Best of the Month January 2015

A recap of my most popular posts from last month (January 2015)

Last year's most viewed of January:

Chocolate Pound Cake

A rich, chocolaty, dense cake in loaf form.  A great dessert, or have a slice with your morning coffee.  Now has 914 views and 84 +1s

Now this January's most viewed:

Cucumber Finger Sandwiches

Simple and delicious finger sandwiches made with cucumbers sandwiched between creamy cheese and soft bread. An easy afternoon snack or an elegant party food. 371 views and 55 +1s.

Patta Gobhi Mattar (Cabbage and Peas)

A spicy, vegetarian, Indian dish of cabbage, peas (I added some carrots to the mix), and warm spices. 286 views and 38 +1s.

15 Super Dips for Super Bowl 2015

A roundup of 15 dips, salsas, and spreads to make any Super Bowl party super.  I sure love dips.  224 views and 81 +1s.

Larb (Minced Meat Salad)

A Laotian/Thai minced meat salad made with ground pork (or chicken), fish sauce, lime juice, toasted ground rice, and fresh herbs/vegetables. 223 views and 74 +1s.

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

A creamy, meatless, soup with mushrooms and wild rice. It's warm comfort food for a cold night. 221 views and 49 +1s.

Check out last year's best of January:

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Pretty Pintastic, Best of the Weekend, See Ya in the Gumbo, Treasure Box, 2 cup, Lou Lou Girls, Teach Me, Whimsy

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Best of the Month January 2014

A look back at my most popular blog posts from January

February is such a short month.  It's only a couple days shorter than the rest but it seems to fly by.  So here I am with my best of the month for January.

I slightly changed my blogging habits this year I only post on Mondays and Fridays and Great Idea Thursdays on Wednesdays.  I'll see how this schedule works for my blog for a while and maybe change it if needed.  I am still gaining followers on G+ and try to link up to about 8 link parties through out the week.  I also am gaining followers on twitter and facebook.

Since I'm posting less content I decided to choose only 3 recipes for my best of the month.  All 3 received over 300 views.  I think that's a record for my blog in one month.

Chocolate Pound Cake

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A rich, chocolaty, dense cake in loaf form.  A great dessert, or have a slice with your morning coffee. This was accepted to DessertStalking.  It received 398 views and 82 +1s.  I guess there are plenty of chocolate lovers like me out there.

30 Super Recipes for Superbowl

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A compilation of all my dips. finger foods, and slow cooker recipes super for Super Bowl.  This post was fun to make I got to sift through all my archives looking for foods that would be great for the big day.  These recipes aren't just for Super Bowl they are great anytime.  This post received 308 views and 19 +1s.

Cauliflower & Chickpea Soup

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A creamy soup made with chickpeas, cauliflower, coconut milk and warm spices.  Cauliflower and chickpea soup is a delicious and vegan meal.  This received 306 views and 25 +1s.

Thanks to everyone who follows and views my blog.

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Random Recipe Roundup, Much Ado About Monday

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Chocolate Pound Cake Tiramisu

Chocolate pound cake soaked in rum and espresso layered with a whipped cream and mascarpone mixture.

I prefer my desserts to be chocolate.  The only exception is tiramisu.  Tiramisu is usually ladyfinger cookies that are soaked in rum and espresso layered between a whipped egg and mascarpone cream.  This decadent dessert tastes a little different everywhere but my favorite has a strong coffee flavor and plenty of rum.  This recipe combines my two favorite dessert flavors by using chocolate pound cake in place of lady fingers.  My nearest grocery stores didn't carry ladyfingers and I didn't want to waste time running all over town to find them so I looked for alternate ideas and came upon this Martha Stewart recipe.  This recipe was my baseline for my chocolate pound cake tiramisu.

Chocolate Pound Cake Tiramisu

Ingredients:
Slightly modified from Martha Stewart's Pound Cake Tiramisu

1 loaf Chocolate Pound Cake
3-4 oz rum
1/2 cup strong coffee, chilled
8 oz mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
8 oz whipping cream

Slice the pound cake into about 12 even slices (about 1 cm to 1/2 inch thick).  Layer half of the slices evenly and tightly along the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch pan.

Beat the mascarpone, sugar and cream together until it forms stiff peaks; set aside.

Mix the rum and coffee together in a cup and brush or sprinkle half of the liquid evenly on top of the cake slices (it should absorb readily).

Layer half of the cream mixture on top of the first layer of cake and top with the last half of the pound cake.

Again brush or sprinkle the last of the coffee mixture on the top layer of cake and top with the last of the cream mixture. You can sprinkle cocoa powder and/or shaved chocolate on top.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.  Makes 9 servings.  Enjoy.

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Chocolate Pound Cake

A rich, chocolaty, dense cake in loaf form.  A great dessert, or have a slice with your morning coffee.

I've mentioned my Hershey's cookbook before and let me tell you I love it.  It is my new go-to source for chocolate cravings.  When I was looking for a chocolate pound cake recipe I immediately pulled out the Hershey's book.  I was a little disappointed to find no plain chocolate pound cake recipe, the one in the book is a chocolate rum pecan pound cake.  This did not deter me I just left out the rum and pecans and added some chocolate chips.  The next problem I ran into was that the recipe called for a 12 cup fluted tube pan which I do not have, again the book came in handy because it has a conversion chart in the back.  From this chart, I found out that an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan, which I have, is equivalent to 6 cups (so I used 2 and split the batter in half).  I'm not a spokesperson for Hershey's, but I do love simple chocolaty desserts.

I love simple chocolaty desserts.  [Tweet this]

Chocolate Pound Cake

Ingredients:
Slightly modified from Hershey's Recipe Collection Chocolate Rum Pecan Pound Cake p104

2/3 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa powder, divided
1/4 cup boiling water
1 1/4 cups butter (2 1/2 sticks), softened
2 2/3 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup kefir, buttermilk, or sour milk
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325F and grease and flour 2, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pans.

In a small bowl stir together 1/3 cup of the cocoa and the boiling water until smooth; set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each egg. Add the cocoa mixture from above and mix well.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, remaining 1/3 cup of cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Add this, a little at a time, to the butter mixture alternating with the kefir.  Mix well.  Lastly, stir in chocolate chips and pour into prepared pans.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool for about an hour before slicing.

Makes about 24 slices (10-12 for each loaf).  Enjoy.



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