Dark Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

I got this recipe off of Pioneer Woman's new recipe collection Tasty Kitchen. It was a super horrible bad idea for me to log onto that site last night at 10pm with a wicked chocolate craving.
I halved the recipe but being tired and addiction crazed I used just regular unsweetened baking cocoa and double the sugar without realizing it. Fortunately it turned out really good and I went to bed much happier.

So if you like a not so sweet cake use unsweetened baking cocoa (3 tbsp + 1 Tbsp oil = 1 square (oz) of baking chocolate, and double the sugar. (I also had to add 1 Tbsp. milk to thin it out a bit) But if not stick to the original recipe.

It also tastes wonderful for breakfast the next day...

Please don't judge me.


Molten Chocolate Cake
Makes 4 servings

• 4 pieces (squares) Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate
• ½ cups Butter
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar, plus extra for dusting
  
• 2 whole Eggs
• 2 whole Egg Yolks
• 6 tablespoons Flour

You can serve this with whipped topping or the much better tasting homeade version:

• 2 cups Real Whipping Cream (seriously It's So Much Better!!!)
• 2 tablespoons Sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray 4 custard cups with Pam and place on cookie sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. whisk until chocolate is also melted.

Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.

Divide between cups.

Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.

Dust with powdered sugar

Combine sugar and heavy cream and whip until stiff.

Invert cakes on dishes and top with whipped cream.

Easy Peasy Poppyseed Chicken Casserole

This is one of my safe go-to dishes that tastes great and is super easy to make. It also makes great leftovers!

3 cups of cooked white rice (sometimes I use garlic rice)
2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded (I just steam them in a shallow pan with seasonings)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 small container sour cream (I've also used ricotta cheese and cream cheese)
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 sleeve Ritz cracker crumbs (just smash inside sleeve, inside a ziploc bag)
5 Tbsp. butter melted

Preheat oven to 375
Mix together in a small bowl; cream of chicken soup, sour cream, pepper and poppy seeds. Place aside.
In a greased 9 x 13 baking dish place rice as bottom layer. Next, arrange shredded chicken over rice until rice is completely covered. Pour sour cream mixture over chicken, until chicken is completely covered. Sprinkle Ritz crumbs over the entire casserole. Pour melted butter slowly over cracker crumbs so cracker crumbs are moistened. Bake for 25 minutes.

Summer Potato Salad

I've had to rack my brain to get this recipe written down... it's hard you know. I can't exactly write "put 2 giant blobs of dijon and however many potatoes your biggest stockpot will hold..." well you get the point. So please excuse me for the short hand recipe. I love potato salad yet my husband loves it so much more. So it's quite the staple over summer while we are 90% BBQ'ing around here (probably why there has been a shortage of posts going on around here! Just staying cool and falling back on my usual recipes I guess!) I really prefer the taste of red potatoes in this salad then regular baking potatoes. They give it a more unique mild flavor.

3 lbs. new red potatoes (about 10?)
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise (got to be the full fat stuff!)
3 Tbsp. Grey Poupon dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1 Tbsp. white vinegar (or whatever kind ya got)
2 Tbsp. prepared sweet relish
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. garlic salt
4 hard cooked eggs, chopped
5 slices cooked bacon
1/2 c. green onion
3 Tbsp. very finely chopped vidalia (sweet) onion
1/2 c. chopped celery
Salt and pepper

Boil potatoes in a large pot with salt water until tender firm (about 20 min?) Cool and drain. Chop into 1 inch cubes. Place in a large bowl, set aside.

In a medium bowl combine mayo, mustard, dijon, vinegar, relish, sugar, garlic salt. Stir until incorporated. Add chopped onion, green onion, and celery, bacon and eggs. Salt and pepper to taste.

Add mayo mixture to the potato cubes and combine. Dust with paprika if desired and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Strawberry Cream Pie

I'm making this for a small get together at a friends house tomorrow night... I can't wait to see how it turns out!

For the crust:
Please don't cheat and buy a pre-made crust! They taste like junk and this one is so easy to make :)

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (1 pkg crushed)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 Tablespoons melted margarine or butter

Mix above ingredients together. Using the back of a large spoon, press crumb mixture firmly on bottom and up sides of a 9 inch pie plate. Bake crust at 350 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool then fill.

Cream Cheese Mixture:
1 small pkg Cream Cheese (3 1/2 oz.)
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup Cool Whip
(I buy a small cool whip, you will use the rest for the top of pie)

Beat Cream Cheese with hand mixer, until smooth. Blend in Powdered sugar until smooth. Blend in the cool Whip. Fill Cooled Pie shell with Cream Mixture on bottom and almost to the top of crumb shell. Refrigerate while preparing berry mixture.


Berry Topping:
1 1/2 to 2 cups of sliced or whole Strawberries
1 pkg Strawberry Danish junket (4 3/4 oz.)
It's close to the jello in the grocery store)
1 3/4 cups COLD Water

Stir contents of junket pkg into 1 3/4 cups cold water in medium saucepan. Bring to a full boil or medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for one good minute. The Berry sauce, will darken in color after that minute. Cool slightly, and then add your sliced or whole berries. Pour Berry Sauce over the top of Cream mixture, being careful, not to cover the tops of the graham cracker crust completely. It will make your crumbs soft. Cool in the fridge until pie is well set. Top with additional Cool Whip if desired. Enjoy! So simple.

Watermelon Lemonade

Hey. I'm a slacker. They say the first step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem. Hello. I am Allison. I don't keep up on my blog. There. I feel better.
Walah... and since I am instantly forgiven I would love to share this recipe with you put out by Smitten Kitchen. Loooove them! Just in time for summer too!

Makes one pitcher of lemonade.

1 cup (8 ounces) fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 cups (16 ounces) fresh watermelon puree, strained through a coarse strainer to remove seeds
3/4 cup (6 ounces) simple syrup*
3 cups (24 ounces) cold water

Stir it all together and serve over ice. Garnish it with a thin watermelon or lemon wedge, if you’re feeling fancy.

Spritzy variation: I have never met a beverage I didn’t think would taste better bubbly, thus, if you’re looking for a spritzier version of this, swap one-third (1/4 cup) or more of the water with seltzer or sparkling water.

Boozy variation: My husband thinks this would taste even better with a splash of vodka. I am not one to argue.

* Make your own simple syrup: Please. I see it sold in stores and it just boggles my mind. Simmer one part water with one part sugar (I did a cup of each and ended up with more than I needed for a quadruple batch) until sugar has dissolved. Let cool. Or, you can use my speedier method where you simmer one part sugar with half as much water and once it has dissolved, add the second half of the water, cold, which cools the mixture down faster (when you like nothing to slow your pace to the nearest mocktail).