Hershey's Brownies and Hot Cocoa

I am posting these because they are my absolute favorite recipes made with cocoa powder.  I use to buy the box brownies and the packet cocoa.  One day I wanted brownies and googles them....

Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

Skill Level:

Intermediate

Prep Time:

20 Minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2/3 cup butter or margarine, melted and divided
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I don't use these...because I never have them sitting around.)
• ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING(recipe follows) (I don't make this either!)

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan or two 8-inch square baking pans.
   
2. 2 Stir together cocoa and baking soda in large bowl; stir in 1/3 cup butter. Add boiling water; stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining 1/3 cup butter; stir until smooth. Add flour, vanilla and salt; blend completely. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan.
   
3. 3 Bake 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan, 30 to 35 minutes for square pans or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Frost with ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING. Cut into squares. About 36 brownies.
   
   ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
   6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
   2-2/3 cups powdered sugar
   1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
   1/3 cup milk
   1 teaspoon vanilla extract
   
   Beat butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk,
   beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla.
   About 2 cups frosting.

It was kind of the same deal with the hot cocoa.  The girls were out playing in the snow and wanted hot chocolate and I found this on the back of the cocoa powder container :)

Hot Cocoa

Skill Level:

Beginner

Prep Time:

25 Minutes

Nutrition Info

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• Dash salt
• 1/3 cup hot water
• 4 cups (1 qt.) milk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Miniature marshmallows or sweetened whipped cream (optional)

Directions

1. 1 Stir together sugar, cocoa and salt in medium saucepan; stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Add milk; stirring constantly, heat to serving temperature. Do Not Boil.
   
2. 2 Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat with rotary beater or whisk until foamy. Serve topped with marshmallows or whipped cream, if desired. Five 8-oz. servings.
   
   VARIATIONS: Add one of the following with the vanilla extract:
   
   SPICED COCOA: 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg. Serve with cinnamon stick, if desired.
   
   MINT COCOA: 1/2 teaspoon mint extract OR 3 tablespoons crushed hard peppermint candy OR 2 to 3 tablespoons white creme de menthe. Serve with peppermint candy stick, if desired.
   
   CITRUS COCOA: 1/2 teaspoon orange extract OR 2 to 3 tablespoons orange liqueur.
   
   SWISS MOCHA: 2 to 2-1/2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee.
   
   COCOA AU LAIT: Omit marshmallows or whipped cream. Spoon 2 tablespoons softened vanilla ice cream on top of each cup of cocoa at serving time.
   
   SLIM-TRIM COCOA: Omit sugar. Combine cocoa, salt and water; substitute nonfat milk. Proceed as above. With vanilla, stir in sugar substitute with sweetening equivalence of 1/2 cup sugar.
   
   CANADIAN COCOA: 1/2 teaspoon maple extract.
   
   MICROWAVE SINGLE SERVING: Combine 1 heaping teaspoon HERSHEY'S Cocoa, 2 heaping teaspoons sugar and dash salt in microwave-safe cup or mug. Add 2 teaspoons cold milk; stir until smooth. Fill cup with milk. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 1 to 1-1/2 minutes or until hot. Stir to blend; serve.

Brownies source
Hot Cocoa Source

Thanksgiving Ideas and Cranberry Salad Recipe

So, I totally need to start decorating...this weekend!
First, I have a cranberry salad recipe that will knock your socks off!  Promise!
I can't stand the gelatinous muck that comes out of the can.  Gag.  {to be fair, I have never actual tried it, but it gives me the willies!}

I made this recipe up a few years ago to avoid looking at the can crap.

Cranberry Salad with Cream Cheese Topping 

1 lg can of Mandarin Oranges (drained)

4 Apples(I use Fuji, you'll want sweet apples to balance the tart cranberries)

1(12oz bag) of fresh cranberries

1 (3oz) pkg of strawberry jello (raspberry and cranberry are good too)

1/2 c Sugar

Pulse the apples and the cranberries in the food processor.  Drain oranges and toss with apple and cranberries.  Toss sugar and jello into fruit mixture and stir.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Cream Cheese Topping 

2 pkg cream cheese (room temp.)

1c Powdered Sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 lg can crush pineapple drained

4c cool whip

1 c chopped pecans

smash cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla.  cream together until smooth.  stir in pineapple. fold in Cool Whip. mix thoroughly. add pecans .  You can make this ahead of time and let it sit for about 20 min before serving or just make it when needed.

It's so delicious!!  Try it!!

Now on to Thanksgiving Inspiration from Pinterest:

-Make your life beautiful!!

Meal Making Monday: Broccoli Cheese Soup and Sliders

This weekend some friends came down to stay with us and we had a BLAST!   it was the first time Mr. TSL and I have been out without kiddos since Audrey was born! Super fun!

Anywho, while they were here i decided to try out some recipes from Pinterest that I had been drooling over!
I kind of figure what's the point of pinning if I'm not doing anything with said pins :)

These recipes ARE NOT mine, I take no credit for them.  The pictures are of the ones from Pinterest.  The food was so good, I totally forgot to take pics.  Plus, what fun am I if I pause a conversation with a friend to take pics for my blog?!?  It's bad enough I do that to my family, they have to love me...my friends choose too.

The first item on our menu was Broccoli Cheese Soup, I LOOOOOVE Broccoli Cheese Soup and this one ranks up there with restaurant soup!

The second item on the menu was Ham and Cheese Sliders....so cute and delicious!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

adapted from Mangia Da Sola who adapted it from  Sugarcrafter

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups chicken stock (I used bouillon cubes + boiling water)
• 1/2 lb fresh broccoli, chopped (I may have used more broccoli, I just started throwing it in)
• 1 cup carrot, shredded and chopped (mine was grated)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (forgot to put this in)
• 1/4 tsp cardamom (don't know what this is and I hate recipes that call for stuff, so I buy it and never use it again)
• 8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 ounces grated Colby jack cheese (I used mozzarella)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Hot Sauce (I used cayenne pepper)

Sauté the onion (and garlic) in the butter over medium heat. Remove the onions (you can actually leave the onions in there) and add in the flour, stirring constantly. Add in the half and half, milk, and chicken stock. Bring to almost a boil.

Add the onions back in, along with the broccoli and carrots. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.

Season the soup with the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cardamom. Stir in the cheeses (and you can play around with the amounts; use however much or little you like) and let simmer for 10 minutes longer before serving.

Ham and Cheese Sliders

This recipe sounds superb, but I got side tracked and was running out of time, so I skipped the sauce on the top...next time I will try it with the sauce!

adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything adapted slightly from the Recipe Club

24 good white dinner rolls

24 pieces good honey ham
24 small slices Swiss cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup miracle whip (I just used mayo, I hate miracle whip)

Poppy seed sauce 
1/2 T poppyseeds
3/4 T yellow mustard
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 T minced onion
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes. Serve warm.

** sandwiches can be assembled a day ahead and kept in the fridge ready to bake.




-Make your life beautiful!

Meal Making Monday Crab Alfredo

Don't forget to stop by Sew Dang Cute and vote for the best projects in Crafting with the Stars!!

I hate jar alfredo.  It's not very delicious. It's not awful, but this is soooo much better.
We eat at Bella Luna every once in a while and Morgan usually orders the 6 cheese pasta.  It's delicious, but I figured I could totally make it.  :)  I made this and she said that it was better than the 6 cheese pasta!

My pic isn't the best, but it's worth trying the recipe. Promise :)

I made this on Friday and it was one of those days, so excuse the pic.  I was making it and decided to share the recipe with you, I forgot to take pics of the process or the kids eating it.  Oh well.

This serves like 6-8 people.  So if you need less, cut it in half!

Homemade Crab Alfredo with Bowtie Pasta

2 pkg cream cheese
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
1 jar of parmesan cheese
garlic powder
cayenne pepper
crab
bowtie pasta

1. Cook the bowtie pasta with the directions on the package.  I only chose bowtie because that's what the 6 cheese alfredo used at Bella Luna.

2. In a large skillet melt the cream cheese with the chicken broth.  This will look nasty at first, like runny cottage cheese.  I use a whisk and just keep stirring until it's mixed better.

3. When the cream cheese is mostly melted add the milk, butter, and parmesan cheese.

4.  When those become melded together into deliciousness sprinkle the garlic powder and cayenne pepper.  Be a little conservative with the cayenne...I like the heat, the kid's whine about it.

5.  Chop up the crab.  (I use imitation crab, real crab is reserved for eating it by itself.  Immitation crab is for this and crab ragoon-we'll do that recipe later!  :)  )

6. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce.  EAT!!

-Make your life beautiful!!
 

Candy Corn Toes and Pumpkin Cupcakes

I saw these on Pinterest and had to try them!

I did my toes though :)  I can't seem to like painting my fingernails.  They just chip and piss me off.  I do ALWAYS have my toes painted though!

Plus, today I made pumpkin cupcakes with maple cream frosting.....to die for delicious!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Frosting

2 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl

4 eggs (at room temperature)

1 can pumpkin (15 oz)

1 c sugar

1 c brown sugar

1 c oil

mix all above ingredients and fold in dry ingredients

pour into muffin tins (I use muffin cups too.)  fill 2/3 full.

bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (I do 25 minutes)

Maple Cream Frosting

8 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)

3 tbsp butter (at room temperature)

1/4 tsp maple extract (it's like vanilla and located near it at the store)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 c powdered sugar

mix all ingredients except powdered sugar, fold in powdered sugar 

allow cupcakes to cool before frosting....unless you're like me then wait until they are warm and not hot :)  

These are so good you will thank me for introducing them to you or curses me for doing so....yum!

  

I think I originally got the recipe from House Beautiful! :)

-Make your life beautiful!