Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting.
Coffee is the secret ingredient in this tantalizing cake that's covered in a satiny peanut butter-cream cheese frosting.
(that's what the recipe says)

The cake is easy to make. And it's good. To be honest tho, one must like peanut butter to like this frosting, but if you do? YUM...MEE!

Today, during our lunch hour, my friend Betty and I are walking. Yes, we're going to spend the hour walking the perimeter of the sports complex. It's 38 degrees right now at 6:30 a.m. At noon, it will have warmed up into the 40's. High 40's or low 50's.
If it seems like one might need some insulation, you are right! And this cake, this chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting will help you get that little extra layer of fat that you might need to keep you warm.
So, just eat one piece (at a time). And make is sparingly (once a week), or just throw caution to the wind and eat, but take up the walking.
I mean, what's a girl to do, really?
I have no will power what-so-ever..... so (sigh), I will have my cake and eat it too, and then, walk, walk, walk.

Seriously tho, it's a great little cake. Easy to make and it disappears fast. My husband is not a big peanut butter fan, but he does like this cake.
It's from an e-mail subscription from Better Homes and Gardens, Homecooking magazine, which was spotlighting "Down-home Desserts from the heart of Iowa", November 2000.


Simple ingredients
some flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, baking powder, salt, and eggs, milk, oil, vanilla, instant coffee (the secret ingredient---LOL )

Mix it all together

The batter will be thin

Put it in the oven at 350, take it out and let it cool while you have a cup of coffee.






On to the frosting
cream cheese, peanut butter, milk, vanilla and powdered sugar and chocolate chips.





Just mix it all together and frost!

Cut and serve. Wa-lah!

Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup cooking oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. instant coffee crystals
1 cup cold water

For cake, grease a 13x9x2 inch baking pan; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs and 3/4 cup milk, the oil and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, then on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Dissolve coffee crystals in the cold water; add to cocoa mixture. Beat on low speed until smooth--batter will be thin. Pour into prepared pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

1 3-oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbs. milk
1/3 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbs. miniature semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

For frosting, in a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and peanut butter--mixture will be thick. Gradually beat in the milk and the vanilla. Beat in enough powdered sugar to make a good spreading consistency. Spread on cake.
Sprinkle with chocolate chips if desired.

Halloween Night and a great appetizer

(yes, this is our garage)

Last night was Halloween.... I love it.
Well.... I just like the "fallishness" of it.
I like spooky stories and I like spooky movies (not horror, slasher movies, but good old-fashioned spooky movies).

I made a couple of pots of chili early in the day, so that in the evening people could just help themselves to something hot to eat. (chili's will be posted on my soup blog.... later today, http://ahhhsomesoups.blogspot.com/ )

We are pretty much the stopping point for a lot of our friends with smaller children. The nice end of the evening house, after a long haul from house to house to house Trick-or-Treating. In our neighborhood we get between 200-400 kids, depending on the weather, if it's a school night, etc. So, it can get kind of hectic and I didn't need to try to be making supper while answering the door over 100 times.
Last night was a perfect night for little ghouls....around 4:00 p.m. the wind stopped blowing and it stopped sprinkling, and was just a nice calm evening.
My friend Robbie brought over an appetizer... I'm not sure what we should call it, so I will call it "Robbie's appetizer".
Pita bread with chopped tomatoes, basil and balsamic vinegar and sprinkled blue cheese, then popped them in the micro-wave to just make them warm. The cheese wasn't even melted---just warm.
They were SO GOOD.
So, I stole the recipe.... LOL ..... named it after Robbie and am blogging about it. (as well as pictures of my little Friday Friend spooks)

Robbie's Appetizer

Whole Wheat pita bread
cherry tomatoes
fresh basil
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
crumbled blue cheese

Mix tomatoes, basil, olive oil and vinegar to taste. Sprinkle across a pita and crumble on the blue cheese.
Micro-wave until just warm.
Cut into triangles and serve.
Yummy! (if you like good stinky cheese)

And who stopped by on Halloween Night?

Makenna and Max. Makenna was a Godsend, as she loved to hand out candy....and she we were the last house on their stop, she, as the ghostly bellhop, gladly manned the door.

Nathaniel and Matthew, aka ghost and goblin, who enjoyed watching Disney's Icabod and Mr. Toad in my family room, while their mother and I and others enjoyed wine/beer and chili. Hey...we had the bellhop handing out the candy, so our duties were done, time to relax.

And Jenna and Nikki, back left and front right... I don't know who their friends are...

and Jenna and Nikki's mom...

Earlier in the day... my grandson, Camron came by.

They have the same pretty blue eyes....

Yesterday at 2:00, my doorbell rang and there were three young boys....about 4th/5th grade who were already Trick-or-Treating.
I told them to come back at 5:00.

Was that wrong? Mean? I had the candy..... and I was home, I just though it way too early to be out.
???
and I am not a Halloween Scrooge!! (as you can tell)

Earlier in the week, I had asked the "Original Friday Friend Forum" this:

Pumpkin

either a term of endearment
pumkin, can you grab that spoon for me?

or...an idiot?
pumpkin head!

*****
and a few of them responded....
from Sally in PA:
My October baby, Shelley, was always Pumpkin.

from Linda in WA:
I told Braydon (grandson) he was my pumpkin (term of endearment) and he told me hewas going to sit on my porch, 'cause that's where pumpkins sit.

from Theda in OR:
I am baking two different pumpkin desserts. So I can only associate pumpkin with happy sweet things. Such as last Friday going to the pumpkin patch with my little "pumpkin" (24 year old daughter). Picking out just the right pumpkin, eating the best caramel apples and buying donuts for breakfast the next day.


me/debbie in NV:
and that, my friends, is what Halloween is really all about.....caramel apples and donuts.
mmmm.....mmmmm......mmmmmm........LOL

Happy Birthday

On the Writer's Almanac this morning, there was this blurb:

It's the birthday of the woman who wrote one of the most popular cookbooks in history, Irma Rombauer, (books by this author) born in St. Louis, Missouri (1877). The author of The Joy of Cooking actually wasn't a good cook at all, but she was a famous hostess in St. Louis, and she wrote a cookbook for people like her, people who needed straightforward directions and simple ingredients.

This is me...I like to entertain. Okay, wait a minute. I "can" cook, and I'm not all that famous of a hostess here in Winnemucca. I do like to entertain tho, people like my parties. And... I have this cookbook in my collection.

no TWD

I plan to get back on track with Tuesdays With Dorrie next week. Hopefully I haven't been kicked out. I'll be very sad, if that's the case. I've missed the last three. And I'm so sorry to have missed these cupcakes. HEY....I might do them tonight and post at midnight...then, I'm still in the game!

Comfort Food

I needed a comfort meal...and autumn comfort meal. My life feels as if it's been on high speed these past couple of weeks.
My job in the fall is very busy. I am the director for the Chamber of Commerce in our small town. We had a huge fund-raiser two weeks ago, and then we sponsored a local candidates night and now....well, lets just say it doesn't end, until the Christmas parade in mid-December.
I'm not saying I don't like it, it's a great job, but I have just been feeling on a merry-go-round and I can't get off.
So....Sunday came. Ah Sunday. We worked in the yard, raking leaves, read books a bit and I fixed this...comfort food.
Something my grandma would have made on a Sunday.
Pot roast
mashed potatoes and gravy
carrots and brussel sprouts

I made the pot roast just like my mom used to make. Seasoned it with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Browned it in oil and all sides, then added some Lipton Onion Soup. Just like my mom used to. It ends up making a great onion gravy. It was just a nice, warm, old-fashioned meal.

Mashed potatoes....with heavy cream and butter, because, well, we aren't worried about calories this day. We just want comfort.

And finally, I roasted the baby carrots and the brussel sprouts together. Similar to "Kitchen Girl's" great brussel sprout recipe. (it's where I got the idea).

I had some yeast rolls and butter.
The only thing missing was an apple pie. A homemade apple pie. Darn it.... I had apples both in my fridge and on my tree.
It was just a nice day for relaxing and regrouping and...eating comfort food like my mom and grandma used to make.

answer me this

IF.....if baking is such an exact science.... chemistry and all that.... how come my grandma's recipes say "a pinch of salt" or "a bit of baking soda"? And she was a great cook and baker!?
And she never, ever used a regulation "teaspoon" or "tablespoon", but when she did use them she used the table spoons, the silverware we ate with, that's what she used.

I'm just wondering.
It has been a busy fall for me, hardley any blogging lately. But, I did just stick a roast in the oven, so, maybe later.....

Taste of Home Cooking School

A Taste of Home

I have been a bad blogger lately. I could list the reasons why, but....... does anybody really care? You just care that I'm back (kind of) don't you?

Still...things are crazy at work, so this is just a short recap and pictures of our "Taste of Home" evening.

We had fun. That is the short of it.
We drove to Elko, in the afternoon, and checked into our motel and then went to the convention center and registered for the show. We got a great little "goodie bag" when we registered. It had all kinds of neat treats and coupons and samples in it.

There were vendors and food booths. And food booths and vendors.

The radio station who sponsored it, had the restaurants in town, serve us.... a buffet!!!
There was salmon and pork and pasta and beef and seafood!
All of it was included in the $7.00 fee for the show. We ate Great!!!

For anyone who gets the "Taste of Home" magazine, you would have loved it. Even for those who didn't get the magazine, it was tons of fun.
She made about 10 dishes from the "fall" magazine, and we all followed along as she went. there was a great camera showing her moves and instructions that showed on a big screen behind her.

We had a really fun evening.....
and....again...not much blog here...
but, some photos.....


Those who went...
(I'm in there somewhere---first photo. And don't forget...the camera adds, 10, no 20...NO 30 pounds!!)

The Buffet before the beginning of the show. I couldn't believe that I was the only one with a camera. And I don't mean, just from my group. I saw no one taking pictures, so I felt a little awkward.


Some of us "won" potholders.
(not me)
At the beginning of the show, they had the audience shout 'BRING OUT THE POTHOLDERS'
and boy did they! they had a huge stack or two, which they tossed out into the audience.
Gina, Mitzi and Julie won a potholder!!

The stage as we saw it.... you can see the big screen there. So we saw our teacher/cook and then we saw what she was doing on the screen.

I recommend that everyone should go to a "Taste of Home" show if they can.
It was fun.