Import 2

Hot chocolate

The Kiddo loves him some Polar Express. He loves the hot chocolate song and wanted to make some to enjoy while we watched the movie. And by "enjoy" I mean "direct me to drink on his behalf" because he has very strict rules about drinking anything other than milk and water. Alrighty then.

This is actually so easy that it barely deserves to be called a recipe. Don't you love that kind of recipe? Stir together in a mug:

1. 3 teaspoons cocoa powder
2. 3 teaspoons sugar
3. Pinch of salt

Now add either boiling water or steaming hot milk and stir. Add marshmallows at will. Feel free to entertain your taste buds by adding peppermint syrups, Bailey's, cinnamon, etc. That's all. Isn't that easy? Don't you want to quit buying those little packets? Stay warm! :)

Strawberry layer cake

Yesterday was the first birthday of One Particular Kitchen! Yay! So I did what anyone would do: I made a cake. My mother made this cake for my birthday a few times and it was always spectacular and pink and fluffy. I was am the kind of little girl who thinks there can never be too much pink, and this cake was just the prettiest, most precious thing my birthday-girl self could dream up while I was running around in Gunne Sax dresses (which were, of course, pink). Did I mention I make this in my pink Kitchenaid mixer?

I have a copy of this recipe, officially called Strawberry Layer Dessert, that came out of my mother's cookbook, and I'm afraid I'm not sure which one it was; likely early versions of the Better Homes and Gardens or Betty Crocker picture books, but it's nowhere to be seen in either one of those books I have on my shelf.

This one involves some downtime between steps, so be sure to allow yourself time to get everything done.

Strawberry layer cake

Ingredients

• Two 10-ounce packages frozen sliced strawberries, thawed
• Two 3-ounce packages strawberry-flavored gelatin
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks
• One 10-inch angel food cake

Instructions

1. Drain strawberries, reserving 1 cup syrup (see note below)
2. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water, add reserved strawberry syrup, then chill mixture till partially set
3. Beat mixture using whisk attachment of stand mixer until light and fluffy -- this took quite a few minutes for me till it was lighter pink and fluffed up nicely
4. Fold in whipped cream and chill another 30 minutes or so till the mix is thickened up again
5. Transfer 1 1/2 cups of mixture to a separate bowl and fold in strained strawberries
6. Split angel food cake into three layers, and use the smaller bowl of mixture with the strawberries to fill between layers, then frost top and sides of cake with remaining mixture. Garnish with fresh strawberries if you have them on hand

Notes

I ended up with frozen whole strawberries that did not have syrup, so I put them in a bowl with some sugar while they thawed, which produced some lovely syrup. Instead of slicing I just broke them up a little with a fork before folding into the whipped cream mixture and they were lovely!

Skillet apples

This is another one of those recipes that I have written down on a scrap of paper and tucked away. I have no idea where it came from, but it's so yummy. It's also what I had for breakfast this morning. Is that wrong? It's fruit, people. Try this. Seriously. Gather:

• 1 skillet (I used my smallest cast iron)
• 2 Granny Smith apples
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• Sprinkle of nutmeg

And then:

1. Core and slice apples (uniformly sized pieces are your friends so they'll cook evenly; you can also peel them if your little heart desires, but I dig the peels)
2. Melt butter in skillet
3. Add apples, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to skillet and stir to combine and coat apples (note: the mixture will look a little dry at first and you'll be tempted to add more butter, but don't; as the apples cook down they'll get nice and juicy and everything will be great)
4. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes or until apples are nice and tender and sauce is starting to thicken
5. Serve for breakfast

I can neither confirm nor deny that these are crazy good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Just sayin.