I have two confessions today. One is that I went shopping this morning for pants that I can wear to cocktail parties Monday in NYC. I didn’t find any because I’m TOO SHORT. Kohls is having some great clearance sales and I tried on an embarrassing number of pants but they all were too long for me by about 4 inches. It might have been worth it at clearance prices to buy them and pay to have them tailored, but I was too overwhelmed to make that decision this morning. Maybe I’ll go back.

The other confession is that I’m not at all ready for the traveling to start again. I think it must be because I’m basically lazy at heart, and it suits me to be able to do nothing all day Also, ever since I told her I was going (last week, because she heard me talking about it and asked) Brianna has been telling me how much she doesn’t want me to go. This morning she was particularly upset about it.

But on that note, blogging will probably be lighter again in the next few weeks, because we all know I’m no good at traveling and blogging!

For the Reader:
Since I don’t normally promo my releases during the week, I’m going to start listing them here, under the “for the reader” section. So, released this week:
Taken by Anya Bast (erotic sci fi romance)
Called by Blood by Evie Byrne (erotic paranormal romance)
Mexican Heat by Laura Baumbach and Josh Lanyon (m/m action romance)

Publisher’s Weekly is looking for reviewers in fiction genres including romance!

Kristen Nelson wants to know if free books work on you. On an interesting related note, I got an email from one of my blog readers this week, who was emailing to tell me that the free books she’d gotten from Samhain definitely resulted in her buying others. Anecdotal evidence that free works! I think editor Leah Hultenschmidt talked about that on her blog this week as well.

Jane from Dear Author wonders if you’d be interested in a rent-to-own ereader and ebook subscription?

Smart Bitches has the video from MSNBC that features the Kindle (and Kate Duffy of Kensington!)

Continuing the series about the Dear Author reviewers and their new Sony Readers. I’m really enjoying these posts.

For the Author:

Edittorrent had two great posts up on rejections this week. Alicia wrote this one on form rejections that I swear I could have written myself. Theresa wrote one that relates to my blog post here a few weeks ago about how fast is too fast?

And since we’re talking rejection, here’s one more on post-rejection protocol from Jessica Faust at BookEnds.

Author Lauren Dane has started a Sunday series on promotion.

Author Maria Zannini talks about signature lines. Honestly, an obnoxiously long signature line irritates me enough to remember the author’s name in a negative light.

Author Shannon Stacey has an awesome post up about making sure you’re following your dream, not someone else’s.

In the Kitchen:

Download spice jar labels.

Nom nom nom, these Italian love cakes look good (and easy)!

Pioneer Woman is doing a series on sushi. I actually learned how to make sushi from a Japanese friend years ago, but I’m still enjoying this series.

Peanut Butter and Rice Krispie treats. Me please.

For the Crafty:

Does anyone out there knit? I really want this scarf. Almost enough to take up knitting, except it would take me five years to finish. The scarf combines my love of two things: Doctor Who (LOVE Tom Baker) and scarves.

Sew, Mama, Sew is doing Fat Quarter February. Check out all the fat quarter projects they’re sharing. Tissue holders here (and if I’d thought of it sooner, I’d have whipped up a bunch as small Valentine Day gifts for the daycare staff)

Check out this list of the top 100 tuturials of 2008

I would love to make one of these tea wallets. I like to travel with tea but it always ends up in the bottom of my purse.

I love this idea. Anyone who’s ever been to a conference has a bunch of tote bags laying around. Here’s a tutorial for dressing up and resuing those tote bags!

For Everyone:

Thankfully, the CPSIA Lead-Testing Law has been delayed for one year. I hope they can work the kinks out of that and get a new/different/better law into affect.

An interesting post on recipes and copyright (where I learned, though was not surprised, to find that recipes aren’t copyrighted).

A little insight into the editorial debate between an author and an editor. These are weighty issues we discuss!

Whee! There’s going to be another Sex and the City movie. I’m not sure what type of story line they’ll come up with, but I don’t care. I’ll go see it! Looks to be set for hopefully Summer 2010

It’s what everyone has been talking about. The Snuggie. Now you can make your own and pimp it out to boot! Score!

$25 free from E-Trade when you open an E-Trade Savings Account.

You know you want to make one. A LOLCat purse!

So you’re bored and want to kill some time? Make your own comic strip!

Maybe your music library is like mine and could use a little attending to? MakeUseof.com has 4 suggestions for tools to fix and auto-organize your music library. Let me know if you’re familiar with any of them or try them!

Wi-Fi Hotspot finders. I need to put these links in my phone, with as much as I travel I often need Wi-Fi (even with an aircard, it’s nice to find Wi-Fi)

For the Political:
Not really political but I’m putting it here. Via HighlandGal, a quote about the Michael Phelps thing that made me laugh (also, see the bottom of this post for some links to current articles about Phelps losing sponsors):

Look, I don’t blame Michael Phelps for apologizing. He has a living to earn, so he did what he had to do.

In the meantime, I merely note that this broken wreck of a man’s failure to win any more than a pathetic fourteen Olympic gold medals (so far) is a terrifying warning of the horrific damage that cannabis can do to someone’s health—and a powerful reminder of just how sensible the drug laws really are.

-Andrew Stuttaford from The Corner at National Review Online.

A new video from Ashley Judd about Sarah Palin’s support of the brutal hunting of wolves. The video is not for the tender-hearted.

Obama puts a cap on executive pay at businesses that received bailout money. I really wish more things like this had been put in place before the bailout money was ever given out.

I’ll admit it, I laughed when I read to the end. There’s a follow-up article here. All I can think, though, is that our nation is facing the largest unemployment rate in two three decades and this guy is going to be worried about a suit jacket? Puh-lease.

Michelle Obama is stepping into the stimulus package fray. Oy.

Picture of the week:

Because the whole idea of this still makes me laugh.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Carrie on regardless: How will Sex and the City cope with the credit crunch? (guardian.co.uk)
• Michael Phelps Suspended: Dumped by Sponsor (montysmegamarketing.com)
• Friday Just Keeps Getting Worse For Michael Phelps [Michael Phelps] (deadspin.com)
• New Website Launches to Keep Tabs on Sarah Palin’s Animal Conservation Record (Video) (treehugger.com)
• In the Kindle Backorder Queue? Upgrade Offer for Kindle 2 Coming. (jkontherun.com)

I’m posting this on the heels of the Roast chicken recipe because this is a great recipe for the leftovers. I made it this past week the day after making the chicken. You know who admits that when he first saw the chili, he was skeptical (in truth, pretty much convinced he wouldn’t like it but willing to give it a try). He was surprised to find that he liked it quite a bit!

This is a super easy and very tasty recipe. As I mentioned in my Friday Confessional, Allrecipes.com now has a paid subscription service that allows you to customize the recipes and save them, so that’s what I’m going to post here. The original recipe is here but please be warned: it is super spicy and won’t be as thick because I adapted it per the reviews to thicken it as well as cut back on some of the extreme heat by leaving out the jalapenos. You could easily add those back in if you have a family of spicy-food lovers.

Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
3 Tbsp flour
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth**
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
3 (15 ounce) cans white beans (Northern)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS
1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion until tender.

2. Mix in the garlic, jalapeno, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about 3 minutes.

3. Mix in the chicken broth and flour, bring to a boil.

4. Puree one can of beans, then mix in chicken and all three cans of beans. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Remove the mixture from heat. Slowly stir in the cheese until melted. Serve warm.

**I don’t keep chicken broth in the house. Instead, I keep a jar of chicken base in the fridge and then mix up “broth” (hot water and the base) as needed. It’s a lot more cost effective, as I can get a large jar of the base at Sam’s Club for $4.30.

via allrecipes.com

I’ve made this twice now, and if you love the flavor of Rotisserie chicken, you have to try this recipe. It’s probably the best roast chicken recipe I’ve ever made at home, and so easy. I put the rub on the chicken and let it sit overnight. Rather than 2 chickens, I do one 7-8 lb chicken. Since I usually buy them when they’re on a hella sale, I often buy more than one chicken. This last time, I made a double batch of the rub, put it on both chickens, but wrapped one up and put it in the freezer so I can just defrost and roast.

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* 4 teaspoons salt
* 2 teaspoons paprika
* 1 teaspoon onion powder
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1 teaspoon white pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 2 onions, quartered
* 2 (4 pound) whole chickens

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, mix together salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. Remove and discard giblets from chicken. Rinse chicken cavity, and pat dry with paper towel. Rub each chicken inside and out with spice mixture. Place 1 onion into the cavity of each chicken. Place chickens in a resealable bag or double wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 to 6 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
3. Place chickens in a roasting pan. Bake uncovered for 5 hours, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Let the chickens stand for 10 minutes before carving.

I followed the directions pretty much exactly, though the comments on allrecipes.com discuss leaving out white pepper, since many people don’t have that. I do, so I used it, but the first time I didn’t. No basting is needed of this recipe, but I poked the chicken with about 45 minutes left to go (I poked a thigh) to release some juices, and basted to give it a nice, juicy look. I recommend doing this. Once it’s done, if you want to make gravy, just poke it a few times and the juices will flow out. Yummy!

I served with either mashed potatoes or Pioneer Woman’s Crash Potatoes, and some green beans. This is a great recipe to cook for a Sunday meal!

I made this yesterday for dinner (and had leftovers today for lunch). It was pretty yummy both times. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com but of course made some adjustments.

Original recipe:

INGREDIENTS

* 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
* 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
* 1 1/4 cups water
* 5 1/2 pounds pot roast

DIRECTIONS

1. In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
2. Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
* 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
* 3/4 cups water
* 3 pound pot roast
* 1/2 lb of baby carrots
*1/2 onion cut into thirds
*halved baby potatoes (because that’s what I had, cubed potatoes would work too)
*sliced mushrooms (because that’s what I had, whole would work too)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a separate bowl, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water.
2. Layer potatoes, onions, mushrooms and baby carrots in bottom of slow cooker. Put roast on top of veggies. Pour soup mixture over top of roast. Cover.
2. Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours. (I cooked mine on High for 3 hours and then switched it to low for the last three)

I only checked it once, and spooned some gravy over the top of the roast, but if you needed to leave this unattended for the whole time, that wouldn’t be a problem at all. This makes its own gravy and is very tasty. The roast was tender and pulled apart easily. Yum! I’ll definitely use this recipe again.

Two things happened a few weeks ago. First, I got this amazing free sample from Muir Glen. It was four cans of tomatoes delivered in this beautiful wood crate. Very fancy. I was impressed. In the box was fire roasted tomatoes and organic tomatoes. I use a lot of canned tomatoes, so I was excited about the sample and put them in the cupboard for future use. Then, Christmas Eve we went to dinner at Carrabba’s and I had a bowl of the most amazing Fire Roasted Tomato Soup. Brianna ate as much of it as I did, and Josh tested it and declared it a winner. Well, as any parent of a toddler knows, when you find something made nearly entirely of vegetables, you add it to your meal rotation. And as anyone who knows my husband knows, he’s a slightly picky eater so in this case…treat it like a toddler said they liked it!

So I immediately went on the hunt for a Carrabba’s clone of the Fire Roasted Tomato Soup. I didn’t find one, exactly, but I did find a recipe on the Muir Glen website and since they had sent me fire roasted tomatoes, I figured it was destiny! So this week I made this soup for my family. Josh and I both really liked it, and it was easy to make. Brianna was willing to eat it but even with the minimal amount of spices in it, it turned out too spicy for her, which is a huge bummer. I’ll do it different next time to avoid that, because Josh and I can spice it later if needed. Regardless, I highly recommend this recipe! One note, this doesn’t make a huge pot of soup. This is a recipe that’s just right for three to four adults, as it says before, so if you’re feeding more you’ll want to double the recipe.

I served this with homemade Italian Bread, recipe from allrecipes.com but pasted below the soup recipe. Using the bread machine, this was also very easy, though it takes a little planning ahead in your day since the dough needs to go through the dough cycle plus rise than bake. But it takes little effort on your part to make. Score!

Fire Roasted Tomato Soup
Fire roasted tomatoes and a touch of cream add a richness to this tomato soup.

Prep Time:20 min
Start to Finish:50 min
Makes:4 servings (1 1/3 cups each)

1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cans (14.5 oz each) Muir Glen® organic fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14 oz) reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves, cilantro leaves or Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup whipping cream

1. In 3-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until onion is crisp-tender.
2. Stir in tomatoes, broth, 1 tablespoon of the basil, the sugar and pepper flakes. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat; pour mixture into large heatproof bowl; cool slightly, about 15 minutes.
3. In blender, place half of the mixture. Cover; blend until pureed. Return to saucepan. Repeat with remaining mixture. Heat over medium heat until hot. Remove from heat. Stir in cream and remaining 1 tablespoon basil.

Bread Machine Italian Bread

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
* 1 1/3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (per the reviews I cut this to 1 tsp of salt and it was fine)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
*
* 1 egg
* 1 tablespoon water
* 2 tablespoons cornmeal

DIRECTIONS

1. Place flour, brown sugar, warm water, salt, olive oil and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Form dough into two loaves. Place the loaves seam side down on a cutting board generously sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise, until doubled in volume about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. In a small bowl, beat together egg and 1 tablespoon water. Brush the risen loaves with egg mixture. Make a single long, quick cut down the center of the loaves with a sharp knife. Gently shake the cutting board to make sure that the loaves are not sticking. If they stick, use a spatula or pastry knife to loosen. Slide the loaves onto a baking sheet with one quick but careful motion.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

*note about the bread. I used a baking stone and baked them side by side. Rather than move them around, I just let them rise right on the baking stone, which worked out very well. I covered the baking stone with parchment paper, and skipped the cornmeal. This is a slightly denser bread (more like an artisan bread, a little more chewy, like they’d serve at Carabba’s) but not too dense.

This is the second recipe I made to use up some of the leftover ham. As it happened, I had half a bag of refrigerator hash browns leftover from this past weekend, so it was a double whammy of using up leftovers. Since I used refrigerated hash browns (Simply Potato hash browns) and not frozen ones, it was even easier (no thawing and squeezing out of excess water needed). I tried this both right when I made it and again reheated the next day, and it was good. Excellent dinner or breakfast option. Also, this would be super easy to adapt and add different veggies or meats to it. Ours had a small amount of crumbled bacon added in.

My only note would be that with the ham, bacon and cheese, it was salty enough on its own, I don’t think it would have needed the seasoning salt. I’ll skip that next time and use other spices. I did add chives in with my egg mixture, because I love chives, and I doubled the egg mixture as well (I’m sure there was more than a cup of ham thrown in there). I baked mine in an 8×8 glass casserole dish because my pie pan is currently in use for a pecan pie and like I said, it was great.

Hash Brown Quiche

* 3 cups shredded hash brown potatoes
* 1/3 cup butter, melted
* seasoning salt to taste
* 1 cup diced cooked ham
* 1/4 cup chopped onion
* 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup milk
* salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Press hash browns onto the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie dish. Drizzle with melted butter, and sprinkle with seasoning salt. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until beginning to brown.
3. In a small bowl, combine ham, onion and shredded cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and a little seasoning salt. When crust is ready, spread ham mixture on the bottom, then cover with egg mixture.
4. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until filling is puffed and golden brown.

FOOTNOTE
You can bake this quiche, and refrigerate for up to 2 days in advance, then reheat in the microwave. It also freezes well.

Every year, Josh’s work gives them either a ham or a turkey for the holiday season. “A” ham actually is two hams. Big-ass hams, like 8 to 10 pounds each. So it’s a lot of ham for three people. I made one this past weekend but…did I mention it’s a lot of ham for three people? Leftovers. I froze part of it with the bone, so I can make ham and beans at some point, but last night I made Ham and potato soup. A super easy, really amazingly delicious ham and potato soup from allrecipes.com. If you look at the recipe, you’ll see by the ratings that I’m not the only one who thought so.

Most of you know that I usually change the recipes somehow, but this time I followed the recipe exactly (well, I put in more ham but that doesn’t count). But the recipe is perfect–and did I mention easy? as is.

INGREDIENTS

* 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
* 1/3 cup diced celery I lied. I changed this. Hate cooked celery. I omitted.
* 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
* 3/4 cup diced cooked ham
* 3 1/4 cups water
* 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
* 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
* 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
* 5 tablespoons butter
* 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

Okay, to be honest our nights right now aren’t too cold. It’s been about 60 here the past few days, including Christmas. Sadly, not even close to the white Christmas Brianna was hoping for.

Even so, one of my favorite things about winter is the chance to drink hot drinks. I’m not a coffee drinker, but I love tea and hot chocolate. Growing up, my family always had Tom & Jerry’s over the holiday season. I like them okay–I think I need to find a really good recipe for them, but I’m actually more a fan of Hot Buttered Rum (kind of odd since I hate butterscotch). I made a batch last night, using this recipe, and it is YUMMY. I did two small things different: 1) I cut the recipe to 1/4 since it’s just me, and 2) I added at least 2 Tbsp of the mix to the rum (I used vanilla rum) and hot water. Reading the comments, it looks like a lot of people did the same. This is a great recipe, would be wonderful for entertaining–or for hoarding to yourself at home.

Hot Buttered Rum (makes 100 servings)
* 1 pound butter
* 1 pound brown sugar
* 1 pound confectioners’ sugar
* 1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened
* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Blend in brown sugar and confectioners’ sugar. Remove from heat, and whisk in the ice cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour mixture into a plastic container, seal, and freeze.
2. In a coffee mug, measure 1 tablespoon Hot Buttered Rum Batter and 1 fluid ounce of rum, then fill cup with boiling water. Stir, and sprinkle top of drink with nutmeg.

My MIL makes this for holidays, when I’m going to be around. I made it last week for a Thanksgiving brunch I went to, and someone asked for the recipe. I thought I’d share it here as long as I was typing out the recipe!

Sweet Potato Fluff (or Souffle, as my MIL calls it)
6 to 8 medium sweet potatoes (I used 6 and that made enough for the brunch).
2 sticks of butter
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 can well drained crushed pineapple (I used a 28 oz can but you could use smaller, depends on what you want)
1 c firmly packed brown sugar

Bake the sweet potatoes at 375 for about 45 minutes (or until done) in the oven. If you’ve never baked sweet potatoes, they’re easy. Just cut the ends off (if you’re not going to do this, make sure you pierce them with a fork so steam can escape), throw them on a pan and bake! Make sure you cover your pan or whatever you bake them on with foil, because they release sugar when they bake and it will burn to whatever they’re on and be just about impossible to clean off! They’re done once a fork goes easily into them, and it looks like the skin is kind of loose. Once baked, let them cool a bit, so you can remove the skins, which should peel off easily (this is kind of a sticky job, though, thanks to the sugar content).

Once baked and peeled, begin to mash sweet potatoes in a bowl, add 1 cup white sugar, 1 tsp vanilla (the vanilla will take over quickly so don’t use too much!) and 2 sticks of butter (I melted mine but if your sweet potatoes are hot, you could just add the sticks in). Once mashed together, add 1 can well-drained crushed pineapple. Mix together. Pour into 9×13 greased baking dish (spray with Pam is fine), sprinkle 1 cup of brown sugar on top and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until top browns and mixture is bubbly.

That’s it! For a variation, you could mix the brown sugar with some chopped pecans and then sprinkle that on top, but it’s not necessary.

You could also divide this into two smaller pans, if you needed to.

Even people who say they don’t like sweet potatoes, like my husband, will try and enjoy this because it’s more like dessert than a vegetable.

**Note: I take absolutely no credit for this recipe. It was posted on the parenting board I frequent, and I Googled it to see if I could find a source. It fascinated me to discover that it appears to be a fairly recent recipe, though I couldn’t track down the exact origin (I probably could, but I don’t have that much patience) and it’s spread being posted on everything from craft forums to miniature horse forums to parenting forums to blogs (like mine). I wish I knew who the original poster was so I could credit them, but I hope they realize what kind of viral life their recipe has taken on. If it’s not a new recipe, then it’s taken on a new life again in the past month or so.

Now for the recipe:

Dangerous Chocolate Cake-in-a-Mug

Why is this the most dangerous cake recipe? Because we are now only five minutes away from chocolate cake any time of the day or night!

Grab 1 COFFEE MUG. (Get one of your largest ones that can go in the microwave.)

Take a 1 TBSP MEASURING SPOON and add the following (Keep reusing the same spoon for less clean-up.):

4 Tbsp. cake flour*
4 Tbsp. granulated sugar (ok – you start feeling guilty here)
2 Tbsp. cocoa

Take a regular butter knife and mix up the dry ingredients.

Add 1 EGG

Take the same regular butter knife and stir it well. (not all the flour will mix in but most)

Take that same Tablespoon, and measure in:

3 Tbsp. milk (any kind)
3 Tbsp. oil (any kind but peanut)
splash in a little vanilla

Take the same regular butter knife and stir it well this time.

Optional: Add in up to 3 Tbsp. chocolate chips. (I put in the mini chips.)

Put the mug in the microwave, and cook for 3 minutes. (on a typical 1000 watt microwave – if your microwave is average size and under 5 years – it’s fine)

The cake will rise up over the top of the mug — Do not be alarmed!

Either eat it from the mug — or, dump the cake out (it just slips out) onto a plate and eat.

It makes WELL ENOUGH for two people and possibly three — or you can eat it yourself.

I squirted on some chocolate syrup I had in the refrigerator and a little whipped topping. It looked like some fancy dessert.

YUMMMMMMM!!!!!!! It so cures the chocolate fix!

*OK, so I didn’t have cake flour, so I used self-rising, which worked fine. It just makes a heartier cake. If you want a lighter cake and don’t have cake flour – you can spend the time sifting 1 cup all-purpose flour and 2 Tbsp cornstarch to get cake flour. Or – shoot – I bet doggone all-purpose flour would work for this just fine, too. It depends if you want a light and fluffy cake or a heavier cake. It’s chocolate cake. Either way would be good to me!

Just another note that 1) cake flour is not the same as self-rising and her substitution suggestion isn’t quite correct:P and two, there are cleaner versions of this recipe out there, with less dialogue, but I thought this one was more interesting (though obviously not the original since they used different flour).

Cake flour substitute: For 1 cup of cake flour, substitute 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour. You also can try substituting 3/4 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch for every 1 cup of cake flour called for in a recipe.

Cleaner version of recipe follows:

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