Veronica told me about these today.  Oh my, what a great idea for Valentine’s Day, and SO easy, too…

1 bag Oreo Cookies, ground up in blender or food processor

1-1/2 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened

2 cups white chocolate chips or good quality white chocolate

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or milk or dark chocolate for drizzling

1. Combine ground Oreos and cream cheese in mixer using paddle attachment until well mixed. Roll into 1 inch balls (makes about 30) and place onto baking sheet or tray. Refrigerate overnight or until very firm.

2. Melt white chocolate in microwave for 1-2 minutes on 70% power. Using 2 little spoons, dip balls into chocolate and place onto parchment paper to harden. Once dry, melt dark chocolate and spoon into the corner of a ziplock baggie. Snip a small corner and drizzle back and forth over the truffles. Let dry.

    I’ve made this soup many times, after listening to Lynn Rosetta Casper talk about it on NPR’s Splend Table.  I always make it with dried chickpeas, never with canned, and use the immersion blender to thicken it.  This is great soup, if you like the flavor of chickpeas.

~ jan

*  1 1/2 cups chickpeas, soaked overnight in water to cover if time allows (see below for variation with canned chickpeas)
    * 5 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in slices
    * 3 sprigs rosemary or thyme
    * 1 medium to large carrot, peeled and cut in small dice
    * 1 celery stalk, peeled and cut in small dice
    * 1 medium onion, peeled and cut in small dice
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    * 1/2 pound smoked sausage, grilled or broiled and cut into thin slices 
    * 1 teaspoon minced garlic
    * 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, or to taste

1. Combine the chickpeas, sliced garlic, and herb in a large saucepan with fresh water to cover by at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer, partially covered, for at least 1 hour, or until fairly tender. Add additional water if necessary, and skim any foam that arises to the top of the pot.

2. Scoop out the herbs and add the carrot, celery, onion, salt, and pepper to the pot. Continue to cook until the chickpeas and vegetables are soft, at least another 20 minutes. Remove about half the chickpeas and vegetables and carefully puree in a blender with enough of the water to allow the machine to do its work. Return the puree to the soup and stir; reheat with the minced garlic, adding additional water if the mixture is too thick.

3. Stir in the minced garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Taste and adjust seasoning, then serve, drizzled with the olive oil

A big thanks To my buddy, V for telling me about this cake.  The family agrees, this is hands down, the BEST chocolate cake we’ve ever eaten.  Trust me, ladies, this cake is everything you want in a chocolate cake, dense, moist, chocolately - its killer! 

~ jan

Ingredients

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY®'S Cocoa Powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup HERSHEY®'S Cocoa Powder
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting.
4. To make "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting: Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.
5. One Pan Cake: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350 F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.
6. Three Layer Cake: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350 F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.
7. Bundt Cake: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350 F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost
8. Cupcakes: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350 F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

•  See this recipe at  Lickin The Bowl Good

This is a great little application.  You imput your grocery list, select the correct aisle, generate an approximate price, print it out and you’re good to go.  Give it a click…

My buddy, Carlene, sent me this video.  I never knew you could  debone a chicken wing, this is worth the watch, girlfriends…

I LOVE Celestial Seasoning Teas!  Love them, and yeah, I admit a lot of the charm is the packaging… I’m a sucker for great packaging, and this company has had the best for years!   I think their teas have improved so much over the years, too. 

Back in the 80’s I worked in the marketing department for 7-Eleven in Denver.  One of the perks was taking home all the freebies that the companies shipped to us in an effort to obtain shelf space.  I had a cupboard full of Celestial Seasoning, and a lot of it was so herbal tasting that I was turned off despite the packaging.  It wasn’t until a few years ago that I tried them again, and quickly realized that  they had revamped thelr line and I was just blown away by the flavors.  I’ve been a diehard fan ever since!

I was shopping yesterday and their holiday collection has arrived in our local grocery. Decisions, decisions…decision made!  It has to be the Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride. I’m intrigued.

~ jan

• 24 cups popped yellow popcorn
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cups firmly-packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Here's How:
Preheat oven to 250F. Coat the bottom and sides of a large roasting pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place popped popcorn in roasting pan. Salt the popcorn lightly.  I cook the popcorn in an air popper, so I don’t have additional oil.

In a heavy pan, slowly melt butter; stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Heat to a boil, stirring constantly; boil on medium low heat without stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda and vanilla. Gradually pour over popped popcorn, mixing well. Bake for 1 hour, on the bottom rack of your oven, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven, cool completely. Break apart and store in tightly-covered container.

Yield: about 6 quarts

Notes:  The secret to this caramel corn is to stir it often when it’s baking, because the caramel topping melts and runs to the bottom of the pan.  If you don’t keep stirring, it just puddles at the bottom.

When you take it out of the oven, immediately put it on sheets of waxed paper that you’ve put on your countertop.  Then let it cool for just a bit and break apart.  If you leave it in the roaster pan, it will stick to the bottom and you will have a mess.

Also immediately immerse your roaster pan in water for easy cleanup.  Do the same as soon as you empty your saucepan of the caramel syrup, or you will have a sticky gooey mess to deal with.

I’ve made this recipe for Sloppy Joes for thirty+ years now.  It’s just the BEST! It’s our Halloween favorite, and an annual tradition with our family; Sloppy Joes and potato chips every Halloween evening.  It’s one of the classic recipes that you just don’t mess with.  It’s perfect just the way it is…

~ jan

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
2 heaping Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Cup Heinz Ketchup
1/4 cup water (if you double the recipe, don't double the water, just use 1/4 cup, it's perfect)
Cayenne Pepper to taste

Brown meat and onion, season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.

Drain, add remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.  If mixture gets too thick, add a bit more water. 

Note:  I usually double this recipe.  When the boys were little, they loved Velveeta Cheese melted on the top of the sloppy joes.  I would put the joes on the bun, top with the cheese, leave the top bun off, and nuke it until the cheese melted.  Velveeta is so “not cool” these days, but for some things it will always be the best!

When John Durkin, chef-owner of Trattoria Diane in Roslyn, was in his 20s and the idea of owning a fine restaurant was decades in the future, Gourmet magazine offered a window into another world. "I thought it was such an elegant magazine," he said, "with all those places in France and Italy - and the recipes always worked."

Durkin still gets Gourmet, but November's issue will be his last. A memo issued Monday by Condé Nast chief executive Chuck Townsend stated that Gourmet, which began publishing in 1940, will cease monthly publication.

According to Townsend, Condé Nast remains committed to the Gourmet brand, "retaining Gourmet's book publishing and television programming, and Gourmet recipes on Epicurious.com." Just last month, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt published "Gourmet Today: More than 1000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen," a cookbook edited by the magazine's editor, Ruth Reichl - perhaps the most prominent food editor in the country.

In addition to Gourmet, wrote Townsend, Cookie (launched in 2007 and self-described as "a lifestyle magazine for the modern mother"), Modern Bride and Elegant Bride will cease publication. However, Brides will increase its frequency from bimonthly to monthly.

Gourmet's sales of ad pages had been steadily declining. The September figures, announced in July, were down 52 percent from a year ago. Bon Appétit, Condé Nast's other heavy-hitting food magazine, will continue to be published. Its September figures were reported to be down only 40 percent. Bon Appétit also has a higher circulation (1.4 million as compared to Gourmet's 978,000, according to Condé Nast's September 2009 media kit), higher household income ($83,563 as compared to $81,179) and lower median age (49 as opposed to 50.3).