Black Bottom Cake

Topping (optional):
1/3 cup nuts, chopped
1/3 cup sugar
Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
6 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
Cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. vinegar
1 cup water

For topping combine chopped nuts and 1/3 cup sugar.  Set aside.  Cream together cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, egg, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Set aside.  In a large bowl mix together four, 1 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Add oil, vanilla, vinegar, and water.  Mix well.  Pour chocolate batter into greased 9x13 pan.  Spoon cream cheese mixture on top then cover with sugar and nut topping.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Homemade Doughnuts

All recipes

Caramel Fruit Dip

1 8-oz. package cream cheese 

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla 

Toffee bits  

Allow cream cheese to reach room temperature. With an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla. When ready to serve, stir in about 1/2 a bag of toffee bits. Serve with fruit (my personal favorite is green apples).

Resource: Carrie Law 

Corey's Infamous Cookies

Corey's Infamous Cookies

 

For 1/2 a batch follow this:

1/2 lb butter (2 sticks), soften butter a few hours before

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cup (packed is the key) brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

3 cups flour

2-3 cups chocolate chips

 

Preheat Oven to 350.

Follow Steps carefully:

1.  Cream softened butter and sugars together until mixed in.

2.  Add eggs and vanilla.

3.  Whip with an electric beater at low speed for 3 minutes.  It should looked whipped and almost frosting-like.

4.  Add dry ingredients and mix with electric beater at low speed until it is well mixed.

5.  Add chips and nuts (optional) and stir with spoon.

6.  Clump and roll dough to form round balls and put on sheet.

7.  Bake at 350 for 8-11 minutes (check periodically).  The bottom and edges should be slightly brown. 

8.  Cool 5 minutes before moving.

 

Makes 24 cookies or a little bit more.

 

Enjoy!

The Barefoot Contessa's Perfect Roast Chicken

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-roast-chicken-recipe.html
Watch the movie, it makes it seem so much easier!  This tastes amazing everytime.  I add red potatoes too.

Karen's Congo Bars

Preheat at 350

2/3 cup butter or margarine melted. 

2 cups brown sugar packed

2 eggs.  

Beat the above well (2-3minutes)

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 t baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips (I used the kind from Delynn and then some semi sweet)

Mix in with wet ingredients

9x13 greased pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  

Homemade Hummus

Ingredients: 

Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon, plus an additional for serving

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 fat garlic clove or 2 smaller cloves, finely chopped

Pinch cayenne, plus additional for serving

1/3 cup tahini

3 cups cooked chickpeas, preferable cooked up from dried peas

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for drizzling

Cumin salt or flaky sea salt for serving

Directions:

                 Combine lemon juice, salt, cumin, black pepper, garlic and cayenne in a food processor. Pulse the mixture a few times until the liquid whirls around just enough to blend together. [The lemon juice dissolves the salt and intensifies the spices, which helps flavors distribute more evenly throughout the hummus.

                 Drop in the tahini and ½ cup water. Pulse until smooth. Add the chickpeas and puree until smooth and creamy. This might take several minutes, but stick with it. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil until the mixture is combined. Taste and adjust the flavors if you think it needs it; you might even add a pinch of salt.

                 If you add additional salt, dissolve it first in a few drops of lemon juice or warm water.

                 Spread the hummus on a plate. Top it with a generous drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a dash of cayenne. Finish with a sprinkling of cumin salt or sea salt and serve.

Notes:

∙               To cook your own chickpeas, soak 1 cup of dried beans overnight in a large bowl of cold water; then simmer in a pot of heavily salted water with 4 peeled cloves garlic until tender, usually about 1 hour. Discard the garlic.  If you don’t soak overnight, they will take 2-3 hours to cook. One cup dried chickpeas = about 3 cups cooked.

∙               If you decide to cook your own chickpeas, and are feeling particularly dedicated to your hummus, then consider peeling the skin that clings loosely to the cooked legumes. It isn’t essential, but the creamiest, most genuinely mind-blowing hummus will be the result of this extra, somewhat insane step.

∙               Cumin Salt - In a small skillet over medium heat, toast 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour into a mortar and pestle and add 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt. Pound the mixture a few times until the cumin seeds are lightly crushed. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, roll over the top with a rolling pin.

∙               If you don’t have time to make your own hummus, buy store bought and sprinkle the cumin salt on top, with a nice slick of olive oil and squeeze of lemon.

Resource: Melinda Wolfer (Adapted from cookbook Cook This Now by Melissa Clark, 2012)