Sinfully Rich Chocolate Mousse

• 1 tsp Unflavored Gelatin
• 1 Tbs Cold Water
• 2 Tbs Boiling Water
• 1/2 cup White Sugar
• 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
• 1 cup Heavy Cream, chilled
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

In a small cup, sprinkle gelatin over cold water, let stand one minute to soften. Add boiling water, stir until gelatin is completely dissolved and mixture is clear. Cool slightly.

Stir together sugar and cocoa in medium bowl, add whipping cream and vanilla. Beat on medium speed with electric mixer, scraping bottom of bowl occassionally, until mixture is stiff. Pour in gelatin mixture, beat until well blended. Spoon into serving bowls.

Refrigerate about 30 minutes before serving. Garnish as desired. Cover, refrigerate leftovers.

Makes 4 half cup servings

Note to Self: This is really delicious and comes together very quickly. We usually double the recipe for our family...and I still don't share! :0)

West African Chicken Soup (Mafe)

adapted from a variety of recipes

• 1 c. Chicken Breast, diced
• 2/3 c. Onion, diced
• 1 1/2 tsp. Garlic, minced
• 2 Tbs. Sesame Oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. Curry Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Dried Red Pepper Flakes
• 3 c. Chicken Broth
• 1/4 c. Tomato Paste
• 1/2 c. Chunky Peanut Butter
• 1 qt. canned tomatoes
• 1 tsp. Thyme
• 2 Bay Leaves

In a large pot, saute the chicken, onion and garlic in the sesame oil until the onion is tender. Add the curry powder, salt, pepper and red flakes and saute 1 minute more. Add the chicken broth, tomato paste, stewed tomatoes, thyme and peanut butter stirring until well combined. Add bay leaves and heat until very hot but not boiling.

Serve over steamed rice.

Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes

by Alton Brown

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 whole chipotle pepper (from can in adobo sauce), chopped
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from can of peppers
1/2 teaspoon salt

Put cubed potatoes into steamer and place steamer into a large pot of simmering water that is no closer than 2 inches from the bottom of basket. Allow to steam for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. 

Add butter to potatoes and mash with potato masher. Add peppers, sauce, and salt and continue mashing to combine. Serve immediately.

Coconut Macaroon Pie

By Betty Shimabukuro of the Honolulu Star Bulletin

This is a favorite pie of ours that we would buy get all the time in Hawaii. Jason even won the Pie contest for the County Fair with this pie. It is amazing.


1 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons Cornstarch
2 cups water
1/8 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
2 cups macaroon coconut (see note)
2 tablespoons butter
Prepared double crust for an 8-inch pie

Combine sugar and cornstarch. Add water and almond extract. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in coconut. Cool to room temperature.

Pour filling into pie crust and dab butter around filling. Cover with top crust and seal. Make slits in the top crust or a single hole in the center to vent steam.

Bake at 350 degrees about 40 minutes, or until crust is golden or filling can be seen bubbling through the center hole.

Serve warm with Vanilla Ice Cream (This is a must!)

Note: Macaroon coconut is often found in health stores or baking stores. If you can't find it, then put shredded coconut in a food processor or blender and grind it for a minute or so until it resembles very coarse sand (not powder).

Gourmet Eggnog

1/2 vanilla bean (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
3 eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups cream
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (if desired)
Ground nutmeg to taste

If using vanilla bean, split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds, set aside.

In a double boiler (or a bowl over simmering water), whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla bean seeds or extract. Keep whisking until thick and the mixture has been heated to 140 degrees. Hold it at this temperature for 2-3 minutes, and allow the mixture to thicken. Stir this mixture into the milk. Stir in the cinnamon.

Refrigerate this for 2 hours or until cold. Whip the cream and add it to the egg mixture. Sprinkle the top with the nutmeg before serving.

Rosemary Lemonade

3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water

Mix rosemary, sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Strain into a bowl and set aside to cool.

Add this mixture to the Old Fashioned Lemonade recipe, or to two quarts of your favorite fresh lemonade recipe. This also tastes good with the frozen lemonade concentrate found in the freezer section of your local grocery store. Serve over ice, garnished with sprigs of fresh rosemary. Makes 2 quarts.

Old Fashioned Lemonade

Yields a generous 1 1/2 quarts, serving 6 to 8


10-12 medium lemons, scrubbed well, halved pole to pole, all halves sliced thin
1 1/4 cups sugar
Pinch of salt (optional)
5 cups cold water

Mash lemons and sugar (and salt, if using) in large, deep bowl or saucepan with potato masher or wooden spoon until lemon slices give up their juice, sugar is dissolved, and juice is thickened to syrup consistency, about 4 minutes. Pour half the lemon slices and syrup through large sieve over bowl or saucepan; press on solids with masher or back of wooden spoon to release as much liquid as possible. Discard solids; transfer liquid to serving pitcher. Repeat process with remaining lemon slices. Stir in water until blended. Chill well and stir to blend before serving, over ice if desired.

If you like, scrape the pulp from a couple of mashed lemon slices into the pitcher to make a more pulpy lemonade.

Wedding Cake Frosting

Disclaimer: Do not look too closely at this cake, not my best work. It was late, I was tired and Brooklynn is 6 and I knew she wouldn't notice or care.

Wedding Cake Frosting:

• 2lbs Powdered Sugar, sifted*
• 2 C Shortening
• 8oz Cool Whip **
• 1tsp Vanilla***
• Dash of Salt

Mix everything together in a mixer until smooth and creamy. NO LUMPS!

Note to Self:
*It is important to sift the powdered sugar so that it doesn't have any lumps that can plug up your decorating tips.

**I have noticed that the generic brands of whipped topping tend to have a yellow-ish color. If you want your frosting to be bright white, make sure you use Cool Whip.

***To maintain a bright white you need to buy "Clear Vanilla" as regular vanilla will also tint your frosting. If you are planning on dying your icing different colors it doesn't matter. You can find the clear vanilla in the cake decorating section. I haven't seen it in the baking aisle.

Today, fondant is all the rage. I think it is fabulous and makes really awesome cakes but I never learned how to make or use it, and quite frankly it scares me. I don't know why, but I am just afraid I can't do it. So we'll leave the fondant to the professionals. On those rare occasions that I actually make a cake, I use this recipe. I also happen to think that it tastes pretty good.

I got this recipe while in YW's a loooong time ago when we took the Wilton Cake Decorating course for our Laurel project. It was called wedding cake frosting but we used it every week in the class. I have used it for years and love it. It is thicker than canned frosting but not as stiff as royal icing. I never liked the consistency of royal icing. If you need to make flowers, it isn't the best, but it will work. Work in a cool room, keep the frosting chilled and let the flowers dry out completely...however, they will be more fragile. Since I hate making flowers this never was a problem for me really.

White Chocolate Puffs

Thanks to my friend Jess for this amazing picture ;0)

• 1 bag of butter flavored corn puffs
• 1-2 bags of white chocolate chips
• colored sugar crystals

This is just about the easiest recipe on the planet...I kid you not. And, it's pretty darn yummy if I do say so myself. And, I do. The corn puffs are found in the chip aisle and come in two different sizes sometimes. If you use the smaller bag (like the size of a regular bag of chips) you will only need one bag of white chocolate chips. If you use the larger bag, you will need two bags of white chocolate chips.

Directions: Melt the chips in a plastic bowl in the microwave for about a minute and a half stirring every 30 seconds. Drizzle over the corn puffs and then toss until completely coated. Sprinkle with colored sugar crystals for a festive touch. Let them sit for a while to set, otherwise they are a little gooey.

These are super yummy and very addictive so proceed with caution!!

In case you aren't familiar with corn puffs...here ya go. We have several brands around here but here is the one I have purchased:

This one says it's sold at Wal-mart but I haven't tried it. I'm sure they are all the same though.

Guava Cake

from the Polynesian Cultural Center

• 1 pkg. strawberry cake mix (Pillsbury)
• 1 1/3 cup guava juice
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 1 8-oz pkg. of cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 small pkg. Cool Whip, thawed

• 2 cups guava juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch

Bake the cake according to the package directions, substituting 1 1/3 cup of guava juice for the water. **Bake for 28 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE!** Let cake cool completely before assembling.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with hand mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla and beat in. Slowly fold in the Cool whip and refrigerate until ready to use.

In a medium saucepan, bring the 2 cups of guava juice and sugar to a boil. Make a paste out of the cornstarch and a small amount of water (I use more guava juice). Remove guava juice from heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Return to heat and bring back to a boil and boil for one minute. Cool in refrigerator.

Assembly - Thickly ice the cake with the cream cheese mixture. Pour the guava gel over the top and gently smooth over the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

NOTE TO SELF: The guava juice will vary in actual juice content. Look for the highest juice content. It is usually sold in the juice aisle in a cardboard box (approx. 32oz) and sometimes you can find it in the Mexican aisle with the juices. There are several brands, Boingo, Jumex, Hero (sold in a glass bottle) and others. The one I have found that has the highest fruit nectar is Brazil Gourmet but is a little pricier than the others. However, it has the best taste and color and isn't made with other fruit juices. Hero is a close second. The other brands also don't give you that "pink" color and you will want to add a couple drops of red food coloring. It is also important NOT to overbake the cake. It needs to be very moist. You can also use a yellow cake but again, you will need to add food coloring. We have found the Pillsbury strawberry cake mix to have the best density and flavor.

Skillet Summer Vegetable Lasagna

from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, adapted slightly from America's Test Kitchen

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped fine
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes
• Salt and pepper
• 10 curly-edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch lengths
• 1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 small yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1/4 cup shredded fresh basil
• 1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Drain tomatoes into a 2-cup liquid measure. Add water to tomato liquid to make 2 cups. Add tomato/water mixture and 1 teaspoon salt to skillet.
Scatter noodles into the skillet, layer tomatoes over the noodles and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, covered, stirring occasionally (so the noodles won’t stick!) for about 10 minutes.
Stir in zucchini and squash, cook, stirring now and then, until noodles and squash are tender, about 8 minutes. Add basil and half of the ricotta cheese and half of the Parmesan cheese to the noodles, stirring until the sauce is creamy. Dollop remaining ricotta cheese over the noodles, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
Notes to Self: This is the perfect recipe for a nice summer meal. Almost everything I used was something I grew or canned. I haven't had lasagna noodles on hand whenever we've made this so I used bow tie pasta, about 2/3 of a bag. I also haven't had ricotta either and just used cream cheese which made it very creamy and rich...not a bad thing in my book, but would use about 2/3 a block of cream cheese, half to mix in and half to put on top. I am also a HUGE fan of fresh basil but if you don't have it, dry would probably work to.

BBQ Chicken Salad with Creamy BBQ Cilantro Lime Dressing

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe

**Note: this recipe calls for already cooked chicken so plan ahead! **

• 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 2 cups BBQ sauce
• ½ head iceberg lettuce, cored and chopped
• 2 romaine hearts, chopped
• 1/2 red onion diced
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cubed small or shredded
• 4 ounces Monterey jack cheese, cubed small or shredded

Combine the cooked chicken and BBQ sauce in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a large bowl, toss together the iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, red onion, cilantro, corn, black beans and cheese. Toss the mixed salad with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the dressing, if desired. Otherwise, you can serve the dressing on the side. Place salad on plates and top with the prepared BBQ chicken and additional dressing.

Creamy BBQ Cilantro Lime Dressing

• 1 cup mayonnaise, light or regular
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup BBQ sauce

Combine all the ingredients together and whisk (or shake, if using a jar) vigorously to combine. You could also run this through a blender to make it even more smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes to Self: KEEPER!!! This salad was so delicious and it made a ton. I seriously ate it for dinner last night, had it as a late night snack, had it for lunch today and dinner again!! Chris and Lauren LOVED it too, Brooklynn picked out what she liked and the other two weren't home. Stinks to be them. I didn't change a thing....well, I did throw in the juice of one whole, small lime, but other than that I followed her recipe. I also used Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipotle BBQ sauce because I have a thing for Chipotle. TRY IT!! I am rarely disappointed from anything I try from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.