Thursday Journal Jar

What is your favorite food? (include the recipe)


Okay, if last week's answer was a library catalog then this week's will surely be a recipe book because...I LOVE food! I think the two best known facts about me are that I LOVE to talk and I LOVE to eat. This past Mother's Day Alyssa penned a beautiful poem that began...My mom likes to eat. I should be a food critic because not only do I love to eat, I love to talk at length about everything I eat.

So, which of all the delicious foods would I consider my favorite? Oh, the choices... I love shredded beef burritos, preferably smothered, but then there is also a sub sandwich (roast beef, tuna, meatball, chicken salad -not all together), or pizza, or chips with guacamole, crackers with pepper jack cheese, apples with peanut butter, chili and cornbread, and SO many more. But if I must declare a favorite then it must be something with CHOCOLATE!

I LOVE CHOCOLATE! I know a lot of people make that claim but I could truly live on nothing but chocolate...especially dark chocolate. I love Godiva truffles, Godiva cheesecake from cheesecake factory, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, and probably most of all...chocolate chip cookies. I have so many different recipes for chocolate chip cookies and I love them all. When I get together with my siblings I make chocolate chip cookies every night and we sit and talk about what we love about each recipe, even though we have tried them all a million times. Based on that scary admission, I guess chocolate chip cookies must be my favorite food.

Since everyone knows how to make a chocolate chip cookie I will include a recipe for another one of my favorite desserts. This chocolate cake is so moist and rich and I get asked to bring it to get togethers often so I might as well post the recipe.

But first, Seth said his opinions are not being represented on this blog, to which I answered..."then post them!" But since I know that he will not, I will answer the question for him too. Seth's favorite food is...whatever is the most expensive thing on the menu. Crab legs, lobster, prime rib, swordfish, salmon...I have even seen him order lamb once just because it was the only obscenely priced item on the menu. But, in fairness, he does also like burgers and no bake cookies (yuck)...and to his credit, he also loves chocolate.

As for Alyssa, she came with her daddy's taste buds. We get funny looks when we order her Miso Salmon at Cheesecake Factory but she eats every bite.

And our little Alex...well, he could happily subsist on nothing but bagel sandwiches. (mini bagel with ham, eggs and cheese)

Chloe, well Chloe still prefers milk over anything else.

And on to the cake recipe...
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups sour cream
1 cup melted butter
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan.
In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in sour cream, melted butter, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Blend in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

I usually cook this just until the middle stops wobbling or it will be overcooked...so watch carefully. I also usually melt about a cup of chocolate chips with a couple tablespoons of butter and a little glob of corn syrup to drizzle over the top. You can also add a little splash of vanilla to that after you take it off the heat. It doesn't even need frosting because it is so moist and rich but a little extra chocolate never hurt anything. Enjoy!