And now we return to our regular schedule:)

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Break for Announcement on Flip Giveaway!

INGREDIENTS:

Cake Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 c. shortening
• 1 c. water
• 4 TBLS cocoa
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. soda
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Icing Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 4 TBLS cocoa
• 6 TBLS milk
• 1 box confectioners sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Melt butter, shortening, water, and cocoa. Bring to a boil. Mix sugar & flour in bowl. Add the first mixture you boiled to dry ingredients. Then add buttermilk, eggs, soda, cinnamon, vanilla. Mix well and pour into a greased & floured 17×11 sheet pan. Bake for 22-25 minutes in a 350′ oven.

Icing–During the last 5 minutes of baking, melt butter, cocoa, and milk. Bring to a boil. Add confectioners sugar making sure to get rid of all the lumps. Pour over hot cake……hmmmmmm, good! You can founder on this stuff!  Top with whip cream or not…either way, it’s delicious.

HINT: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can add vinegar to your milk and let sit for a little bit to sour it.

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Chocolate Sheet Cake

Here’s what you can choose from:

Yep, that’s right folks….you get to choose from a Kitchenaid Immersion Blender, a Cuisinart Food Processor, or a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer!  HOLY COW!

I really, really, really wanna win this challenge so I hope that you please, please vote for me.  BUT, that’s NOT a requirement into entering this contest.

HOW TO ENTER:

There are 5 ways to enter this fantastic giveaway..or at least I think it’s fantastic.  You can do 1 or all 4….it’s up to you.  The more you do, the more chance you have at winning.

• 1. Leave a comment telling me which one you would choose.
• 2. Vote for My Wooden Spoon’s Shrimp Stroganoff Casserole over at the Velveeta Casserole Challenge.
• 3. Vote for me to Win a Wii!  You simply click and vote on LORI FALCON.
• 4. Twitter this giveaway.
• 5. Blog about it.

ALSO, number 2  can be done DAILY!!!  AND, you can vote per day, per email address.   Just come back here to this post every day to let me know that you have entered again.

Please leave each entry in a separate comment!

This giveaway ends on Nov. 23rd which is the day the contest ends for me as well at the Velveeta Challenge website.

No matter who wins, it was a great run and I had a blast giving out prizes right before the holidays and I appreciate the support that everyone has given me.  You all RAWK and I’m grateful to have such a awesome group of readers/friends.  THANK YOU!

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Stand Mixer, Immersion Blender, Food Processor OH MY! (giveaway)

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon table salt
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* cracked black pepper
* kosher salt
* 1 cup + 2 tablespoons water
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Making by hand:
1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and a pinch of black pepper. Mix in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and water.
2. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Making in bread maker:
1. Pour water and 1 tablespoon of olive oil into bread maker pan. Add salt, sugar, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and a pinch of black pepper. Make a well in the center and pour 1 tablespoon active dry yeast or bread maker yeast into it.
2. Turn on the dough only cycle on your bread maker. Check the dough on the first kneading cycle to see if you need to add more water because it’s too dry or add more flour because it’s too sticky. Add sparingly until the dough is the right consistency.

For both methods:
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Make dimples on the top by pushing your fingers down into the dough. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper, and a good pinch of Kosher salt.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm with a side of high quality olive oil and cracked black pepper for dipping.

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Easy Focaccia Bread

For the Cookbook Junkies, I have compiled several cookbooks, 12 in fact, that would be great to keep or perhaps even giveaway as gifts this holiday season!  There will be everything from casserole cookbooks to vegetarian cookbooks and much more!  I’m not listing them because I want you to be surprised!!!

For the Mystery Box folks, I have created a box FULL of goodies!!  It could have cookbooks, utensils, a small ktichen appliance or it could be a big ol’ dud but I seriously doubt that;)  There will be LOTS of stuff in the box or there will be ONE BIG prize..who knows!!!  WOOHOO

I hope that I can truly trust you guys who are saying that you are voting for me.  I’d hate to know that someone is not.  There are ways for me to check so just know that.  IT wouldn’t be fair to those who really did vote for me;)

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY:

Simply vote for My Wooden Spoon’s  Shrimp Stroganoff Casserole at the Velveeta Casserole Challenge and you’re entered!!  BTW, you can substitute the shrimp with chicken if shrimp isn’t your thang!

And, you can enter to vote per email address per day!!!!

That could add up to a LOT of votes for yourself people!!!

Additional ways to enter:

Tweet this giveaway leaving your twitter handle please.

Stumble this post!

Blog about it!

LEAVE EACH ADDITIONAL ENTRY YOU DO IN A SEPARATE COMMENT PLEASE.

This ends on Nov. 23rd!

If you’re into shopping for foodies, check out my Foodie Holiday Gift Guide!

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Calling Cookbook Junkies & Mystery Box Fans!

I was given some delicious red pears the other day and it was the first time I had ever since such a pretty pear.  In fact, I didn’t even know there were red ones because I’ve only seen green.  This led me to research more about this juicy fruit!

Did you know that Pears are rich in Vitamin B2, Vitamin C, E1, copper, potassium and are 100% free from bad cholesterol. Pear juice is also known to be the first juice introduced to infants because of its hypoallergenic properties. Good to eat and good for you!

There are over 3,000 known pear varieties grown around the world, but you can only find the best in the Northwestern part of the good ol’ USA!

Check the Neck for Ripeness!

Pears ripen best off the tree (pears that ripen on the tree will be gritty). The other reason you might rarely find ripe pears in the store is that ripe pears are fragile, so it’s better to have them ripen at your home rather than in the store. I mean, how many times have you brought home ripe pears and found them with gashes all through them? Tons of times for me!

Getting your Pears Ripe!

If you have a bunch of hard pears, follow this easy 1, 2, 3 process to get your pears to their ripe and juicy perfection.

1. Place hard pears in a paper bag or a covered fruit bowl, leave at room temperature.
2. Every day, “Check the Neck for Ripeness”. To do this, apply gentle pressure to the stem end of the pear with your thumb. When it yields to the pressure, it’s ready to eat (this process usually takes a few days).
3. Enjoy your ripe, juicy pears now, or store them in the fridge until you’re ready to use them. The fridge will slow down the ripening process, but won’t stop it. Ready to eat pears will stay fresh in the fridge for between 3-5 days.

Make a Pie!

Red Anjou Pie

4 firm ripe Northwest Red Anjou pears, cored and coarsely diced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup diced dried apricots
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
Pastry dough for double crust pie
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Gently toss diced pears with lemon juice. Mix together sugar, flour, cinnamon, apricots and pecans. Gently mix together pears and dry ingredients. Pour into prepared bottom pie crust. Dot top of pear mixture with butter pieces. Top either with a full crust, or cut top crust into lattice. Crimp crust edges. If using a top crust, cut several slits to vent the pie. Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on rack.

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The Pear Facts and Red Anjou Pie

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 c fat-free milk
• 3 TBLS firmly packed brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 c Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 2 medium-size ripe bananas, mashed (about 1c)
• Pecan pieces (optional)
• Dash of Honey:) (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

In saucepan, bring milk, brown sugar, and spices to a gentle boil; stir in your oats. Return to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Cook 1 minute for quick oats, 5 minutes for old fashioned oats, or until most of liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Remove oatmeal from heat. Stir in mashed bananas and pecans and a dash of honey.

NOTE: The bananas, honey and pecans can be completely optional!! If you just want plain but tasty oatmeal, the cinnamon and nutmeg are quite wonderful.

ENJOY:)

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Old Fashion Banana Nut Oatmeal

I’m excited to bring you my first holiday gift guide this season here at My Wooden Spoon!  With items from unique utensils to gourmet sin for chocolate lovers, you’re sure to find something for that special foodie in this guide.  Price ranges start out as cheap as $10 bucks and go up. I chose to breakdown this guide using product categories so that you can narrow down the type of item you might be looking for.

I hope that you all enjoy it and with that said………………..I present to you, My Wooden Spoon’s 2008 Holiday Gift Guide.

CATEGORIES:

FOOD

BEVERAGES

UTENSILS/CUTLERY & GADGETS

SMALL APPLIANCES

COOKBOOKS & BOOKS

BAKEWARE

COOKWARE

GREAT MISC. MUST-HAVES!

If you didn’t make the guide this year, there’s always next year!  I had sooo many wonderful submissions and it was very hard to choose. I wish I could have put them all in the guide.

Happy Shopping and Have a Safe & Wonderful New Year!!

IF YOU HAVE YOUR OWN GIFT GUIDE, LINK IT UP AT THE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDES ROUNDUP!

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My Wooden Spoon’s 2008 Holiday Gift Guide

A couple of the things in her recipe are optional.  As always, substitute, omit, or whatever you want to your liking:)  ENJOY

INGREDIENTS:

• 10 3/4 oz cream of Mush
• 10 3/4 oz cream of Chicken
• 10 oz diced tomatoes w/ green chilies
• 1 small can black olives (OPT)
• 1 8oz soften Cream Cheese
• 2 lbs Ground Beef or( 2 C. Chicken-precooked)-we prefer beef
• 12 Corn Tortillas, broken to fit pan
• 2 C shredded cheese
• Uncle Chris’s seasoning (OPT) -our favorite on everything.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven 350F. Lightly mist 9×13 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Brown meat add seasoning’s (of choice) , drains excess grease. Add Cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, Diced tomatoes w/ green chilies and cream cheese. (I cube the cream cheese)

Use 1/2 the tortillas tear and layer bottom of dish until covered, add all meat & soup mixture, take other half of tortillas, tear in pieces and place on top of meat mixture, until covered. Top with Cheese & olives. Bake 30 - 45 mins. I like to brown the cheese on top. We love olives and cream cheese and added them to this recipe for my own special touch.  Serve with garlic bread….

THANKS SO MUCH TO MY AWESOME SIL FOR SUBMITTING HER RECIPE!!  SHE DOESN’T HAVE A BLOG SO I CAN’T SHOW HER SOME LOVE………SINCE I CAN’T, PLEASE WELCOME HER IN THIS POST AND ENCOURAGE HER TO SUBMIT MORE RECIPES:)

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King Ranch Casserole - SIL Style!

I’ve been asking for your votes over and over again, bribing in most cases but did you know that YOU could submit your own entry to win some fabulous prizes??

Tell Velveeta in 150 words or less on how you deliver delicious meals to your family on a budget, and you could win a Stainless Steel Cookware Set from Cuisinart and an awesome runner-up prize.    Surely you all have some tips that are budget friendly and yet still allow you to create a fantastic home cooked meal!

It’s super easy to enter…just fill out your email, name and address and submit your story/tips.

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Velveeta Wants to Hear From YOU