Made from a mix - sweet side

Orange and Cream Cupcakes
From Woman's Day | February 1, 2005

* Active Time: 40 minutes
* Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Recipe Ingredients

o 1 box (18.25 oz) yellow cake mix, prepared as box directs, substituting orange juice for the water
o 1 packet Bird’s Imported English Dessert Mix for Custard Style Pudding (see Note 1)
o 1 Tbsp grated orange peel
o 12 orange sections, each cut in half

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 24 regular-size (2½ -in. diam) muffin cups with paper or foil liners (see Note 2).

2. Spoon cake batter into lined cups, filling each ⅔ full. Bake as box directs. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Using tip of a paring knife, cut a small hole in top of each cupcake.

3. Prepare custard as box directs, stir in grated peel and cool until warm. Spoon into a sturdy ziptop food bag, cut tip off one corner and pipe into holes in cupcakes (you’ll have about ½ cup custard left.) Insert a half orange section into custard in each cupcake. Refrigerate until serving.

Note 1: Look for Bird’s Imported English Dessert Mix in the pudding-mix section of your supermarket.

Note 2: Since the recipe makes 24 cupcakes, if you have two 12-cup, regular-size muffin pans you can prepare them both as the recipe directs and bake them side by side on the middle rack of your oven.

Planning Tip: Can be prepared through Step 2 up to 2 days ahead. Complete up to 1 day ahead. Refrigerate covered.
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Mocha Molten Cakes
From Woman's Day | September 13, 2005

* Active Time: 15 minutes
* Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes

Recipe Ingredients

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 1/2 Tbsp heavy (whipping) cream
4 tsp instant coffee
1 box (17.6 oz) Chocolate Lover’s Double Fudge Brownies mix with Fudge Syrup
3 large eggs
1/3 cup oil

Garnish: fresh strawberries

Recipe Preparation

1. Have a rimmed baking sheet ready.

2. Microwave chocolate chips and cream in a small bowl, stirring at 30-second intervals, until melted and smooth. Refrigerate 15 minutes, or until firm as soft pudding.

3. Drop level measuring tablespoons on a foil-lined flat plate (you should have 6 disks). Freeze at least 30 minutes until firm.

4. Heat oven to 425ºF. Coat six 6-oz custard cups or ramekins with nonstick spray. Place on the baking sheet.

5. Dissolve coffee in 2 Tbsp warm water. Combine brownie mix (reserve fudge syrup packet), eggs, oil and coffee mixture in a large bowl. Stir, as brownie mix package directs, until well blended. Divide evenly among prepared cups (slightly rounded 1/3 cup in each).

6. Bake 8 minutes, or until sides are set but centers are still soft. Push a frozen chocolate disk into middle but not to bottom of each cake (batter doesn’t have to cover disk). Bake 8 minutes more until cakes have risen. Cool on pan on a wire rack 5 minutes.

7. Place syrup packet in a small bowl of hot water. Run a thin knife around cakes to loosen. Invert on serving plates. Snip off one end of syrup packet; drizzle syrup on cakes and plates as shown.
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Mexican Chocolate Cake Recipe
By Woman's Day Kitchen from Woman's Day | April 1, 2009

* Active Time: 20 minutes
* Total Time: 55 minutes

Recipe Ingredients

o 1 box (18¼ oz) devil’s food cake mix
o 2 tsp ground cinnamon
o 1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
o 1 Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
o 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
o ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
o 1 jar (7 or 7½ oz) marshmallow cream (such as Marshmallow Fluff or Creme)
o 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. You’ll need two 8 x 2-in. round cake pans coated with nonstick spray. Line bottoms with wax paper; coat paper with spray.

2. Prepare cake mix as package directs, adding the cinnamon; stir in chips. Evenly divide batter into prepared pans; bake as package directs.

3. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Invert; remove pans and wax paper. Cool completely.

4. Frosting: Beat butter in a large bowl with mixer on medium until creamy. On low speed, beat in cocoa. Beat in marshmallow cream, then confectioners’ sugar. Increase speed to high and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

5. Place a cake layer on a serving plate. Spread with ¾ cup frosting; top with remaining cake layer. Frost sides and top of cake.
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Tiramisu Cake
From Woman's Day | February 1, 2005

* Active Time: 40 minutes
* Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Recipe Ingredients

o 1 box (18.25 oz) devil’s food cake mix, prepared as box directs, substituting coffee for the water
o 1⁄2 cup plus 2 Tbsp freshly made espresso or strong coffee
o 2 Tbsp coffee-flavored liqueur (such as Kahlua, optional)
o 2 tubs (8 oz) mascarpone cheese
o 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
o 1⁄3 cup sugar
o Garnish: unsweetened cocoa powder and coffee beans

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 13 x 9-in. baking pan with foil, letting foil extend about 2 in. above pan at both ends. Coat foil with nonstick spray.

2. Spread cake batter in prepared pan. Bake as box directs. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Holding foil ends, lift from pan. Trim rounded top off cake with a long serrated knife until flat. Holding foil ends, lift cake and return cake to pan.

3. Mix 1⁄4 cup espresso and the liqueur in a small bowl; brush over top of cake.

4. Stir mascarpone and remaining espresso in a large bowl until blended. Beat cream and sugar in a medium bowl on high speed until soft peaks form when beaters are lifted. Fold into cheese mixture until smooth. Spread over cake, adding swirls with back of a spoon.

5. Lightly dust cake with cocoa stirred through a strainer. Cut in squares; cut squares diagonally in half. Garnish with coffee beans.

Planning Tip: Can be completed up to 1 day ahead. Refrigerate covered.
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Chocolate Chunk Cookies
From Woman's Day | April 1, 2007

* Active Time: 10 minutes
* Total Time: 35 minutes

Recipe Ingredients

o 1 box (18.25 oz) devil’s food cake mix
o 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
o 1/4 cup water
o 1 large egg
o 2 tsp vanilla extract
o 11/2 cups (9 oz) semisweet chocolate chunks
o Garnish: 1/4 cup white baking chips



Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350°F. You’ll need baking sheet(s) lined with nonstick foil.



2. Beat cake mix, butter, water, egg and vanilla in a medium bowl with mixer on medium speed 1 minute or until blended. Stir in chocolate chunks.



3. Drop heaping tablespoons dough about 3 in. apart on baking sheet(s).



4. Bake 12 to 14 minutes until puffed and set (cookies will sink when cool). Cool on pan 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.



5. Garnish: Put chips in a small ziptop bag; microwave on high, kneading bag every 10 seconds, until chips are melted. Snip a tip off a corner and drizzle chocolate on cookies. Let set.



Planning Tip: Cookies can be stored airtight with wax paper between layers at room temperature up to 3 days.
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Pumpkin Spice Cake
From Woman's Day | November 13, 2007

* Active Time: 20 minutes
* Total Time: 55 minutes

Recipe Ingredients

o Cake
o 1 box (18.25 oz) spice cake mix
o 1 cup pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie mix)
o 3 large eggs
o 1 cup water
o Frosting
o 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
o 1 jar (7 or 7 1/2 oz) marshmallow cream (such as Marshmallow Fluff or Creme)
o 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
o 1/2 tsp each maple extract and vanilla extract
o Garnish: marzipan pumpkins and vines (see Note)

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Coat two 8 x 2-in. round baking pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottoms with wax paper; spray paper.

2. Beat cake mix, pumpkin purée, eggs and water in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Divide batter between pans.

3. Bake 30 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Invert, remove pans, peel off paper and cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, make Frosting: Beat butter in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until creamy. Beat in marshmallow cream until blended, then beat in confectioners’ sugar and extracts. Increase speed to high and beat about 3 minutes or until fluffy.

5. Assemble: Cut off rounded tops of each cake layer to make flat, if desired. Place a cake layer, top side up, on a serving platter. Spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Place remaining cake layer, top side up, on top. Frost sides and top with remaining frosting. Store, loosely covered, in refrigerator up to 2 days. Let come to room temperature before serving. Garnish with marzipan pumpkins and vines.

Plan Ahead: You can make marzipan pumpkins and vines up to 5 days ahead, and bake and frost the cake up to 2 days ahead.
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Apple Cupcakes
By Woman's Day from Woman's Day | September 12, 2007

* Active Time: 10 minutes
* Total Time: 45 minutes

Recipe Ingredients

Cupcakes
o 1 box (18.25 oz) white cake mix
o 1 cup apple juice from frozen concentrate (save 1 1/2 Tbsp of the concentrate, undiluted, for icing)
o 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
o 1 Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored and coarsely grated
o 1 large egg
o 2 large egg whites
Icing
o 1 brick (8 oz) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened
o 1 1/2 Tbsp frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
o 1 box (16 oz) confectioner’s sugar

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. You'll need 24 muffin cups lined with paper or foil cups.

2. Cupcakes: Combine cupcake ingredients in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer on low speed until ingredients are moistened. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes, until batter is smooth.

3. Fill muffin cups with a scant 1/4 cup batter. Bake 22 minutes or until a pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack.

4. Icing: Beat cream cheese and apple juice concentrate with a mixer just until smooth. Beat in confectioners' sugar on low speed to mix; increase speed to medium and beat until well blended, about 1 minute more (icing will be soft).

5. Decorate: Divide frosting into thirds. Tint each to desired shade with brown, green and yellow food colors. Spread frosting on cupcakes. Store cupcakes in refrigerator.Apples: Tint pieces of marzipan brown, green and yellow. Form the green and yellow marzipan into apple shapes. Form brown into apple stems; press into tops of apples. For red blush on yellow apples, dilute red food color with water. Apply with a small, clean artist's brush; let dry.

Acorns: Tint pieces of marzipan light and dark brown. Form dark brown marzipan into acorn shapes, and light brown into caps and stems. Use the back of a small knife to make cross-hatching on caps.

Leaves: Work brown, green and yellow food colors into chunks of marzipan. Roll out between sheets of wax paper to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut leaf shapes with small leaf cookie cutters. Use back of a small knife to mark leaf veins.

Note: Gel and paste colors and small leaf cookie cutters are sold at crafts stores and are also available from Wilton at wilton.com
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German Brownie Torte
From Woman's Day | September 13, 2005

* Active Time: 30 minutes
* Total Time: 3 hours

Recipe Ingredients

o 11⁄2 cups (5 oz) sweetened flaked coconut
o 11⁄2 cups (6 oz) chopped pecans
o 1⁄2 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
o 1⁄2 stick (4 Tbsp) butter, melted
o 1 box (21 oz) Family-Style Chewy Fudge Brownies mix
o 2 cups heavy (whipping) cream
o 1⁄3 cup confectioners’ sugar

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Line a 15 x 10-in. rimmed baking sheet with heavy-duty foil, letting foil extend above pan on both ends. Coat foil with nonstick spray.

2. Mix coconut, pecans, brown sugar and butter in a bowl until well blended; set aside.

3. Prepare brownie mix as package directs for cake-like brownies. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Top with coconut mixture.

4. Bake 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

5. Lift foil by ends onto a cutting board. Cut brownie crosswise in thirds. Beat cream and confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl with mixer on medium-high speed until moist, stiff peaks form when beaters are lifted.

6. To assemble: Place 1 brownie layer, nut side up, on a serving platter. Spread top with 1 cup whipped cream. Repeat with remaining layers and cream, ending with cake. Frost sides with remaining cream. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

7. To serve: Cut with a serrated knife in 1-in. slices; cut each slice in half.

Planning Tip: Can be made through Step 6 up to 1 day ahead.
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Chocolate-Peanut Butter Fudge Bars
From Woman's Day | September 13, 2005

* Active Time: 25 minutes
* Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Recipe Ingredients

o 1 box (18 oz) Triple Chocolate Decadence Brownies mix
o 1⁄2 cup peanut butter chips
o 1⁄2 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
o Peanut Butter Filling
o 3⁄4 cup creamy peanut butter
o 1 cup marshmallow cream (such as Marshmallow Fluff or Creme)
o 3⁄4 stick (6 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
o 3⁄4 cup confectioners’ sugar
o Chocolate Glaze
o 6 oz bittersweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
o 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
o 1 Tbsp light corn syrup

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-in. square pan with foil, letting foil extend above pan on opposite sides. Coat foil with nonstick spray.

2. Prepare brownie mix as package directs for fudgy brownies. Stir in peanut butter chips and peanuts. Spread evenly in prepared pan.

3. Bake 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

4. Filling: Beat peanut butter, marshmallow cream and butter in a medium bowl with mixer on high speed until well blended. Reduce speed to low, add confectioners’ sugar and beat until blended. Spread evenly over brownie.

5. Glaze: Microwave chocolate and butter, stirring at 30-second intervals, until melted and smooth. Cool slightly; stir in corn syrup. Spread evenly over Filling. Refrigerate 1 hour until Filling is firm and Glaze sets.

6. Lift foil by ends onto a cutting board. Cut in 6 rows lengthwise and 6 crosswise.

Planning Tip: Refrigerate in a rigid container with wax paper between layers up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 3 months.

Chicken Egg Family - Easter and Picnic Time

Although these would be great for Easter they would be fabulous for a picnic too.

Chicken Egg Family
http://eyecandy.nanakaze.net/?p=459

Swiss Chicken

boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Bowl #1: flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg

Bowl #2: 3 large eggs, beaten

Bowl #3: breadcrumbs and grated swiss cheese (I use Panko breadcrumbs, better coating)

Dredge each chicken breast in order given....fry over a medium heat in butter (no shortening, oil, or other substitutes)

Add butter as necessary.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Chinese Chicken Salad

Serves 12
From http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/2001/parties/salad.html


I've tested every conceivable way to cook chicken for chicken salad, and this method wins hands-down. I oven-roast bone in chicken breasts for 35 to 40 minutes, then shred the meat to make the salad. It's moist and flavorful and really absorbs the sauce. This Chinese chicken salad has peanut butter in the dressing to give the flavor depth.


8 split chicken breasts (bone in, skin on)
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound asparagus, ends removed,
cut into thirds diagonally
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
4 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds, toasted (see Note)

For the Dressing
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup good apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted (see Note)
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in large, bite-sized pieces.

Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes, until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers into strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the shredded chicken, asparagus, and peppers in a large bowl.

Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.


Note:
To toast sesame seeds, place them in a dry saté pan and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until browned.

Try this guac

From http://www.theawl.com/2010/02/half-baked-guacamole-by-the-ceviche-method

First, do not make the guacamole at your own home and bring it to the party covered in cellophane. Your guacamole is not a toilet seat at a high-school party. It is to eat fresh. Make it there. Surely your host or hosts has or have a knife and a bowl and a place to cut and mash things in his or her or their kitchen. And salt, you don’t need to bring salt. Bring the other ingredients: one avocado for every two people who will be at the party, slightly more onions than that, more garlic, jalapeno peppers and cilantro than you think you’d want, and limes. Lots of those, too. Lots and lots of limes. The limes are key. You start with them.

Cut open your limes and squeeze the juice into the bowl. Make a nice deep pool in the bottom of the bowl. Or a bath. An acid bath. You will be soaking all your spicy, bad-breath making ingredients in an acid bath to soften their potentially overpowering flavors and save the party from collective halitosis.

Now, chop up the onions, garlic, jalapeno peppers and cilantro. (Oh, seriously, take the seeds out of the jalapeno peppers first.) Chop everything into very small pieces. Even smaller than regulation-size casino dice. Do you like the movie Goodfellas? If you do (meaning, if you’re not a terrible person), maybe you’d like to slice the garlic into pieces so thin they’d liquefy in a pan with just a little oil. It's a good system. Even though you won’t be using a pan or oil.

You're cooking with lime—just like how people who live in very hot places, like, say, Costa Rica, which you may have visited many years ago, are able to enjoy the “raw” fish in ceviche. Perhaps you were hesitant to try this foreign dish, this raw fish being served to you in a plastic cup, that which looked like it had been sitting unrefrigerated for some time in such a hot place. Until perhaps someone smarter than you explained that the acid in the lime juice (and maybe in the jalepeno peppers, too?) actually cooked the fish—denaturing the proteins, if you want to get scientific about it. Costa Rico is beautiful, isn't it?

As you finish chopping each ingredient, dump it into the bowl.

Besides Goodfellas, do you also like the television show "Top Chef"? Despite your frequent annoyance with regular judge Gail Simmons and the way she always says, “This could use a little more acid,” about every dish she tastes, even when she could just as easily say "lime" or "lemon" or "vinegar" or whatever? Like she’s some kind of scientist or Deadhead? Are you surprised to find yourself using the word so much right now?

Once all the flavorful ingredients are in their lime-juice bath, go away. Go back to the television and watch more commercials. Consider buying something. Come on, someone’s going to have to get us out of this recession! Or make a bet about something else. You don’t need to like or even understand football to have a good time. Drink beer. Fast. Chug. Faster. Chug it. Go! Go! Go!

After five or ten minutes and beers, go back into the kitchen and chop up all the avocados and put them into the bowl with the lime juice and the no-longer-raw onions, garlic, jalapenos peppers and cilantro. Mosh everything up with a fork. Salt to taste. You are done. You are popular. Explain the miraculous secret when anyone asks how you have made guacamole so flavorful and delicious and with such a pleasant aftertaste.

Roasted veggies

Roast brussel sprouts with onion, baby cut carrots, mushrooms, and bacon

Radishes
If you slice your radishes even and thin (this and shredding cabbage make a mandolin very worth it) and toss them in a little olive oil and sprinkle them with salt, you can lay them on a baking sheet in a 300-degree oven to bake and crisp for an hour or so. (This is a time to use parchment paper.)

In the oven the radishy bite melts and mellows into something almost sweet. They are unattractively shriveled, and some make it to the burned side of golden, but even those are delicious and just see if you can stop yourself eating them all plucked from the hot baking sheet while you stand in the kitchen in pajamas.