Mmmm...

I may have mentioned my obsession with onion rings once or twice before. I blame it all on Jack. I had yet another craving for some crunchy deliciousness yesterday. Rather than running to the nearest fast food restaurant where you generally overpay & never know what quality you're going to get, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I found an ingenious recipe on Allrecipes.com (my favorite recipe 'book' of all time) and decided to try it out.


And of course I had to eat them with some classic fry sauce...they just aren't the same without it. My stomach was very happy with the result.

And now my mouth is watering for more...

Addiction

This stuff is seriously good. I can't seem to get enough of it. I keep telling myself I shouldn't make it, since I know I'll eat it all. But alas, the temptation is too great. I've made it about 6 times in the last 3 weeks...and it's beginning to show. Several people have asked if I'm expecting again. Nope. But I have been enjoying some great caramel corn. Guess it's time to step up the running. Heck, I'd run every day if it means I can eat this stuff. Seriously...it's that good. If you want to start an addiction of your own, here's the recipe. My only suggestion is to switch out the peanuts for pecans. Mmmm...

Berry Swirl Cheesecake

Yesterday I decided to experiment. About a year ago I had an amazing cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. It was seriously the best cheesecake I've ever tasted so I thought I'd try to recreate it. Here is the result of my attempt:


I wish I could give you all a taste, however...it's all gone. But I'll be nice & post the recipe in case any of you want to try it. It takes a bit of time but it's definitely worth it.

Layer 1: Flourless Chocolate Cake

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300° F. Spray a 10 inch round springform pan with canola oil or pam.

In the top of a double boiler over lightly simmering water, melt chocolate and butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until it looks mostly done. (You don't want this part to be too dry so don't overcook it. However, it also needs to be done enough so it doesn't mix with the cheesecake.) Let cool for 10 minutes.

Layer 2: Cheesecake
(This is my go-to recipe for cheesecake...it always turns out great.)

2 pkgs 8-oz. cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
3/4 c sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. grated lemon peel

Directions:
Preheat ovent to 350° F. Beat cream cheese thoroughly. Add eggs, sugar, vanilla & lemon peel; beat until light & fluffy. Pour onto flourless chocolate cake.

Layer 3: Berry Swirl (I'd recommend getting this started while layer 1 is baking)

1 c frozen strawberries
1/2 c frozen blackberries
1 T lemon juice
2 T water
2 T brown sugar

Directions:
Bring all ingredients to a boil in medium size pan. (You could use any berry you want...this just happened to be what I had in my freezer.) Cook until soft. Mash with a fork or potato masher. Remove from heat and let cool. Pour onto cheesecake layer & swirl with a knife.

Bake until firm, about 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool & refrigerate. Serve with hot fudge.

Don't forget the hot fudge...it takes it from really good to heavenly. And if any of you try it be sure to let me know what you think.

Note: If you cut the cheesecake into 16 slices & top with 1 T of hot fudge, each slice is about 350 calories.

Miss Elaine's Ice Cream Cake

Ross made me this ice cream cake for my birthday. It was delicious. When he was growing up his mother made this cake for everyone's birthday, every year. Considering that she has 13 kids, that's a lot of cakes.

I thought I'd share the recipe, since it's so good. Even if you don't want to do the ice cream part, you should try the cake...it's amazing. (As a side note I'd like to mention that I'm translating this recipe from a paper plate...that's how Ross writes down all the recipes his mom gives him over the phone. Makes for an interesting recipe box.)

Preheat oven to 400°.

In a large mixing bowl, combine:
2 c sugar
2 c flour
1/4 tsp salt

In a medium sauce pan, bring to a boil:
1 c water
1/2 c shortening
1/2 c margarine
1/4 c cocoa
After this comes to a boil, pour over flour mixture.

In a separate bowl combine:
2 eggs
1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Pour this into flour and chocolate mixture, and combine.

Pour into a 9x13 pan and bake for 20 minutes.

For Ice Cream Cake:
Cut cake in half and freeze overnight. You'll need 2 cartons of ice cream, preferably in a box. After removing from freezer place one half of cake on a freezable plate. Cut wedges of ice cream to cover top of cake. Place second half on top of the ice cream. Continue cutting wedges of ice cream and place over surface of cake. It's best if it melts a bit (not too much, though) so you can smooth all the edges from the different ice cream wedges to make it look like one big chunk of ice cream. Freeze overnight. Then it's ready to eat! (Note: it's really yummy to have 2 different kinds of ice cream...one for the middle portion, and one to cover the cake.)

For Just Regular Cake:
Miss Elaine (my mother-in-law) makes this frosting and pours it over the hot cake. You don't have to make the frosting to enjoy the cake, but it's pretty good.

1 box powdered sugar
1/2 c margarine
1/4 c + 2 T milk
1/4 c cocoa
1 c pecans
2 tsp vanilla

In a medium sauce pan melt margarine, milk and cocoa. When melted add powdered sugar, vanilla and pecans. Pour over cake.

Chicken Soup for Me

Well, it's no Pioneer Woman photo, but it'll have to do. Jack and I have been sick, so last night I decided to make some Chicken Noodle Soup. He can't eat any, but the homemade noodles always make me feel better. Here's my recipe:

Tamara's Chicken Noodle Soup

1 T oil
1 T butter
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 carrots, diced
4-5 celery stalks, diced
1 chicken breast, cut into small pieces
12 cups water
1/4 c chicken buillon
1 T Bouquet Garni
salt & pepper to taste
homemade noodles

In a stock pot melt butter and heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion, carrots and celery until soft. Remove to seperate bowl. Brown chicken. Add vegetables back in. Add water and buillon. Bring to a boil, add seasoning, salt and noodles. Cook until noodles are done.

I highly recommed trying this recipe...it's one of my favorites. And if you're feeling lazy you can stop by for some noodles. I made extra.