Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into pans.
3. Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting.

10 to 12 servings.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2/3 cups cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa.
2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add more milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups.

Becky's Notes
This is the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box. "Discovered" by Jaynie here in Okpo so it is locally known as "Jaynie's Chocolate Cake." Craig made this for my 31st birthday and I made it for Sarah's first birthday party.

Billy's Vanilla Cupcakes
Makes about 30 cupcakes
1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.

2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Jane's Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup REAL butter
1/2 cup crisco

pinch salt
tsp vanilla

4 cups sifted PURE CANE powdered sugar(Domino)

4 tablespoons of milk (that is to frost the cake, use less milk if you
are decorating)

Becky's Notes:
I made these cupcakes for Anna's third birthday and Sarah's first and they are delicious! Anna has requested them again for her last-day of Playschool celebration and I might add a little lemon to the frosting, too. The cupcakes were featured on Martha Stewart and the baker specifically stated 2 Tbsp baking powder and I haven't had any trouble with that amount.

Preheat oven to 350

Whisk together thoroughly:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Beat on medium speed until well blended:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Stir the flour mixture into butter mixture until well blended and smooth. Stir in:

3 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

Drop the dough about 3 inches apart, lightly press cookies down to form 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until the cookies are lightly browned all over and almost firm when lightly pressed in the center of the top, 6-9 minutes; rotate sheet halfway through for even browning. Remove the sheet ot a rack and let stand until the cookies firm slightly, about 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack to cool.

Becky's Notes: I bake for 11 minutes in Doha on airbake pan; 10 minutes in Okpo on airbake pan.
Recipe from Joy of Cooking

This simple recipe can be flavored any way you like, or just make it plain.

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg
2 Tbsp. water
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl combine egg, water, bread crumbs, onion, salt and pepper and combine. Add ground beef, broken into chunks, and mush with your hands to combine. Form into meatballs about 1" in diameter and place on a broiler pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until meatballs are no longer pink in center. Cool and freeze, or use in your favorite meatball recipe.

Becky's Notes:
Anita made these in October 2006 when we were visiting Colorado and Anna ate a ton of them. So, when we moved to Qatar in December 2006 (where we could not purchase pork), I asked Anita for the recipe. These are the only meatballs I make. I add some nutmeg to them and they are delicious!

Serves 12
Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus an hour to set
Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Cake:
4 medium eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
4 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
1 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
4 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Separate the eggs. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until fluffy. Add sugar gradually. Mix in eg yolks one a ta time. Alternate adding milk, flour, and baking powder. Add vanilla and mix well.

2. Pour mixture into a greased 9" square cake pan, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Make holes in top of cake with a fork; let cool in pan.

3. Unmold cake onto a platter. Combine glaze ingredients in a large bowl. Pour over the cooled cake, and let sit for about an hour.

4. Using an electric mixer, whip cream with sugar and vanilla at high speed until soft peaks form. Spread over top and sides of cake.

Becky's Notes:
I made this for Anna's second birthday in Doha, Qatar.

I used 350 ml of condensed milk and 410 grams of evaporate milk; also used a 28 cm round pan with baking spray. Craig loved it, I liked it, and Anna didn't eat all of hers.

Recipe from Child Magazine November 2006

And so it begins, although there is still a lot of the convenience food to be found here as at home, I know I'll be doing more authentic cooking here now than I was before. It stinks we don't have our pots & pans yet or any real cookware because the company-provided stuff stinks!

The result? Fabulous tender meat that fell apart on contact! It will taste much better with wine instead of grape vinegar but next time (if we don't have our wine permit yet) we will try it with French onion soup for the liquid. Also, I did have way too much liquid and didn't feel like making gravy for the potatoes.

Here is my first attempt at trying a new recipe abroad:
Recipe from Simply Recipes but I'll post my adaptation.

about 1lb of "New Zealand Beef Stew"
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper, italian seasoning to taste
1 large yellow onion,
sliced
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1-1/2 cups of grape vinegar I added more liquid before reading the comments in the original recipe (we don't have our wine permit yet, but maybe should have tried French onion soup or beef broth?)
Several baby carrots

1 Use a thick-bottomed covered pot, such as a dutch oven, just large enough to hold roast and vegetables. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil on medium high heat (hot enough to sear the meat). Sprinkle and rub salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning all over the meat. Brown roast in pot, all over, several minutes on each side. Don't move the roast while a side is browning, or it won't brown well.

2 When roast is browned, lift up the meat and add garlic and chopped onion to the bottom of the pan. Let the roast sit on top of the onions. Add 1/2 cup of red wine. Cover. Bring to simmer and the lowest heat possible to maintain a low simmer (we cook our roast on the warm setting of our range)*.

3 Cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until meat is tender. (If you are using a pressure cooker, cut the time by half). Near the end of the cooking, add carrots, cook until tender, about an additional 10 minutes.

After cooking 3 1/2 hours, before adding the carrots. Note how much liquid has been released by the meat. This comes from slow cooking at a very low temperature. If your pot roast is too dry, make sure the pan you are using has a tight fitting lid and that you are cooking at the lowest possible heat to maintain the low simmering.

Serves 4. Suggest serving with green beans and potatoes

*If you use a gas range, you may find difficulty getting the flame low enough. A tip I recently read in Cook's Illustrated suggests tightly rolling up some aluminum foil, shaping it into a skinny donut, and putting that on top of the burner to create a little more distance between the range and the pan. If your pot roast is turning out too dry, you might want to try this tip.

2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 generous cup of pumpkin puree
1 cup milk
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. ea. cinnamon, cloves and ground ginger
1 tbs. cornstarch (mix with spices)

Beat eggs well. Add sugar, pumpkin and milk. Add cornstarch/spice mixture. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake about 45 min more until knife comes out clean when inserted into pie filling.
Makes one 8" pie. I make 1.5 recipes for a 9" or 10" pie. This is Carolyn Martin's recipe and our favorite!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
1/4 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Sprinkle desired number of choc.chips on each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Pulse all ingredients in food processor until it holds together. Roll out fairly thin and cut pretzel shapes. Originally they made long rolls and shaped pretzels that way, but Opa made a pretzel shaped cutter to make the job easier. Bake on parchment at 350 until light gold. Icing recipe is as follows:

200 grams powdered sugar
1 Tsp vanilla extract
a little hot water to thin the glaze

Glaze cookies and let them dry.

1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate (Ghiradelli is great)
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup Hazelnut Liqueur (Frangelico)
1/4 cup plus two tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 cup roasted, finely chopped hazelnuts and/or 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Chop the chocolate and butter into small pieces and place into a bowl.

Heat liqueur, cream and corn syrup until cream comes to a boil.
Immediately pour over the chopped chocolate and butter. Stir until smooth.
Pour into a shallow pan. Chill until chocolate becomes firm 1/2 to 1 hour.
Portion truffles with small ice cream scoop. Roll into balls with your hands.
Refrigerate until set. Roll truffles in cocoa powder or hazelnuts.
I like to do half of the truffles in cocoa and half of them in the nuts.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread 21/2 cups unblanched almonds on a rimmed baking sheet; toast until fragrant, about ten minutes. In a large bowl combine 1/4 cup sugar, 1/12 tsp coarse salt, and 1 tsp cayenne pepper.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook 1 tablespoon each honey and water with 1 tsp olive oil, stirring until combined, one minute. Add almonds and toss to coat.
.
3. Transfer nuts to sugar mixture (do not scrape extra glaze into bowl) toss to coat and cool in a single layer.

Put pudding mix and spices into a bowl. Add pumkin and milk. Whip with whisk or mixer and then fold in cool whip. Pour into four small bowls and chill. May serve with more cool whip.

Easy, Low cal and delicious.

Combine all ingredients in medium bowl. Set aside at room temperature for up to several hours.
(sauce may be refrigerated in airtight container for 3 days)

Sixteen (1/2" ) slices fine-grained white bread
1/4 cup Dijon style mustard (optional)
3/4 pound sliced or grated cheese (Gruyere, Swiss or Cheddar)
3/4 pound sliced ham
1 med. to small onion, thinly sliced
6 large eggs
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 tsp. Herbs de Provence (or mixed dried herbs of your choice)
1 tsp. salt

Topping
1 1/2 cups Panko (Japanese style coarse bread crumbs), or homemade dried breadcrumbs
3 TBS. butter, melted
1/4 cup grated cheese, parmesan, swiss, or cheddar