Oreo Cookie Cake -- YUM!

Missy, here. It's almost Valentine's Day!! Can you believe it? So…I thought I needed to share something chocolate today. And since I'm not in cooking mode right now, I'm re-sharing a recipe from two years ago...

I made it for my daughter's Sweet Sixteen birthday. It was a HUGE hit with the girls. And I have to say it turned out looking pretty good--close to the photo I first shared on Pinterest.

Here's the original recipe on the Kraft website.  (click here)

Ingredients:

1 package Devil's Food Cake mix
4 squares bakers semi-sweet chocolate (I used chocolate chips)
1/4 cup butter
1 package cream cheese softened (I used the light version)
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups thawed Cool Whip (I forgot and used one whole container which was probably about 4 cups!)
12 Oreo cookies coarsely chopped or crushed

Preheat oven to 350 and bake 2 layer cakes according to directions. Recipe said 9 inch, I only had 8 inch pans and it was fine.

For newbies...If you ever read about testing for doneness with a toothpick and wondered what to look for, I took a photo to show you what it looks like. The first time (left), the cake wasn't ready. The second time, it was.

Cool for 10 minutes in pans, then remove to cool on wire wracks.

While cooling, crush up the Oreos in a ziplock bag. I pound mine with a meat mallet.

 Heat chocolate and butter in microwave until butter is melted (1-2 minutes). Then stir until smooth. Cool about 5 minutes.

Yum. Don't you just want to lap that up?

Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until blended (I used my stand mixer). Gently fold in the Cool Whip and Oreos (by hand).

This is a bite right before I did a taste test! :) It's amazing. I could sit and eat it straight out of the bowl. Who needs the cake anyway, huh??

But since you might want to invovle cake, I'll finish. Spread the filling on one of the cooled layers. Then top with the other layer.

Notice mine is quite tall since I used like twice as much Cool Whip as I was supposed to! It's a monster cake! :)

Next spread the melted butter/chocolate mix on top. It's pretty yummy by itself as well!

Here's the finished produce (minus the candles). :)

By the way! You can find me on Pinterest by clicking here.

P.S. If you haven't bought your Valentine a card yet, then go do so right now!

Valentine's Day Black Forest Cherry Chocolate Chip Cake

I'm doing a re-do of this Blodgett/Herne favorite... Chocolate and fruit are hugely popular here, and I bet they inspire that reaction in a lot of places! This delicious dessert is marvelous, it's a crowd-pleaser (and if you use a mix cake instead of making the scratch recipe, the world won't end! I recommend the Duncan Hines white mix... it's my favorite white mix cake.)

The reason I'm doing a re-do is two-fold: I haven't cooked anything new this whole week! We had scalloped potatoes and ham on Sunday... RECIPE HERE!!!!

And apple crisp:  RECIPE HERE!!!!

And ol' Dave went down to the village for fish fry dinners on Friday. Every other night has been burgers or sandwiches because I'm having so much fun writing books. But that makes my cooking L-A-M-E! But this recipe isn't lame, it's marvelous!

CHOCOLATE CHIP/STRAWBERRY/OOPS!!!/BLACK CHERRY CAKE!!!

Ruthy here, the Yank, bringing you my little baking buds as we prepare for an awesome Valentine's Day celebration! Do not ask me how the day meant for lovers became a holiday for munchkins, but here you have my tiny peeps helping make chocolate chip cake.... from scratch. And note the Softasilk flour that my buddy Jan turned me onto!!! 

The cake recipe is from the reprint of my mother's 1950 edition Betty Crocker cookbook. This is the book that I taught myself from as a child, and when they did a reprint of it I grabbed it! And I love it.... And their newer editions, too, because there are great ideas in both!

I think I should rename this cake, though... I think "Black Forest Chocolate Chip Cake" would be more appropriate and you can blame the garlic for that.

You'll see. I promise....

So here's the recipe to use for 2 - 9" greased and floured pans:

Sift together:

2 7/8 cups sifted Softasilk flour
17/8 cups sugar
4 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Add in with mixer:

2/3 cup shortening

Pour in a little over half of this mix:

1 1/4 cups milk
2 teaspoons flavoring (I used vanilla)

Beat 2 minutes.  Then add in the remaining milk mix and 5 egg whites, unwhipped.

Mix two more minutes. Cake can be baked as is for "Silver White Cake" or you can add in 3/4 to 1 cup of chocolate chips to batter. That's what I did for today's cake and this is called "New Chocolate Chip Cake" on page 149 of the Betty Crocker Cookbook, 1950 edition... 

RUTHY NEW NOTE: Now I use Ghirardelli barista chips I found on Amazon, these are amazing for recipes because they "suspend" in batter, instead of sinking!

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until cake springs back when touched lightly in center or a toothpick inserted in cake has just a few happy and moist crumbs clinging to it.

Okay, here's the dark chocolate filling I found on the same page, which I cannot believe I've never tried:


1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 square (chopped) dark baking chocolate
1 tablespoon butter

Mix egg yolk and cream in small, sturdy saucepan. Add sugar, chopped chocolate and butter. Heat over medium heat, stirring, until mixture just starts to boil around the outer edges... (I did this twice, stirred it down and then brought it to a beginning boil again)

This is what the chocolate looked like, chopped.

Remove from heat. Chill. Use as filling.

Now here's the faux pas of the day..... Clearly Washingtonian!!!! You'll see why.

I made a delightful strawberry filling for the center of the layers. Strawberry and chocolate are a match made in heaven, right? And I love heaven, so it sounded good.

I made it. It came out great... then I tasted it.

Garlic.

It tasted like garlic.

I used my cast aluminum pan and it must have had an essence of garlic in it from SOMETHING which does not speak well of my dishwashing skills.... So we THREW THAT OUT.... sighed a little, and went to fetch a bag of frozen dark cherries.... In a stainless steel pan this time I put about three cups of the frozen cherries and 3/4 cup of water.

Heat until you can mash the cherries somewhat.

ADD:  2/3 cup sugar mixed with 3 tablespoons of cornstarch.

Heat to boiling. Add 1 tablespoon of butter,stir until smooth, remove from heat and chill.

Now, the fun part!!! Let's build this bad boy!!!!

First, slice a layer in half making two thiiiiiin cakes:

Fill first layer with cherry filling and the place the second half of this first layer over the cherries. Spread chocolate filling on top. Put bottom half of next layer on chocolate. Spread more cherry filling on that layer...

Okay, this is looking amazing.... I'm dying to have some... And the cake is divine, great recipe!

Okay now put final cake layer on top. Refrigerate for a couple of hours. This helps the cake to keep from being "slippery" with so many fillings. Chilled fillings slip less.

Remove from fridge when you're ready to frost:

Whipped Cream Frosting:

2 to 3 cups of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Whip at high speed until cream forms firm peaks. Frost top, then sides of cake.

 I do the top first because it's easy to plop down a ton of whipped cream in the middle and work it to the sides without messing up the cake....

Then I frost the sides.

Then if I have enough whipped cream I pipe a border around the top and bottom, but I didn't this time so I scootched the whipped cream on top into a slightly higher outside edge making a whipped cream "hill" around the edge. Then I used the last cup or so of the dark cherry filling to "fill" the lake I made by hilling the whipped cream.

And here it is:

I think I'll dust the outer edge with baking chocolate powder... or a drizzled chocolate would be nice, too. Or chocolate curls... But without any of those, this is one amazing cake!  And here's a picture of it sliced....



And yes, it tasted just as good as it looked! Happy Valentine's Day!

Ruthy

Valentines Day - Casablanca Style

Valentine's Day is on Saturday this year. So is the premiere of Fifty Shades of Grey. The movie theaters have already sold out. You can't get a restaurant reservation no way, no how. Total craziness in our neck of the woods.

But ManO and I don't care. We have far more romantic plans. Our daughter gave us tickets to the NC Symphony's Pop Series: An Evening with Casablanca.  The symphony plays the score live as the story of Rick and Ilsa's WWII love story unfolds.

Our daughter knows us too well. We're Casablanca obsessed. Everyone knows it. No coincidence one of ManO's friends was born in Casablanca, the largest city in Morocco.

We have multiple copies and formats of the classic movie.

One of many reasons I fell in love with ManO is because Casablanca is his favorite movie of all time. An engineer with a romantic soul and love of old movies. Not sure he loves it more than he loves his trains but when he has this picture in his office, you know it's at least a tie.

The Paris train station set of Casablanca where Rick waits for Ilsa.

Every Valentine's Day, I craft ManO a handmade card. Looking through old ones for inspiration, I  noticed if the theme isn't Paris or trains, the sentiment includes something from Casablanca. Sometimes a combination of all three!

"We'll always have Paris." and "We go together like Rick and Louis." Yep, obsessed.

Back to Valentine's. I have a standing rule ManO can't buy me flowers. As a daughter of a florist, I know prices are raised through the roof for the week of and a few days after. (Because florists know some guys forget!)  We've also learned it's always tricky trying to get in and out of a restaurant in time for a show. If we could even get a reservation, as if. So being both time and budget minded, I told ManO we'd stay home and I'd make a Moroccan feast for dinner.

What is that? Well, we've talked to our friend, been to enough cosmopolitan places, that I have an idea. The best part is this meal is budget-friendly, simple to cook, gluten-free, and corn free. I used chicken instead of the traditional lamb, because I watched Lamb Chop the puppet growing up. ManO loves lamb and I love ManO. But I just can't go there. Plus, chicken thighs are so cheap!

"Here's Looking At You, Kid" Casablanca Feast       

Appetizer : Hummus and veggies. Since it's Valentine's weekend, I'll be purchasing rather than making my own hummus. We have so many good restaurants and marts with homemade hummus around here I'm taking advantage.  And folks have started producing gluten free pitas in their Mediterranean bakeries. Yay!  But we are keeping it to low carb veggies for dipping because of the fruit in the main dish. 

Entree: Chicken Tagine for Two (makes enough for leftovers the next day)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, peeled and sliced into rings
2 pounds chicken thighs cubed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste

Enough water to cover meat

4 pears ­ peeled, cored and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
1/2 cup raisins (crasins or dried cherries are also tasty, especially if you use pork instead)
1/2 cup slivered almonds
(Numerous recipes include coriander and far more pepper but we are going for mild here)
Cooked rice or couscous

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Fry the onion in the oil until soft. Add the chicken to the pan, and fry until just browned on the outside. Season with cumin, ginger, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Pour just enough water into the pot to cover the meat. Cover, and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until meat is tender and the mixture is stew­like. Check at an hour and slightly uncover if there is too much water, stirring occasionally.

Add the pears, golden raisins and almonds to the stew, and cook for a few more minutes.


Serve over cooked rice if you are GF or couscous if not.

Salad: Romaine with feta cheese and olives.  Keep the salad simple. A dressing of vinegar and
olive oil is just fine. After all, this is Valentine's so who wants to work too hard in the kitchen. 

Dessert:  Honey and cinnamon drenched orange slices. How easy is that? I'm also adding dark chocolate chips on top. Not quite traditional Moroccan but what Valentine's dessert doesn't have chocolate? Love the orange and chocolate combo!

 So, are you a Casablanca fan? What is your favorite romantic movie? Do you like meals that have a theme?  Is Valentine's Day all about chocolate, conversation hearts or something else?

 

Rolling with the Punches and Red Velvet Oreos

This has been one of those weeks. You know, the kind where nothing goes as planned and you start to feel overwhelmed.

Makes you wish you had some of this.

Some decadent, dark chocolate would really hit the spot about now. Maybe I'll get lucky this Valentine's Day.

So what's been going on?

Parental issues. My mother has had a rough week. After six falls in one week, three in a twenty-four hour period, her legs seemed to just give out. Or there's some major disconnect between her brain and her legs. Two doctor visits later, we still don't have any answers as to what's going on. 

Mom on her 80th birthday in 2013.

So this week has consisted of a lot of quick meals. 

Things like chili.

 And hamburgers.

Not to mention the ever popular leftovers.

And then I found these sitting on my kitchen table, courtesy of my youngest son.

I don't know about you, but I LOVE Oreos. Double-Stuf, to be exact. So I'm not sure how I feel about these. Wait, yes I do. I sampled one.

Yes, one bite and that was it. I have never thrown away an Oreo in my life, but this time I did.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good red velvet cake. Emphasis on GOOD.

This was not good. The cream cheese filling wasn't good, and certainly paled in comparison to their original "stuf."

People at Nabisco, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. I get the fun colors for holidays, but stop messing with perfection. You have a stellar product. One that I would happily send myself into a sugar coma for. But these red velvet cookies are miss.

Cafe peeps, what do you think? Would you give these a try? Or if you've already tried them, what do you think? Hit or miss?

Ranch House Pot Roast

The Black Hills Stock Show ended yesterday, so we don't have as many cowboys in town as we did last week. Which is sad.

Because face it, how often do you get to have a photo op with a bunch of rodeo cowboys?

My daughter, Carrie, with the Wrangler Rodeo Cowboys
a couple years ago. These guys are all brothers from Utah.

A friend of ours had his picture taken with the rodeo queens this year. Much to his wife's dismay!

But all week long we've been livin' cowboy culture and sheep ranchin' and horses.

On Thursday I went to the sheep activities over at the Central State Fairgrounds.

There was the National Sheep Shearing contest -

- where I learned tons about shearing sheep. Once those woolies are on their backs, they relax and let the shearer do his work. The top guys can shear a sheep in about a minute. That's a lot of wool in one minute!

I also got to watch the preliminaries of the North American Sheep Dog Trials. It's thrilling to watch those dogs work.

I also learned to weave on a rigid heddle loom, card wool and spin. The Black Hills Crafters spent the entire day demonstrating the "sheep to yarn" process.

On Saturday we had made plans to head over to the stock show again to watch the afternoon PRCA rodeo, but our youngest son was coming home for the weekend. I wanted to fix a special dinner for him, so I decided to use my trusty slow cooker and a classic western dish.

This recipe is from a Montana ranch in the 1890's, where the lady of the house fixed it for family and guests. This is no Yankee Pot Roast!

Ranch House Pot Roast
(Slow-Cooker version)

Ingredients:

A medium-sized lump of lard
3-4 pound beef roast (chuck, round, or whatever you have)
2 handfuls of flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups beef broth or water
1 medium onion, sliced
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
6-8 potatoes - enough for all being served

I cook with lard occasionally - often enough to keep a
small container in the cupboard.

Heat the lard - a lump about the size of a small hen's egg - in a skillet over medium-high heat. 

Season the flour with salt and pepper, and spread out on a plate. Dredge the beef in the flour. Brown the roast in the hot fat. Move the browned beef to your slow cooker.

Now add your broth (or water), onion, garlic, bay leaf and chili powder. Simmer until the onion is softened. 

Pour this over the roast.

Scrub or peel your potatoes, cut them in half, and arrange them on top of the roast.

Cover your slow cooker, turn it on low, and let it cook for 6 - 8 hours.

Now it's time to go to the stock show and rodeo!

If you're looking for a western stock show, here's a hint. Follow the nearest cowboy.

Before the rodeo, we wandered over to the show ring where they were judging the Simmental bulls.

This big guy can father a lot of calves by UPS!

I also fulfilled a long-time dream (close to 50 years!) by buying my first (and probably only) pair of cowboy boots.

Puppy photo-bomb!

Okay, here's a better view - 

I love these boots :)

The rodeo was great, we got to hear our friend's five year old grandson sing the National Anthem, and we got home in time for supper with the family...

...except the prodigal son had decided to go to a friend's house with his brother for a bonfire and supper there.

No worries. We have plenty of leftover beef, so I'm fixing barbecued beef sandwiches for supper tonight!