Bob's Chocolate Cake

So many of you are probably wondering, who is Bob? Well Bob is my friend Dani's dad. He is the only person whose cooking has ever made me feel as at home as my dad's cooking. He is a great cook, and a great person. I moved out to Boston for grad school and I always missed my dad's cooking, and most especially his cakes. The first year I lived there, my dad ordered me a Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake for my birthday to make up for the fact he couldn't make me a home made cake, it was good but it wasn't the same. Sadly, after that year, I lost my favorite cake maker, and person. I dreaded my birthday that year (for a million reasons), one being the fact I didn't think anyone could even come close to making a cake I would enjoy as much as my dad did....well I was wrong. Thanks to Dani, the best friend and roommate a girl could ask for, and thanks to her dad Bob for his fabulous recipe, I had a DELICIOUS birthday cake! It was decorated fancy with frosting (my dad was an amazing cake decorator), but it was to die for in flavor! And looked perfect without any frosting! Now that I don't live close enough to Bob to have him make it for me, and Dani moved to New Zealand, I have to make the cake myself! But it is so good, I make it quite often!

Bob's Chocolate Cake

Ingredients: 

1 box of chocolate cake mix
1 box of instant chocolate pudding
4 eggs
1 cup of milk*
1/2 cup of sour cream or yogurt*
2 1/2 - 3 cups of chocolate chip (one small bag of tollhouse semi sweet)
1 cup nuts (optional)

Powdered Sugar for dusting

*I always use sour cream, but Dani is lactose intolerant, so she used plain yogurt because it was easier on her tummy, and both cakes taste the same! So totally just your preference! You can also substitute the milk for rice, soy, or almond, just has to be unflavored!  

Directions: 

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Spray bundt pan with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour batter into bundt pan, and cook for 50 mins. Remove from oven, run a knife around the edges of the pan. Place a plate over the bundt pan, and turn upside down to remove the cake on to the plate. Lightly dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar. I often make a raspberry sauce to go with the cake as well! I  prefer to serve the cake warm! Slice and enjoy! 

Italian Lemon Chicken

I really wanted tortellini last week, but I needed some chicken to go with it to make the meal more "complete" so I figured I would look in my cabinets and see what I could come up with! I am a big fan of chicken in the crock pot, its quick, easy, and the chicken is always tender and juicy if cooked with the right amount of liquid. So here is what I came up with....

Italian Lemon Chicken

Ingredients: 

3-4 chicken breasts 

1 stick of butter 

2 packets of Italian seasoning 

Juice from 2 large lemons 

Directions: 

Place the stick of butter in the crock pot. Add Chicken to the crock pot, pour the seasoning mix over top of the chicken. Then squeeze the juice from the two lemons on top of that. Cook on low 3-4 hours. You can leave the breasts whole, or stir with a fork to shred the chicken. This was DELICIOUS!! I served it over the top of tortellini and used the sauce from the chicken as sauce for the tortellini! Sprinkle some parm cheese over the top and enjoy! YUMM!