NATIONAL CHOCOLATE DAY--OCTOBER 28

I thought this an appropriate picture versus all the others depicting chocolate. This way you can even use this in your email messages, etc.

Anyway I came across an article by Bob Sassone of Slashfood.com celebrating National Chocolate Day on October 28, 2007. In his article he mentioned a recipe for QUADRUPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES which certainly peaked my interest. I continued to search further only to find more info at Food and Wine.com. I could not imagine such a recipe and I proceeded to read it. Here is how F&W describes the creator(Michael Recchiuti) and the recipe is there as well.

QUADRUPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
MAKES 4 DOZEN 2-INCH BROWNIES
Inspired by aromatic spices like sesame and pink peppercorn, and herbs like tarragon, San Francisco chocolatier Michael Recchiuti of Recchiuti Confections searches local farmers' markets for the absolute freshest ingredients. Beyond truffles, Recchiuti creates all kinds of fun, homey chocolate desserts (like s'mores), the recipes for which appear in his stunning new cookbook, Chocolate Obsession. However, he didn't choose to share the recipe for his four-chocolate brownies—until now. By swirling chunks of white, milk and bittersweet chocolate into a batter made with unsweetened chocolate, then melting and drizzling more all over the top, Recchiuti says this sweet has "all the chocolates I like in one brownie."
Recipe by Michael Recchiuti From Chocolate. This recipe originally appeared in December, 2005.

After reading this I just had to pass this on to all chocolate lovers who just might want to make this. I decided to pass this time as all that chocolate would be delicious but not good for me. Oh well, I will stick with my own recipe of one chocolate.

Chinese Egg Rolls

I have been looking at cooking Chinese food and recipes for foods I enjoy. I know it is fun to go to a buffet and get all the variations of foods but I usually like to eat an egg roll as I choose all the different foods. Here is a simple recipe for making your own.

Chinese Easy Egg Rolls

Ingredients
1 pound hot ground pork sausage
1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 (10-oz.) bag shredded coleslaw mix
1 (16-oz.) package egg roll wrappers
Vegetable oil
1. Brown sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink.

2. Drain excess grease, and pat dry with paper towels, if necessary. Return sausage to skillet.
3. Stir in ginger and garlic; cook 1 minute.
4. Add coleslaw mix, and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes or until coleslaw mix is tender; let stand 30 minutes to cool.
5. Spoon 1/4 cup sausage mixture in center of each egg roll wrapper.
6. Fold top corner of each wrapper over filling; fold left and right corners over filling. Lightly brush remaining corner with water; tightly roll filled end toward remaining corner, and gently press to seal.
7. Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 2 inches into a wok or Dutch oven; heat to 375°. Fry, in batches, 2 to 3 minutes or until golden, turning once; drain on paper towels.
Note: Egg rolls can be assembled up to a day ahead. Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and chill. Fry according to recipe instructions. Do not fry them ahead of time or fry and freeze.

If you are interested in cooking these egg rolls, check out EGGROLL TIPS this site for 10 tips on how-to.
You can find more recipes at Southern Living and About.com for other Chinese recipes.

Don't forget the fortune cookie. I love to see what it says inside.

FALL IS COMING SOMETIME

Now that "fall" is here(in name only) there are two vegetables that come to mind. Pumpkin and potatoes. I found a great recipe for "pumpin muffins" at SIMPLY RECIPES. I like all the spices that go along with this, so it should be a good one. As far as potatoes, one thing I love to make is potato soup but for now it is rather warm for that. But there are lots of other recipes for these goodies at HEALTHY POTATO. I know we can get some quickie potato meals out of a box but I like doing things from scratch. Sometimes when I go out to eat and have a good meal, I wish I had the recipe to make for myself. Well I found a few clone recipes at RECIPE SECRETS that are like the read deal. These are free recipes, nada. Get your recipes ready for fall and when it comes you will be ready.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Here is a terrific squash casserole with a cornbread topping. I picked this one up at the Martha White.com site. Really,You can use any cornbread package mix for the topping.
Summer Squash and Cornbread Casserole
Ingredients
1 pound zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 large sweet onion, cut into thin wedges
1 pound yellow summer squash, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 package Martha White® Cotton CountryTM Cornbread Mix
OR 1 package Martha White® Buttermilk Cornbread Mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Preparation Directions
Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease 2-quart casserole.
Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion;
cook until tender, stirring occasionally.
Add summer squash, zucchini, water, salt and pepper.
Reduce heat; cover and cook 15 minutes or until squash is tender.
With fork, mash squash gently to break up large pieces.
Cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened and creamy.
Pour into greased casserole.
In medium bowl, combine cornbread mix and milk; mix well.
Stir in cheese. Spoon batter evenly over mixture in casserole.
Bake at 450 degrees F. for 15 to 18 minutes or
until cornbread is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Serving size: 8 servings
Ever heard of steak-frites? I had not until today while reading Epicurious.com. Basically steak is steak but frites(which means fries) is Belgian. Go here
and read about how to make them.
I feel sure you have a great chocolate-chip cookie recipe but, BUT
DIANA'S DESSERTS says hers are better than better. She has CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP and REALLY BIG,THICK CHOCOLATE CHIPPERS. Read and make the recipes and put her to the challenge. I like the CHEWY best cuz mine never come out like that.
P.S. MY Chicago Bears beat the Packers. YEAAAAAH!

APPLE DUMPLINGS AND VEGGIES

Everything seems to be apples today on all the recipe sites. I picked a really simple one --APPLE DUMPLINGS--from Cooks.com. I know there are lots of different recipes for this but here it is.
Apple Dumplings
package -- of 10 Pillsbury refrigerated Biscuits )the small ones)
3 apples
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup water 1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla and cinnamon
Pat each biscuit into 3 inch circle.
Wrap 1/4 peeled, cored apple, in each. Press edges to seal.
Put in a bake dish, seam side down, Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Put margarine, water, and sugar in small saucepan, and bring to boil.. Boil one minute..
Add vanilla, and spoon over dumplings..
Bake in 350 degree F. oven for about 30 min. or until golden.. Serve warm, spooning a little of the sauce in the pan over each.... Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired..
Now how simple is that. If you don't want that many dumplings then cut recipe in half. Not sure how good they are if frozen.
I found 2 recipes for vegetables--broccoli and brussel sprouts that are somewhat different. These are by Chef John including videos which shows the veggies in a different light. As he states many folks are not too keen on b.s. but this is interesting. His site is called FOODWISHES.
Have a good day and I hope the weather is decent where you are.