Popular Posts 2010 at Romancing The Chocolate

From Denny: The latest popular posts at Romancing The Chocolate for 2010. Hopefully, it will be easier to keep up with this year! I'm working on getting my little tardy self moving along at a faster pace. Maybe if I quit lingering at all those gorgeous chocolate shop windows. :)


Popular Posts


Popular Posts 2010 at Romancing The Chocolate

Popular Posts 2009 at Romancing The Chocolate and Thank You!


67 Charities to Donate: Helping Haiti Heal

Chocolate Cake Recipes at Romancing The Chocolate





June


Muffin Monday: Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins

10 Funny Posts For a Laugh - 23 June 2010

Cake Tuesday: Coffee Toffee Fudge Cake, Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Muffin Monday: Pina Colada Muffins

Posts Roundup at Dennys 14 Blogs - 20 June 2010

Posts Roundup at Dennys 14 Blogs - 13 June 2010

5 Tasty Sweet as Candy Chess Pie Recipes

Muffin Monday: 3 Cappuccino Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipes

Popular Kentucky Derby Recipes: Bourbon Ball French Toast, Kentucky Hot Brown

Popular Kentucky Derby Recipes: Bourbon Ball French Toast, Kentucky Hot Brown

8 Funny Posts to Enjoy

Posts Roundup at Dennys 14 Blogs - 5 June 2010

Yummy Lemon Tea Bread From Southern Living




May


Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 30 May 2010

Cream Cheese n Sour Cherry Filling 4 Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate Cream Cake with Chocolate Frosting




April


Posts Roundup This Week at Dennys Blogs 25 Apr 2010

Those Funny Mothers Day Quotes and Trivia

Traditional Sandwiches Updated: California Tuna Melt, Egg Salad


Play Fun With Your Food: Mini Frittata Crostinis, Mini Wonton Quiches

Awesome Sauces 4 Spring and Summer Seafood

Spring Into Grill Season: Mouthwatering Steaks

Chef Rocco Dispiritos Cheap Yet Healthy Comfort Food





March


Funny April Fools Day

Weekly Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 28 Mar 2010

51 Funny Political Cartoons - Sex Scandals, Rove, Obama, Health Care, Tea Party - 27 Mar 2010

Louisiana Crawfish Etouffee From Lafittes Landing

Funny Rules of Chocolates, Origins of the Funny Easter Bunny

Kid Chefs Offer Tasty Recipes 4 Sandwiches Adults Will Like

Easy Rich Yellow Loaf Cake with Chocolate Ganache

8 Funny Quips

Moistest Low Cal Chocolate Cake, Pesto Veggie Lasagna, Quick Salad

Gorgeous Whiskey Chocolate Brownies

29 Post Roundup at Dennys Blogs 14 Mar 2010

Saint Patricks Day Funnies Sampler

7 Funny Little Sillies 4 a Grin

5 Super Easy Chocolate Desserts: Only 5 Ingredients

Funny April Fools Day

Flourless Passover Chocolate Cake

Forget the Birds: Awesome Recipes 4 Stale Bread

Spring Food: Chef Kellers Marinated Skirt Steak, Ice Cream Sandwiches

29 Post Roundup at Dennys Blogs 14 Mar 2010

Saint Patricks Day Funnies Sampler

7 Funny Little Sillies 4 a Grin

5 Super Easy Chocolate Desserts: Only 5 Ingredients

Recipe: Alberta Fudge Cake - from Canada

Recipe: Romantic Chocolate Fondue for Two

Recipe: Chocolate Banana Coconut Cream Pie

Recipe: Chocolate-Covered OREO Cookie Cake




February


Stop That Cold in Its Tracks: Illness Fighting Foods

16 Funny Blissful Sleepers Photos

Does it Get Any Better? Funny Curtis Stones Healthy Pasta, Chocolate Recipes

Happy Afterglow: 11 More Valentine Recipes

Pretty Chocolate Candy Recipes From Canadas Famous Purdys

Check Out Funny Fat Tuesday Afterglow Photos and Quotes

Aphrodisiac Meal: Boost Your Orgasms

Funny Mardi Gras Quotes, Who Dat Rocking Saints Songs

Valentines Day Recipes: 3 Easy Creative Chocolate Cakes

Valentines Day: Awesome Romantic Meal

5 Slamming Valentine Godiva Chocolate Recipes

97 Posts Roundup From All Dennys Blogs

6 Yummy Junk Food Recipes

4 Fun Marti Gras and Super Bowl Recipes

Sweet Tooth Alert: Sandra Lees Chocolate Truffles

Popular Posts 2010 at Romancing The Chocolate

Happy Afterglow: 11 More Valentine Recipes

Funny Mardi Gras Quotes, Who Dat Rocking Saints Songs

Aphrodisiac Meal: Boost Your Orgasms

4 Fun Marti Gras and Super Bowl Recipes

Valentines Day Recipes: 3 Easy Creative Chocolate Cakes

Fight 4 Freedom: Irans Opposition Thursday

Valentines Day: Awesome Romantic Meal

5 Slamming Valentine Godiva Chocolate Recipes




January


Funny Quotes About Chocolate

Chef Sandra Lees Easy Frozen Chocolate Cookie Cake

Swapping Food Choices for Less Fat and Calories to Trim off holiday pounds

Chef Sandra Lees Easy Frozen Chocolate Cookie Cake

How to Cook Perfect Al Dente Pasta, Giadas Simple Recipe

Chocolate Cake Recipes at Romancing The Chocolate

Funny Quotes About Chocolate

Oozing with 3 Cheeses and Cheap: White Lasagna

Winter Brain Food: Parmigiano Pasta with Mushrooms

Valentines Day: Impressive Four Chocolates Cake

Kid Pleasing Easy Brownie Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Tummy Warming Desserts for The New Year

Chocolate Trivia - Who Are the Biggest Chocolate Gluttons on the Planet?

Funny Editorial Cartoons 21 Nov 2009


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Funny iPad cartoons and more 30 Jan 2010

From Denny: Great cartoons this week from the busy mind of editorial cartoonists! They sure had a wild time with all the ways the American people got screwed over this week like by the Supreme Court for starters. Check out all the goodies over at The Social Poets blog because the blog template here is not wide enough to include the entire cartoon - and the cartoon site doesn't have a smaller version available for embedded linking.

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Manny Francisco - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

For this week's funny political cartoons about the State of the Union, iPad and more, go here: Editorial Cartoons This Week 30 Jan 2010

*** THANKS for visiting, come back often, a big shout out to current subscribers - and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email!

5 Tasty and Weird Bacon Recipes

From Denny: OK, I've been hearing about the popularity of "bacon blogs" and wondered "is there anything you can't pair well with bacon?" Answer: not much as "the pig" is quite versatile. I see why the pig has so many devotees.

Check out the savory bacon recipes:

Bacon Explosion (BBQ)
Bacon Pie
Bacon Balls (mini-cheese balls)
Bacon Bread
Clams Casino



Bacon Explosion

This is a calorie monster, weighing in at 5000 calories! Read that as "bring your friends" to this BBQ because it reigns as King of BBQ.

Ingredients:

2 pounds thick-cut sliced bacon
1 1/2 pounds Italian sausage, casings removed
3 tablespoons barbecue rub
3/4 cup barbecue sauce

Directions:

Using 10 slices of bacon, weave a square lattice like that on top of a pie: first, place 5 bacon slices side by side on a large sheet of aluminum foil, parallel to one another, sides touching. Place another strip of bacon on one end, perpendicular to the other strips.

Fold first, third and fifth bacon strips back over this new strip, then place another strip next to it, parallel to it. Unfold first, third and fifth strips; fold back second and fourth strips. Repeat with remaining bacon until all 10 strips are tightly woven.

Preheat oven to 225 degrees or light a fire in an outdoor smoker.

Place remaining bacon in a frying pan and cook until crisp. As it cooks, sprinkle bacon weave with 1 tablespoon barbecue rub. Evenly spread sausage on top of bacon lattice, pressing to outer edges.
Crumble fried bacon into bite-size pieces.

Sprinkle on top of sausage. Drizzle with 1/2 cup barbecue sauce and sprinkle with another tablespoon barbecue rub.

Very carefully separate front edge of sausage layer from bacon weave and begin rolling sausage away from you. Bacon weave should stay where it was, flat. Press sausage roll to remove any air pockets and pinch together seams and ends.

Roll sausage toward you, this time with bacon weave, until it is completely wrapped. Turn it so seam faces down. Roll should be about 2 to 3 inches thick. Sprinkle with remaining barbecue rub.

Place roll on a baking sheet in oven or in smoker. Cook until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees on a meat thermometer, about 1 hour for each inch of thickness. When done, glaze roll with more sauce.



Bacon Pie

Ingredients:

12 Bacon slices (crisply cooked, crumbled)
4 Eggs (beaten)
1 cup Shredded Cheese
1 cup Baking Mix
1-1/2 cup Milk
1/8 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/3 cup Onion (chopped)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Sprinkle cheese, bacon slices and chopped onions on a greased pie plate.

Stir milk, eggs, baking mix and black pepper in a medium bowl with a fork.

Pour this blend into pie plate.

Bake it for about 40-45 minutes.

Bacon pie is ready.



Bacon Balls

Bacon, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and Parmesan cheese and... Miracle Whip mayonnaise??? Yep, and these are awesome tasting! They are basically mini-cheese balls. A shot or two of Louisiana hot sauce would complete this recipe in my not so humble opinion! :)

Ingredients:

1 lb bacon, cooked until crisp, cooled and drained on paper towels
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins brand)

Directions:

Process the bacon in the food processor until finely minced. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and Miracle Whip with an electric mixer until well mixed.

Beat in the remaining ingredients (except the bacon). Beat in the bacon only until mixed.

Shape into two small cheese balls and wrap each well in plastic wrap. Chill overnight.

Serve with crackers or pita chips.

To serve, you can leave the cheese ball as is, or roll in finely minced parsley, chopped nuts or finely shredded cheese. This keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator.



Bacon Bread

Super simple recipe for a bread, cheese and bacon combination. You might think you had died and gone to heaven. Of course, with this much fat in a recipe you just might go to heaven...

Ingredients:

12 slices bacon, diced
1 (1 pound) loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil, divided
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (1 ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix

Directions:

In a skillet, cook bacon over medium heat for 5 minutes or until partially cooked; drain on paper towels.

Roll out dough to 1/2-in. thickness; brush with 1 tablespoon of oil. Cut into 1-in. pieces; place in a large bowl. Add the bacon, cheese, dressing mix and remaining oil; toss to coat. Arrange pieces in a 9-in. x 5-in. oval on a greased baking sheet, layering as needed. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cover with foil; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until golden brown. Yield: 1 loaf.



Clams Casino

From: Rhode Islands' Narraagansett Pier Casino, originating in the early 1900's. Shellfish and pork marry for one tasty dish.

Ingredients:

24 small clams in the shell
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled

Directions:

Open clams; remove clams from shell. Wash shells; place each clam in deep half of shell. Discard remaining clam shell halves. Sprinkle clams with a little salt. Blend butter, chopped green onion, chopped bell pepper, chopped celery, lemon juice, and crumbled bacon. Top each clam with a scant tablespoon of the butter and vegetable mixture. Arrange the clams casino shells on a bed or rock salt in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 425° for 10 to 12 minutes. Clams casino recipe serves 8 as appetizer.

*** ALSO: Chef Sandra Lees Easy Frozen Chocolate Cookie Cake

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Political Cartoons of the Week 30 Jan 2010

From Denny: This has been an interesting week. The State of the Union address by President Obama basically summed up how the Republicans have been screwing over the entire country in every aspect of our lives and how much fun the Republicans have had screwing over Prez Obama at every turn while he continues to be inclusive and gracious to them.

Let's see, then our very own highest court in the land decided to screw over the American people by letting loose the floodgates of the greedy Big Business monopolies to fund elections and completely control the politicians elected. Granted, the corrupt basically control most of the politicians, all of the Republicans and far too many of the Democrats.

And the most recent group to get screwed over? The print publishing industry. Those adorable hold-in-your-hand books may soon be no more. Why anyone is shocked is the surprise. Come on; we all grew up on Star Trek and Sy-Fy spin-off shows where they featured hand-held computers and digital books decades before computers were any smaller than a football field, filling whole cavernous rooms like over at NASA. Of course, comparing Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, to God is a bit of a stretch - OK, it's downright creepy. :)

Take a look and chuckle for the day at how the cartoonists responded to this week's news stories:


Obama's State of the Union:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Jeff Parker - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Dave Granlund - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Trever - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Bob Englehart - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Darkow - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Eric Allie - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Nate Beeler - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by R.J. Matson - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Adam Zyglis - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Cole - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Joe Heller - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

The Obama Scream vs. Big Banks

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Daryl Cagle - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Nate Beeler - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Patrick Chappatte - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Jimmy Margulies - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Stephane Peray - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

Screwed by the Supreme Court that is supposed to guard our liberties:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Pat Bagley - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by R.J. Matson - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Mike Keefe - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Larry Wright - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

And the latest tech toy the iPad:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Cameron Cardow - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Patrick Corrigan - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

Can it be the death of print books as we know it?

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Dave Granlund - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Jimmy Margulies - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

OK, this one is a little scary...

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Manny Francisco - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Jimmy Margulies - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

*** THANKS for visiting, come back often, feel free to leave a comment, a big thank you and shout out to current subscribers - and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email!

Chef Sandra Lees Easy Frozen Chocolate Cookie Cake

From Denny: Chef Sandra Lee specializes in great tasting recipes made simple and easy to do in a short amount of time. This chocolate cake with a frozen ice cream as a filling is a real show stopper for holidays, entertaining or your sweetheart on Valentine's Day. She uses cookies and cream ice cream flavor in this recipe but we could easily substitute any flavor we love.

What I like about this cake is its versatility. For Valentine's Day or Christmas you could add a little raspberry syrup drizzled on top or on the plate for color. In the summer you could use chocolate mint ice cream for the filling. To satisfy total chocoholics like myself you could make it with chocolate almond ice cream filling! :)

The greatest beauty of this cake is that you can freeze all the components until it's time to assemble and frost with the awesome ganache. That's a real time saver in my book with the way we are all busy these days!

And remember, this cake allows us yet another excuse to eat ice cream in the winter besides the fact we need the calcium... :)

Chef Sandra Lee gives great instructions! Food Network does not yet allow embedding of their videos so I can only provide the link, go here.


Frozen Chocolate Cookie Cake

From: Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Desserts, Miramax Books, 2003.

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 3 hr 0 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Level: Intermediate
Serves: 1 cake, about 12 servings

Ingredients:

Ganache and Filling:

1/2 gallon cookies and cream ice cream, softened
1 cup heavy cream
1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate morsels

Cake:

Butter, for pans
Flour, for pans
1 (18.25-ounce) box devil's food cake mix
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

Directions:

Line 1 (9-inch) cake pan with plastic wrap, with 3 inches overhanging. Spread softened ice cream into lined pan in a smooth, even layer. Freeze for 3 hours, or until frozen solid.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour 2 (10-inch) round cake pans and set aside. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until well blended. Using a spatula, divide batter between the 2 prepared cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each pan to loosen cakes and remove from pans.

While cakes are cooling, heat heavy cream in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbling around the edges. Remove pan from heat, add chocolate morsels, and stir with a whisk until smooth. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, until cool and slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Spread ganache on top of and around sides of both cake layers, keeping layers separate and not fitting together yet. Refrigerate entire cake for 1 hour, or until ganache is set.

Place 1 cake layer, ganache side up, on a serving platter. Remove ice cream from pan, peel off plastic wrap, and place on top of cake layer. Place second cake layer on top of ice cream, ganache side up. Freeze until ready to serve, but let stand at room temperature 5 minutes before serving.



*** ALSO: 5 Tasty and Weird Bacon Recipes

*** THANKS for visiting, come back often, feel free to leave a comment, a big thank you and shout out to current subscribers - and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email!