I'm so excited to try this recipe!

So as a Pampered Chef Consultant we get lots of fun recipes to try, this one is one, I hope to be a favorite. All you have to do is mix a cake mix with chocolate and strawberry jelly and put it in the microwave for 12 minutes and it's done! !f you love new easy recipes you will have to cheek out my blog often, I hope to post recipes often! I am excited for this recipe because I have been wanting a fluted stoneware pan forever and I finally got it ordered! What can I say, I am addicted to chocolate!

Chocolate Velvet Cake with Strawberries

Strawberry jam and chocolate morsels are blended into devil’s food cake batter for
extremely moist and tender results in the microwave oven.
Cake

1 cup milk chocolate morsels
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 pkg (18.25 oz) devil’s food cake mix
3 eggs
¾ cup water
1 jar (12 oz) seedless strawberry jam,
divided

Glaze and Garnish
⅓ cup melted vanilla ice cream
1 cup milk chocolate morsels
1 qt. fresh strawberries, divided
Additional ice cream (optional)

Brush Stoneware Fluted Pan with vegetable oil using Chef’s Silicone Basting Brush. For cake, combine chocolate morsels and oil in Small Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 30-60 seconds or until melted and smooth, whisking after 30 seconds. In Stainless (4-qt.) Mixing Bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, water, ½ cup of the jam and chocolate mixture; whisk until well blended. Pour batter into pan.

Microwave cake on HIGH 9-12 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Remove cake from microwave. Wipe rim of pan clean using paper towel, if necessary. Center Simple Additions® Large Round Platter over pan and carefully invert. Without removing pan, let stand 10 minutes. Remove pan.

For glaze, combine ice cream and chocolate morsels in Small Micro-Cooker®. Microwave on HIGH 20-60 seconds, stirring after each 20-second interval, until melted and smooth.
To finish cake, place remaining jam into Prep Bowl and microwave on HIGH 30 seconds or until melted; brush evenly over cake. Holding by stems, dip 16 of the strawberries into glaze; arrange around bottom edge of cake. Drizzle top of cake with remaining glaze. Slice remaining strawberries using Egg Slicer Plus®; place into center well of cake. Serve
with additional ice cream, if desired.

Yield: 16 servings
Nutrients per serving: Calories 360, Total Fat 14 g, Saturated Fat 6 g, Cholesterol 45 mg, Carbohydrate 57 g, Protein 3 g,
Sodium 290 mg, Fiber less than 1 g

Cook’s Tips: For best results, bake this cake in a 1000-watt microwave with a built-in turntable.
This cake can be baked in a conventional oven, if desired. Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes. Proceed as recipe directs.
©The Pampered Chef, Ltd., 2008

Gary Playing the Sax

The story of Us through pictures

Happy Valentines Day

So this is my first real entry I am excited and I promise that I wont have a ton of those slide shows on here but I had to start some where. Is it me or has Valentines day arrived so slow this year? I am not saying that my life is dragging on and on, it the opposite but when we get snow storm after snow storm it is so nice to have a day dedicated to love, and what better time to do it then in the middle of old yukky winter? Maybe after Valentines day winter will seem shorter and warmer weather will start coming.

Gary and I do have plans for Valentines day I am excited! We are going to a Bed and Breakfast in Keokuk IA. it's right off of the Mississippi river where you are able to watch Bald Eagles, I am excited to try and photograph these awesome subjects because it's a challenge that I hope to conquer!

I have decided that Valentines day should be the National Cup Cake day, what better way to let people know you love or care for them with a yummy cup cake? So maybe I am weird, I get that a lot, but for the last 3 years I have made at least 4 dozen cup cakes for others, usually for work and for gar's class but it's still really fun to do. It will be one of our family tradition, even if I am not working I will still make them and then deliver them to families that will enjoy them. So if you need a easy and fun Valentine's day idea do cup cakes.


Happy Valentines Day, stay warm do something fun with or for your Sweat Heart and eat some chocolate or have some cup cakes!