Texas Sheet Cake

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Cindy

I have been making this chocolate sheet cake for years. The recipe is so simple and the finished product is delicious. If you need to make a quick dessert, this is the one to try.

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

½ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 sticks margarine

4 tablespoons cocoa

1 Cup hot water

Frosting or Topping

1 stick margarine or butter

4 tablespoons cocoa

6 tablespoons buttermilk

1 pound box powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup nuts (chopped walnuts or pecans)

Cake:

Melt margarine, add cocoa and hot water. Bring to a rapid boil. Pour over dry ingredients. Add buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Bake in large cookie sheet (greased) for 15-20 minutes at 350 F.

Frosting:

Melt margarine or butter, add cocoa and buttermilk. Bring to a boil; add powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 cup nuts. Mix thoroughly and place on cake while warm. When cool, cut in bars.

Oreo Cookie Truffles

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Cindy

Oreo Cookie Truffles

These little truffles are simply to die for. I still can’t believe that the only ingredients are Oreos, cream cheese and chocolate.

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese
1 pound Oreo Cookies
1 pound milk or dark chocolate
1/2 pound white chocolate

Directions:

Grind Oreos to fine powder in food processor. Blend cookie powder and cream cheese until thoroughly mixed (there should be no white traces of cream cheese). Roll into small or large balls and place on wax-lined cookie sheet. Chill 45 minutes.
Line two cookie sheets with wax paper. In double-boiler, melt milk or dark chocolate. Dip balls and coat thoroughly. With slotted spoon or fork, lift balls out of chocolate and let excess chocolate drip off. Place on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet. Using a fork, drizzle melted white chocolate over balls. Let cool.
Store in airtight container, in refrigerator.

Crockpot Lasagne

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Laura

Lasagna has always been one of my favorite foods. Although the dish is generally believed to have originated in Italy the word “lasagna” comes from the Greek lasanon meaning “trivet or stand for a pot”, “chamber pot”. The Romans borrowed the word as “lasanum”, in Latin, meaning “cooking pot”. The Italians used the word to refer to the dish in which lasagna is made. It wasn’t long before the name of the food took on the name of the serving dish.

In the comic strip GARFIELD, lasagna is said to be the favorite food of Garfield an orange tabby cat who enjoys eating, but especially loves lasagna.

The greatest, food find I have made this month is Crockpot Lasagna. You really aren’t going to believe this one. I have always been a huge fan of lasagna, but truth be told, I haven’t made it very often. I’ve been looking for economical meals ever since my husband was laid off from his job 9 weeks ago. I discovered this recipe on the Internet, and couldn’t believe it would work. I decided to give it a try and my husband and I both agreed that this was some of the best lasagna either of us had ever tasted. The good thing about it is that you don’t have to pre-cook the pasta noodles. Just put everything in the crockpot and 4 hours later you have some delicious, authentic-tasting lasagna. Salad and garlic bread completes the meal. Serve some delicious cannoli from a local bakery, and you have an Italian dinner to please.

See You Next Month! Meet Me In The Kitchen!

Lisa, The Gourmet Librarian

Crockpot Lasagna

Ingredients:

2, 26 oz. jars of spaghetti sauce
1/2 pound of cooked ground beef (optional)
15 oz tub of ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
1 egg beaten
2 tsp Italian seasoning
Any vegetable you want to add (I used a bag of frozen spinach, thawed and drained well)
Uncooked lasagna noodles (regular, NOT the no-cook kind)

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl combine egg, ricotta, 1-cup mozzarella, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, and vegetable.

Combine the meat and the sauce.

Cover the bottom of your slow cooker with 1/4 of the sauce mixture. Add a layer of noodles. You’ll need to break the noodles to fill in some of the spaces. Spread a layer of the cheese mixture over the noodles, and then cover with the second layer of sauce. Continue making layers, ending with the sauce. Make sure that the top layer of noodles is well covered with sauce.

Cook on low until the noodles are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. It took my slow cooker 4 hours. Sprinkle the top with the remaining cup of mozzarella and cover just until it melts.

This recipe makes a LOT of lasagna. It fed my family of 4 for two meals and I also got a couple of lunch portions out of it. Mangia!