps. vanilla
3 ½ cups of flour

Chill dough one hour.

Take a small amount of dough and roll out to desired thickness on a floured surface.  Cut with floured cookie cutters.  Bake at 350 degrees 7 minutes or until golden brown.

Icing can be made from 1 lb. powdered sugar, 1 stick of melted butter and 3 to 4 tablespoons of evaporated milk.  You can use food coloring to make colored icing.

French Quarter Cheese

My sweet friend, Terry Hensley, has the most amazing cheese ball recipe. It is right up there in cheese ball hall of fame with the chocolate chip cheese ball. Forgive my phone photography skills–I forgot to take my camera to our Sunday School class ornament exchange party.

If you want a simple, make ahead, to-die-for appetizer for Christmas  get-togethers, give this one a try.

Terry received the recipe from Laura Gibbs.

French Quarter Cheese
10 Servings

8          ounces cream cheese
1          clove garlic, minced
1          tablespoon onion, grated
4          tablespoons butter
¼          cup dark brown sugar
1          teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½         teaspoon prepared mustard
1          cup pecans, finely chopped

Combine cream cheese, garlic and onion. Shape on serving plate and refrigerate.

Melt butter, then combine sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and pecans in a small saucepan with butter. Blend Well.

Cover chilled cream cheese with nut mixture. Wrap and refrigerate.

Serve with favorite crackers. (I like Wheat Thins.)

Works well to make the day ahead and refrigerate overnight.

Christmas Punch

I found this yummy recipe online and adapted it to fit our taste and color preference.  It is pretty, simple, and refreshing, and everyone requests the recipe.  Variations on the theme allow you to change the color and flavor, too!

Ingredients for Red Holiday Punch:

2 (46 fluid ounce) bottles cranberry-raspberry juice

1 (32 fluid ounce) bottle strawberry daiquiri mix

1 to 2 liters ginger ale (according to taste)

1 to 2 liters raspberry soda (according to taste)

Directions:

In a large container, combine cran-raspberry juice with the strawberry daiquiri mix.  Freeze overnight.  The next day, put the iced mixture into a punch bowl (see *tips below regarding thawing time) and pour ginger ale and raspberry soda on top (2/3 ginger ale to 1/3 raspberry soda ratio).

*Tip: This will make enough frozen solution to fill 2 to 3 large punch bowls.  If you freeze this in a bundt cake pan it will make a nice ice ring, but may take up to 2 ½ hours to thaw.  Freeze in quart size Ziploc bags if you need a faster thaw time, as the smaller size will thaw in 30 to 45 minutes into a slushy punch.  I do a combination of both, and start thawing the large ice ring early, adding quart size bags of ice as the party progresses to keep the punch slushy.

*Substitutions: substitute Cherry 7 up or Raspberry Ginger Ale for a slightly different flavor, or substitute Diet Sprite instead of Ginger ale for a punch that is not quite as sweet.

VARIATION: Yummy Pink Party Punch

Substitute 1 (32 fluid ounce) bottle pina colada mix for the strawberry daiquiri mix to make a lighter-colored, pink punch suitable for a baby shower or girl’s birthday party.

VARIATION: Tropical Orange Punch

2 (46 fluid ounce) bottles pineapple-orange juice

1 (32 fluid ounce) bottle pina colada mix

2 to 4 liters ginger ale, according to taste

Black Friday Black Bean Taquitos

A few weeks ago, Marcia Washburn, author of Homemade Convenience Food in 15 Minutes, gave away a copy of her book here at MMCW. It was a fun give away complete with some of our wonderful readers sharing family favorite quick meals.

One of the recipes shared was Black Bean Taquitos by Georgette. It’s fast, kid friendly, and healthy to boot. It is perfect for lunch or dinner. Georgette says the original recipe comes from Six O’Clock Scramble, a membership fee based recipe site.

Today, on Black-Friday, we could all probably use a healthy and fast dinner option.

Black Friday Black Bean Taquitos
1 can refried beans
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 Tsp cumin
2 Tsp chili powder
1/2 Tsp minced garlic
Scallions or onions, optional
1 cup of Mexican Four Blend shredded cheese. (Cheddar works well as does pepper jack for a spicy version.)
Flour tortillas

Mash beans, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and spices up in a pot and heat through. Add in cheese and turn off heat. Fill tortillas and eat as is or toast in the oven for a few minutes.

Salsa or sour cream is optional.

Optional fillings include leftover chicken, beef, or pork. Simply shred meat and fill tortilla along with bean mixture.

Georgette’s freezer tip: dice up onions and freeze to save time while cooking.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Last week I shared a dear friend’s Crockpot Lasagna recipe. Today allow me to introduce you to a wonderful homemade chicken noodle soup courtesy of sweet friend Lori Lauth.

My children love this soup, requesting it often. While it is not technically a crockpot recipe, it can be adapted. I made it last week in the crockpot and it turned out wonderful. This hearty soup can also be made ahead and frozen.

Lori’s Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion
8 cups reduced-fat, low sodium chicken broth
3 minced cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 large carrots thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped celery
5 oz dried wide egg noodles
1 lb. boneless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces ( about 2 cups)
1 thinly sliced zucchini
1 seeded and chopped tomato
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

In a large pot heat oil on medium heat. Saute’ onion until softened. Stir in broth, garlic, thyme, pepper, carrots, celery, and chicken. Reduce heat to low and simmer until carrots are just tender and chicken is done. Add zucchini, tomato and parsley.

At this point you can add noodles and continue cooking until the noodles are done.

Or, if you would like to freeze the soup for later, do not add the noodles. Instead, allow the soup to cool down and pour into freezer bags. Freeze. When ready to serve, simply thaw. Reheat soup by adding in noodles and cooking until noodles are done.

Crockpot Lasagna

Want a homecooked meal this week, but you’re short on time? My friend Michelle shared this recipe for crockpot lasagna some ten years ago and it’s still a family favorite to this day.

Last night while cooking supper I multi-tasked and put together crockpot lasagna in less than 30 minutes. When it was ready, I simply put the crockpot insert into the fridge. This morning I started the crockpot and for lunch we dined on homemade lasagna.

Crockpot Lasagna
1 to 1 1/2lbs of ground chuck or turkey
2 jars of spaghetti sauce
16 oz container of part skim ricotta cheese
8 oz shredded mozarella cheese
1 large box of lasagna noodles
Basil, chopped
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
Sea salt
Pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup water

Coat skillet with olive oil and sauté garlic, add in meat and basil cook until brown.  Drain meat and add in spaghetti sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.

In crockpot, layer as followed:   meat sauce,  uncooked noodles, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese. Repeat.

Fill crockpot with layers. When complete, add one cup of water by pouring it down the sides of crockpot making sure it makes it to the bottom. The water will keep it from drying out and help cook the noodles.

I’ve made this enough times over the years to know it will burn. Everything but the noodles is basically done.  Cook on low for 6 hours.

Each Monday in Ocotber, MMCW will be sharing a crockpot recipe. Would you like to share with of your family favorites with everyone? Send your recipe to mentoringmoments@aol.com.

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