Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

A friend of mine recently asked why so many of the recipes I post on my blog are main course items, with the odd salad or side dish thrown in. Why don't I blog recipes about more deserts?

Well, mainly, and I know this is going to be hard to believe for a lot of you who have seen how I'm not exactly an Undergear model, I'm not that big on deserts. It's just easier, after cooking the main parts of the meal, to just get out some ice cream or some kind of store bought confection of pastry.

I can make deserts with the best of them though, and to prove it, I made a special dish that was recently e-mailed to me from the good people at Bisquick. I hope you enjoy it as much as my roommate and I did.

CHOCOLATE-STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

• 1 quart (4 cups) fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups Original Bisquick (R) mix
• 1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2/3 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons butter (or margarine), melted
• 1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• Your favorite frozen (thawed of course) whipped topping

1. In a medium bowl, toss strawberries and 1/2 cup sugar until coated and let stand for at least one hour.
2. Heat you oven to 375*F and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.
3. In another medium bowl, stir the Bisquick mix, cocoa, 2 tablespoons of sugar, milk and melted butter together until a soft dough forms.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Drop dough by about 1/3 cupfuls onto the cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until tops of shortcakes appear dry and cracked.
7. Cool for about 15 minutes.
8. Split with a serrated knife before filling and topping with strawberries and a dollop of your favorite whipped topping.

As always, eat and enjoy.

Stockton Civic Theatre Shrimp Feed - 2010

Last night I went to the 2nd annual shrimp feed for the Stockton Civic Theatre. I had a wonderful time and by myself alone did a pretty good job making shrimp an endangered species.


Aside from the shrimp (the pasta was a little bland) and seeing so many of my friends that are involved with the theatre, the best part of the evening was the live band that performed. It was a group called Waterloo, an Abba tribute band. I went a little crazy on the dance floor with whomever I could get to dance with me, and on a few occasions I danced alone. It was absolutely fantabulous!


Anyway, here are a few pictures of the evening, some of the people I met, and some of the things I saw. I just wish you could have all been there.

The Empty Silence of Loneliness

When you are surrounded by silence, you hear everything.

Another person's joy,

The laughter of life passing you by.

The whisper of "What if's" and "If only's".

The ticking of a clock,

Distant yet inescapable.

Silence is in fact no silence at all.

It is a cacophony of all the sounds you have no part of.

It is an unquenchable thirst,

A longing to be filled,

A hunger yearning to be satisfied.

It is the empty space through which envy enters the heart and makes a home.

For mine is not the silence of the absence of sound.

It is far more sinister than that.

Mine is the silence of the lonely soul.

Crockpot Ham Tetrazzini

I hope you all had a good Easter. I had a great one. My roommates parents and older brother came up from Los Angeles for a visit and Easter brunch, and one of the things I made was a glazed ham.

I was going to go to HoneyBaked for one of their spiral cut hams at first, but as it turns out, the store in Stockton, California is closed Sundays and Mondays. So, I had to buy a ham at the store and used a quick glaze of mustard and brown sugar (equal amounts) and baked it at 350*F for 90 minutes.

Now, since it was a rather large ham, I had a LOT of leftover meat, and was bored by the prospect of ham and eggs for breakfast and ham sandwiches for the rest of April (did I mention it was a LARGE ham?). So, I did a little research as to what I could so with the leftovers and in this issue, with a few of my own little "ala Wesley" touches, will be giving you the recipe for -

(You will need a 5 quart crock-pot for this dish)

CROCK-POT HAM TETRAZZINI with ELBOW MACARONI

• 4 cans (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 lb leftover Easter ham
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 cup white Zinfandel wine
• 1 16 oz package elbow macaroni
• 6 tbsp melted margarine

1. Combine all ingredients except macaroni and butter in a large, 5 quart crock-pot, stir well.
2. Cover and cook at low setting for 6 to 8 hours.
3. Just before serving, cook the macaroni according to package directions, drain and toss with the melted margarine.
4. Stir into the ham mixture in the slow-cooker.

I think you'll find this dish both satisfying and yum-yum-yummy!!!

As always my wonderful readers, eat and enjoy.