Chocolate Birthday Cake

This cake recipe comes with a story. 

A long time ago when McKay and I were dating, I celebrated my 19th birthday. McKay decided to surprise me with a chocolate birthday cake. The recipe came from his Japan Fukuoka Mission cook book. He baked the cake and then put some candles on top in the shape of the Japanese kanji symbol that stands for love. (I know, very romantic!)  He left it outside my Campus Plaza apartment door on his way to work at 8:00 am. I was happily sleeping the morning away (my classes didn't start until noon) and the cake sat outside my door until I went to class. I am very lucky that it didn't get taken and I got to enjoy it. I think he had to explain the kanji candles to me later.  I don't think that he has missed making this cake for my birthday since that time (32 years). It is always fantastic! Now this cake is requested by quite a few of the family members for their birthdays and McKay is usually the one who makes it.


Crazy Cake
from McKay S Matthews

2 cups sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. vinegar
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups cold water
3/4 cup oil


Mix the dry ingredients together and add the others. Stir well with a rice spatula. Bake in 9 x 12 pan at 350° for 25 – 30 min.

That is the “official instructions” from the cookbook. Here is what he really does.

Mix the dry ingredients together and add the others. Mix with mixer until well blended. (We don’t have a rice spatula) Line bottom of two 9” round pans with parchment paper. Trace the pan with pencil on the paper, then cut out. Fill each pan with half the batter. Cook at 350° for 25 – 30 minutes. To test for doneness, insert toothpick in center of cake, if it comes out clean it is done. Or gently touch center of cake, if it bounces back it is done, if it leaves an indent, cook for a few more minutes.

After removing from oven, let cake cool for 10 minutes in pan, then move to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Trace pan size

Cut out and line pan

Cool in pan 10 minutes, then move to racks

This is our current favorite chocolate frosting recipe:

Chocolate Frosting

From Esther Prestwich

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

½ cup butter (softened)

½ cup cocoa

¼ cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together with mixer until smooth. Add a little more milk if the frosting is too stiff to spread easily.

Here is another yummy frosting for this cake.

Coconut Frosting

6 oz. canned milk (3/4 cup)

2/3 cup sugar

¼ cup butter

1 slightly beaten egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cup coconut

½ cup chopped nuts (pecans are my favorite)

In saucepan combine milk, sugar, butter and egg. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens and bubbles, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Let cool a little before using.

Floating Island Pudding (Apple)

Here is a copy of my original recipe:

I love the card that it is written on. So 70's!

Here is a more measured and precise recipe that I can really follow:

6 medium apples (cored, peeled and sliced)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix together in bowl. Set aside.

Biscuit dough:

2 cups flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil instead of shortening like the original recipe said)
3/4 cup milk (or 2 Tbs dry milk and 3/4 cup water)

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and milk: stir with fork just until dough is mixed. Too much handling makes the dough tough.

Put half of the dough into the bottom of a large casserole dish and spread with fingers. Add apple mixture on top. Put the rest of the dough on top of the apples.

Dough on the bottom

Add apples

Dough on the top

Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Cut 1/2 Tbs butter into little pieces and place on top of dough. Pour 2 cups hot water (just from the tap) over the whole thing. Bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Note: If you like a little more "pudding" you can put it in a deep oven proof dish and add 3 cups hot water.
Some of my family likes more, some like less.

This is good served hot with ice cream or whipped cream on top.

Tomato Basil Soup

After the last not-so-good tomato soup I made, Lindy shared this recipe with me. It did not disappoint! It tastes so good. She got it from allrecipes.com. I have made a few changes from that recipe to be lower fat. The original called for 1 cup cream and 1/2 cup butter. That was too much for me, and this version was tasty.

From Lindy

Makes 4 large bowls of soup

4 tomatoes – peeled, seeded and diced

4 cups tomato juice

14 fresh basil leaves

½ cup cream

½ cup milk

2 Tbs butter

½ tsp salt

pepper to taste

Place tomatoes and juice in pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves and return to pot. Stir in the milk, cream, butter, salt and pepper. Heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Do not let it boil.

Note: I didn't really see the advantage of the fresh tomatoes because you cook them anyway. I think that next time I make this I will just use 5 cups of tomato juice, delete the 4 tomatoes and skip the simmer 30 minutes step. I believe it would turn out just as good and would be much quicker to make.

Also - I serve this with toasted cheese sandwiches and call it a meal. I also served fresh strawberries with it last night.

Breaded Chicken Strips

Serves 4

1 ½ cup bread crumbs

1 egg (beaten)

8 chicken strips

Put bread crumbs in one dish and egg in a different dish. Add salt and pepper to egg. Dip each strip into the egg, then into bread crumbs. Press the crumbs onto the chicken piece. Put in baking dish. Bake for 30 - 45 minutes at 375°.

I baked this chicken with the roasted potatoes and vegetables so everything was in the oven together.

Roasted Potatoes

3 medium potatoes (scrubbed and cut into bite sized pieces)

1 bell pepper (cut into bite sized pieces)

10 asparagus stalks (cut the bottom inch off and discard, cut the rest into 2 inch pieces)

1 cup cubed butternut squash

Place all ingredients in a casserole dish or 9 x 13 inch pan. Sprinkle 1 Tbs olive oil over vegetables and stir to coat. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered for 45 – 60 min at 375°.

Other vegetables could be used: corn, carrots, onions, whatever you have.

Brownie Muffins

From Jaynann

Makes 12 brownies

1 pkg brownie mix

4 fun size candy bars

Follow the instructions on the box to make brownie batter. Spray muffin tin with Pam. Pour a little batter in each cup, about ¼ inch deep. Slice each candy bar into 3 pieces. Place a piece in each muffin. Fill cups with the rest of the batter. Cook for 18 minutes at 350°. 

I was really glad Jaynann shared this recipe with me tonight. I needed something good to post. I was excited about a fresh tomato soup recipe that I had found, but I made it tonight and it wasn't that good. I was disappointed. I wanted to love it.

Jaynann said that she wanted to make brownies, but didn't have a pan, only a muffin tin. She decided to make them in the muffin pan and added the candy bar. They are good. They are cute. I wasn't disappointed with these.

Clam Chowder

Serves 10

I got this recipe from one of McKay’s co-workers about 20 years ago. I don’t remember her name so I can’t give credit.

Warning: This is a high fat recipe! It is so good it is worth it though. I usually make it when there are plenty of people over to eat.

2 small cans minced clams

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

2 cups diced potatoes

¾ cup flour

¾ cup butter

1 quart milk

1 cup cream

½ tsp sugar

1 ½ tsp salt

pepper to taste

Combine potatoes, celery and onions in saucepan. Drain clams and add juice to vegetables. Add enough water to vegetables to just barely cover them. Cook vegetables over medium heat until potatoes are tender.  (about 25 min) In the meantime, melt butter in large pan and add flour. Cook the flour 3 or 4 minutes at medium heat, stirring constantly. It is important to make sure the flour is cooked and that there are no lumps. Add the milk and cream to the butter/flour mixture. Stir well and continue to stir so the mixture will not scorch. It should suddenly get very thick after a few minutes. Do not let the white sauce boil. When the vegetables are ready and the sauce has thickened well add the vegetables to the sauce (do not drain them), add the clams and seasonings and keep warm for about a half hour to allow the flavors to blend.

IMPORTANT: Once the sauce has thickened to not allow it to boil as the cream will separate. When reheating the chowder, warm it slowly but don’t let it boil.

You can make this a day ahead and it almost tastes better the next day. I don't cook it for the last half hour if I am serving it the next day.

Better Bread

I was looking for a recipe to make jam with Clear Jel A and found a tip for adding clear jel to bread. I thought I would give it a try and really noticed a difference in how long the bread stays soft and fresh in the cupboard. I've used it for the last two batches of bread that I've made and even McKay noticed the bread stays softer.
Check out the bread recipe to see how to add it.

Butternut Squash Soup

Terri, this is for you as promised :)

Serves 4 – 6

1 medium size butternut squash

3 ½ cups water

1 Tbs butter

1 small onion (chopped)

1 cored and chopped apple (I leave peel on if apple is yellow)

½ cup water

2 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

pepper to taste

½ cup cream (or milk, but cream is best)

Slice squash in half and scoop out the seeds, put it in a baking dish flesh side up with ½ cup water and bake until soft; about 1 hour at 325°. Let cool and remove skin.

Mine ended up in 3 pieces.  I think it is hard to cut.

Cut cooked and peeled squash into small pieces. A medium squash will have about 3 ½ cups of flesh to use.  Put 2 cups of squash and 2 cups of water into blender and blend until smooth. Pour into saucepan. Blend the rest of the squash with 1 ½ cups water. Add to pan.

In fry pan sauté onion and apple in the butter. When onion is clear and apple is soft put in blender with ½ cup water. Blend until smooth. Add to pan with squash. Stir in salt, cumin and pepper. Heat until hot, then stir in cream and serve.

3 - 4 cups squash pieces

Add the cream

I like to serve with a wedge of  The Laughing Cow Creamy Swiss cheese.

Ham and Lima Beans

This is really good. We all like it.

Serves 4

2 Tbs butter

¾ C. chopped onion

½ tsp granulated garlic

½ tsp salt

Pepper to taste

¾ C chopped ham (can use a small can of ham)

1 ½ Tbs flour

1 can baby lima beans with juice (or follow instructions below to cook from dried baby lima beans)

Melt butter in frying pan. Sautee onions in butter, when they turn clear, add garlic, salt, pepper, ham and flour. Stir. Add to baby lima beans in saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes.

Ready for the lima beans

I served this with breadsticks last night. We ate half and I froze the other half for a later meal.

To cook dry lima beans:

Pressure cooker:

Cook 1 cup dry lima beans and 3 cups water 15 minutes in pressure cooker, then quick release (cool pressure cooker with water)

Stovetop:

Put 1 cup dry beans and 3 cups water in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let soak 1 hour.

Drain and rinse beans. Put back in saucepan with 3 ½ cups water and 1 tsp salt. Simmer for 2 ½ to 3 hours.

Freezing bulk meat

When there is a good sale on for family pack meat, I will get a few packages and then separate them in portions that are good for my family to use. I put the portions in freezer bags, label them with contents and date, then freeze.
This is what I did with the super extra lean hamburger that was on sale last week.
It doesn't show in the pictures, but before I seal the bag I try to remove as much air as possible. This keeps the meat more fresh. I do this with everything that I bag to freeze. Sometimes I even use a straw to suck the air out before sealing.

Meatloaf

Serves 6-8

½ cup dry cracked wheat cereal

1 cup water

Stir cracked wheat and water together in saucepan. While stirring, bring to a boil, then cover and turn heat to low. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the cracked wheat is cooking, mix the following in a large mixing bowl:

1 lb. super lean hamburger (93 % lean)

1 small onion (finely chopped)

1 bell pepper (finely chopped)

2 eggs

½ cup oatmeal

1 slice bread (broken into small pieces)

¾ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 Tbs worcestershire sauce

Stir in cooked cracked wheat. It is ok if it is hot. Spray loaf pan with Pam and put in meatloaf mixture. Cover with foil and cook 30 min at 350° then uncover and cook 10 more minutes to brown top of loaf. This is also a great make ahead meal, just put the uncooked meatloaf in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it later in the day.

Ready for baking

Serve with ketchup.

I often serve baked potatoes with meatloaf because the oven is already hot so I just put in some potatoes with the meatloaf. When I served this meatloaf last time, I was out of potatoes so I reconstituted some dried potato flakes, put them in a 9 x 9 inch baking dish and sprinkled cheese on top. I just put them in the oven for the last 5 minutes of baking time to melt the cheese.

Meatloaf makes a great filling for sandwiches the next day.

Spread mayo and ketchup on bread, then put on a slice of warmed up leftover meatloaf and some lettuce. I remember taking these to school in my lunch and it was one of my favorite sandwiches.

Salmon (Teriyaki)

1 large salmon fillet (enough to serve about 5 people)

1 tsp minced ginger

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs water

¼ tsp garlic  powder

Mix and pour on salmon to marinate about 15 minutes.

Heat grill to 275°. Cook salmon skin side down for about 10 minutes, then turn over and cook for 5 more minutes.

Thanks to Ken and Missy for our yummy Alaskan salmon.

Chicken Pot Pie

From McKay

McKay found this in the MJ Christensen School Cookbook and adjusted it to our liking.

Makes 1 large casserole that serves 8 - 10

3 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up into bite sized pieces (Or 2 cans chicken)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 ½ cups flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cup buttermilk

¼ - ½ cup melted butter

1 ½ cup chicken broth (can be made from water and chicken bullion)

1 cup carrots (cut into bite sized pieces)

2 cups potatoes (cut into bite sized pieces)

1 cup frozen peas

Put carrots and potatoes in saucepan and add enough water to barely cover them. Boil for 10 minutes. Add peas.

Put cooked chicken in bottom of casserole dish. Pour soup over chicken, then vegetables, then butter. Mix flour, baking powder and salt with buttermilk in separate dish, then add to casserole. Pour chicken broth over the whole thing and bake at 375° for 40 minutes.

Ready to bake

I think that this recipe could be easily made with food storage items.
Use powdered buttermilk, freeze dried vegetables, oil instead of butter. I haven't tried it yet.

Navajo Tacos

 Makes 4 tacos

1 C flour (I use whole wheat ground from soft wheat)

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp powdered milk

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 to ½ C warm water

Olive oil to cover bottom of fry pan about ¼ inch.

Mix dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Add warm water a little at a time while stirring until you have a dough that can be handled. If it is too sticky, you can add a little more flour. Let rest for 10 – 20 minutes.

Divide dough into four balls and roll on a floured surface until about ¼ inch thick.

Heat oil on medium heat. When it is hot cook the fry bread about 3 minutes on each side. Set on plate covered with paper towel to soak excess grease. You can keep these warm in an oven with the light turned on until ready to serve.

Serve with taco filling.

Taco filling I used today:

1 can white beans

1 can black beans

1 chopped bell pepper

1 hot pepper (finely chopped)

1/2 chopped onion

1 tsp. taco seasoning

Drain and rinse beans. Put in sauce pan with the rest of the ingredients. Heat (stirring occasionally) for about 10 minutes while cooking the fry bread.

Serve the tacos with grated cheese, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, plain yogurt or sour cream.

These could also be served with chicken or hamburger or canned chili. I just used what I had in the garden and in the pantry.

Here is the order that I made dinner.

1. Get the dough mixed.

2. While dough is resting, mix filling.

3. Roll out dough and fry, while filling cooks.

Crepes

From Tibos ”Crepes from around the world” (with only a few adjustments)

Makes about 10 fairly thick 12” crepes

1 ¼  cup wheat flour (best from soft white wheat)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs sugar

1 egg

1 cup water

1 1/3 cup milk

In large mixing bowl, combine all the flour, salt, and sugar and stir to mix well. Add egg, water and milk. Whisk until smooth. (Note: to make from food storage use 1 Tbs dehydrated egg and 1/3 cup milk powder and add to dry ingredients)

Pour 1/3 cup batter onto hot griddle and spread into about a 12 inch circle. I have a spreader made for cooking crepes, but the back of a large spoon would work. You need to work fast here, the dough starts to cook quickly. (It took me a while to get the hang of it.) Cook 15 to 20 seconds and flip over. Add filling to center of crepe, fold in ends and sides and let cook for about 30 seconds, then turn over and let cook for about 20 seconds more to make sure filling is hot.  Serve immediately.

Between cooking each crepe, make sure to rub the griddle with a paper towel with olive oil on it. The griddle must be non stick.  I have a crepe griddle and I love it, but it is kind of a big thing to store if kitchen space is tight.

Note: If I want to make enough for the family before I serve them, I put the cooked crepes on a plate and put them in the oven with the oven light on. My oven light is on the top of the oven and so I put them on the top rack right under the light.  You can also put them in the microwave and shut the door to keep them warm.

I served diced tomatoes and lettuce for topping the crepes at the table.

Filling Ideas for savory crepes:

Salmon filling:

Mix 3 oz cream cheese, 1 can drained salmon, and 1/3 cup chopped cucumber or celery.  This is enough for 4 – 5 crepes

Chicken filling:

Same as salmon, but replace can of salmon with can of chicken.

Eggs, grated cheese and bacon or ham are also good in crepes. I scramble the eggs before I use them in a filling.

Sweet crepes:

After making the savory crepes, I sometimes add a little vanilla to the batter before cooking the dessert crepes.

Follow the same instructions as above, but instead of putting filling in, sprinkle with sugar, or cinnamon and sugar or spread some nutella on the crepe.  Fold the crepe in half or fourths to serve. Marshmallows and chocolate chips would probably be good.  I’ve never tried it, but I bet it would be gooey and yummy. 

Filling them with fruit and whip cream is also delicious. I just cook the crepes and serve with a bowl of fruit and a bowl of cream. Fruit jam would work also. (food storage)

Batter

Salmon filling

Fold over

Ready to turn and warm other side

Cinnamon and Sugar

Cheater Pizza

I was thinking "easy meals" as I browsed the aisles of Costco a while back when I spied a 4 pack of frozen Kirkland brand cheese pizzas for about 10 dollars. Hmm, $2.50 per pizza? I was willing to try them. I brought them home and when I got one out to cook it, I decided to fancy it up a bit before I put it in the oven.
Everyone loved it and it was so easy! I just served it with a green salad and Marilyn kept saying it was the best pizza she ever had. I may never make my own pizza dough again.

Here is the box of pizzas

Ready to cook

I topped this one with pepperoni on half, pre cooked frozen chicken pieces, 1 slice of precooked bacon cut into small pieces, sliced zucchini, bell pepper, and a few cherry tomatoes cut in half.

Pasta with Tomatoes and Basil

From Brian and Sarah Matthews

Serves about 4

2 cups dry pasta (I used garden delight Penne)

1 lb. cherry tomatoes (about 30)

1 tsp. olive oil

½ cup chopped fresh basil

½ tsp granulated garlic (or fresh)

8 oz. fresh mozzarella (Ciliegine is in little balls and I like it best)

½ tsp. garlic salt

Pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, chop the tomatoes in half. In fry pan heat olive oil and add 15 halved tomatoes and garlic. (Save the rest of the tomatoes to add later.) Heat for about 5 minutes and smash the tomatoes a little. This makes a sort of sauce.

When pasta is finished cooking, drain, put in serving bowl and add the rest of the ingredients stirring in the cooked tomatoes last. This melts the cheese a tiny bit. Serve hot.

Saute half the tomatoes

Fresh basil from the garden

Save half the tomatoes to add fresh

I first had this at Brian and Sarah's and I'm not sure if I make it the same as them. It was a while before I tried it on my own.

We had it last night and everyone loved it. Marilyn and McKay don't usually like cooked tomatoes, but they really like this pasta.

It is a wonderful light summer dish.