Chocolate Chip Cake

Sister #5 called to ask for this recipe this morning. It is a cake that we made all the time growing up. I think the recipe is came from our Aunt Pat.

Chocolate Chip Cake

1 package yellow cake mix
1 large package instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water
1 c sour cream
4 eggs (best at room temperature)
1 package (12 oz) mini chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all ingredients except eggs and chocolate chips. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well. Fold in chocolate chips. Grease a bundt pan lightly and put in mixture. Bake for 1 hour. Cool for 45 minutes and unmold.

Sift confectioner's sugar on top before serving.

Hopefully my sister will provide me with a picture for this post later. Hint, hint , Mims!

Here's the picture:


Sister #5 made it with a devil's food cake instead of the yellow cake mix. She said she liked the yellow cake mix better. The cake tasted fine, but it wasn't want she was used to having.

Brisket Chili

Last week, I was spending my morning as I normally do. I yelled loudly asked the children to keep moving/put on socks & shoes/eat breakfast/brush teeth. DH came out of the bedroom telling me that I had to make brisket chili. It seems they had some chef cooking on the morning news program. Lucky for him that Sunday was the Super Bowl and I actually had a reason to make brisket chili. Plus after reading the recipe and checking out his restaurants, I wanted to try it for myself.

We ended up asked a few families over to watch the game plus my mom and sister#5 showed up. I made chili, DH made jalapeno poppers and everyone else brought side and appetizers. The chili was a hit. The batch was huge which was good because people went back for seconds and even thirds. DH is already planning to enter the Dad's Club chili cook off next year with this recipe.

I didn't get pictures of the chili on Sunday, but I ended up cooking it down and make pseudo brisket chili sloppy joes for dinner tonight. It was a great use of the leftovers.



Jason Boso's Brisket Chili

• 3-5 lbs of brisket
• 2 large yellow onions slicked
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 large can stewed tomatoes (28 oz)
• 1 can Lone Star Beer
• 1 chopped jalapeno
• 2 T tomato paste
• 5 T ancho chili powder
• 1 T light chili powder
• 1 T cumin
• 1 T granulated sugar
• 3/4 T salt

Trim and chop brisket into 1/2 lb pieces. Sear sides of beef in large cast iron pot or braising pot. Remive meat and saute sliced onions in rendered fat left in pot. In another pan, toast all spices together. Once onions are caramelized, scarpe bottom of pan and then add all ingredients and meat. Cover meat 3/4 of way with beer and stock. Cover and simmer for 5 hours or until the meat falls apart.


I misread the recipe and thought it said 1/2 inch pieces, so I was cubing the brisket. About halfway through, DH noticed and corrected me. It wasn't a big deal, it all fell apart anyway. I just put the cubes on top of the big pieces. I also wasn't sure what to include in the toasting the spices part. I left the sugar and salt out and just toasted the chili powders. I didn't have Lone Star, we had an old 16 oz can of Budweiser that has been in our back fridge for at least a year. I finally found a use for it.

This recipe was definitely a hit. I will make it again.

Spicy Beef

I made this meal back in mid-December. It was in the newspaper, the picture looked okay and I had ground beef. I gave it a try. It was pretty good.

Spicy Beef in Lettuce Cups
adapted from the Dallas Morning News

• 3 T soy sauce
• 2 T dry sherry, white wine or Shaoxing wine
• 2 t cornstarch
• 1/2 t sugar
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 2 T chopped fresh ginger
• 1 T chopped garlic
• 1/2 t red pepper flakes
• 3 T finely chopped scallions
• 1 T sesame oil

In a small bow, combine soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Stir will to dissolve the cornstarch.

In a medium bowl, break up the ground beef. Gently mix in the soy sauce mixture. Set aside for 10-15 minutes.

Heat a wok or a large, deep skillet over medium-high until very hot. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the ginger and garlic. Cook for about 1 minute, tossing once until fragrant but not browned.

Crumble in the ground beef and use a spatula to break it up and spread over pan to help cook evenly. Let it cook until it changes color on one side, 1 to 2 minutes.

Turn the meat and let it cook another minute undisturbed. Toss well using spatula to break up large chunks.

When the meat is cooked, add the red pepper flakes and the scallions, then toss well. Add the sesame oil and remove from the heat, tossing once more to mix everything well.

Serve in lettuce cups.



It was late and mid-December so the lighting was bad for the picture. It tasted so much better than it looks. The kids didn't really eat it, too spicy. They like the plain rice I made to go with it. DH liked it but thought it was a little greasy. I think next time I'll use less sesame oil.