* Heritage Chocolate Cake * * 2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened * 1-3/4 cups sugar * 3 eggs * 1 teaspoon vanilla extract * 2 cups all-purpose flour * 1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa * 1 teaspoon baking powder * 3/4 teaspoon baking soda * 1/2 teaspoon salt * 1-1/2 cups buttermilk or sour milk* * CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING (recipe follows) Directions 1 Heat oven to 350�F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. 2 Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add alternately with buttermilk to butter mixture, beating just until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pans. 3 Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING. 8 to 10 servings. * To sour milk: Use 4-1/2 teaspoons white vinegar plus milk to equal 1-1/2 cups. CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING 1/3 cup butter or margarine 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa 2-2/3 cups powdered sugar 1/3 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat; add cocoa, stirring constantly until smooth.(Mixture will be very thick.) Remove from heat; pour into medium bowl. Cool slightly. 2 Add powdered sugar alternately with milk and vanilla, beating to spreading consistency. About 2 cups frosting. Sue

Garlicky Chicken Thighs in Red Pepper Sauce (Fine Cooking) This got lots of good reviews, and breasts can be substitued 2 Tbs. olive oil 8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 lbs.), trimmed of excess fat and skin Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 6 cloves garlic, smashed 2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves 1 cup lower-salt chicken broth 3 jarred roasted red peppers, drained and cut into 1-inch strips (1-1/2 cups) 1 medium russet potato, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch dice (1-1/2 cups) 1 Tbs. sherry vinegar Crusty baguette for serving Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425F. Heat the oil in a large, oven-proof saute pan over medium-high heat until it's shimmering. Sprinkle the chicken with 1-1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Add half the thighs to the pan, skin side down. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook without touching until the skin browns and easily releases from the pan, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to a large plate. Add the remaining chicken, brown and transfer to the plate. Add the garlic and thyme to the pan and cook until the garlic is lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth, red peppers, potato, and sherry vinegar to the pan, and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, return the chicken to the pan skin side up, and place in the oven. Braise the chicken, uncovered, until the potato pieces are tender and the chicken is completely cooked through, about 30 minutes. Serve with the baguette for soaking up the broth.

ORANGE MARMALADE COFFEE CAKE (A Blogger's Life) 1 cup sweet orange marmalade (I will use apricot) 2 tablespoons (or more to taste) chopped, lightly toasted walnuts 1 cup firmly packed white granulated or brown sugar (each work well and both taste great) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 (approximately 12 ounce) cans of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits 1/2 cup melted butter or margarine Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for baking. Spread marmalade evenly in the bottom of a greased, 12-cup Bundt pan; top with walnuts. Melt butter in a small bowl. In a medium-sized bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. In assembly-line fashion, place ingredients in the following order: bowl of melted butter, bowl of sugar/cinnamon mixture, and prepared Bundt pan. Separate refrigerated biscuits, dip in melted butter, then dredge in sugar/cinnamon mixture. Stand biscuits on edge (standing upright) around Bundt pan, spacing as evenly as possible. Drizzle any remaining butter over biscuits, and sprinkle with any remaining sugar/cinnamon mixture. Place in 350 degree F oven and bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until top of biscuits turn just golden. Cool in pan on wire rack for about 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving platter or dish. Serve immediately. Yield: Serves 8

Not a recipe today, but a guideline on converting regular recipes to crockpot. HOW TO ADAPT REGULAR RECIPES TO CROCKPOT COOKING In most cases, all ingredients can go into your Crock Pot in the beginning and cook all day. Many preparatory steps are unnecessary when using the crock pot. A few hints: - Allow sufficient cooking time - Cook with cover on - Remember liquids don't "boil away" as in conventional cooking. Usually you'll have more liquid at the end of cooking instead of less. - It's "one step" cooking: many steps in the recipe may be deleted. Simply add ingredients to the crock-pot at one time and cook 8 to 12 hours (add any liquid last). - Vegetables do not overcook as they do when boiled in your oven or in your range. Therefore, everything can go into your crock-pot at one time. Exception: milk, sour cream or cream should be added during the last hour. Time Guide: If recipe says 15 to 30 minutes, cook in crockpot 1 1/2 to 2 hours on HIGH, or 4 to 6 hours on LOW If the recipe says 35 to 45 minutes, cook in crockpot 3 to 4 hours on HIGH, or 6 to 10 hours on LOW If the recipe says 50 minutes to 3 hours, cook in crockpot 4 to 6 hours on HIGH, or 8 to 18 hours on LOW Most uncooked meat and vegetable combinations will require at least 8 hours on low. Liquids: Use less in slow cooking -- usually about half the recommended amount. One cup liquid is enough for any recipes unless it contains rice or pasta. Herbs and Spices: Leaf or whole herbs and spices are preferred, but their flavor power may increase -- use half recommended amount. If you use ground herbs and spices, add during the last hour of cooking. Beans: Dried beans, especially red kidney beans, should be boiled before adding to a recipe. Cover the beans with 3 times their volume of unsalted water and bring to a boil. Boil 10 minutes. Discard water after boiling. Beans must be softened completely before combining with sugar and/or acid foods (sugar and acid have a hardening affect on beans and will prevent softening). After boiling beans 10 min., reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer 1-1/2 hours or until beans are tender. Soaking in water, if desired, should be completed before boiling. Discard water after soaking or boiling. Sauteing vegetables: Generally not necessary. Stir in chopped or sliced vegetables with other ingredients. The only exception is eggplant, which should be parboiled or sauteed, due to strong flavor. Since vegetables develop their full flavor potential with slow cooking, expect delicious results even when you reduce quantities. Because vegetables take longer to cook than meat, slice or chop them when possible and place in bottom of crock-pot with meat on top. Pasta and rice: If recipes calls for cooking noodles, macaroni, etc. Cook before adding to crock-pot. Don't overcook - just till slightly tender. If cooked rice is called for, stir in with other ingredients. Add 1/4 cup extra liquid per 1/4 cup of raw rice. Use long grain converted rice for best cooking results in all-day cooking. Milk: Milk, cream and sour cream tend to break down during extended cooking. When possible add during last hour of cooking. Condensed soups may be substituted for milk etc. and can cook for extended times. Soups: Some soup recipes call for 2 to 3 quarts of water. Add soup ingredients to crock-pot then add water only to cover. If thinner soup is desired, add more liquid at serving time. If milk-based recipes have no other liquid for initial cooking, add 1 to 2 cups water. Then during last hour of cooking, stir in milk or cream as called for.