Texas Sheet Cake

This is a relatively easy recipe and it tastes wonderful!

Cake:

• ½ cup butter


• 6 T. cocoa


• 1 cup water


• 2 eggs


• 2 cups flour


• 2 cups sugar


• ½ t. salt


• 1 t. baking soda


• ½ cup sour cream

Boil first 3 ingredients and pour into a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix. Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes.

Frosting:

• ½ cup butter


• 4 T. cocoa


• 6 T. milk


• 1 lb. conf. sugar


• 1 t. vanilla

Boil first 3 ingredients and pour in mixing bowl. Add the other ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Let cake cool and then frost. Cut into squares.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

Talk about heavenly. . .peanut butter, chocolate, sugar. . .what more could you ask for?


22 graham cracker squares
1 lb. box powdered sugar
1 c. peanut butter
1 c. melted butter
1 (12 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

In food processor make graham crackers into crumbs. Add powdered sugar. In a large bowl add to butter and peanut butter. Stir well. Spoon peanut butter mixture to an ungreased 9 x 13 inch pan or for thinner layer use cookie sheet. Press firmly into an even layer with spatula. Chill about 45 minutes.

Melt chips, stirring until smooth. Spread chocolate evenly over peanut butter layer. Let stand until chocolate firms slightly. Cut into squares.

Italian Bread

This is a super easy recipe for either French or Italian bread and it freezes very well. We normally double it so that we don't have to make it too often.

3½ t. yeast

2 cups hot water

1½ t. salt

2 cups white flour

3½ cups soft white flour

1 T. Italian seasoning (omit if making French bread)

2 T. honey

2½ T. oil

Mix all ingredients in large bowl and knead for 8 minutes (we use our bread machine so we don't have to hand-knead.) Let rise until doubled. Shape into oblong loaves and let rise. Slit loaves with a dough knife right before baking. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.
Yield: 2 loaves
Enjoy!

Easy Dirty Rice

It was requested that I post this recipe, which I took to church this week. I think I doubled it for church. It is a variation on a recipe from a small book I picked up a couple of years ago called Rival Crock Pot Slow Cooker Recipe Card Collection.

• 1 pound bulk pork sausage (Recipe calls for 1/2 pound of Italian; didn't sound like enough; and I didn't have Italian--nor do I like it as well.)
  
• 2 cups water (I added chicken bouillon--one cube per cup of water.)
  
• 1 cup uncooked long grain rice (I used Uncle Ben's.)
  
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper

1. Brown and drain sausage. Place in crock-pot.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover; cook on HIGH a couple of hours. (The recipe says LOW for two hours, but I find more and more, especially with removable crocks, HIGH is required for at least part of the cooking.)

When I made this, I cooked the sausage at home. When I got to church, I put all the ingredients in the crock-pot and mixed it up, turned it on HIGH before corporate-prayer-time, and let it stay on HIGH until lunch. Very easy!

Enjoy!

Mary Susan