New Favorite: Molten Chocolate Cakes

We had this rich, dark dessert tonight...I love that it makes one small cake for each family member. No chance of overindulging with a second (or third) helping! We were wishing for some vanilla ice cream and/or some whipped cream and/or some kind of berries to top the cakes. But they were plenty good on their own. Mmmmmmmm.

Molten Chocolate Cakes

1 c. plus 2 T. cocoa powder

1 c. plus 1 T. butter

1 1/2 powdered sugar

1/2 c. flour

3 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

Grease 6 custard cups or soufle dishes. Place on baking sheet. [Deb's note: I used small coffee mugs.]
Melt cocoa and butter in double boiler or microwave. Stir until completely combined. Add powdered sugar and flour; mix well. Add whole eggs and egg yolks. Whisk or mix w/electric mixer until well blended. Divide batter evenly among custard cups.
Bake @ 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until cakes are firm around edges and soft in the middle. Let stand one minute. Run a knife around cakes to loosen [I did not need to do this...] Carefully invert onto dessert plates. Garnish as desired. [We dusted w/powdered sugar...]

Grilled Pizza?

In the past we have tried grilling pizza with limited success. Tonight's creation was the best we've had. The recipe we used for the dough was stiffer than the ones we have attempted in the past. We have yet to figure out how to get the cheese to fully melt before the bottom of the crust gets too dark. We make individual pizzas for each person, made to order. Trying to grill bigger pieces of dough was just too difficult. What I like about cooking the pizza on the 'barbie' is the crispy crust and the intangible 'grill-ish' flavor. Tonight our toppings were: turkey pepperoni, pineapple tidbits, mushrooms, green pepper, black olive & mozzerella.

Here's how it is done:

1. Concoct the dough and flatten into portions. (recipe follows)



2. Heat the grill - we use a gas grill and heated it on the 1/4 power setting.



3. Take sauce (I use our leftover spaghetti sauce - my mom's recipe), toppings, cheese, dough, & a dish of olive oil out to the grill.



4. You'll need a long basting brush to apply the oil to the grill and to one side of the dough. You'll also need one or two long-handled spatulas for turning the dough.



5. 'Baste' grill w/olive oil.



6. Place first piece of dough on grill and brush dough lightly w/oil.



7. Cook for 3-4 minutes w/lid down.



8. Flip dough & add as quickly as possible the sauce (1-2 T.), toppings & cheese. Don't get too heavy on the toppings or they won't get warm.



9. Close lid and grill another 3 minutes or so....check the underside of the dough to prevent burning. Reminder: the cheese may not be completely melted before the underside of your dough is getting dark!



10. Enjoy with your favorite beverage!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grilled Pizza Dough (www.italianchef.com/grilledpizzadough.html )

• 5 c. all-purpose flour



• 1 T. sugar



• 2 t. table salt or 3 1/2 t. kosher salt (I used kosher.)



• 1 t. yeast



• 1 1/2 t. olive oil



• 1 3/4 c. warm water

I combined all ingredients in my kitchenaid stand mixer. (You can do this by hand too.) Mix 'till combined with mixer beater. Change to dough hook and knead in mixer for 4 minutes. Let dough rest 15 minutes. Knead w/dough hook 4 more minutes. Divide into 6-10 portions. (For instructions on storing this dough in the freezer, go the the website above.) Flatten by hand or with rolling pin in to individual portions. Separate w/waxed paper. (Do not stack them more than 4-5 high or the bottom ones will adhere to the waxed paper and not look as pretty when you grill them!)

End-of-summer-vacation-creativity

School starts on the 13th for us this year (yes, the 13th of August). Seems like we are starting earlier and earlier. I am feeling that end-of-summer-urgency to have fun with our kids! Since we do not have piles of cash lying around, we are trying to think of jolly things to do together close to home!

We had a day of tie-dying last week. MAN, did we have fun. We bought a couple of white shirts and bandanas from Walmart, some dye and rubber bands from Hobby Lobby. The night before we dyed, I looked for diy instructions on youtube. I found LOTS of helpful videos and some interesting history. We used our rubber bands to 'tie' our shirts We boiled water (incidentally, we did this on one of the hottest days. Next time we tie-dye, which we hope will be soon, we will wait for a cool fall or winter day!), added the dye. We had three colors: pink, red, blue. We dyed for a few hours. It was a BLAST. We dyed old nasty night shirts, socks, towels, even undies! We were scouring the house for whites to dye. My mom dyed a red shirt on which she had accidentally spilled bleach...she dyed it blue and it turned out so cool. We learned how to make a plaid pattern. We learned how to make circles within circles. We even figured out how to make hearts. We WILL be dying again soon. (Our camera is near death, so I cannot post any of our own pics right now...)

Our other project that we did today and also a couple of days ago: homemade silly putty and homemade flubbery blubber. Here are the recipes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SILLY PUTTY:

3 T. white glue

4 T. liquid starch

food coloring (optional) (red will stain your hands!)

Mix together and then knead and knead and knead. Store in an airtight container.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FLUBBERY BLUBBER

Stir in bowl #1:

• 2 T. warm water


• 3 t. white glue


• food coloring (optional)

Mix in bowl #2:

• 2 T. warm water


• scant 1/2 t. Borax (found in the laundry section @ the grocery)

Add Bowl #1's contents to Bowl #2. Mix until solution becomes rubbery and forms a ball. Knead until smooth. Drain any excess water. Store in airtight container.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are similar, but the blubber is more stiff...we think the Silly Putty is more fun! Now I am on the hunt for more out-of-the-ordinary, inexpensive projects for this next week!