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 · Meats · Uncategorized

Italian Sausage With Peppers & Onions

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Last night we were invited to a Italian Night with our small group from church. There were 14 of us and since the hostess was making Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken, Randy “ask” (highly suggested) that maybe I should take sausage with peppers & onions. So I began to search for recipes online for just the perfect one. I ended up combining about 3 different ones and if I had known how good it would turn out, I would have taken pictures and payed more attention to the ingredients (like the oz on the cans). They were really a hit at dinner and everyone was telling me how good they were. They really were very good and so much fun to make. It made me feel like I’m ready to head to Italy to dine with the rest of the great Italian chefs….ok, maybe I’m not there yet, but most assuredly, it was a dish that we will make again and be so excited to serve to others.

If you enjoy Chocolatecastles, would you mind sharing the blog with your family and friends or telling them about it! Thanks so much! Penelope Pumpkin

Serves 14-16

2 cans of Hunts Traditional Spaghetti Sauce(I don’t know the ounces, but it is the tall can that cost about $1 at Walmart
12 oz of water
2 packets of McCormick Thick & Zesty Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning
2 large green bell peppers (cut into 1-2″ pieces)
1 large red bell pepper(cut into same size pieces as the green)
1 large sweet yellow onion (cut into 1-2″ size pieces)
3 tales olive oil
3 packages or 15 mild Italian Sausages in casing (I used 15 and cut each sausage in half after browning them giving me 30 pieces of sausage)
1 tables oregano
1 tables dried parsley
3 cubes of frozen garlic cubes, divided (or garlic to taste if using fresh or powder)

Directions:

in a heavy Dutch oven, pour cans of Spaghetti sauce with the water. Pour the 2 packets of seasoning and 2 cubes of the garlic. Cover and bake in preheated 325 oven for about 2 hours.
While sauce is in oven, using a large skillet, put 2 tables of the olive oil and heat to where it sizzles when you place each sausage in to brown. Turn and brown all the sausages until they are all lightly browned. Remove from Skillet and cut each one in half (if desired). Place sausages in the sauce. If needed, add the other tables of olive oil to the skillet. Place cut up onion and peppers into hot oil. Sprinkle the oregano, parsley and remaining garlic cube over the pepper-onion mixture. Stir and heat until onion and peppers are beginning to get tender. When ready, add to the sausage-sauce mixture. Add any pepper or red pepper flakes if you like added “kick” to your sauce. (I did not, because even the mild Italian sausage we bought had enough kick to it to be little spicey.
Cover with heavy lid and bake in 350 degree oven for about 1 to 2 hours. Sauce should be thick and deep red. Serve over pasta or just with garlic bread.
Gustare! (Italian for taste, savor, relish)

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Lemons & Lattes

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

I just had to post about the lemon meringue pie that I just had to have last night at 7:30 p.m. We were watching AGT and I looked over at Randy as the first commercial hit and said, “oh my gosh, we don’t have any dessert in the house except a frozen package of little cheesecakes and that is not what I am craving.” His response to me was, “well, what do you feel like making?” After a few minutes of different images of desserts swirling thought my mind, the only thing that sounded good to me was a lemon meringue pie. So at 7:40 p.m. I pulled myself up and headed for the kitchen. First thought, did I even have a package of cook and serve Lemon pudding? Second thought, did I really want to start this at 7:40? But when I crave a certain dessert, what am I suppose to do? Was dancing a jig that I had one box of the cook and serve pudding. This is FYI…about a year ago when we were in California visiting friends, we had a lemon meringue pie served as dessert. When I ask our hostess about her recipe she told me that for years, every time she makes a LM pie, people comment about her pie and ask her for the recipe. She always just said it was a family secret. In truth, she uses the Jello Brand recipe on the side of the box of Cook & Serve Lemon Pudding. The next grocery store visit I stocked up on said product. That was about a year ago and still to this day, that is the recipe I use except that on the side of the box the recipe for the meringue calls for 3 egg whites. So instead of using just two egg yolks that the box recipe calls for, I just add that 3rd egg yolk into the saucepan. After all, that just adds a little extra richness.
By 9:00 p.m., we were turning on Netflix to Call the Midwife (which we both hight recommend) and having a wonderful slice of lemon meringue pie.

It us unusual for me to not bake something pumpkin or apple when the tempts drop below 110, but all that would do last night was this wonderful pie, which made me crave a pumpkin spice latte. So today, we will stop at Starbucks for our first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season…..and come home for another slice of pie!

Breads · Breakfast · Cakes · Cookies · Daily Thoughts · Desserts · Fruit · Holiday Fare · Uncategorized

Apple Pie Oatmeal Cups

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A few weeks ago I saw these wonderful looking apple pie cups on Facebook and knew right then that I had to have one. As I didn’t have fresh apples in the house and it was still so hot outside that the thought of going outside at 3 p.m. was not enticing. But I did have a can of apple pie filling and a Betty Crocker Oatmeal Cookie packet. So I marched to the kitchen and began to build this great little cup of deliciousness. Having to admit that I did not make the oatmeal cookies from scratch (like I saw on FB), nor using fresh apples, (like I saw on FB), this became a challenge to get a finished product that would certainly be something that I would not apologize for serving, since I was using shortcuts. I have made them twice since Friday. They are that good. A couple that we share baked goods quite frequently, was the first recipeants of these little gems. The wife never got to even taste them as her hubby ate them. So am taking her one today. They will be our dessert tonight at our kids house. Along with ice cream and caramel topping them off.

Im posting the quick & easy version as they are so good, I probably will just always make these instead of peeling apples (which I save that exercise for fresh apple cake, after all, I don’t want to get worn out before it actually turns to fall when apple cakes become the dessert of choice).

1 packet of Betty Crocker Oatmeal Cookie Mix
24 cupcake liners

Apple Pie Filling
1 can of your favorite apple pie filling.
Cut each apple slices in small pieces before placing the entire can of filling into a small saucepan. Add the follow to the apple pie filling:
3 tables unsalted butter
2 teas ground cinnamon
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
Heat over low heat until sugar and butter are well melted and combined with apples.

Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pan with liners.
Mix oatmeal cookies according to directions (the directions on back are very simple, mix the cookie mix with 1 stick of unsalted softened butter, 1 eggs and 1 tables water. Stir until well combined.) on back of package. Using a medium cookie scoop (it would be about a tablespoon), fill each cupcake liner which has been placed in cupcake pan, with the raw cookie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until “cookies” feel done to the touch. Remove from oven and punch down the center of each “cookie” with the bottom of a very small glass or jigger. Place about 1 teas of the chopped apple filling into the center of the “cookie”. Serve warm if desired with vanilla ice cream and caramel.

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Drive Thru Memories | Chocolate Castles

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Last Saturday night, our 11 year old grandson, Sevy came over while his parents went out to eat. Because Peter and Penelope had been digging out Fall decorations all day and I had been climbing up and down the ladder decorating the fall trees that inspire me to bake (like I really need the trees…
— Read on chocolatecastles.com/2015/09/01/drive-thru-memories/

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Pumpkins & Cherries

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Do not worry, this is not a recipe that combines the two. Simply a post which speaks of some memories through the years as we begin to think of Fall which leads to Thanksgiving, which leads to memories of some of my greatest things to be thankful.(remember that women’s brains are like spaghetti and one thought leads to another) Most of those memories are probably the same as some of yours, health, protection, provision and seeing God’s Hand of faithfulness in our lives, no matter our circumstances. But then there are other things, Things that might not seem like blessings at the time, but have filled my heart with joy through the years. When I bought that pretty little pitcher, it never dawned on me the joy of memories I would have from serving so many from it.

As I washed my little pitcher this morning to make ice tea for the day, some memories came flooding back to me. Randy and I had just been married a short time when he decided to take me to my first Cracker Barrel. Yes, I was 46 and had never eaten at a Cracker Barrel, I know, and I call myself a Southern Girl. Thank goodness, I kept that a secret for a long time. But, here we were walking in and giving our name to the hostess when we were informed that it would be about 30 minutes before she could seat us. That didn’t bother me one iota. There, now you can tell I really am Southern. As my eyes quickly darted around the salesroom, it was all I could do to contain myself and tell Randy that instead of eating here, could I just spend the money I was going to spend on pancakes for some of the goodies that was quickly calling my name. My eyes landed on the most precious little pitcher with cherries painted all over it with a red lid. Randy quickly realized that we would not be leaving without this quaint little pitcher. That was 22 years ago and it is still the pitcher we use every day for tea. It is one of those little treasures that I wrap ever so carefully with each move we make. As I think back about the people that have poured tea out of that pitcher, it brings back so many precious memories of so many different folks we have had in our homes. As Randy and I close our devotion and prayer time each day, we close with the same scripture prayer,
“O Lord, that you would bless us indeed, that you would enlarge our territory, that Your Hand would be upon us, that we would not cause pain.” I Chronicles 4:10. And bless us, He has. Our different moves to different parts of the country have certainly enlarged our territory and given us so many friends, of whom, continue to bless our lives.

This week has been the designated week which we pull out the Fall Decor and hope that as the pumpkins adorn our tables, the temps will get the hint and begin to “fall”. It got the hint. It is only 103 today instead of 106. Ah…the magic of pumpkins. But once again, as I place the pumpkins and foliage around the house, different memories come that make me realize how truly blessed we are. As I think back to last year and the year before, trying to remember just how and where I placed the different pumpkins, it is impossible to not think about how God showed Himself faithful to us this past year. Have I taken the time to just thank Him for the strength to do what I am doing this week? Have I thanked Him for the memory of knowing where the pumpkins are suppose to go. Do I take for granted the fact that I can get out of bed and walk to the kitchen and make pumpkin muffins? Do I give thanks for friends who drop by to share a new recipe with me for pumpkin cake?

We all have so much to be thankful. As we place each pumpkin out this year, why not pause and give thanks for blessings that comes to mind. Then, after you finish decorating, sit with a glass of tea and write a note or text to someone who has been a blessing to your life. Remember, “life is just a bowl of cherries” and lets add this year, “each day, give Him thanks for His Faithfulness and blessings to our lives, no matter how small.”

Casseroles · Daily Thoughts · Starches · Uncategorized · Vegetables

Dinner Party Menu

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Friday evening we had two couples over for dinner. When it was time to plan the menu, I thought about a couple of recipes which I had not made in quite a while and decided to bring them out of retirement. So as Randy barbecued chicken breast (which btw, he has totally perfected and is so good) and thighs, I made corn casserole and rice pilaf. One of the other ladies said she would bring the salad, which is one of those things that I do not make well. Maybe its because it is healthier than what I usually make, but for whatever the reason, salads are my least favorite thing to make. It surprised me to discover that neither couple had even experienced either of these recipes before, but they loved them. Then it dawned on me that they were not from the South, so had not grown up going to Southern Baptist potluck dinners. Both of these recipes were staples at the church gatherings and graced every table at Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. So…here you go! Your welcome!

Corn Casserole

1 box of Jiffy Cornbread mix
1 stick (1/2 cup) of unsalted butter
1 can (drained) whole kernel corn
1 can cream style corn
1 (8 oz) sour cream
*optional 1 small can diced green chiles

Spray with Pam or grease a 11×7 (or medium size pyrex baking) dish. Preheat oven to 350. Melt Butter and pour into mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until well combined. Pour into prepared baking dish and bake uncovered in preheated oven for about 40 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges and middle is almost firm to the touch. Remove from oven and serve hot.

Rice Pilaf

1 can French Onion Soup
1 can Beef Broth
1 cup water
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
2 cups rice
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a medium size baking dish that has a close fitting lid or Smaller Dutch oven. Melt the butter in the dish in oven. When butter is melted, pour the water, and both cans of soup into the melted butter. add the 2 cups of rice and the almonds and stir to combine. Bake covered in the over for about 40-45 minutes or until rice is done. Stir and serve hot.

Breads · Breakfast · Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Butter & Biscuits

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We have been watching lots of I’ll Have What Phil Is Having on Netflix as we sit in our lazy boys and dream of the adventures that we live through Phil. He goes everywhere and eats the most amazing food. We were so thankful that when we watched his episodes of his travels to Florence and Venice, we were already in the process of planning our trip to Italy next April, where we hope to stay for 3 months trying to fit in and look like the locals. I know, I will need to give up walking up to folks and saying, “hi y’all, how y’all doing today? We were fixin to eat some vittles and wondered where the good ones are? We’d be must beholden to you if you could hep us”. I’ll work on my accent and maybe learn a word or too of Italian. Already have pizza, lasagna and gelato down pat. Just need to learn a few more important words.
The last episode we watched Phil travel through was Ireland. That had never really been on my radar to visit….until we watched Phil eat his way through the lucky clovers.
It made me stop and think about how much time and money we had. Do we have the time and resources to go everyplace that we want to go? If not, how could we experience some of the great foods that we see on his program. So the last trip to Wally World, I decided that I wasn’t going to let $1 get in my way of being adventuresome. I proudly walked up to the butter counter and reached over the Great Value brand of butter and without a moment of hesitation, threw the Kerrygold, pure Irish Butter in our basket. Yep….we went for the gold! Sorry kids, another dollar gone from your inheritance. But We were so proud of ourselves. We had really gone out of our comfort zones. We couldn’t wait to get home and smather (is that a real word?) a tablespoon of this Irish butter over a fresh slice of bread. We stood in the kitchen, downing our first bite of real Irish butter. I think we both thought that little leprechauns would come dancing out of our cabinets by the way we stood there waiting to see how it tasted.
We looked at each other and until finally one of us said, “darn, we could have spent that extra $1 on a McDonalds fried apple pie. We couldn’t really tell that much difference. But it had so much more color to it that our normal butter we buy ,so we figured that maybe the cows in Ireland were much more colorful than cows in America. But it did wake up the notion in us that we need to be willing to spend the extra $1 here and there and experience some new flavors now and then. The best thing about the Irish butter was the recipe I found inside the carton. It sounds amazing and cannot wait to bake these scrumptious biscuits. Randy is going to start practicing drinking green beer and has already sang “My Sweet Irish Rose” to everyone who walks by our house! Guess its a good thing we are moving!

Dubliner Cheese Biscuits with Sage and Walnuts

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 teas baking powder
1/2 teas baking soda
1/2 teas salt
1/2 cup cold Kerrygold Pure Irish butter, cut into 1/2″ cubes
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese, divided
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 teas dried ground sage
1/4 teas freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Heat oven to 400 and lightly grease a baking sheet. In medium owl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add butter to dry ingredients and cut in with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbles.
Stir in 1/2 cup of the Dubliner Cheese and remaining ingredients. Stir until mixture forms a ball, adding a little more flour if dough is too sticky.

On a lightly floured board, press dough into a 1″ thick circle. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the cheese over the top and press lightly into surface.
Turn and repeat with remaining cheese. Cut into 12 pieces and place on prepared baking sheet.
Bake on center rack of oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes 12

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Living Will

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As I sat there this morning applying layer upon layer of makeup to cover a wrinkle here and there (actually there are more than that, but it sounds better to put it like that), it dawned on me that I need to write out a living will. Not the kind that tells which kid will one day be given the job to “pull the plug” but the kind of will that gives specific instructions as to the following should the need arise. It seems that I am always telling Randy some of the following:
If I have a stroke and cannot talk for awhile or am not able to get myself dressed this is what you need to remember. Then I panic and think, “oh my gosh what if he forgets everything I am telling him to do. Would he still allow friends and family to enter the room and as they gaze down at me, and see whiskers flowing freely out of my chin? Would they stare in wonder thinking “oh my gosh, so that’s what she looks like with no earrings or eyebrow pencil!” Oh the poor dear, if she only knew which jammies Randy was putting on her to receive company! Those are the things that are keeping me up at night as the “golden years” are so quickly engulfing me.

All that to say, that after staring at myself this morning in the makeup mirror with the sunlight casting such a bright light into the bathroom, I decided that women need a true living will. A will that will keep us looking like we are alive, even if we are laying there trying to blink the alphabet to our caregivers letting them know that we are wanting our morning Diet Dr Peppers and the 3:00 p.m. Hershey candy bars. So here we go, please feel free to download it and print it off for your precious hubby who might need just a bit of wisdom in how to really take care of us, should the need happen.

1. Leave a list of which earrings go with which outfits/jammies
2. Always, and this is a command, not a suggestion: keep a razor on the bedside to quickly run over our faces before ANYONE enters our rooms.
3. A list of your favorite candy and snacks to keep hidden in case the silly nurses think you should be snacking only healthy Ensure. I think we all know by now that Ensure only assures you that you will remain regular, no matter what.
4. A manicurist will be sent to our home/nursing home every two weeks, no matter if you are in surgery or unconscious. This is a most important requirement.
5. The children cannot talk about what they will do with the inherited money from the will or insurance in the room, as they gaze lovingly down at me, even though I might look like I cannot hear them. I will come back and haunt them.
6. A list of great books that I want read to me. A good murder mystery is always good to keep our minds active trying to figure out who did it.
7. Should my teeth be in a container, insert them before any company and apply #325 lipstick (Revlon) at least 6 times a day. List the makeup bases and cheek color so you won’t look like a clown should your husband decide that the orange stick is close enough to the color you normally wear.
8. My hair is to remain blond, (shampoo in Loreal #120) at all times! Even if I am 102. No gray, EVER!
9. Do not let my Mary Kay extra emollient night cream run out. It is what keeps my wrinkles just “every here and there” and last but not least….
10. Be sure that my toenails are always painted a pretty bold color. At least as I look down at my feet, I will have something bright to be staring back at me.

Beef · Daily Thoughts · Holiday Fare · Meats · Uncategorized

Spaghetti & Meatballs

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It was a shock to me to find that I had never posted my Spaghetti & meatball recipe. It is one of our most requested dinners from family and friends alike. When I lived in Corpus Christ for years, there was a neighbor, Cam, who was Italian from New York and she gave me so many of her recipes that to this day, her meatballs, pecan pie, sour cream pound cake, and so many other of our desserts are still most treasured.

1 large can of Hunts Traditional or Del Monte pasta sauce
1 can (the large can, I don’t have any here today but its about a 24 oz can I think) of small chopped diced tomatoes in sauce
1 small can oof tomato paste
2 cups water
2 packets of Thick and Zesty Italian Seasoning
1 teas Italian Seasoning
1 teas dried oregano
1 cube of frozen garlic (or one garlic clove or almost one teas of garlic powder)
1 lb 93/7 ground hamburger meat
1 lb of Italian flavored ground turkey
1 lb of ground pork
1/2 cup Progresso Italian flavored bread crumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teas garlic powder
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place all the meat in a large bowl.
Meatballs:
Add one (1) packet of the Italian Seasoning, the bread crumbs, the parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley and 1/2 teas garlic powder (I usually add a little more than that, but we love garlic)
Mix well with your hands and form meatballs about 2″ in size. Place on lightly greased jelly roll pan or pyrex dish and back in preheated 400 degree oven until meatballs are done. About 12-15 minutes, depending on your oven.
Remove meatballs from baking dish and set aside.
Sauce:
In a oven proof dutch oven, spray it with Pam or lightly with a little oil. Pour all of the tomato sauce, water, paste and diced tomatoes in the pan. Add the other packet of Italian seasoning, the garlic, the Italian seasoning and the oregano. Stir and place meatballs in tomato mixture.
Bake in preheated 300 oven, covered with heavy lid for 2-3 hours, or until thick and deep red in color. Sometimes, I have to add a little more water if it cooks to quickly.
Remove from oven and spoon oven cooked (according to directions on package) spaghetti. Sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese.
This serves about 8-10 people.

appetizers · Daily Thoughts · Holiday Fare · Vegetables

Stuffed Mushrooms

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These great little gems have now been placed in my “oh my gosh why haven’t I made these before? I only have maybe 20 years or so left to eat them” folder! Because we had some friends over last night for spaghetti & meatballs, I started thinking about the left over cornbread dressing from Thursday evening when I made stuffed zucchini. They were so good I had the leftovers today for lunch. They were easy, quick and will be a favorite for any fall/winter dinners that we have.

12 large white mushrooms, cleaned and stems taken out and chopped very fine (the stems, not the mushrooms)
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained very well. I just continued to squeeze the thawed spinach until I couldn’t get anymore moisture to squeeze out.
1 box of sage or herb Stovetop ( I can’t remember what the box said now) cornbread dressing, made according to directions.
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tables Worcestershire
2 tables red wine vinegar
1/2 teas onion powder
Black Pepper to your liking
Parmesan cheese for topping the mushrooms.

Prepare a baking dish by spraying with Pam, big enough for the mushrooms to fit.
Melt about 2 tablespoons of the unsalted butter in a medium frying pan. Add the finely chopped mushroom stems and sauce until they are cooked. About 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the onion powder,and pepper to your liking.
Add as much of the drained spinach as you like. (I used about 2/3 cup.) Stir until well mixed. Add about 1 cup of the corn bread dressing to this mixture. Stir until well combined.
Place about a tablespoon of this mixture into each hollow mushroom cap and then place mushroom in baking dish.
Melt the rest of the butter in a microwave safe container. When butter is melted, add the Worcestershire sauce and the red wine vinegar. Pour over the tops and around the mushrooms. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the tops of the mushrooms and bake in preheated 350 over for about 10-15 minutes or until stuffing is bubbly and mushrooms are tender. d
*Depending on the size of the mushrooms, you might not use all of the stuffing mixture. I had some left over and just spooned it around the mushrooms in the dish so I could eat it all….it’s that good.