The "When Harry Met Sally" Chocolate Cake

I love chocolate cake. No, let me rephrase that—I LOVE chocolate cake.

Today our church will hold a picnic/potluck.

Some people bring hamburgers or brauts to grill, or perhaps hotdogs and baked beans. Others take the easy route and provide chips and dip or colas. I always bring a salad and dessert, often trying a new recipe.

I spent Friday afternoon looking through my recipe files, hoping for a bit of chocolate inspiration. I didn't find anything new. Rather, I found something old—a yellowed clipping from a newspaper, all but forgotten at the bottom of my card file. And what an intriguing name—"Better than Sex" cake, or as I prefer to call it ...

The "When Harry Met Sally" Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1 box of chocolate cake mix, any kind will do

• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk, (NOT evaporated milk)

• 1 jar ice cream topping, (see note below)

• 1 small container of frozen whipped topping, thawed

• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Instructions

1. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions. Stir in the espresso powder. Bake in a 9x13-inch baking pan and let cool for about 10 minutes.
2. Poke 12 evenly-spaced holes in the cake with the handle of a wooden spoon. Fill the holes with the condensed milk. This will take a few minutes. You will need to fill the holes one at a time, wait a moment while the milk soaks in, and then repeat the process until all of the milk is used.
3. Next cover the top of the cake with the ice cream topping. Save about 1/4 cup of topping to drizzle on the finished masterpiece. Place the cake in the freezer for about 20 minutes. This will allow the ice cream topping to firm up a bit. Remove the cake from the freezer and cover with the whipped topping. Drizzle with reserved ice cream topping and then sprinkle on chopped nuts.
4. That's it—cover the cake and store it in the refrigerator.

What Makes This Recipe Work?

• Only 6 ingredients. It's easy peasy-lemon squeezy

• No tedious cake-mixing instructions. Use a cake mix and follow the simple directions on the box.

• Use whatever flavor of ice cream topping you wish. I love chocolate fudge, but you could substitute milk chocolate, caramel, butterscotch, etc.

Easy Weekday Spaghetti Carbonara

Some time ago at Delishably.com, I wrote an article entitled You Can "Carbonara" Just Like Olive Garden where I explained in great detail how to replicate a meal that was, at that time, being served at Olive Garden restaurant. 

It's a great recipe (if I do say so myself), but not one that you can quickly whip up when your family is starving. It's more of an I-have-all-Sunday-afternoon-to-cook type of recipe. If you do have all afternoon, please visit my Delishably page. If you don't, try this one. 

Easy Weekday Spaghetti Carbonara

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 3/4 pound turkey bacon, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 ounces of dry spaghetti
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat until the butter melts and begins to foam. Add diced onion and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to turn golden. Be patient. This will take about 10 minutes. Return the heat to medium; add the diced turkey bacon and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is cooked and crisp. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
2. Beat together the egg, half and half, and parmesan cheese. Set aside.
3. Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain the spaghetti well and return to the pan.
4. Immediately add the onion/bacon mixture and toss; add the egg/half and half mixture and toss again until spaghetti is coated with sauce. If the sauce seems a bit thick, add a bit of the reserved pasta water.

Makes 4 generous servings. Top with additional grated Parmesan if desired.

Easy-Peasy Fruit "Pudding" Dessert

I don't remember the source of this recipe, but the card on which it is written is old and faded. It has been around for a very long time.

This is an easy-to-do recipe that even the kids can help with:

Fruit "Pudding" 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 can fruit pie filling (any flavor except lemon)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Melt butter in a 12x9-inch glass baking dish
3. In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup of sugar, flour, baking powder, and milk
4. Pour mixture over melted butter. DO NOT STIR
5. Pour over this 3/4 cup sugar. DO NOT STIR
6. Pour in pie filling (including juice). DO NOT STIR
7. Bake for 1 hour. Serve warm with whipped topping or vanilla ice cream.

YUMMY!

Photo Credit: Image by Ulrike Leone from Pixabay 

Carb Diva Swedish Meatballs



My next-door neighbor is one of the sweetest, funniest, kindest, most generous people I know. We share a love of decorating, gardening, animals, and (most of all) eating. That last one is especially important because from time to time she will travel back to the Midwest to visit her daughters and grandkids. I watch her house, water the plants, and in exchange I get whatever is left in her refrigerator.

It's like an episode of "Iron Chef America"--I never know what the secret ingredient will be.

This past week, my friend left once again for "Dorothy-land" and I was left with, among other things, a quart of buttermilk. (Cue dramatic music and wry smile by Mark Dacascos).

I did the obvious buttermilk waffles. Then a batch of buttermilk biscuits. But I still have half a quart left.

What to do?

Well, I love mashed potatoes and will look for any possible excuse to use them as a side dish. What better way to use mashed potatoes than with meatballs and gravy? Here's my version of Swedish meatballs, using ground turkey, and buttermilk in place of the traditional sour cream.

Carb Diva Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients

• 2 slices firm bread (Italian, French, or any rustic bread)
• 1/2 cup finely minced onion
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken (or cream of mushroom) soup
• 1 soup can buttermilk

Instructions

1. Into a blender tear bread slices and grind them into fine crumbs. Transfer crumbs to a large bowl. Add minced onions. In a small bowl whisk together egg, nutmeg, allspice, salt, and pepper and add to bread crumb mixture. Add turkey and with your hands mix mixture until just combined (do not overmix).
2. Form turkey mixture into 1-inch meatballs.
3. In a 12-inch non-stick skillet heat oil over medium heat and brown meatballs, turning them occasionally, until browned on all sides.
4. Stir together condensed soup and buttermilk. Pour over meatballs, cover and simmer over low heat until cooked through, about 15 minutes.