Texas Sheet Cake

Texas Sheet Cake

Cake:
2 cups flour, sifted
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Mix flour and sugar in a large bowl, set aside. Stirring constantly, bring butter, shortening, cocoa and water to boil in a small saucepan. Pour over flour mixture and blend together.

In medium bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, soda, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Stir into flour/butter mixture and mix thoroughly.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 11" x 16" pan (I use a cookie sheet). Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa
16 oz powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup nuts, chopped (I used pecans)

In a medium saucepan, bring butter, cocoa and milk to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar, vanilla and chopped nuts. Pour frosting over warm cake.

I scream for Ice Cream

You'd think since I'm training for a triathlon and all (thank you all for your sweet supportive words on my last post!) that I'd be really watching what I eat and getting all skinny and stuff.

Annnnd....you'd be wrong. I'm working out now more consistently than I probably ever have in my life and still my pants are too tight. I'm pretty sure I know the culprit:

How can I be expected to eat healthfully when there are a million different ice cream flavors out there just begging to be made?

Among others this summer, I've made Fresh Cherry

http://pinterest.com/pin/126311964519580043/

 And Fresh Raspberry

http://pinterest.com/pin/126311964519506267/

 

 

And the BEST, most rich and smooth homemade chocolate ice cream I have EVER tasted:

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/07/10/chocolate-ice-cream/

There have been three different vanillas and another round of the chocolate. Next up is rhubarb and I haven't even made my favorite lime ice cream yet, then there's that recipe for peanut butter cup ice cream that I've had my eye on as well. I'd also really love to make some homemade Rocky Road because I love the combination of the creamy ice cream, soft marshmallows and crunchy peanuts. And Palisade peaches will be available soon, so I'd better make some fresh peach as well!

We've had to invite friends over to help us eat all of this ice cream, so I've been having fun with the toppings, too:

from our first Sundae Sundae Sunday party: French Vanilla and Fresh Raspberry

from the night we had Fresh Cherry ice cream--had to use my vintage cherry tablecloth!

from our Fourth of July party, with homemade hot chocolate in my US Presidents jug

So can you blame me for indulging a little (or maybe a lot)? Pretty soon summer will be over and my ice cream maker will go back into hiding in the basement. Then I'll start in with the salads, I promise.

Rigatoni Ottavio's recipe

Just in case you want the recipe for your own special dinner:

Rigatoni Ottavio's

Bolognese Meat Sauce

1/4 c. finely chopped pancetta, salt pork or bacon (about 3 slices)
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground veal or pork (an additional 1/2 lb. of ground beef can be substituted)
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes
1 c. onion, chopped
1/4 c. carrot, finely chopped
1/4 c. celery, finely chopped
1/4 c. parsley, snipped
1/4 c. tomato paste
1/2 tsp instant chicken bouillon granules (I use 1 chicken bouillon cube)
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 c. dry white wine
1/4 c. water

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, cook pancetta (or other meat) until crisp. Add ground beef and veal or pork; cook until meat is brown. Drain fat.

If desired, pass undrained tomatoes through food mill or sieve. (I don't do this) Add undrained tomatoes, onion, carrot, celery, parsley, tomato paste, bouillon, nutmeg, salt and pepper to meat mixture. Stir in wine and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Boil gently, uncovered, for 45 to 60 minutes or until desired consistency, stirring occasionally.

Rigatoni Ottavio's

2 c. ricotta cheese
1 c. Romano cheese, grated
2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. parsley, chopped
1/2 c. fresh basil, chopped
1 pound rigatoni pasta, cooked to package directions
1 batch Bolognese Meat Sauce
additional mozzarella

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In large pan, heat Bolognese Meat Sauce. Add cheeses, stir until cheese is melted. Slowly stir in cream. Add in parsley and basil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Toss with cooked pasta. Transfer to a greased baking dish. Top with additional mozzarella. Bake until cheese melts. (this amount makes enough to fill both a 9x13 AND an 8x8 dish. I bake the large pan and put the smaller one in the freezer before baking to use another time.)

Queen of Hearts Valentine dinner

I knew that this year I wanted to make a special Valentine's Day dinner for my family, and was delighted when I found this cute idea with free printables for a Queen of Hearts dinner. You can even watch a video segment about it HERE (it won't let me embed for some reason). The Queen of Hearts is significant to The Mister and me (it was the first Valentine I ever gave to him!), so I knew that I wanted to use the ideas.

For our dinner, I made a special meal. There was a local restaurant in Provo called Ottavio's that The Mister and I loved to visit while we were dating, and my favorite dish was called Rigatoni Ottavio's. A few years later, I was able to get the recipe through a column in a local newspaper that would contact local restaurants for readers. The dish is a lot of work, expensive, and has about a zillion calories so it's definitely a special occasion food! I'll post the recipe separately because it's long.

To go with the Rigatoni Ottavio's, I intended to make garlic bread, but then remembered that at Ottavio's they served fresh focaccia bread with olive oil and vinegar for dipping. I've never made it before and am generally scared of making yeast breads, but I was able to find an Easy Focaccia bread recipe that truly was easy and turned out great! It tasted just like the bread we used to get at the restaurant.

For dessert at Ottavio's, we always used to order the enormous slice of chocolate cake. I didn't want to make a huge cake this time, so I made another treat that I've been craving: individual Molten Chocolate Cakes. I've never been able to make the little cakes before because I didn't have any ramekins. A quick trip to Home Goods the other day solved that problem!

Because of the cute ramekins, I didn't bother unmolding the cakes. One thing I did from another recipe was to coat the dishes with white granulated sugar after I buttered them--this gives a slightly crunchy texture to the outside of the cake that contrasts nicely with the gooey chocolate center.

As it turned out, I didn't go as much with the Queen of Hearts card theme as I had originally intended. I was so busy cooking all day and I didn't have a pack of cards that I was willing to use up! I think it all looked nice anyway and I know my family appreciated the good food and my hard work, and I was happy to do it to show my love for them!

Sweet Potato Corn Chowder

I made this soup last night for dinner and liked it so much that I ended up making a pot to take to a friend today. She had a baby in the week after Christmas and just last Tuesday was back in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy! Poor girl, I know the last thing on her mind right now is making dinner, so I hope she enjoys this soup as much as we did. My kids even ate it, which is significant because they're picky little stinkers! Here's the recipe as written; I'll make note of my changes at the end.

Sweet Potato Corn Chowder from Midwest Living magazine

• 12 ounces andouille, kielbasa or smoked pork sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 2 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (6 cloves)
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon Cajun or Creole seasoning
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 16 ounce package frozen whole kernel corn or 3 cups fresh sweet corn kernels
• 2 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled sweet potato (about 2 small)
• 12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a 6-quart Dutch oven, brown sausage over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Stir in flour, cumin, chili powder and Cajun seasoning. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Stir in chicken broth. Bring to boiling.
2. Add corn, sweet potatoes, and chicken. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Stir in whipping cream and pepper; heat through. Makes 8 to 10 main-dish servings.

**Heidi's alterations:
*Most importantly, I halved the recipe. Half was plenty for my little family of 4, with about 3 bowls left over.
*I didn't want a lot of heat so I used smoked sausage made of turkey, beef and pork. I cut the pieces into quarters rather than halves so it would be more evenly distributed throughout the soup.
*I didn't have any Cajun or Creole seasoning, so I added a bit of paprika, dried onion powder, dried garlic powder, a tiny shake of cayenne, and some black pepper.
*I used drained canned corn instead of frozen or fresh.
*I just used one chicken breast, and didn't weigh it.

When I took it to my friend today, I accompanied it with a pan of Marie Callender's cornbread, which is my favorite. Usually I use a copycat recipe for it, but last week I found bags of the dried mix at Costco for around $3.00. Each bag makes 5 batches, so that's cheaper than I can make it from scratch!

It was a good winter meal, and one I'll definitely be making again!