Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cupcakes

Brad loves anything chocolaty but he prefers it to be ooey gooey. So, in search for a new chocolate recipe for his 38th birthday I did a search on the web for some ooey gooey chocolate recipes. This is one of the recipes I found. I made it and it turned out very ooey gooey and yummy. They are the best if you warm them before eating and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

1/4 cup butter melted

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 tablespoon water

chopped Pecans

1 cup cake flour, sifted

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter softened

3/4 cup white sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup milk

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 tablespoons butter

Directions: 1 Set oven to 350 degrees.

2 Grease very well, 12 muffin cups.

3 In a small saucepan, combine the 1/4 cup melted butter, brown sugar and 1 Tbsp water; simmer for 1 minute.

4 Place chopped pecans in the bottom of each of prepared muffin cups.

5 Evenly divide, and pour the cooked mixture over the walnuts in the muffin cups.

6 In a bowl, sift together flour, baking cocoa, baking soda and salt; set aside.

7 Cream 1/4 cup butter.

8 Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, and continue creaming until light and fluffy.

9 Beat in egg and vanilla.

10 Blend in dry ingredients alternately with the 1/2 cup milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

11 Fill the muffin cups 1/2 full with the batter.

12 Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cupcakes test done.

13 Remove from the muffin tins, let cool INVERTED on wire racks.

14 In a small saucepan, combine the sweetened condensed milk and the chocolate; cook over very low heat until smooth and thickened, stirring constantly (about 10 minutes).

15 Stir in 2 Tbsp butter; keep warm.

16 Spread on the sides of cup-cakes or cover the whole cupcake like I did! :)

Chile Rellano Breakfast Casserole

Last weekend Robin Souter made this delicious casserole for Mary's Wedding Shower Brunch. It was so YUMMY that I decided to make it this evening for supper. It is so easy, doesn't take long to bake and is so fluffy. It was a big hit with my family. Winston couldn't get enough! :)

10 eggs

1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. small curd cottage cheese

1/2 c. melted butter

1 lb. Jack cheese (grated) - I used mozerella

2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chilies

Beat eggs. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Beat until smooth. Add cottage cheese and grated cheese along with the melted butter and green chilies. Bake in 9x13 baking dish at 350 for about 35 minutes.

Shrimp Boil

On Sunday (Feb. 27th) my family (Koehn's) had a Shrimp Boil to celebrate my Dad's radiation treatments being over. It was the first time we had done a shrimp boil with our family. Vi Penner gave me this recipe that was passed down to her from Pat Regier. It turned out so yummy!

1/2 cup Old Bay Seasoning

2 T. salt

4 Quarts Water

8 Medium Red Potatoes (I used a bag of the small red potatoes you can get at wal-mart)

2 Lg. sweet onions (I used a bag of small pearl onions you can get at wal-mart)

2 pounds smoked sausage (cut in 2 inch links)

8 whole ears of corn on the cob (I used a bag of mini frozen corn cobs you can get at wal-mart)

4 pounds large shrimp

In 8 qt. pot bring Old Bay, salt and water to a boil. Add potatoes and onions; cook over high heat for 8 minutes. Add smoke sausage to potatoes & onions; continue to cook on high for 8 minutes. Add corn to pot; continue to boil for 4 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for 4 minutes.

Makes 8 large servings.