chocolate

Things that are poisonous to pets

It’s not just chocolate and onions, but also grapes and a whole host of other things that are edible for humans but not for dogs and cats. Very useful to information from petalia.com.
Also, other common household products that you should keep away from pets.
More about grapes and raisins, which can cause renal failure in dogs.
And here’s a really comprehensive list from the ASPCA.
Also, here are some outdoor plants that you shouldn’t let your dog chew on in the garden.

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Black-Bottom Cupcakes

From the kitchen of: Katie Mineart.

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/3 cup salad oil
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat well, fill muffin tins 1/3 full.

Filling:

  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Top each muffin with one tablespoon of the filling. Bake at 350 degrees, 30-35 minutes.

Notes: This is an old family favorite from my grandmother that used to be unique to our family. But I’ve seen other people produce versions of it (including on in our companies coffee shop) in recent years.

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Chocolate “Better Than Sex” Cake

From the kitchen of: Rosie.

  • 1 german chocolate cake mix
  • 1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 can Hersheys chocolate fudge
  • 1 9 ounce can cool whip
  • crushed hershey bars

Mix cake mix according to package directions. When cool, poke holes in cake with handle of wooden spoon. Pour milk in cake, spread fudge on top. Spread cool whip over fudge, put crushed hershey bars on top. Refrigerate, enjoy.

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Chocolate Crazy Cake

From the kitchen of: Pat Mineart.

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons soda
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons cocoa
  • 2 tablespoons vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3/4 cup oil
  • 2 cups cold water

Mix well. Pour into 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 27 minutes.

For frosting, my mom’s recipe for chocolate cake frosting is very good.

I’ll have to ask my mom how she picks between this recipe and the “Save a Day” Cake recipe, or test the two and see which I prefer.

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Chocolate Fudge

From the kitchen of: Bob La Roche’s wife.

  • 3 small packs of chocolate chips ( or 1 large and 1 small)
  • 4 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 pound margarine (2 sticks)
  • 1 large can Pet milk (12 ounces)

In a heavy pan, cook sugar and milk on medium heat, stirring often. Bring to rolling boil and stir for 10 minutes constantly. Remove from heat. Add chips, butter and nuts if desired. Mix until chips and butter are melted. Pour into large buttered pan. Put in refrigerator until hardened.

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Chocolate “Save a Day” Cake

From the kitchen of: Pat Mineart.

  • 1 white cake mix
  • 1 instant chocolate pudding
  • 2 eggs or 3 egg whites
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat 3 minutes. Bake 350 degrees, 25 to 35 minutes.

For frosting, my mom’s recipe for chocolate cake frosting is very good.

I think the title of “Save a Day” must refer to the time you save in using a cake mix as the basis for this cake. It’s a nice quick recipe that turns out richer than a standard chocolate cake mix, and a recipe my mom uses often.

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Jello Pudding Cake

From the kitchen of: Jello Pudding.

  • 1 cake mix
  • 2 packages instant pudding
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 4 cups cold milk

Prepared cake mix as directed, in 13 x 9 pan. Poke holes in top with handle of wooden spoon at 1 inch intervals Combine pudding with sugar, gradually add milk. Beat in minute at low speed. Pour 1/2 of thin pudding over cake and into holes. Allow remaining pudding to thiken slightly; then spoon over the top. Chill 1 hour.

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Fudgy Raspberry Brownies

From the kitchen of: Lisa.

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 stick butter or margerine
  • 1 12-oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/3 cup chopped pecans, chopped walnuts, or sliced almonds
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons seedless raspberry preserves or jam

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 by 13 pan. in heavy pan on stovetop, gently warm butter until it melts. Add the sugar, stil till all combined, do NOT let this bubble. Keep on low heat. When combined, remove from heat. Add 1 1/4 cups of the chocolate chips; stir til melted. Stir in eggs until all combined. Stir in flour, baking soda, and vanilla until combined. Pour chocolate batter into pan; spread it out flat. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky.

A few minutes before brownies are done, gently melt the raspberry preserves. As soon as brownies come out of oven, quickly stir nuts and remaining chocolate chips into the raspberry. Then, quickly spread this mixture over hot brownies in the pan. Cover pan with aluminum foil (aluminum should NOT be resting on top of the brownies; leave air space on top of brownies), set ir refrigerator until completely cooled. Enjoy! (They do not need to be stored in the fridge; that is just to set them.)

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Chocolate Brownies

From the kitchen of: Irma Sankey.

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 sticks of margarine
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 cup flour
  • dash salt
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa
  • nuts

Pour into a 10 x 13 pan, bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let cool.

Frosting:

  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup margarine
  • 6 tablespoons milk
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Boil 20 seconds. Spread over cool brownies.

NOTE: Irma Sankey worked in the office of Sacred Heart School in West Des Moines, Iowa when my mom was a teacher there in the sixties, and this was Irma’s recipe. It’s a family favorite and one of my mom’s “standby” dessert recipes, so I of course have a copy of it and still make it today — and I still call them “Browies by Irma Sankey” even though I didn’t really know who she was. A few months ago, I received an email from Irma’s son Mike, who wondered where we had obtained a copy of his long deceased mom’s favorite brownie recipe.

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