Be Mine Valentine!

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, here's my list of gift ideas to remember the one I love:

1 - Ecco World Class Limited Editions, size 45.

2 - A new staff bag.

3 - A vacation to somewhere warm & tropical, Poipu Bay anyone?4 - Or...a weekend of luxury at the Broadmoor concluded by their champagne brunch.

5 - A new watch, technically a replacement for the TW robbery watch.

Or...maybe I'll settle on making him dinner and giving him a carefully selected Hallmark;)

Baking Lady - Decadent Chocolate Cake

Do you follow Blonde Designs Blog? I love every post they do, as former art directors at Martha Stewart, their taste is impeccable. Can you imagine having them as room mom's? (Do they even have room mothers these days? Mom was mine for a number of years and was great!) A few weeks back I saw this post concerning their book club and when I saw the chocolate cake, I had to bake it last week for the KU/K State game. It is an amazing cake, has the perfect consistency and is super moist. Add this one to your recipe book - it's a definite keeper!

Cake:
1 C boiling water
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate (chopped into small pieces for easy melting)
8 T butter
1 t vanilla extract
2 C granulated sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 T baking soda
1/2 C sour cream
2 C less 2 T flour, sifted
1 t baking powder
Chocolate Frosting (see below)

Heat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour a bundt pan. In a large bowl pour boiling water over the chocolate and butter. Let stand until melted. (The smaller pieces of chocolate melt much easier than leaving the bakers squares whole.) Stir in the vanilla and sugar then whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix the baking soda and sour cream together then whisk into chocolate mixture.

Sift flour and baking powder together, then add to the chocolate batter, mixing thoroughly. Beat the two egg whites until stiff but not dry. Stir a quarter of the egg whites thoroughly into the batter. Scoop the remaining egg whites on top of the batter and fold together. Pour batter into the pan. Back on the middle rack for 40-50 minutes or until the edges pull away from the side of the pan and the cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then unmold on a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting
2 T butter
3/4 C semisweet chocolate chips
6 T heavy cream
1 1/4 C powdered sugar
1 t vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a heavy saucepan over low heat and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly, add more powdered sugar if necessary to achieve the consistency you want. Spread on cake while frosting is still warm.

Cooking Lady - Black Bean Soup

Since I've been working 60-hour weeks this past month, I've been using my Sunday afternoons to cook multiple meals to last a week. Last Sunday I made black bean soup that turned out great. I think this one is definitely worth sharing:

Black Bean Soup
2 cloves garlic
2 cans black beans
1 can chicken stock
1.5 C salsa
2 C water
1 chicken breast cooked & cut into 1" chunks
1 T lime juice
Goat Cheese to garnish
Avocado slices to garnish

Brown the garlic in a heavy sauce pan in 2 T olive oil. After nicely browned, add the black beans, chicken stock, salsa and water. Bring to a boil then use a potato masher to thicken the substance. Lower to a simmer and add chicken chunks and lime juice. Allow to simmer further for another 10 minutes. Serve warm w/goat cheese and avocado slice as a garnish.

ENJOY!