Try this cake

I have been reading this woman's blog recently. I guess I find it interesting because her life is so completely different from mine. Check it out if you have time to kill. I don't, but I seem to end up on her site several times a day.

Anyway, she has tons of recipes, with step-by-step photos. I was drawn to this one, probably because of Mr. Smith's deep, abiding love for all things chocolate. Of course, Mr. Smith does not have a deep abiding love for any type of nuts in his food. Nuts are poison in Mr. Smith's estimation. He feels that they do not belong in his food or anyone's food for that matter. My point is, you can make this cake and leave the nuts out and the cake will still be an absolutely sublime experience. Do yourself a favor, just make it and for a moment, you won't care that your 401k is probably worthless.

Pioneer Woman Chocolate Sheet Cake

Combine in a mixing bowl:

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan, melt:

2 sticks butter

Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa. Stir together.

Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk.*

Add:

2 beaten eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make icing:

Chop 1/2 cup pecans finely.

Melt 1 3/4 sticks butter in a saucepan.

Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.

Add:

6 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 lb minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Stir together.

Add pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

*There is this really nifty powdered buttermilk you can buy in many stores. You add it to the dry ingredients and then just add water where the recipe tells you to add the buttermilk. Check it out if you have trouble finding actual buttermilk.

Emeril's Banana Bread

I made this Banana Bread this morning. The Monkey went on a business trip so we had some pretty old bananas laying around, looking sad and lonely. So, rather than let them turn completely into candy, I decided to repurpose them before it was too late. Mr. Smith expressed his desire for banana bread sans walnuts (are you kidding? What's the point?)

The result is absolutely wonderful. I can highly recommend this recipe. The bread is delicate (probably because of the cake flour) and light. Not the usual heavy, oily banana bread.

I made two smaller loaves instead of the one big loaf, so the baking time is shorter. So, if you have a couple of oldish bananas around, go for it. Even without the walnuts, it would be wonderful.

Chicken a la King

This Chicken a la King recipe is a little fussy, but honestly, all the chopping and fussing is so worth it. This is another one of Mr. Smith's favorites and it has become a family favorite. I usually leave out the three egg yolks at the end, it just plain gives me the willies, but if you are okay with it, go for it.

I have to tell you, the method that Emeril uses to cook the chicken (in a foil packet with vegetables) absolutely set my world on fire! Now, at long last, I can cook the chicken while I am doing other things, have some beautifully cooked vegetables AND the broth to add to a million recipes. It also allows you to cook chicken that is frozen solid (just bake it a little longer) in a recipe. Love love love it!!!

The Herb Biscuits are too much trouble, so I usually just make Baking Powder Biscuits (recipe to come from the legendary Robin Hood Flour Cookbook). Occasionally I will throw in some herbs or some shredded cheddar cheese just to make things interesting.