Yummy Chocolate Cake

Kim is all over desserts today for her tried and true Thanksgiving recipes. I don't think I have actually made this cake for Thanksgiving. But, it is the cake I make most often and it is yummy!

Chocolate Syrup Cake
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1 can chocolate syrup

Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For cake, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture. Add chocolate syrup and beat, mixing well. Pour batter into greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

For frosting, bring butter, sugar and evaporated milk to boil in medium saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and add chocolate chips, vanilla and chopped nuts. Stir until chips are melted. Immediately pour over warm cake.

Variation: For brownies, bake in a greased jelly roll pan for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy! Don't forget to check out Kim's blog for other Thnksgiving dessert ideas. God bless!

Thanksgiving Turkey

Today I decide to join in the Thanksgiving food fun over at Kim's blog. Today was all about the main course. We have turkey! Are you surprised? Up until the last few years, I would just put the turkey in the oven and pray it wouldn't get too dry. Then I discovered the magic power of brining. The following is the recipe I typically use.

Maple-Brined Turkey
1 1/2 gallons water
1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
1 cup coarse salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 10 lb. turkey (not a self-basting type)

Here's the link for the directions - click here. I'm too lazy to type them all out!

I don't follow them exactly (I rarely do with a recipe). I usually have a larger turkey, so I double the brine mixture and use apple cider for half of the water. I put it all in a clean 5 gallon bucket with a lid and put it outside on the deck. You can get away with that in MN, it's usually cold enough. Otherwise, if you don't have room in your fridge, I would use a cooler. I brine it as long as possible...at least 24 hours. The longer the time - the better the turkey!

Enjoy and don't forget to head on over to Kim's to check everyone else's recipes.

Tuesday's Ten

Thanks Sarah for the Ten on Tuesday idea. Here's just 10 randoms from around here.

1. I'm really sick of Elmo!

2. This Minnesota weather has been great...loving it!

3. I appreciate having hot water!

4. Toilet training is going pretty good. Knock on wood...no accidents again today!

5. The Chicken Black Bean Soup was yummy!

6. It's my little cousin and godson Dylan's 16th birthday today...Happy Birthday! (this makes me feel old!)

7. I'm knee deep in billing and bookwork here and I really need to make collection calls! (nothing really new though!)

8. I'm really not liking that Charlie doesn't think she needs to nap anymore!

9. Praise the Lord! Workwise we are busy, busy, busy! Going to keep praying that the weather holds out so we can get it all done yet this fall!

10. If my socks are any indication, I really should be mopping the floor right now!

Have a wonderful day! God Bless!

Mom-Monday

Head on over to Genny's blog to read a great Mom-Monday story. Have a blessed day!

What's Cooking?

So, I love my crockpot and happened to stumble on to a great blog of Stephanie O'Dea's. She spent a whole year using her crockpot everyday and blogged about it. She has a ton of recipes there and I thought I would try one.

Chicken Salsa and Black Bean Soup

1 pound chicken (I used leftover cooked chicken)

* 1 cup dried black beans (or 2 cans drained and rinsed - I used canned)

4 cups chicken broth (I only had vegetable, so I used that)

1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used a small can)

1 cup frozen corn

1 16oz. jar of salsa (I used a can of my homemade black bean & corn salsa)

1 1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 cup sour cream (to stir in at end)

Toppings - shredded cheese, avocado

*Soak the black beans in enough water to cover and another 2 inches overnight. In the morning, drain the water and rinse the beans.

You need a 4 qt or larger crockpot. Drain and rinse beans. Add to crockpot. Add in chicken, broth and salsa. Pour in corn and mushrooms and add cumin. Stir, but don't disturb the beans, they should stay on the bottom. Cover and cook on high for 9 hours (takes a long time for the beans to soften.)

I actually started this last night before I went to bed and just put it on low. Smells so yummy in here already. Would it be wrong to have black bean soup for breakfast?

I love soups, stews, and chili kind of meals, so I'm sure I will like this. And Charlie loves beans in general, so she should be an easy sell. Not so sure about Joe, but I know he will at least try it. I think I will sweeten the pot with a fresh loaf of beer bread to go with it.

A Day of Baking

We spent Friday baking...one of my favorite things and a lot of fun with a 2 year old! Joe's mom and her sisters (and some extra cousins and daughter-in-laws) get together each fall and make enough Poppy Seed Kuchens for the Thanksgiving and Christmas family get-togethers. We make 12, half for Thanksgiving and half for Christmas...enough to feed the roughly 90 people that get together. We have done the baking at my home the last few years and I love it!

Not sure when the recipe and task will be passed on to the next generation...I think it depends on which auntie you ask. As of now, it's pretty top-secret...definetly not something that gets shared outside of the family. I don't personally have a copy of the recipe they use, but could probably come close to re-creating it.

Kelly rolling dough with Charlie's help.

Poppy Seed Filling.

Sugar Crumble Topping.

Charlie was a big help and had a lot of fun.

Here, she is 'clumping' the crumb topping.

Baking takes concentration...

...and is hard work!

Just out of the oven and cooling.

It takes 2...to get a kuchen out of a pan...they are heavy.

We don't just slave away in the kitchen all day...

We chat...we have lunch...we have coffee.

We nap.

We get our eyebrows waxed.

We make sweet rolls out of the extra dough.