Chocolate Cobbler

I have never been a huge fan of cobblers because they usually involve some sort of fruit and I don't like cooked fruit.  Peach cobbler is ok, but still not my first choice of desserts.  But then Pinterest threw this recipe out to the universe and all the sudden I am into cobbler.  We're talking rich, gooey, chocolatey, melt-in-your-mouth cobbler. Add some vanilla ice cream and life has never been so good.

The recipe originally came from Sooz Hawkins on Tasty Kitchen.

1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

*Mix the first five ingredients until combined.  Add milk, butter and vanilla.  Mix until smooth.  Pour into an ungreased 8x8 baking dish.  In a separate bowl, mix together:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 brown sugar
4 Tbs. cocoa

*Sprinkle this mixture evenly over batter.  Then pour 1 1/2 cups HOT tap water over the top and DO NOT stir.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  Serve warm over ice cream.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE ORIGINATOR AND CREATOR OF BECOMING BETTY...
HOLLY GIBB!!  HOPE YOU EAT LOTS OF TREATS TODAY!

Coconut Syrup

We love breakfast at our house! I used to be a die hard cereal eater (like my sis Holly) but ever since marrying my husband, his love for a yummy homemade breakfast has rubbed off on me. The other day was his 30th birthday so we had these waffles with all the trimmings and a new syrup his mother introduced us to. Its amazing! I usually don't like flavored syrups, but this one is really delicious. Add some sliced fruit and whipped cream and its like dessert.

Coconut Syrup

1 Cup sugar

1/2 Cup butter (1 cube)

1/2 Cup buttermilk

Mix all together in a saucepan and heat to dissolve sugar and melt butter

Then add:

1/2 tsp. baking soda (this causes it to foam up so use a medium pan)

1 tsp. coconut flavoring (found near the spices)

BBQ Chicken

I got a little pack of recipes in the mail one day.  I think it was a free sample for a cooking magazine.  I love getting surprises in the mail!  And all the recipes look and sound so good!  We eat chicken a lot for dinner, so I am always on the lookout for a new recipe.  One of the recipes, was BBQ Chicken.  I had all the ingredients on hand and it was so easy to throw together.  We all loved it!  Much better than eating plain 'ole chicken.

BBQ Chicken

1/4 cup ketchup
3 TBS. apple cider vinegar
1 TBS. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Boil for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Place chicken on grill or grill pan over medium heat.  Brush sauce on one side of chicken then turn and brush on other side.  Repeat until chicken is cooked through.

OOPS!!

So sorry to tell you I left out the eggs from the Banana Bread recipe a few posts ago. I edited the post and it is now right! I'm so sorry if you made this recipe without the eggs. It absolutely would NOT be the BEST Banana Bread ever!! Once again--so sorry!!

Backyard Farmer

I heard about the Backyard Farmer like 6 months ago from a few different blogs and was so excited to give it a try.  I got on the email list and started getting the order forms every week.  Not sure why it took me so long to actually fill one out and send it back, but last week I finally tried it!!  I think I am hooked.

The Backyard Farmer is a local farmer who grows all kinds of good things and then picks and delivers them right to your front door...for free!  Awesome right?!  The prices are really good for what you are getting and everything is so fresh.  You've got to check it out!  They deliver to Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Queen Creek and parts of Tempe.

Click on the this link to find out more.

Tell them Betty sent you.  Just kidding, don't tell them that.  They have no idea who we are.

We loved all the produce that we tried.  It was so fresh and so tasty.  Not pictured here is a 50 pound bag of hard white wheat that we got. They have lots of good things and did I mention it comes right to your door?!

Pretzel Letters

For Christmas, we were able to go to Arizona  for a few weeks.  It was fabulous!!  It was sunny and warm and just so fun!  We loved hanging out with our families and friends and eating at our favorite restaurants.  I think I ate out somewhere almost everyday!  I loved it.  Now we are back in the frozen tundra called Albany.  It's been sooo cold the past few days.  We try not to go outside which leaves us with a case of cabin fever.  I found this fun activity in a magazine called "The Friend."  Griffin was so excited to make letters out of dough.  We had so much fun rolling the dough with our hands then shaping it into letters.  The pretzels were so good right out of the oven.  I was wishing I had some nacho cheese to dip them into! 

Pretzel Letters

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 - 3 cups flour

1 Tbs. yeast

1 cup warm water

1 Tbs. sugar

melted butter

Mix the first five ingredients until they form a ball.  Then, knead dough until smooth and elastic.  Place in a greased bowl and cover with a towel.  Let rise for 1 hour.  Pull off sections of the dough and roll into long ropes.  Form into letters or shapes.  Place on greased cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes at 450 degrees.  When done, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt or cinnamon and sugar.

Borsin Potato Casserole

This is yummy recipe from my mother in law. This isn't the greatest picture, but believe me they are really good!

Borsin Potato Casserole:

3-4 lbs red potatoes, slice thin with skin on (I'm pretty sure you can use regular potatoes)
Place in 9x13 pan

Mix and pour on top-
2 Cups cream
1 carton Borsin cheese
salt and pepper
fresh parsley

Bake for 1 hour at 350. Cover with foil the first 30 minutes, then remove. You can add more fresh parsley on top once its done.

FYI- Borsin cheese can be found at Costco. You have to buy 3 or 4 cartons at a time but you can freeze them. Its kind of an expensive cheese so this is probably the way to go.

BEST BANANA BREAD Ever!!!

I know EVERYONE has a favorite Banana Bread recipe, but this one is the best EVER--I promise! I have had this recipe for many years and I got it from my dear friend, Kristen Rogers. She's a wonderful cook and every time I make it I think of her. It has a lot of banana so the flavor is really good. I made a loaf last night and it was gone before anyone went to bed.

You can also make banana muffins with this recipe. Just fill cupcake papers, or greased muffin tins 2/3 full and bake approx 15-20 min.

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. shortening, or one cube softened butter (I use butter)
2 eggs
Cream well with mixer, then add:

4 very ripe, mashed bananas
Mix well again. Then add:

1 t. soda
1/2 t. salt
1 3/4 c. flour

Optional: 1 c. nuts (We love pecans--that's what I use)

Mix well and pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 45 min. Check the middle and if it doesn't seem done, bake approx. 5 min. longer. This recipe doubles well, to make two loaves.

Country Corn

So I don't know about you, but I have been slacking in the kitchen for the past 6 weeks or so.  December is like hurry-and-fix-a-quick-dinner-before-we-run-to-the-next recital/concert/family party/ward party/school function/etc.  Let's just say we ate a lot of cheese crisps, spaghetti, taco salad, pizza...you get the picture.

Plus, when Holly and Nat come to town, we do more eating out than we do eating in.  Which I love by the way.  So now that Christmas is over and things have settled down, I am going to try and get cooking again!

I subscribed to a new cooking magazine called "Simple and Delicious" and this recipe is from this month's issue.  We loved it.  We totally devoured it and then licked the bowl clean.

6 green onions, chopped
3 Tbs. butter
1 package (16oz.) frozen corn (I used white corn)
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 cup tomatoes, diced

*Melt butter in a skillet.  Saute onions for a couple of minutes until tender.  Add corn and cook until heated through.  In a small bowl, combine cornstarch, half and half, water, salt and pepper.  Stir until smooth.  Add to corn.  Bring to a boil and then lower heat and cook for a few minutes until thickened. Stir in tomatoes and serve.

COCONUT GRANOLA

Simple statement: I LOVE ANYTHING WITH COCONUT--so when I ran across this recipe it was a given that I try it. However, I think the recipe baked it a little too long for my liking, so I have shortened the baking times. You can also add your own ingredients if you would like a few more goodies in it.


3 cups old fashioned oats
3/4 cup raw cashews, roughly chopped (don't have to be raw)
3/4 c. almonds, roughly chopped
1 cup coconut (I use sweetened)
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1 stick butter (if using salted butter, decrease salt to 1/2 t. you can substitute this with 1/4 c. coconut oil if you like--very healthy)
1/2 c. flax seed
1/4 c. honey
2/3 c. brown sugar
1-2 t. vanilla (I use one)
Craisins or dried cranberries (how much you like)

Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl, combine oats, cashews, almonds, coconut salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
In medium saucepan, melt the butter (or coconut oil), honey and brown sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour the mixture over the oat mixture and stir to combine until everything is well coated.

Spread granola onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and break up the pieces. Bake maybe only 5 minutes more. Check it often to make sure it doesn't get too brown. Remove and let cool completely. Once it is cooled, add the craisins and toss well. Keep tightly stored in a jar or zip lock bag.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Why not ring in the new year with chocolate!  Who really sticks to their "no sugar/eat healthy" resolutions anyways?  Mine lasted until 2pm today.  Baby steps.  Anyways, we had dinner at Rach's house on Sunday and she whipped these beauties up for dessert.  Usually, she's a dough nazi and doesn't let me snack on it while she makes cookies.  But this time, I got to eat as much as I wanted it and it was divine!  It was like a thick brownie dough with chocolate chips.  I'm usually not big on chocolate cookies, but these were delicious.  Melt in your mouth delicious.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Cream butter, sugar and eggs.  Beat until fluffy, then add vanilla.  Mix in dry ingredients and finish with chocolate chips.  Scoop onto cookies sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.