Chocolate Decadence Cake

1 lb. sweet chocolate, melted

3 tbl. sugar

1 tbl. flour

8 oz. sweet butter

4 eggs, separated

Mix chocolate, sugar, flour, softened butter, and egg yolks. Beat well. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. 

Pour into 8" springform pan, lined with buttered waxed paper.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then cool in oven with door ajar. 

Serve with whipped cream, rasberries, and shaved chocolate. 

Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeños Stuffed with Cheese

Fresh jalapeño peppers

Bacon slices, cut into thirds

Cream cheese, softened to room temperature

Wash and dry the jalapeños. Cut off stem ends, split in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scrape out the seeds and membranes. 

Stuff each half with softened cream cheese. A spoon is ideal to scoop, stuff, and smooth the cheese. 

Wrap each stuffed half pepper with a bacon piece. Secure with toothpicks, if desired. 

Place stuffed and wrapped peppers on a rack over a pan. Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes. 

This recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. You don't want to miss the original version, because of the wonderful text with step by step directions, all illustrated with beautiful photographs. In fact, you don't want to miss the home page of  The Pioneer Woman website, which has all sorts of interesting sections, and is beautifully done. 

Sour Cream Pound Cake

1/4 lb. butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cardamom

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients, add gradually, beating well after each addition. Bake in greased loaf pan at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes. 

Mazarin Cake (Sweden)

Pastry:

1/4 lb. butter

1 1/2 tbl. sugar

2 egg yolks

1 1/3 cup flour

Mix these ingredients, chill, then roll out to cover the bottom and sides of a 9" round cake pan. 

Filling:

1/4 lb. butter

1 cup almond paste

2 eggs

1 tsp. lemon rind

2 tbl. flour

Mix ingredients for filling and spread over the pastry dough. Decorate top with sliced almonds, if you wish.

Bake at 325 F. for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool and remove from pan. 

Grandma Elva's Doughnuts

These were a big treat when we were kids. Lucky for us, cholesterol hadn't been invented yet!

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

3 tbl. melted shortening

1 cup sour milk

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

pinch of ginger

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. mace

Beat eggs, sugar, shortening, and sour milk together. Mix in sifted dry ingredients. Knead dough for a bit, and roll it out to 1/2" thick. 

Deep fry in fat that has been preheated to 365 degrees. Gently drop doughnuts in, one at a time. Cook just a few at once without crowding. When doughnut raise to the top of the fat, turn them over with a long fork. Remove them when brown and drain on paper towels.  

German Chocolate Cake and Frosting

Cake

1 package sweet cooking chocolate

1/2 cup boiling water

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups sugar

1 cup shortening

4 egg yolks

1 cup buttermilk

2 1/2 cups sifted flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

4 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Melt chocolate in the boiling water, cool, add vanilla and set aside.

Cream shortening and sugar together, add egg yolks and beat. Add buttermilk alternately with the flour that has been sifted with the salt and baking soda. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the batter and mix well. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Bake in two 8" or 9" greased layer pans at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes. 

Frosting/Filling

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

1/4 lb. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all together and cook over low heat for 12 minuted or until thick, stirring constantly. Add 1 cups of chopped pecans or almonds and 6 oz. flaked coconut. Cool well. 

Spread between and on top of cooled layers.

Naam Vegetable Butter

Naam was a vegetarian restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia that I used to visit during the early 1970s. I am amazed and pleased to see that they are still in business after all these years. You can visit their website here.

They served this butter with little loaves of freshly baked whole wheat bread. 

To 1/4 lb. soft butter, add 

2 tbl. tomato paste and pinches of 

tarragon

marjoram

thyme

basil

chervil

garlic powder

salt

pepper

and some grated onion

Pork on a Skewer

On a recent visit to my favorite local Oriental grocery store, I was chatting with the owner as she threaded marinated pork onto sharp wooden skewers. The marinade smelled wonderful, and she was kind enough to share her recipe with me.  

Cut boneless pork into thin strips, about one inch wide and 1/4 inch thick. Make them as long as you want. Marinate several hours or overnight in a mixture of:

7-Up

Soy sauce

Finely chopped garlic

Freshly ground black pepper

Thread the pork strips onto wooden skewers and grill or broil until well done. 

Grandma Elva's Cheese and Olive Hors d'Oeuvres

2 cups finely grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup soft butter

1 cup sifted flour

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. salt (optional)

1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce

36 stuffed green olives

Blend cheese and butter well; stir in flour, paprika, salt, and Tabasco. Drain olives and cover each with dough, forming round balls. Freeze until firm.

Place balls on baking sheet, well separated. Bake without defrosting in a hot oven (400) for 15 minutes. 

This recipe originally came from the San Francisco Symphony.