Really Delicious Chocolate Frosting

Kayla here... Hacking mom since I don't have access to this blog. Lily and I made this frosting the other day for some cupcakes and it turned out very yummy... she was eating it by the spoonful and I was tempted to join her. Just be sure to follow the directions exactly because if you don't it turns out kind of funky. I got it from allrecipes.

2 3/4 cup powdered sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl sift together powdered sugar and cocoa. Set aside
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or more sugar.

Tortilla Soup with Pork & Squash

While I was waiting for Violet to get some lab work done the other day, I stumbled onto this recipe in the Sept. 2012 issue of "Real Simple." Since I've had a butternut squash on my counter screaming to be used for a while, I made it tonight. It was super delicious--for once, Violet couldn't get enough of it. Definitely different from other tortilla soups I've had, but very very yummy. Also a good addition to the lineup because it's a crockpot recipe. It has a long enough cooking time that you truly can put this one in early in the day and then not do anything with it until dinner.

*Just a few notes before I get to the recipe: I used about 1 pound of meat and it was PLENTY! Seriously, I don't think this recipe could even support the amount of meat they are calling for. It would be overwhelming. I didn't use the jalapeno because I didn't have one on hand; I'm sure it's yummy. You can make the tortilla strips in advance and store them for a few hours in an airtight container--or just go with store-bought tortilla chips and you'll be fine. I also added a few shakes of cumin to the soup and it was absolutely necessary and yummy in my opinion. Also added grated cheese to the final bowls.

Tortilla Soup with Pork & Squash

• *1  2 1/2- to 3-pound boneless pork shoulder or butt, trimmed and cut in half
• 1  small butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)—peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1  14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1  jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2  cloves garlic, chopped
• 1  tablespoon  chili powder
• kosher salt
• *cumin
• 4  6-inch corn tortillas, cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips
• 1  tablespoon  canola oil
• *grated cheese, for serving
•  cilantro sprigs, and lime wedges, for serving

Directions

1. In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the pork, squash, tomatoes (and their juices), jalapeño, garlic, chili powder, 4 cups water, and 1¼ teaspoons salt. Cover and cook until the pork is very tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 5 to 6 hours (this will shorten total recipe time).
2. Fifteen minutes before serving, heat oven to 450° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the tortillas with the oil and ⅛ teaspoon salt. Bake, tossing once, until crispy, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the pork to a medium bowl and, using 2 forks, shred the meat; return it to the slow cooker. Serve the soup with the tortilla strips, cilantro, and lime wedges.

Swedish Cookies (Gingerbread)

I don't know how I ended up with this, but I have Grandma's recipe for gingerbread cookies. Here it is basically as she wrote it.

Swedish Cookies--Gingerbread men; good for children

[word I can't read] 15 minutes: 1 cup molasses and 1 cup shortening.

Cream together 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla. Dissolve 2 tsp baking soda in 1/2 cup hot water. Add hot water & baking soda to sugar & eggs. Sift together 6 cups flour, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp finger. Add to other mixture and stir until flour is well mixed.

May need more flour or to chill first.

Roll thin and cut with cookie cutter. Bake 10 minutes at 375. This dough doesn't stick to board.

--LouCeil

Hot Fudge Sauce

People. This hot fudge sauce is amazing. Whether you're having it on brownies, ice cream, or moon pie (like I did tonight in place of chocolate syrup), it's delicious. It reminds me of the yummy fudge sauce at Leatherby's. I've made this a few times and it has worked perfectly every time---just make sure you don't use too small of a saucepan or you'll have to babysit it so it won't boil over.

Hot Fudge Sauce

3/4 cup white sugar

3 Tbsp cocoa

2 Tbsp water

1 5-oz can evaporated milk

2 Tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar and cocoa in a saucepan. Whisk in water; stir over low heat until cocoa dissolves. Add evaporated milk and butter; bring to a boil over medium heat. Stirring frequently, boil gently 5-6 minutes or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and enjoy!

*This stores well in the fridge. If you want to reheat some, just heat up the amount you want to use because heating and cooling the sauce repeatedly will make it grainy.

Mexican Sweet Pork

So, there are one and a half billion recipes for "Cafe Rio" pork out there. All of them are good. Never had one I didn't like. However, none of them are quite right. Even Our Best Bites, and you KNOW I worship that blog. I had it in my mind that the first recipe I got 5 years ago was too complicated, but guess what . . . it's not complicated at all. Dumping a few spices in is not hard. Just grab your measuring spoons and stand in front of the spice cabinet with your bowl. And guess what else? We really liked it better than the other recipes we've had  when I made it a couple of weeks ago. One HUGE tip - enchilada sauce is a major ingredient, so it's going to really alter the flavor of your final product. Find one that's really good, or make your own. That's what I've done the last couple of times.

As far as the lime-cilantro rice, I like Our Best Bites' version. Simple and yummy. Cook the rice in chicken broth if you want it to have an extra-good flavor.

As far as the dressing, I think I like the recipe that is already on this blog. Our Best Bites recipe has a better consistency, but needs tons more lime, cilantro, and green salsa.

Okay, on to the pork!

2.5 - 3.5 lbs pork loin roast (smaller works fine, too)

Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper and brown all surfaces on a hot skillet with a little oil in it. Place in a crock pot, then mix up the following:

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cups Worcestershire sauce (I use Lea and Perrins)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 T dried minced onion (This is sooo cheap at winco. If you have none, use 1/2 cup regular minced onion.)

Pour on top of the pork, then cook on high for approximately 4 hours. You can also just dump all of the stuff right onto the pork, just mix it up in the crock pot. When the pork is done, shred it up, put it back in the crock pot, then mix up:

1 can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup dark brown sugar

Pour on top, mix it up, and you're good to go.

Some notes: Browning the pork roast was not in the original recipe I got from Helen the camp director. It's an Our Best Bites idea, and it makes it less greasy and a little more flavorful. However, you don't have to.

As far as juiciness: Some recipes have you drain all of the goodness it cooked in before serving. No, no, that cannot be done. I have thought it was a little flavorless each time I have done that. However, the juiciness can be a little much, so what I do is pour it all out, shred the pork roast, then pour back in however much I think looks right for the consistency.

As far as sweetness: Cafe Rio pork is really, really sweet. I haven't seen a recipe as sweet as it is. So, keep adding dark brown sugar if you would like it to be sweeter.

As far as Coke, reduced-Coke, Dr. Pepper, reduced-Dr. Pepper . . . all of the recipes I've had with those in there are good. However, the entire half cup of a good Worcestershire sauce tastes better than all of those. That's my opinion. Sarah said she'd like to make a few recipes side by side for a taste test. Go for it, peeps, and let me know how it turns out.

As far as the enchilada sauce - I cannot stress how much it matters that you use a good one. I don't know what's a good one, because I so rarely use red enchilada sauce. Let me know if you make a discovery. I used half El Pato, half tomato sauce, and dumped in chili powder, garlic salt/powder, onion salt/powder, and cumin until I liked what I was tasting. Sorry, not a good recipe, I know, but it was easy, cuz dumping is easy.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Dad Loves

Actually, he likes the dough.

To be fair, I got this recipe from AllRecipes.com.

1 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Finally, mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

I usually leave the oven at 350 because I'm lazy and forget to change it. But it shouldn't be a problem if you're just eating the dough...