Some Calorie Laden Recipes

A few recipes...because they are yummy (and to be able to link to from a possible future post! ...planning ahead here....).









Creamy Hot Chocolate
(4 servings)

1/3 C cocoa powder
3/4 C sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 C water
3 C milk
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 C half and half or cream

Combine the dry ingredients in a saucepan. Blend in the water and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Simmer and stir for a couple of minutes. Stir in milk and heat thoroughly until very hot. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Add cream to individual mugs.

Amazing Chocolate Cupcakes 

Use your favorite chocolate cake recipe to make cupcakes and add a Hershey's kiss to each before you bake. (I find it best to use baking cups for these...the kisses tended to stick to the bottom of my pan when I don't use the baking cups.) Just pop one onto each cupcake on top of the batter and let it sink as it will. Bake as normal and frost as desired. I like to use a rich ganache icing:

Heat together over medium heat: 1 C cream and 5 T corn syrup. Simmer for a minute or two and remove from heat. Add 2 t vanilla extract. Chop 8 oz by weight of semi sweet chocolate or use chocolate chips. I use Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet chips. Pour the warm cream mixture over the chocolate and stir well to combine until the chocolate is all melted and the whole business is glossy. Dip the cupcake tops into the ganache and let set. You can refrigerate the leftover ganache and dip into it with a spoon periodically when no one is looking! ;-)


Chicken Noodle Soup

I made this up when we lived in Europe and I couldn't find good old Campbell's. Now we like it better! Its super easy comfort food but maybe not the healthiest way to do it...

Use cooked chicken, pulled from the bone and chopped into bite sized pieces. Leftovers are great or cook chicken breasts or pieces specifically for this recipe.

Make a rich broth using water and chicken stock cubes or bullion crystals. For four people I use 4 to 6 C water and 10 cubes.

Cook spaghetti, linguine, or fettucini noodles. Drain. Add the cooked chicken and cooked noodles to the broth and serve with crusty bread and salad.


Home made Flavored Syrups for Coffee

Boil together 1 C water and 1 C sugar for 1 minute and let cool slightly. Add any flavor extract you desire. That's it! Add more sugar/less water for thicker syrup or more water for thinner syrup.

Photo credit: 
http://www.hockinghills.com/shaws/recipes.htm