Soul Food

So I came up with a new kind of dessert bar. I'm calling them Sandie Bars. They put me in the mind of Pecan Sandies, but they are in soft bar form. I put pecans and chocolate and caramel chips in them. They were scrumptious! I think the next time I make them, I'll use caramel syrup to swirl in them, and maybe some Heath bar bits. Sorry, I would've taken pictures, but they were gone too fast! (I think I might have eaten most of them!)

So I have been making this chocolate cake - you know I like to make things two and three times to make sure it is something I can say that I make well, because there is a such thing as beginner's luck when it comes to baking and cooking. Anyway, I made this cake, and it turned out really well. I combined some concepts from a few different recipes, and I came up with a recipe for my Finer Woman Chocolate Cake (name after an event I first made it for). It is a moist chocolate cake with an Oreo cookie and cream cheese filling and frosting.

It tastes really good, but it is not aesthetically pleasing, and that bothers me. Because of the mixing, the icing and filling end up being a kind of a dark shade of gray, and the cake is a light brown, because the recipe calls for pressed cocoa.

I may be able to substitute baking chocolate for the cocoa to come out with a darker result, so we'll see. But what can I do about the icing and filling? It really is a delicioius cake, but I would love for it to look as good as it tastes. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know...

I'm a little late with this, but a couple of weeks ago I hosted a V-Day Party. The theme: An Aphrodisicial Affair. I prepared a three-course meal, complete with appetizers and cocktails. This was the menu:

Cocktail Hour - homemade empanadas (pics below), spinach dip, fresh grapes and strawberries, and Rose Sangria. I also had a pitcher of water with cucumber slices and mint to give it a refreshing flavor.

Salad - Spring greens with dried cranberries, walnuts, parmesan cheese, with a Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette. Served with French bread.

Dinner - Sauteed spinach, Roasted Rosemary Potatoes, Mozzarella-stuffed roasted chicken with rosemary, basil, and pinenuts, and Sausages in grape sauce.

Dessert - Toasted Almond Cheesecake and White Chocolate Bread Pudding with Amaretto Cream Sauce.

The recurring theme was that all the foods I served had one or more ingredients that are considered to be an aphrodisiac. Before dessert, we all talked and listened to music - I had loads of fun hosting this shindig. Unfortunately, I was so busy being the hostess with the mostess, I completely forgot to take pictures of everything! I did manage to remember before all of the leftovers were gone, so below are pics of the cheesecake, potatoes, bread pudding, and empanadas.