Mug Shot 02.28.16

Coffee with my boys before we left the hotel - Harry didn't want to leave. But he did leave a nice note in the housekeeping gratuity envelope for the staff along with our gratuity, lol. :-) 

Mug Shot 2/27/16

Enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon on the patio...a nap, a fire in the fire bowl, and sharing a cup of coffee with my husband.  Actually, he drank most of it because I fell asleep,  And, for once I know where my lens cap is!!!

Food Friday - Vegan Deep Chocolate Bundt Cake

from Kris B.

During my adult life I have gone through periods of eating a vegetarian diet, a vegan diet, and an everything diet.  I have come to the point now of just trying to eat a reasonably healthy diet.  For me, that means eating meat because I have had some issues with severe anemia as a result of having systemic lupus.  That said, some of my very favorite recipes are those that I discovered during my days of more restrictive eating.

I make this recipe from the cookbook Veganomicon The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, whenever I am asked to make a cake for a potluck or anything like that.  Never has anyone realized that it was vegan simply by its taste.  This cake is loaded with chocolate and coffee.  How can it not be delicious??

My oldest daughter, Brooke, proclaimed herself a vegetarian at age three.  I’m not kidding!  And, she knew exactly what she was saying and doing. With the exception of “flat meat” (pepperoni) that should would occasionally eat on pizza at parties during elementary school, she has led a life almost completely free of meat in her diet.  In high school, she became a vegan and also discovered her real passion for cooking. Not only did she have the culinary skills, but she also did the research to make sure that her diet was nutritionally sound.  During this time, she taught me a lot about cooking and introduced me to foods that I had never had and probably never would have tried on my own.  Brooke also did very well at converting standard recipes for baked goods to being vegan friendly.  It is ironic that she gave up her vegan diet when, after graduating from college, she went to culinary school to get her pastry chef certificate and decided that baked goods were just “not right” without real butter!  Lol!

Whether you are an everyday vegan or just like a good, and reasonably healthy, chocolate cake, this one will not disappoint!

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cups fresh brewed coffee

2/3 cup Dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1/3 cup applesauce

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose white flour

(I have done both.  This time I used white all-purpose flour.)

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp powdered sugar

(I probably used a little more)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8 or 10 inch bundt pan.

Bring the coffee to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat.  Once it is simmering, turn down the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until it has dissolved.  Remove from the heat and set aside to bring to room temperature.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, canola oil, applesauce and cornstarch until sugar and cornstarch are dissolved, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the extracts.  Once the chocolate has cooled a bit, mix that in as well.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  beat until relatively smooth, about 1 minute minute with a hand mixer or two minutes with a whisk.  

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick or butter knife inserted through the center comes out clean.  If your pan is on the smaller side, it could take up to 55 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool for about 20 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate to cool completely.  Once cool, sift confectioners’ sugar over the top and enjoy!

I am going solo here this week because Tracey has a busy week of family birthdays - Harry’s, hers, and her niece’s.  They are lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to grandma and grandpa’s last weekend and the grandparents are coming to them this weekend.  The best gift I could think to give her was time to enjoy her family and not have to worry about squeezing a Friday post in.  I do wish I could share this cake with her.  I sure don’t need to eat it myself, even if it is lower fat!!!  So, if you have a few minutes, send Tracey some belated birthday wishes!  Her birthday was the 24th.

Also, if you are interested in random glimpses into our everyday lives, scroll back to see the first few posts in our new series "Mug Shots."  Yep, they are the real life images of two coffee addicts!

Mug Shot 2.25.16

This is what the snow storm gave us between yesterday and today. It's also how I shovel the driveway - with my coffee, inside, while I watch Jeremy do it!! Lol :-D

Mug Shot 2/24/16

This is what my world looks like at 8:30am as I am at school trying to collect my thoughts for my 9am class. It's Hump Day.  The end is in sight!

Food Friday - Awesome Sauce!

from Kris B.

My mom was a chocoholic; she liked any kind of chocolate, by M&Ms and Breyers ice cream covered in chocolate sauce were her favorites.  Though every now and then I remember seeing a bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup in the refrigerator, most of the time she made her own sauce.  As it turns out, it is super easy to make!

I am not an ice cream fan.  I'm not sure why that is; it's just one of those weird personality traits.  I do, however, really like this chocolate sauce.  It is thick and when it starts to cool becomes almost chewy like fudge.  I had to fins a way to enjoy it other than on ice cream.  My preference is to eat it swirled in with a bit of coffee flavored yogurt; not frozen yogurt, just plain ol' yogurt.  If your world is in a sad state and you have no coffee flavored yogurt, vanilla is an acceptable substitute.

Because of its thickness, this sauce also works well for dipping.  Some of my favorite dipping devices are animal crackers, pretzels, cinnamon covered tortilla chips, fruit, and this time of year, Girl Scout Trefoil cookies.  Don't judge me!  I am admitting my bad habits here and now.  Lol!  If your cupboard is bare a spoon, spatula, or a finger will do in a pinch!

INGREDIENTS
1 can sweetened condensed milk
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan.  Heat over medium heat stirring continuously.   Once mixture boils, reduce heat to low and continue to stir until until the chocolate is completely melted and thoroughly integrated.  Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  Reheat either on the stove top over low heat or in the microwave for a minute and half at about 50% power.  YOU MAY NEED TO ADJUST MICROWAVE TIMES AND SETTINGS BASED ON YOUR MICROWAVE.  Do not leave the chocolate sauce unattended until you are sure of the behavior of your microwave.


from Tracey G.

Ever since I was a kid, I've loved the hard shell chocolate sauces, and now my child does too, along with me! It always kind of irked me that it comes in such a small bottle for what you were paying, but it's fun, so I made sure we had it around! Then one day I ran across this recipe for homemade "Magic Shell", and I filed it away under "to make someday". I'd finally went out and gotten the ingredients necessary, but still, hadn't made it. A Food Friday post seemed like as good of an excuse as any to finally give it a whirl and am I glad I did! It turned out better than I could've ever expected, and it introduced me to working with coconut oil. It worked just like it should and I was rather impressed at how easy it was to make a large batch of chocolate hard shell topping for my ice cream at home - the secret is in the coconut oil - it hardens as it cools.

I have to say, though, that it got strange and mixed reviews from my guys - big and little, which made me laugh. Harry at first loved it, was great, then it was "blah" to him. Jeremy said it tasted like chocolate chips - um well, yeah, that's because that's what it is! But when Harry saw me give my "photo prop" serving to Daddy, he had a fit - so I think it wasn't as blah to him as he'd previously stated!! LOL! Me personally? I loved it - it tasted perfect to me and I was super giddy I could make as much as I wanted whenever I wanted! After chatting with Jeremy, I did decide it would be fun to try and experiment with different chocolates, maybe mix some milk with the semi-sweet chips or whatever, you could have fun combining and trying different chocolates for whatever tasted you're going for.

The method and recipe is so easy it's almost embarrassing, lol. Here it is:

12 oz package chocolate chips - about 2 cups

4 tbsp coconut oil

1/4 tsp salt

Combine all in a large microwavable bowl. Microwave on high, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and blended. . Let cool slightly, then spoon over ice cream or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 1 month.

For gift giving (and using directions even if not gifting!): Divide among jars and instruct the receivers to microwave the chocolate sauce, uncovered and stirring every 30 seconds, until melted.

That's it! It was scary simple for such a fun treat to be able to make at home, whenever you like for a fraction of the cost of the commercial variety!! 

Mug Shot 2/18/16

from Kris B.

It's never too warm outside for a cup of coffee on the patio after a long day, or week, of work.  Tracey said that the weird sun flare/streak going on in this image is a blessing from the coffee angels.  So there you go...