Author: Chocolate Castles

Welcome to Chocolate Castles, a blog about food, family and stories that hopefully will bring a smile to your heart. Thanks for reading chocolate castles and may the recipes and stories help bring your family and friends a little closer around the table! Remember that Princess On The Porch is still available on Amazon! Makes a great gift for anyone who enjoys being in the kitchen and needs a little laughter in their lives.
Daily Thoughts · Salads · Starches · Uncategorized

Pasta Salad

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Today I was going to post the Spanish Rice I made for dinner night before last, but first I wanted to post this really easy and yummy pasta salad. Isn’t it hard to think of new lunch items to make after 4 months of trying to stay home and thus, the 21 meals a week are getting a little more creative of, “what foods left over in the fridge can we put together that will keep us from having to go out into the virus laden world?” Well, ladies and gentlemen, is a really good lunch treat that took me all of 10 minutes to put together (why am I in a hurry when I have no where to go right now) and tastes so good.

Because I didn’t have any cutesy shaped pasta right now, I just remembered eating a spaghetti salad at a steak house in West Texas one year so I used the spaghetti in the pantry. Because back in March when we were hoarding any pasta, toilet paper and canned anything we could get our hands on, I have boxes of pasta just sitting here waiting to be used.

Well, here are the simple instructions:

Boil as much spaghetti as you like. I used enough to make about 4 cups of pasta salad. (now you can go figure out how much raw pasta that is because I forget to measure it)
I add some chicken bouillon to the water when boiling pasta because it gives it a little more flavor so I don’t have to add as much oil or butter.
When pasta is done, drain and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Place drained pasta in large mixing bowl and add enough Italian Salad Dressing as you like. I was so excited because I had splurged one day at the store and bought Olive Garden Salad Dressing so I used what I had left of that. Sprinkle in some Parmesan cheese (but be sure pasta is cooled enough so the cheese doesn’t melt on the pasta.
Next cut up the proscuito/cheese roll that you buy in the refrigerated deli department. I used 4 rolls of them. Open a jar of chopped green olives and spoon about 2 tables into the pasta. Next cut up about 6-7 marinated artichoke hearts into the pasta. I also added about 1 tables of the marinade from the artichokes. If you like more cheese add about 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese to the pasta before serving!
Cut up green onions or 1/4 cup purple onion and add to the mix. Sprinkle Italian Seasoning, garlic powder and pepper to the pasta and mix well.

Place covered bowl of pasta in the fridge and let chill for about 2 hours before serving. This will be our lunch today along with Peanut M&M’s for dessert. I wasn’t kidding when I said I need to go to the store.

Daily Thoughts · Vegetables

VEGGIE NIGHT AT OUR HOUSE

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We have been having quite a few veggie nights for dinner. It is weird. For some reason, maybe its the heat maybe I am getting lazy (but think I will just think it is the heat instead, sounds much better), but we have been enjoying vegetables much more than before.
On Sunday night we had family over for dinner. Because my sister-in-law doesn’t eat meat except for salmon or pork roast, it is fun to try to come up with new options for when they come over to eat with us. Sunday night we ended up having fried green tomatoes (yes, I know, we just had them last week, but they were so good and I still had 2 left, I wanted to make them again)cornbread that I added diced green chiles, a small can of creamed corn and because there was not milk to be found in our house, I diluted whipping cream to use in the cornbread. After all, is there anything whipping cream would not taste good in? I put on a pot of pinto beans, had fried potatoes with onions and boiled cabbage. The cabbage was so good that I am posting what I did. You probably have a million recipes on fried potatoes and onions and pinto beans, so will skip that part. But the cabbage was really good. We ended our veggie dinner with a wonderful key lime pie with whipped cream on top. It was a really great meal! We didn’t miss having meat at all. Well, actually because we didn’t have meat, around 9:30 p.m. we started to get a little hungry, so we just had a second piece of key lime pie. Took the hunger pains away instantly! Worked like a charm.

I cut up a head of cabbage and added it to a deep heavy saucepan. Filled the pot with enough water that it covered the cabbage about halfway up the pan. I use the seasoning package of frozen onion, bell pepper and celery that you can get at almost any grocery store for about $1. I added added about 1/2 cup of this to the pot. Sprinkled 2 teas chicken bouillon over the top, 1 teas garlic powder, salt and pepper and 1 rounded teaspoon of Herb de Provence. Cooked it over medium heat for about an hour. About halfway through I threw in about 2 tables of unsalted butter because, well, because if Paula Deen ever saw this post, I would want her to be proud of me for adding butter and because we had not had our full days quota of butter yet. That’s it. It was a great dish that went over so well and my sister-in-law loved it also. If you need a good recipe for fried green tomatoes, just comment. I used one I got off the internet and they were delicious. I will be most happy to share it. Last night, we had the rest of the beans, cabbage, shredded brussels sprouts, and homemade Spanish rice, which even if I say so myself, was really very good. Will post that recipe tomorrow.

Remember what your mom always told you…eat your veggies and have a butterful evening!

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Sassy Southern

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For those of you who might not know, my grandson has been coming over to the house and making videos of me making certain dishes. If you are interested, they are on Youtube under Sassy Southern, Trudy K Cox. If you do watch them, would you do me a favor and “like” them and please subscribe to them. Would very much appreciate that. (I have no idea why, as I don’t get any money for them, but my grandson and one of my sons told me I would always ask people to do that. So if you do and i become rich and famous, I will of course be sure to share any of the $25 I receive with anyone who subscribes.

appetizers · Breads · Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Parmesan-Garlic Bread

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If you have been following me for any length of time or know me personally, you know by now that I never stray to far from whipping cream, butter or cream cheese. Well, whenever I see a new recipe that has one or more of these ingredients, they grab my attention. This weekend we were in a book store with some friends who are visiting from California. We mozied around the store (yes, with mask on and being sure that we did not get any closer than 6 ft, or almost 6 ft, I was never very good at math, so maybe it was only 4 or 5 ft, but no one sneezed on me and I was careful not to look anyone in the eye or smile underneath the mask. Who knows who I might have been smiling at even if they didn’t know it?) Anyway, there at the end of one aisle, were these Gooseberry cookbooks on sale for $3. I use to pay about $20 for them. So I grabbed a few for myself and some friends. (and yes, if you get one from me as a present, you now know your gift only cost $3, but it is the thought that counts).
Finishing rearranging the living room this morning, I sat down with my Diet Dr Pepper to get my heart beating back to normal and thought I would glance through the new cookbook. There on page 67 was this recipe that caught my eye. I had never seen a bread recipe that included whipping cream, and whipped at that. So of course I have to tell you about it. As soon as I get to the store to buy a loaf of french bread, this will be smelling up the kitchen, and adding another inch to my…well, you know where!

1/2 pt whipping cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
9 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 loaf French bread, sliced
paprika to tastes
*I will also add dried parsley flakes to the mixture because I love the little specks of green on French bread.

Whip whipping cream until thick; blend in mayo. Add garlic and 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese; stir well. Slice French bread in half lengthwise; generously spread garlic mixture on each half. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese and paprika. Place loaf halves on an uncreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for about 15-18 min until garlic topping is turning light golden. Cut into 1″ slices. Makes about 2 dz slices.

Uncategorized

Blueberry Pretzel Dessert

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Hopefully many of you have found LeAnn Morgan and her great videos. They have been such a highlight during these past 4 months. She is such a gifted comedian and safe for the whole family to listen to. In several of her videos she has shared several jello salads that sound so “yummy” (as per LeAnn. The other day she mentioned that she had used a can of the Oregon blueberries which are packed in light syrup, which she added to Cool Whip and I think crushed pineapple. Well, I ran to the store and found this can of blueberries, buy by the time I got home, I started to think about the Strawberry Pretzel salad (aka best dessert on the planet). So when I walked in the kitchen to put away the items I had just bought, I already had it in my mind to make the strawberry pretzel salad, substituting the blueberries for the topping. So this is what I did. I made the base just like you make for the strawberry salad, but then for the topping I did the following:

In a medium saucepan, pour the contents of the Oregon blueberries. Add 1 tables of butter, bring to a boil. While waiting for the blueberries and juice to boil, mix 2 full teas of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water. Stir until mixed. Then add the cornstarch mixture to the boiling blueberries. Remove from heat and stir until thickened. Cool for about an hour, or until thoroughly cooled to room temperature. Spoon over the cream cheese/Cool Whip/powdered sugar layer. Cover and keep in refrigerator
**if you don’t already have the strawberry pretzel salad recipe here it is:

Chicken · Daily Thoughts · Soups · Uncategorized

Italian Chicken Vegetable Soup

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Isn’t it so much fun to create something that turns out really good from just things you already have in your house? This soup turned out to be a winner. I had half of a chicken breast left over and decided to try something different.

This made 4 bowls of soup.

1/2 large chicken breasts, cut into very small pieces
2 slices of bacon,cut into tiny pieces
Fry the chicken pieces with the bacon pieces (sprinkle garlic powder (about 1/2 teas) and oregano (about 1/4 teas) over the chicken as it cooks) in a small skillet until chicken is browned and almost done and bacon is crisp. Set aside.
In the crockpot, add the following:
1/2 chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped in small pieces (I like to use the inside of the celery stalk which has the leafy pieces as they add so much flavor)
2 carrots, sliced
1 ear of fresh corn, sliced off the cob
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
2 small russet potatoes, cut into small cubes
1 zucchini or mexican squash (I had mexican squash so I used that. Also, I cut out the very inside of the squash, as I like the outer portion with the skin as it doesn’t get squishy like the meat of the squash does when cooked for long periods of time)
1 (14.5 oz) can of diced tomatoes with oregano and garlic (if you can’t find this, buy either just plain diced tomatoes or italian flavored diced tomatoes)
1 can of chicken broth
1 can of water
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 envelope of McCormick Italian Spaghetti seasoning packet
If this is not enough liquid to cover the ingredients, add either another can of chicken broth or water until all ingredients are covered and there is plenty of juice

Add all ingredients to crockpot and then pour the meat mixture over the top. Stir and set temperature to low and about 6 hours, Check the veggies after about 4 hours and if still need to cook, I changed the setting to high for the last couple of hours. The soup was delicious. Served it with grilled french bread made with butter and garlic.

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Covid 19 Virus Picnics

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Yes, it has been awhile since I have posted to the blog. And you would think that this is when I had so much time to blog, plus all the cooking I have done these past 3 months of being quarantined. But I did use this time to work on the new book which I hope will be out in the Fall. It will be full of dessert recipes and stories from ladies who have gone through some difficult journey’s in their lives.

But, as we have lived through this pandemic of this most awful virus, I can now look back and see some things I have learned. Both Randy and I are pretty positive people. We just seem (me even a little more than him, so sometimes I have to remind him to not get negative. Actually I did have to do that quite a bit these last 3 months when he was forced to work form home and had to be around me 24/7, but I won’t go there right now). But when this all started and we were being told to stay home and restaurants began to close, except for curbside pick-up, we choose to look at it through rose colored glasses (and a mask, of course). I remember the first time in March when we decided it was safe to go pick up Chick Fila. So we hopped in the car, being sure we had our masks in the car and headed out to Chick Fila out in Plano. Because there were several more thousand that had the virus in Dallas County, we decided to only frequent businesses out of Dallas County for a while. So on our way out to Plano to pick up lunch, we had a great little conversation which went something like this,
“well, this could be fun. Remember when we first married and I would come to your office and pick you up and I would have a picnic all packed with sandwiches, chips, homemade cookies or brownies and ice tea and we would go sit outside in Thanksgiving Square and just dream about our lives together? Well, let’s do that again, only with Chick Fila, because I’m so very tired of cooking.” So we get to Chick Fila and order. Now because of Randy’s Parkinson’s, his speech is a little hard to understand sometimes, especially when trying to order over the speakers at drive thru’s. So after the 3rd attempt to give our order to the sweet young lady, Randy just looks at me and says, “will you tell her what we want?” So after I try to yell our order from the passenger side of the car and she still can’t hear me, I end up climbing over the console, trying to fit between the steering wheel and Randy’s stomach with my head hanging out the window, yelling our order. It is times like these that I am so grateful that AFV are not anywhere around, because I know we would win the money for the most hilarious video, but would never be able to show our faces in public again.
We get our order, pull over in the parking lot and begin our picnic. As we dine and talk, we begin to think of different places we would like to go to for our Virus Picnics. Since one of our son’s got food poisoning after eating at Sonic, we have decided not to get food there anymore, so that is not an option anymore. Costco wasn’t open for hot dogs, so we figured out quickly that our main picnic joints would be Wing Stop, Chick Fila, Caines Chicken, In & Out and of course, my favorite, Whataburger. So with stars in our eyes, we began to plan having one of our picnics once a week until the pandemic passes and we are once again allowed to eat inside restaurants.

Well, lets fast forward a few weeks of these precious planned picnics. They aren’t so fun anymore. We did finally learn to let me drive when we would be ordering via the loud speaker. Didn’t take us more than 3 times of me leaning over him to learn that one. But we did learn that the fish and chips places just didn’t work for us for picnics. I had dropped a piece of fish between the seats and forgot about it by the time we drove home. So after a couple of days sitting with windows rolled up, well, you can imagine the cats that were circling our car. Mustard is a hard condiment to get out of car carpet. Catchup packets fall easily between the seats and are very hard to find. French fries dry and get pretty hard so they are easy to vacuum out.
Pizza made a pretty good picnic. We just placed the cardboard box on the dashboard, and the sun kept it pretty warm for us and we were able to get our shirts to the dry cleaners quickly so they got the pizza sauce out very well.

So, lessons learned during this pandemic is this:
Should the need arise again for us to not be able to to into restaurants, learn which ones have the best foods to eat in the car.
Have dry cleaners as one of your fav GPS locations
Vacuum your car out every few days to pick up the pieces of fish, french fries, small bits of hamburgers which fell from your mouth as you were trying to talk on the phone as you ate. We did learn after one attempt at having Rosa’s Mexican food for a picnic that it works better to pick it up and bring home, because tacos are not the easiest thing to eat in a car. Shredded Lettuce is not your friend in a car, nor is salsa. But a positive is that we have so many broken chips on the floor of our car that we just go and sit in the car barefoot. They make great exfoliates.

#Haveabutterfulday

Uncategorized

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

Today our grandson, Sevy came over to help me do a video of making chocolate cookies and putting the video on my YouTube Channel, Sassy Southern. We have tried through many years, different recipes and keep coming back to this one. I have changed a couple of things in this recipe that is on the back package of the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chips. And what better snack sitting watching a movie and a glass of milk or tea, than a soft and yummy chocolate cookie.
Be sure to check out video on Sassy Southern Trudy K Cox

1 stick (8 tables)
unsalted butter, room temperature (be sure it is not too soft, as it will affect the texture of the cookie
1/2 cup shortening (Crisco)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teas vanilla
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teas baking sode
1/2 teas salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Cream butter with shortening. Add both sugars and vanilla to the creamed mixture and beat well. Add eggs and mix in until well combined.

Stir the baking soda and alt into the flour. Pour flour mixture into the creamed mixture.
When this is well mixed add 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips. If desired, stir in 1 cup finely chopped pecans.

Drop by cookie scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for about 9-10 minutes. Remove from sheet onto paper towels which you have laid out on counter. Allow to cool and keep in covered cookie jar or place in plastic bags and place in freezer to keep until needed.

Breads · Breakfast · Cakes · Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Blueberry Streusel Skillet Breakfast Cake

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My sister-in-law sent this to me yesterday after texting me and telling me that she had made it and it was simply wonderful. She says the streusel just makes it and the flavor is just so good. She even liked it better than one of the lemon pound cakes we make often. So here it is. Hope you enjoy it as much as she did. Will be making as soon as I get to the store for more butter. I went through about 5 lbs of it this week.

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9″ cast iron skillet with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour and a pinch of kosher salt. Add 3 tables melted unsalted butter and stir until crumbly with some large pieces still intact.

In another medium bowl, whisk 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teas baking powder and 1 teas salt. In a large bowl (yes, I know, the dishwasher will be full after making this, but she tells me it is worth all the dirty bowls.), beat 1/2 cup (8 tables) unsalted butter, which should be at room temperature for 1 min or until smooth. Add 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar; beat 2 minutes or until fluffy. Stop to scrape sides down on bowl and beat in 2 large eggs. (remember eggs should always be at room temp to get the full volume they need to be), 1 large egg yolk and 1 tablespoon vanilla. In 2 additions, beat in 1/2 cup whole milk or buttermilk and flour mixture, alternating between each. Gently fold in 2 tables lemon zest, 1 tables lemon juice and 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (or frozen, tossed with 2 tables flour). Scrape mixture into prepared skillet. Sprinkle top with the brown sugar mixture.
Bake about 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and top is light golden brown.
Transfer the skillet to a wire rack; cool for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl (yes another bowl), combine 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 tables lemon juice; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.

(Janece did not use the lemon or the glaze. She said the streusel topping was all the cake needed. And with the tables of vanilla, she omitted the lemon zest and juice.)

Chocolate · Daily Thoughts · Desserts · Uncategorized

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Bars

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One of the things I have missed most about curbside grocery pick up is just the great time of strolling the baking aisle and seeing any new products on the shelf. Monday when I braved the “social distancing while wearing a mask” time of going inside the store, I had a ball. When I saw this box, I knew it was mine.

Oh the things I can now make, even though I can’t fit into any of the clothes I have now, the recipes just came flooding in. German Chocolate Fudge pie, Chocolate Almond Ice Box pie. Peanut butter pie with chocolate crust. And the beat (list) goes on. When I turned over the box to look at the recipes on the back, this recipe jumped out to me. So here it is folks. Be the first to share this with anyone who you like (or maybe those who you don’t like but am trying so hard to do so). This sounds like a treat that the whole family will enjoy. And to think, you saw it here first.

Crust:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tables granulated sugar
2 cups Keebler Chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1 egg white

Filling:
2 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 teas milk or whipping cream

Topping:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup whipping cream

1. Line an 8x8x2 inch baking pan with foil, allowing excess foil to hang over sides.
2. For crust, in medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup melted butter, 1/4 cup peanut butter and sugar. Stir in Keebler Chocolate Graham Cracker Crumbs and egg white. Firmly press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake in preheated 375 oven for 10-13 minutes or until dry. Cool Completely.
3. For filling, in a large mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, 2/3 cup peanut butter and 1/2 cup softened butter. Beat on medium to high speed of electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in milk, 1 teas at a time, until light and fluffy. Spoon in dollops over crust. Evenly spread over crust.
4. For topping, in small microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and cream. Microwave uncovered for 30 to 60 seconds, or until smooth. Stirring thoroughly every 20 seconds. Let stand for 10 minutes after stirring to be sure all chips are melted and mixture is smooth.
5. Spread over filling and the cover and place in fridge at least 1 hour or until firm. Use foil ends to remove from pan. Cut into squares and keep covered in the refrigerator.