Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

Today is Mom's birthday! Happy Birthday, Mom! We planned to spend some time together today, so I asked what kind of birthday dessert she would like. Her response was chocolate cake. (no surprises there!) I have a "go to" chocolate cake recipe that never disappoints, and I've made it for Mom's birthday before, so I know she likes it! The cake is very chocolatey and moist!

Sidenote: I've been watching cooking shows lately, and several times I've seen chefs add a bit of coffee to chocolate cakes. They say it doesn't taste coffee-ish, but just makes the chocolate even more chocolatey. So I considered adding 1/4 cup hot coffee and just 3/4 cups of boiling water, but I was too scared. I wish I would have now, because worst case scenario--the cake would taste like coffee just a little bit, and my mom likes coffee! Maybe I'll have to make it again soon, to try out my little experiment...

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate cake (found on the back of Hershey's Cocoa box)

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup veg oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 c boiling water (I usually heat water in tea kettle while I'm getting batter ready)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (or use Baker's Joy spray) 2 9 in round baking pans.
2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed 2 min. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into pans.
3. Bake 30-35 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 min. Remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa.
2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add more milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. (Or, you can be like me and just dump all ingredients into a bowl and beat on medium speed.)

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

I've decided that at this particular point in my life, the crockpot is the absolute best way to make dinner. Not only does it keep me from heating up the oven, and thus my entire house in the already ridiculously hot days, but I can work on prep or pieces of the meal during Em's naps. Tonight I decided to make shredded chicken taco meat in the crockpot. This is what I did:

1. Place 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in crockpot. Add minced garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Add 2 cups of water--chicken doesn't need to be covered.

3. Cook on low for 3 hours.

4. Take chicken out and shred using 2 forks. Dump out liquid from crockpot and wash.

5. Place shredded chicken back into crockpot with approximately 1 cup of water and taco seasoning. (I made my own taco seasoning using this as a guideline, but changed it up a bit.)

6. Turn crockpot to warm for an hour...or as long as you need until dinner time!

7. Serve in warm flour tortilla or taco shell with lettuce, cheese, cilantro, jalapenos, tomatoes...whatever toppings your heart desires! (would also be good in nacho form!)

(I kept trying to take a picture of Emily, but she only wanted to grab the camera, so every picture is a super close-up!)

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

I really love The Pioneer Woman's blog! Not only is she hilarious, but she has great recipes, pictures and anecdotes about her life and family. I've made multiple recipes from her blog, and there are many more I plan to try! Since we were planning to have dinner with Matt's family on the Fourth of July, I was going to bring oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, watermelon and cantelope. Matt was talking to his mom on the phone that morning, and she mentioned that she wanted to have this cake, but really didn't feel like making it, since she had so many other foods to prepare. Matt quickly said "Laura will make it!" So I ran to the computer to look up the recipe and make a list of needed ingredients. Now, this cake was not overly difficult to make, but there are multiple steps, and it took several hours from start to finish (with breaks in between). But it was 100% worth it! Everyone really liked it, and said I definitely had to make it again.

This is the link to the recipe, complete with detailed instructions and pictures (one of the other reasons I really love PW's blog). I highly recommend making this cake ASAP--not only are strawberries in season, but your life will be vastly improved by eating it ;)

Fourth of July, 2011

(July 2-Emily needed to get used to the idea of the pool for a few minutes before actually getting in)

On July 4, 2010, Emily was only about 3 weeks old, and we were in the midst of new parent sleepless nights and foggy days. So we didn't do anything at all to celebrate the 4th of July. However, this year we decided to venture out and have some good family time, and attempt a firework show. After some really delicious smoked chicken, brisket, baked beans, potato salad, fruit, bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos and strawberry shortcake cake, we packed up and headed out to a local park to brave the heat, crowds, fire ants, and watch fireworks.

Emily's normal bedtime is 7:30. This has been the case since she was about 4 months old, and she hasn't gone to bed later than 8:00 since then. The fireworks started at 9:30, so this whole thing was a big adventure for us on several different levels. Luckily, there were lots of interesting people to watch, and Emily was pretty happy at the park. Matt carried her around for about an hour to get in some good people-watching. She also had several bites of cookie, lots of water, and some time to walk around the grass. Once the fireworks started, she was a bit scared. She did watch them for a short time, but then felt safest clinging to Matt with her head on his shoulder. She didn't cry, but I don't think she really enjoyed the fireworks either. All in all, she was quite a trooper! After the long drive home, she was put in her crib at about midnight! Of course, she didn't really sleep in this morning, but I think she'll make it up in longer naps the next day or two (finger's crossed).

Matt and I really enjoyed spending the time with his family and my mom, and Emily seemed to have fun as well. Hopefully next year the fireworks won't be quite as scary!