Day 66 - Thank you, Paula Dean, for this Chocolate Mousse Pie recipe!!

Temperatures soared in  the 90's, humidity index over 100 degrees.  Understandably, my baby sister requested "something cold and chocolate" for her birthday.  Paula Dean's Frozen Chocolate Mousse Pie - the recipe for which she graciously published on page 125 of The Chocolate Issue, Food Network Magazine, March 2012, filled the bill.  (Incidentally, this magazine happens to be in my possession out of the unending kindness of Ashley, my lovely and amazing powerlifting ex- teammate and current friend. )  Delightfully tall, not unlike my sister herself, and fluffy (which my sister most certainly is not), this frozen treat is primarily whipped cream.  Help yourself to a great big piece for it is mostly air.  Tastes divine.  The only tweaking I did to Paula's pretty much perfect confection was to substitute Amaretto for the chocolate liqueur  - Amaretto being in my mother's liquor cabinet while Godiva was not. 

Day 65 - Aztec Devil's Food Cake with Boiled Icing and Strawberry Ice Cream

     What's more fun than cooking with a great friend?  I'm sure I can't imagine.  What delight when my friend - and not just any friend but Linda, the highly talented artist one, the one who taught herself to watercolor from a book over the winter, that friend - volunteered.  We did this Aztec Devil's Food Layer Cake, a deep chocolate with a custard base, as well as black pepper and rose water; page 143 in Urvater's  Chocolate Cake.  Then we frosted with Boiled Icing, page 312 from the same book.  This fluffy, alabaster frosting turned out perfectly on the first try thanks to Linda's patience, her abundant attention to detail, Michelle Atvater's extremely precise recipe and a digital thermometer.

We took this fabulous confection to lunch, accompanied by Strawberry Ice Cream (Epicurious.com recipe), which we also made together.

Day 64 - Heart Healthy Pancakes for Two

   There has to be some balance in life.  If a person is going to eat chocolate cake frequently - an activity not at all free of consequence - it's wise to have some meals on the lighter side.  Here is one.

1 cup rolled oats
1 light pinch baking powder
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
10 egg whites
2 pinches ground nutmeg
Pam spray - original
Hersey's Chocolate Syrup

Warm your oven to 115 degrees.
Spray a seasoned, cast iron skillet with Pam spray, and heat it up.  On my geriatric Whirlpool electric stove, that's medium high.
While the pan is heating, throw the oats in the blender chopping them to a rough flour consistency.  Quickly add all the other ingredients down to nutmeg, and blender-ize thoroughly.  (Is blender-ize  even a word?)
Test the skillet with a drop of water, which will sizzle and dance immediately if the skillet's ready.  YOU SHOULD NOT SEE THE PAM SPRAY SMOKING - skillet's too hot if you do.
 Pour your first pancake into the frying pan.  Give it a few seconds.  Stick your hand in an oven mitt, and roll the skillet around a little to further spread out the batter.  You want to maintain a little  space - I like at least an inch - between the pancake and the side of the pan.  Observe closely.  DO NOT go answering your email or cleaning your kitchen or catching up with online shopping.  Focus.  Look for bubbles forming and a change of texture across the top of your pancake.  These indicate it's ready to be flipped.
Use a sharp, metal spatula (Mine is Chef'n brand, and I love it.) to flip the cake.  Cook it for less than a minute on this second side, using your spatula to peek as needed.
Then pop the pancake onto a plate and into the oven cover it with foil while you cook the rest.  Cooking the remaining flapjacks is more ritualized than some religions, goes like this:

1.  Barely Pam spray the skillet. 
2.  Buzz the blender - so batter doesn't settle and separate.  
3. Pour.  
4. Watch and flip.

Do you find the profile of a famous suspense writer here?

While Chocolatista prefers a savory breakfast and will enjoy her pancakes plain or with a half pat of butter, others are known to enjoy these flapjacks with a spiral drizzle of Hersey's Chocolate Syrup, and that is the main reason they may appear in this blog.

Salted Blondies for Day 63!

Yum.  More on this later.