So good, that I could just cry-- Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheetcake

Honestly, I could just weep. I just took a bite of Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake, ever-- and Ree was not foolin' with me. Sweet Jesus, my world of Chocolate Cake will never be the same! The cake was still warm, moist and unbelievably delicious and there is a war going on, with my will power, to stay away from gorging on this. This recipe is so simple to make, that you don't even need to get out a cake mixer-- or, in my case, my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer.

I warn you-- I used four sticks of butter, 8 Tablespoons of Dutch Processed Cocoa and 1 pound of powdered sugar. This is no time to be counting calories, or fat grams.

This is the BEST chocolate sheet cake ever! I have to give most of this away, tomorrow. Otherwise, I will be looking for bigger bathing suits to wear to my water aerobics classes.

I'll tell you all about Pioneer Woman (if you don' t know her, yet) at the end of this post. I want you to stick with me, long enough to see how easy this cake is to make.

2 sticks of butter are melted with Dutch Processed Cocoa (use any kind of unsweetened); I found this stuff at Trader Joe's and I love it.

Boiling water is added to the melted butter and cocoa and then poured into the mixture of flour, sugar and salt.

A little tip-- do all the mixing in your kitchen sink. Cocoa makes a mess!

Next, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and baking powder makes their appearance.

Whisk the batter together and get read to pour:

I love that I could use one of my commercial baking sheets, and I didn't have to grease it or prepare with parchment paper! Bake this for about 20 minutes at 350F (I underbaked for 18 minutes and it was perfect).

In the meantime, it's time to make frosting:

Chop pecans (you can omit these, which my son wish I had...but I love pecans and I was feeling selfish)


Measure your thighs and repeat the melted butter and cocoa process again. You can exercise in the morning....

Pour the melted butter and cocoa into powdered sugar and then add the pecans.

Here's another thing that makes this cake easy-- you don't have to remove it from the pan, and you don't cool it!

You pour that frosting onto the cake and spread it!

And when nobody's looking, you lick the counter clean...


I waited exactly fifteen minutes...and I had to cut into the cake.

And I took the fastest photo shots ever.... and I dug in...and my eyes filled with tears.

OMG. I have sinned. I have met the devil on a plate.

You have to make this. If you do, I want to know if you have fallen for this recipe the way that I have.

I need chocolate detox. This will be my "secret weapon recipe" at an upcoming potluck.

Excuse me, while I go hide my bathroom scale.



Ooops, I almost forgot-- who is "Pioneer Woman"? She's a wife, mom, foodie, photographer, gifted writer-- and someone I would love to have as my own friend. Her blog is addicting , as she shares her recipes, gardening, photography, home schooling, love story and recipes in a user-friendly format.

She's is wildly popular-- so popular, that I don't comment on her postings. I feel as though I'm lost in a crowd of thousands of her fans. So, I'm starting my own sister blog-- Pioneer Woman Recipes, where people can share what recipes of hers that they have made. Kind of like a "recipe roundup". Please visit Ree's website...then stay tuned for how you can email me any of her recipes and comments of things you've made from her collection.

I hear that she has a cookbook coming out. I'll be one of the first to buy them-- especially if they have her beautiful photos.

How do you like your eggs? Mexican Style! Huevos Rancheros

I've had a busy morning in my kitchen! I baked Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins and then I did some house cleaning. My stomach got a little hungry for some protein a few hours later-- so I took a peek into my fridge. Hmmmm, I had some thawed, cooked Pinto Beans (with the reserved water) that I had cooked and frozen a few weeks ago...eggs... some pico de gallo that was reaching the end of it's life...some cilantro. I always keep some kind of cheese and sour cream on hand. That's it! Huevos Rancheros!

I've never made Huevos Rancheros before, but I figured it had to be pretty easy to do. In scouring a few food blogs and recipe websites, I saw several recipes for Huevos Rancheros. I decided to improvise, and to hope that my Mexican D.N.A. would lead the way:

I thawed some corn tortillas (I am blessed to have an upright freezer in the garage). I was too hungry to make my own salsa, (and I wanted to use up what I had) though I found a great recipe idea on roasting my own tomatoes for salsa. That will wait until my own homegrown tomatoes start ripening-- in a few months.

So, I heated up the leftover pico de gallo and added a little bit of cumin. I was on to something...

Now, for the beans. This was easier than you can imagine-- and MUCH tastier than refried beans in the can! I know that lard is commonly used to make refried beans. I had bacon, and I figured that would work just as well.

I cooked four slices of bacon, to render the fat. I set aside the bacon for me to nosh on, until my son spied them and swiped them as an appetizer.

Next, I placed the thawed beans and the juice into the bacon fat and heated it up on a medium-high heat. I didn't photograph this step, but the beans looked pretty watery-- at first.

I took a potato masher to break down the beans, and then let the beans cook for a good 5 minutes or so. In no time at all, the beans thickened and looked great. After tasting the beans, I felt that they needed salt, so I added sea salt (a little at a time), tasting it until it was seasoned just right. Hmmm, I felt I needed something else... ah, a pinch of cumin...and they were good to go.



I decided to brush the corn tortillas with a little olive oil and I baked them, at 350F, for 5 minutes and set them aside.

In a non-stick skillet, I brushed some olive oil and then cracked four eggs. I added a splash of water and covered them for just a minute, or two. I wanted t eggs to be a little undercooked. One recipe version that I found (America's Test Kitchen)-- that I might try another time, suggests that you make four "wells" in a pan of cooked salsa to poach the eggs. I thought that was brilliant, but I didn't have the time, nor enough salsa-- as you can see:



To pull the the Huevos Rancheros together, I spread some beans on a corn tortilla.
Then I added some salsa, then an egg. At the last moment, I decided to add cheese and place
this under the broiler for a minute (to melt the cheese). That's why I needed to under cook the eggs.

I garnished the Huevos Rancheros with sour cream, fresh cilantro and a lime wedge. I love lime!


This was delicious! The next time I make these, I will make my own salsa and garnish with some fresh avocado. I wish I had more salsa, so that I could have added more.

Making your own refried beans is so simple. I'll try to photograph how to do it, another time.
In the meantime, I am reposting how to cook pinto beans, Cowgirl style (or Cowboy, if you prefer). These are inexpensive to make, and it's great to freeze them. I find that making my own beans is cheaper than buying beans in a can (and there's nothing wrong with that, by the way), and I like controlling what goes into them. I have never learned to like canned refried beans. There is nothing easier and tastier than stove top refried beans, from scratch! I especially love refried beans with hot, fresh tortillas.

How to wake up sleepyheads-- Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins!

I have to give credit to Donna-FFW, from "My Tasty Treasures" for inspiring me to bake this recipe for my family. I made a few changes-- instead of a cake, I grabbed my giant muffin pan. I ended up doubling the batter, so make six muffins. It's a good thing that I did, because my husband and son were sniffing the air and getting very anxious to eat these treats.



I'm not kidding when I say that my husband was staring at me as I grabbed each muffin to put on the cooling rack. He waited a total of sixty seconds, before grabbing one and slathering on butter. Just the thought of photographing his prized muffin was met with a glare.



These are very good, and super easy to make. I posted my recipe version with a doubling of ingredients for the topping-- it was that good!

A "Manly" Sandwich even Chicks will love -- Sloppy Joe's

As a kid, I loved Sloppy Joe's. My mother would mix up the burger with the packet mix (she never did buy the prepared canned version of it), and we kids would gobble it up with joy.

I have been making Rachael Ray's version of Sloppy Joe's for several years. It is so easy to make! In fact, it only took 15 minutes to make the meat filling-- perfect for night's when I want to plan ahead and make an extra dinner that I can just reheat. I use ground beef, but you can use ground turkey-- and call them "Sloppy Toms". Or, you could use ground chicken and call them "Sloppy Chicks"... as for the three of us... we like traditional "Joe's".

The seasoning ingredients are, most likely, right in your pantry. For you Rachael Ray fans, you know that she's a fan of big Montreal Steak Seasoning; I have to admit, I've grown pretty fond of it as well. You'll also need brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. A little bit of red wine vinegar gives a nice balance of sweet and savory.

You'll need chopped onion and red bell pepper (my favorite part, and lots of pretty color, too)



Tomato sauce and tomato paste gives a rich, red color to the mixture.


Yes, I have a Rachael Ray oval non-stick pot, and I do like it a lot! You can have the sauce ready in less than 20 minutes

My favorite way to serve this dinner is on a quality Kaiser roll, lightly buttered and grilled. Personally, we don't need tomato and pickle, but that's up to you! If I have time, I make my own hamburger buns-- but that's only during the summer, when I'm not working at my school.

For this meal, I settled on ordinary hamburger rolls (I'm a bread lover, and therefore a little too picky, I admit). I much prefer a roll that is hardy enough to hold a LOT of meat filling. My boys aren't as picky about bread as I am, so I didn't hear my boy's complaining one bit-- they were happily devouring these, and asking me to make these more of often. Sometimes, it's the simple things I cook that are the most appreciated. I don't mind, after a hard day's work.

As a side dish, I peeled a few sweet potatoes and cut them into large fries-- a little olive oil, sea salt & fresh ground pepper at 425F for 20 minutes-- we were good to go! I had to very, very happy men at the dinner table. Grown or young, this is a meal that never fails to deliver a lot of "thanks"!

Simple, elegant and fast-- Fresh poached salmon with Dijon Cream Sauce

I am so blessed to live on the Monterey Peninsula of California. I have lived here since 1963, within a 30 minute drive radius of Carmel, Pebble Beach, Big Sur and the Salinas Valley. My commute to work, each morning, is a scenic drive past Driscoll strawberry fields, Fresh Express lettuce fields, cattle ranches and then along the coast of Highway 1-- with a panoramic view of Monterey Bay, Cannery Row, Fisherman's Wharf and then Carmel Hill. Seriously, not a morning goes by that I don't thank my lucky stars for where I live.

Monterey has a beautiful Fisherman's Wharf, so fresh fish is easy for me to buy. That's exactly what I did on Tuesday night. While I try to cook on a budget, I splurged on some gorgeous fresh salmon filets for $13.99 a pound.

Aren't these gorgeous? They were really fresh!

I was inspired to buy the salmon by one of my most frequented food blogs, "Phoo-D'". Her recipe (and lovely photos, I might add) for poached salmon with Dijon Cream Sauce hit the taste buds in my imagination. I make a delicious seared and roasted salmon, but I smacked myself in the middle of my forehead. Poached salmon! Why didn't I think of that?!!

Other than buying fresh salmon, I had all of the ingredients that I needed, for this recipe. I keep a bottle of sauvignon blanc in my fridge because I enjoy cooking with wine, and I'm a huge fan of pan sauces.

As elegant as this dish looks, it was so simple to make. Believe it or not, I actually made an additional dinner recipe for the next night's meal! I will post that dinner, tomorrow.

I have beautiful chives that are coming back to life in my herb garden and fresh lemon thyme-- this was set into my pan with the white wine. I simply laid the salon filets and the lemon slices on top:
Covered and poached for 8 minutes, they were perfect!

Just like the recipe said (and I did not tweak a thing), I removed the salmon, added heavy cream and reduced it a bit-- then the Dijon....


I was thrilled to find freshly picked asparagus, locally grown for $2.49 a pound. At the last second, I decided to forgo the lemon risotto I planned to make, because I was tired and it was a weeknight. Instead, I went with my fool-proof crash potatoes.

I cracked open a bottle of Beringer Reserve Chardonnay 2006 that complimented the dinner perfectly. My husband, son and I felt as though we had dined at a fine restaurant-- and I didn't have to do the dishes. How wonderful was that?!

Wiener Schnitzel is not a chain of hot dog fast food joints!

All three recipes are below in printable version:






In California, we have a lot of Der Wienerschnitzel Chains.

It makes me chuckle, because there is no connection between hot dogs and Wiener Schnitzel that is a popular dish found on most restaurant menus in Germany and Austria.

"Wien" is the Europea spelling of "Vienna" and that is where this dish is said to have originated.


A true Wiener Schnitzel is made with thinly pounded veal, breaded and cooked in oil. If cooked correctly, it's golden and crispy on the outside (never greasy) and garnished with a lemon wedge. This is what I'm used to having served to me when I visit my family in Bavaria:


I recently saw someone had posted their version of Wienerschnitzel, breaded in panko crumbs. Brilliant! While that isn't authentic, I liked the idea of the crunch it must've given the meat.

I love veal. I especially love milk fed veal. Or, I should say-- I used to eat milk fed veal, until I learned how they are raised-- these adorable babies live a very cruel an inhumane short life. I am a carnivore, but I have my boundaries on how animals are treated. If the source of my veal comes range-free, then I'll buy it. But it is expensive.

I've, since, switched to making my schnitzel with either chicken breasts or pork. Pork is my favorite way.

Schnitzel is really quite simple to make.

You will want to buy either chicken breasts, pork or veal. I buy pork tenderloin because schnitzel cooks fast. You don't want tough meat, or it will be chewy and that's not very pleasant.
The night that I made this schnitzel, I was in a hurry and I wanted a short cut. I saw that my butcher had some pork that had been tenderized. I hesitated... at $4.99 a pound I wasn't so sure I should go for it. I just didn't feel like cutting a pork tenderloin and pounding it, and these were cut just right. It turned out great!

You'll need a pan of flour, seasoned with kosher salt & fresh ground pepper.
2-3 eggs, whisked in separate pan
Bread crumbs (I make my own)
Olive oil
A heavy bottomed pan that can take high heat

I don't buy bread crumbs anymore. We eat bread, but I don't eat a lot of it (not by choice, trust me). I just toss stale bread slices into my Cuisinart (which is now 30 years old and still going strong!) This is actually whole wheat bread, and it works out great.


My oven is preheated to 250F, and I spread the crumbs on parchment paper onto a baking sheet for about an hour. Then I cool the crumbs so that they don't get soggy from the egg bath. I store any unused bread crumbs in an air tight container. Why buy it?


To prepare your meat, cover it with saran wrap and pound till thin (again, these cuts of meats are thicker than I'd normally use, but I was lazy and hungry).

Dip the meat, first, in flour, then in the egg, then coat with bread crumbs (or panko crumbs)



Allow the prepared meat to dry-- seriously, I get better browning when it's not so wet.


Heat your oil, until shimmering and cook for just 2-3 minutes per side. You want them golden brown.

Depending on how thin your cutlets are (these are thicker than usual) cook them for 3-5 minutes per side on medium high heat:


Lawsy, this makes my mouth water!


Garnish with a lemon wedge and parsley.
Pardon me, but I have to take a bite full. Dee-lish!


That's it!

Great side dishes are mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes (any kind of potatoe), spaetzle or buttered noodles. In my kitchen, red cabbage is a "given" when I make this dish. We love it!
By the way, I refrigerated a few of the uncooked, prepared pork schnitzel and it cooked up beautifully the next day.




This is far better than a hot dog and impressive for company, too.

Thank you for allowing me to share my love of German food, handed down to me from my mother. I can hardly wait to return to her Homeland so that I can enjoy all the wonderful food, scenery, beer and wonderful Bavarian sense of humor.

Coming this week-- a recipe for poached salmon that was incredibly good! I can't wait to share it with you...and I've been tagged. I'm working on listing 10 things about me that I won't have to censor... just kidding.

All three recipes are below in printable version:

Spaetzle- German pasta

Before you read any further (and I hope that you do!) please learn how to pronounce this German version of pasta-- can you say "SPETS-LAY"? No, not SPATSEL... not SPETSEL... but "SPETS-LAY"! Thank you. You are now an "Honorary Bavarian".

I have a confession to make-- I really, REALLY, want to learn how to make pasta with an Italian pasta machine. Really. I do! Someday, I will do that. In the meantime, please allow me to introduce you to a "German Pasta Machine"... it's inexpensive and fool-proof:

I bought this gadget (and I am a kitchen gadget junkie) at least 10 years ago, for $7.99. I bought it at a kitchen outlet store, located in beautiful Cannery Row, Monterey-- and it's out of business, so I have no idea where to find one. I'm sure that GOOGLE does! I've heard that a colander, with large holes works, too-- so you can try this.

The recipe for this is at the bottom of this posting. You can save it or print it. In the meantime, let me show you show easy these are to make:

Besides a spaetzle maker (or colander) you will need:

Large pot of salted boiling water.
Flour, milk, eggs and salt. That's it!
I've seen Hunky Tyler Florence's version of this, where he adds nutmeg. Suit yourself. I don't add it, though I love nutmeg. I guess my mother brainwashed me that only "Northern German's" add nutmeg (remember, there's a bit of ...shall we say, rivalry between the North and South of Germany.) My oldest brother, who was born and raised in Bavaria, can tell you exactly how the "Hatfield's and McCoy's" of Germany started, if you're interested.

I sift the flour and salt together in a bowl.
I beat the eggs until fluffy; then alternate adding milk and the dry ingredients just until combined.
I don't overbeat the flour.
It should look like this:


I let this dough rest a bit. Why? Somewhere, I've read that it helps the gluten relax. It works for me. So, while the dough was resting, I cleaned up the mess and started the pot of water boiling (with the lid on...it does speed things up). Oh, and I always use kosher salt. I don't use table salt...ever...well, I do in baking only.

Here's the fun part. My tripod has gone missing, so I grabbed my husband and asked him to take photos for me-- I need two hands to start filling up the well of the spaetzle maker with the dough:


OK, here we go!


Make sure that the water is boiling! You need to fill up the well 3-4 times:

This is fun!

You have to work fast, though, so that the spaetzle cooks, pretty much, at the same time.

Sometimes, I get carried away...this is a little too much dough at once!


This is the last of the dough-- it took four times to fill and I was working pretty fast.

I am fanatical about cleaning up my kitchen as I cook. Unfortunately, in a manner of moments the spaetzle can boil over, if you're washing dishes in the sink-- and it's not pretty if that happens!

I'm so thankful for gas ranges. I caught it (actually, my husband did) in the nick of time. I turned the heat down to medium low. Whew!


The pasta rises to the top in a matter of minutes. It's ready to be drained. No photo of that-- you know how to drain it! (in truth, there was so much steam that my lens kept fogging up) Don't rinse it, though. Please don't rinse it! Sauce sticks better if you don't.

Now here's the beauty of Spaetzle. Just like noodles, you can pour a sauce over it. I'll be making my signature Austrian Goulash very soon. It's a beef stew with a paprika and tomato sauce that is full of flavor and very traditional in Austria and Bavaria. It is nothing like a Hungarian Goulash at all-- no vegetables.

Now my brother, Alan, and my son are crazy about Spaetzle. Their favorite way for me to prepare it is with unsalted butter, cooked to a light golden color with fresh parsley. I season with additional sea salt, to taste. They can eat it plain, and be happy.

As for me, I like it several ways-- my #1 favorite way to use leftovers (if there are any) is to add caramelized onion and Emmentaler Cheese. I've had version, in Austria, made with fresh spinach added to the dough. I'll have to try that, one of these days.

Germans love potatoes about as much as the Irish. But spaetzle is an alternative side dish, to potatoes, when I prepare red cabbage and Wiener Schnitzel. Yes, the Schnitzel recipe is coming. I've posted enough photos for now, so tomorrow is another day.