Recipe Day!

I know I already blogged today but today is recipe day and I have some really good ones. The first one is one that I found a couple of years ago and make all the time. I have yet to find someone that doesn't like it.

Chicken Potpie Soup
6 small potatoes, cut into eights (or cut up big potatoes to measure 2 cups)
1 medium celery stalk, coarsely chopped (measure about 1/2 cup)
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped (measure about 1/2 cup)
{What I do is throw these two vegetables in the food processor and pulse it until I get the rough chop I want.}
2 Tablespoon dried minced onion
5 cups chicken broth
2-3 chicken breasts, cut into cubes (can be raw or cooked)
1/4 cup Wondra flour
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2-3/4 cup green peas (according to taste)
1/4 cup whipping cream or whole milk (depends on what you have in the fridge)

In a large pot, drop in the potatoes, celery, carrots, onion and chicken breasts. Add the 5 cups chicken broth, the poultry seasoning, salt and pepper and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the Wondra Flour according to package directions and whisk in well. Add in the peas and cook an additional 15, stirring occasionally. Add the whipping cream and just warm through. Serve immediately. Serves 6-8

**Crock pot version: To cook this in a crock pot make sure you use cooked chicken. Add the vegetables, chicken broth and seasonings to the crock pot. Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 5 (unless you are using cooked vegetables). After 3 hours on high, add the chicken for an additional 2 hours. An hour before serving add the Wondra Flour and peas, stirring the flour in well, as well as the whipping cream. If you don't have whipping cream or whole milk then add butter to your skim milk. This has to have the fat otherwise your soup won't thicken properly. Cook on high for at least an hour. This will hold on low for an an additional 2 hours if neccessary. It will just get thicker but if held too long it will break down and then get runny.

This is a recipe I have had so long that I don't even know where I got it. It is Heather's 'Birthday' Cake. It is one of the best scratch chocolate cakes I have ever tasted and after I started making this we quit buying chocolate cake mixes. I think I found it in one of my grandmother's old pre-depression cookbooks.

Best Ever Chocolate Cake
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup butter
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Melt the 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate in a saucepan and then whisk into it the 1 cup of milk. Cook until it thickens, about 15 minutes on medium low heat. Set aside and let the mixture cool. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and gradually add the sugar. Add the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. To the 3/4 cup milk, stir in the salt, baking powder and baking soda. Pour into the butter mixture. Add the flour. The batter will very thick at this point. Add the chocolate blending just until no white is showing.. Pour the batter into 2 - 9 inch cake pans that have been greased and floured well (or spray with baking non-stick cooking spray!). Or pour into 3 - 8 inch cake pans that have been prepared as above. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cake tests done. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes and then finish cooling on cooling racks. Frost the cakes with the frosting of your choice or serve warm with a topping. Serves 16 people.

I am thankful for the ability to cook. I wanted to learn how to cook when I was really young and when my mother was sick so much it became a necessity that did learn to cook some things so we weren't dependent on ward/branch members to take care of us all of the time. I had a very patient teacher through my father. My first meal was burned ham and raw corn but Dad ate it like a trooper! I am thankful for patient and loving family members that were willing to try my successes and even my failures!