Saucy Cranberry Chicken

With Thanksgiving behind us, you may just need a suggestion for using that cranberry sauce that is now in the fridge.  Here's a chicken dish that is sure to please!  It's a variation of an apricot chicken recipe that my mother-in-law used to make...and was known as 'grandma's chicken' by her grandchildren.

• 3 lbs. skinless chicken pieces (breasts and/or thighs)
• 1 cup Russian dressing
• 1 1/2 cups cranberry sauce (or 1 can 398 ml cranberry sauce)
• 1 pkg. dry onion soup mix

1. Place chicken pieces in a 9" x 13" baking dish.
2. Combine dressing, cranberry sauce and onion soup mix in a small bowl.
3. Spoon evenly over chicken pieces.
4. Bake at 350°F for about 1 hour and 15 minutes...or until chicken is done (170 degrees F).

chocolate, chocolate cookie cake

If you don't have the time or inclination to bake and decorate a cake...here's a simple and delicious alternative for your next celebration that's always a hit for 'kids' of all ages! 

• 1/2 cup  butter
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cups flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips (use white chocolate, dark chocolate or milk chocolate)

1. Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture.
3. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Line two nine inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
5. Divide dough in half, and spread each half evenly in a lined cake pan, leaving a small gap around the edge of the pan
6. Bake cookies on center rack at 350°F for about 15 minutes..or until set.
7. Cool completely before removing from pan.
8. Now your cookie-cake is a blank canvas waiting to be written on.  Melt white chocolate,  put into a Zip-loc bag, snip one corner and write a message to the happy recipient. Or mix up a batch of butter-cream frosting, use a pastry bag and decorate. 

* I usually double the recipe and make large cookies with the remaining dough.  These can also be personalized and used as party favours. If you have another cookie recipe that you prefer, most cookie doughs will make up nicely into a 'cake'...keeping in mind that each 9" cookie-cake uses about 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup flour.

Place on serving platter...

and enjoy!

 

Ice-Cream Blizzard Cake

We all love ice-cream cakes...

and my grands love DQ blizzards...

and so ice-cream blizzard cakes seemed like the right choice for their birthday cake this year.

• 1 chocolate cake mix
• 1 liter / quart premium vanilla ice-cream, slightly softened
• 1/2 milk
• Skor bits (1 cup, or to taste)
• Cool-Whip topping

1. Mix cake mix according to instructions on package and bake in 2 9-inch pans.  Cool completely.
2. Line a 9-inch cake pan with plastic wrap. 
3. In blender, combine the ice-cream and milk.  This works best doing 1/2 at a time. *
4. Pulse to blend until thick and uniform.
5. Add skor bits and pulse just until combined.
6. Pack into prepared cake pan, leveling the surface.
7. Freeze until firm.

*Blender needs to be heavy duty. Alternatively, allow the ice-cream to soften enough to stir skor bits in with a wooden spoon. 

To Assemble:

1. Cut one cake layer in half horizontally and place bottom on a round base.
2. Place frozen ice-cream layer on top of cake base.
3. Center top piece of cake on ice-cream layer.
4. Pop into the freezer and freeze until firm.

Decorate:

1. Frost entire cake with a layer of cool whip.
2. Use additional whipped topping in a pastry bag to decorate as you wish.
3. Write message on cake with melted chocolate or chocolate icing.
4. Store in freezer...for up to a few weeks.
5. Let sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving. 

Those were the instructions for cake #1.  The second cake was an oreo blizzard ice-cream cake, prepared in the same way but using crushed oreo cookies rather than skor bits.  And that is the general method for making a yummy ice-cream cake at home.