Guinness Cake with German Chocolate Frosting:<br /> <br /> Ingredients:<br /> <br /> 1 1/2 sticks butter<br /> 1/3ish cup unsweetened cocoa<br /> 1ish cup Guinness Extra Stout<br /> 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract<br /> 1 1/4 cups sugar<br /> 1 1/4ish cups flour<br /> 1 tsp baking soda<br /> 2 eggs<br /> <br /> <br /> 1 bar (4 oz I believe) German Sweet Chocolate (Baker's brand)<br /> <br /> 8 ounces cream cheese<br /> 1 cup butter<br /> 2 cups powdered sugar<br /> 2 teaspoons vanilla extract<br /> 1/2 cup guinness<br /> <br /> <br /> Melt butter, add in the cocoa (a little more is fine) and mix well. Then add in the guinness (room temp) (a little more is good). Add in vanilla.<br /> <br /> In large bowl, mix flour and sugar and baking soda. Add in wet mix, mix well. Add in eggs, mix well.<br /> <br /> Two cake pans need to be greased with butter. Then line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease that as well. dust the inside with the unsweetened cocoa powder. (like you do with flour.) fill with cake mix<br /> <br /> bake at 350F for 20-20 minutes. was 25 for me.<br /> <br /> Pull out, cool. pull out of pan, can leave parchment on for now.<br /> <br /> Frosting:<br /> <br /> Let cream cheese and butter come to room temp. <br /> <br /> Cut off ~1 oz of cream cheese, reserve in small bowl.<br /> <br /> In mixer, mix the other 7 oz cream cheese and butter together for at least 4 minutes, if not more. It should become super light and fluffy. Add in powdered sugar.<br /> <br /> Melt german chocolate. Let cool somewhat. add half of it slowly to the reserved 1 oz cream cheese, mix well. <br /> <br /> Add a half cup or more of the powdered sugar cream cheese mixture to german chocolate cream cheese mixture, mix well again. Add all this back to the rest of the cream cheese mixture. Mix together well, add vanilla. There's your frosting. Since it's a cream cheese buttercream, keep it cooler. Put in fridge if it's gonna be awhile.<br /> <br /> The remaining melted german chocolate gets about 1/2 c guinness added to it. Take a marinade brush and baste the tops of the cake with the guinness/german chocolate mixture. Can do this a few times, even poke holes to let it sink in. Let sit for half hour to have it get sticky and drier. then assemble layer cake and frost it with german chocolate buttercream. (I put the top layer upside down to have that nice flat top, but you don't need to do that.)

It's real fun & easy to get into cooking, Sherlock. Pick out some recipes found here and maybe change em up a bit, see what you like. Make something simple like a cake and add marshmallows in the batter or something, just little things like that are real fun to do and they don't take a lot of skill :)

Wow, y'all are such awesome chefs.

Guacamole: <br /> <br /> Advacados, at least one per person. They need to have a little give to them, not rock hard, not mush. Sorta like pears.<br /> <br /> Onion.<br /> Jalapenos or other hot peppers.<br /> Cilantro (optional)<br /> Tomatos.<br /> Salsa: Medium or hot, good quality stuff too. Nothing sweet and tomatoy.<br /> Sour Cream (Optional)<br /> <br /> Mash the avocados lightly, should have chunky bits in it still. Here you can add a little bit of sour cream, like, tops of 3 tablespoons for 6 avocados. But totally fine to leave it out, depends upon how much you like the flavor of avocados.<br /> <br /> Finely dice onions, cilantro and jalapenos. How much you dice is in relation to how much you like. :P<br /> <br /> Roughly chop tomatos.<br /> <br /> Add however much of those four as you like, it should look chunky. Add a good 4 Tbsps, if not more, of salsa. Taste a lot, once you hit a taste you like, stop.<br /> <br /> (Although heat wise, it'll get hotter after it sits for an hour or so, so you can end the spicy parts early if you have a tongue that's heat sensitive.)<br /> <br /> Eat on tortilla chips, tacos, fajitas, whatever you want. (Delicious on turkey sammiches with some swiss.)

I didn't make this recipe, but I think it would be against the law if I didn't share this one too.<br /> <br /> <b><u>Cajun-style buffalo wings</u></b><br /> <br /> <b>Ingredients:</b><br /> - 3lb(1.36kg) chicken wings, separated wings from drum-lets.<br /> - 1 bottle Kraft spicy BBQ sauce (and whatever other kinds of BBQ sauces you like)<br /> - 1 1/2 tsp red cayenne pepper<br /> - 1/4 tsp salt<br /> - 2 tsp black pepper<br /> - 1/2 tsp garlic flakes, minced (I couldn't find these so I didn't add them)<br /> - 1 tsp onion flakes, minced (I couldn't find these either)<br /> - 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce<br /> - 2 tbsp jalapeno sauce<br /> - 1 tbsp tabasco sauce<br /> - 1 tbsp cajun spice<br /> <br /> <b>Directions:</b><br /> - In a crock-pot, add chicken, BBQ sauce and all spices. Stir and heat on low for 4 hours.<br /> <br /> (These would also probably be really good with sweet potato fries...)<br /> <br /> <b><u>Sweet Potato Fries</u></b><br /> <br /> <b>Ingredients:</b><br /> - A couple good-sized sweet potatoes<br /> - Olive oil<br /> - Salt + pepper<br /> (Optional) Curry powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, etc<br /> <br /> <b>Directions:</b><br /> - Preheat oven to 450*F<br /> - Cut off the tips of the sweet potato, then cut in half.<br /> - Cut the halves into "boards" and then cut them into strips.<br /> - Put into a bowl and pour in enough olive oil to coat them. About 1tsp per potato<br /> - Season with seasonings and mix it up until they're nicely coated.<br /> - Put them on a wire rack on a baking sheet and put them in the oven<br /> - Cook for about 20 minutes or until nice and golden-brown.

Pfffff!! I forgot to post the pulled pork recipe. I made it a while ago and it was DELICIOUS and perfect.<br /> I mixed a couple of pulled pork recipes to make this one.<br /> I have to state though.. it is VERY important that you look for this piece of meat. Do not go for pork loins or any of that. Pork loin is a tender cut of meat and will fall apart and be a disaster, not what we're going for. We want a cut of meat that will hold together until the end of the cooking time and then be easily pulled apart with a fork. The muscle on a pig around the shoulders is a tough meat and contrary to it's name, pork butt does not come from the pig's butt.<br /> Different names for pork butt are "Boston butt", "spare rib roast", "spare rib joint", "blade shoulder", "shoulder butt", "Boston blade roast" depending on where you live. It looks like a nice big chunk of solid meat and may have 1/2 inch thick layer of fat on one side (cut this off).<br /> http://www.porkbeinspired.com/Resources/images/1088.jpg<br /> <br /> <b><u>Crock-Pot Pulled Pork</b></u><br /> <br /> <b>Ingredients:</b><br /> - 5lb(2.26kg) pork chuck/shoulder/butt roast<br /> - Salt + pepper<br /> - Cajun seasoning<br /> - Your favorite BBQ sauce. I used PC brand "Smokin Stampede" sauce and Kraft "Southwest Chipotle"<br /> (The Kraft bottles usually come in 455ml bottles. Empty the whole thing in there and add whatever other sauces you like.. as much as you want.)<br /> - 2 cups beef broth<br /> - 1tbsp liquid smoke flavoring<br /> <br /> <b>Directions:</b><br /> - If your pork came wrapped in stretchy webbing thread stuff, cut it off. If it came with a thick fat layer on one side, cut that off too.<br /> - Wash and season your pork with dry ingredients.<br /> - Put pork in crock-pot and pour in the 455ml bottle of sauce.<br /> - Pour in beef broth and then add some of the 2nd BBQ sauce.<br /> - Add smoke flavoring<br /> - Turn the crock-pot on low and cook for 6-8 hours<br /> <br /> When it's done, it should pretty much just fall apart with a fork when you try and pick it out. This makes it a bit difficult even getting it out of the crock-pot lol...<br /> - Put on a surface and "claw" at it with a fork, gently. Put all shreddings back in the crock-pot for 30 minutes, take it out, put the meat in a strainer (just so that the juices don't soak the buns or whatever you eat the pork on) and serve.

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Bought a Crock-Pot. Hoping to make some pulled-pork soon. I will post the recipe I choose to use when I get the pork.<br /> <br /> I did not make this recipe but I have followed it/made the hot chocolate so much that it's my favorite drink to make.<br /> <br /> <b><u>Homemade Hot Cocoa</b></u><br /> <br /> <b>Ingredients</b><br /> - 1/3 cup (42g/1.48oz) unsweetened cocoa powder<br /> - 3/4 cup (150g/5.3oz) white sugar<br /> - 1 pinch salt<br /> - 1/3 cup (78ml) boiling water<br /> - 3 1/2 (828ml) cups milk<br /> - 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract<br /> - half-and-half cream<br /> <br /> <b>Directions</b><br /> - Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. <br /> - Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. <br /> - Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! <br /> - Remove from heat and add vanilla.<br /> - Add the half-and-half to the cups of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> If you feel it's too sweet or too bitter, just add more or less sugar to the batch the next time you make it, no big deal.<br /> I have heard reviews of the amount of sugar making it too sweet, so I've been cutting it down to 1/2 cup sugar and it's perfect in my opinion.

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<b><u>Baked Apples</b></u><br /> <br /> <b>Ingredients</b><br /> - Granny Smith apples<br /> - Brown sugar<br /> - Butter<br /> - Cinnamon<br /> <br /> <b>Directions</b><br /> - Preheat oven to 350*F (175*C).<br /> - Scoop out the core from top of the apple, leaving a well. Do not cut all the way through.<br /> - Stuff each apple with 2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp butter. Place in a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon.<br /> - Bake in oven for 15 minutes, until sugar begins to caramelize and apples are tender.

<b><u>Home Fries</u></b><br /> <br /> <b>Ingredients</b><br /> - 1 1/2lbs (680g / 24oz) potatoes cut into 1/4 - 1/2 inch cubes<br /> - 4 tbsp butter or margarine<br /> - 1 onion, finely chopped<br /> - Salt & pepper<br /> - Seasonings of your choice [I use cajun seasoning and chili powder]<br /> <br /> <b>Directions</b><br /> - Put potatoes in a microwaveable bowl with 1tbsp of butter and cover with plastic wrap.<br /> - Microwave on high for 5-7 minutes, just enough to get the edges soft. Half-way through cooking, shake the bowl around to distribute butter.<br /> - Meanwhile, melt 1tbsp butter in a pan over medium heat, then add onion and cook for about 6 minutes. I sometimes like to add seasonings in at this time but you don't have to.<br /> - Move onion to a small bowl.<br /> - Melt remaining 2tbsp in pan over medium heat and then add potatoes and pack down.<br /> - Cook them without moving for 5-7 minutes until the bottom of them is golden brown.<br /> - Turn potatoes, pack down and cook for another 5-7 minutes until golden brown.<br /> - Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring potatoes every few minutes until crusty and golden on all sides, this usually takes around 9-12 minutes.<br /> - Stir in onion, seasonings and salt+pepper.

<b><u>Plate of Caffeinated Brownies</u></b><br /> <br /> <b>Ingredients:</b><br /> - 4 large eggs<br /> - 3/4 cup (150g/5.3oz) sugar<br /> - 3/4 cup (165g/5.7oz) brown sugar<br /> - 2 sticks (236mL) melted butter<br /> - 1 cup (128g/4.5oz) cocoa powder<br /> - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract<br /> - 1/2 cup (64g/2.25oz) flour<br /> - 1/2 teaspoon salt<br /> - 1/3 cup (50g/1.76oz) 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips (optional)<br /> - 2 teaspoons instant espresso (I used Nestle instant espresso)<br /> - Cinnamon, nutmeg and all-spice to taste <br /> <br /> <b>Directions:</b><br /> - Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.<br /> - Beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars and vanilla, beat for an additional few minutes.<br /> - Add flour, cocoa powder, salt, and spices to egg mixture, stir to combine.<br /> - In a sauce pan melt your butter. When the butter is almost all the way melted add in espresso and chocolate and stir. <br /> - Let the mixture cool slightly then slowly add to the egg and flour mixture, stirring to combine (slowly, you don't want to cook the eggs).<br /> - Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes.<br /> <br /> Don't give em to your dogs though! ;P

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