Chocolate Back-to-School Cake
Our son started Kindergarten this year, and I was excited to adopt a tradition of Joanna Goddard’s – celebrating the beginning of the school year with a cake.
This single-layer 8-inch square cake serves a small family a treat the night before school starts with enough leftover for the next night as well. It’s an easy recipe to make on a weeknight and is absolutely delicious. Rainbow sprinkles add a sweet touch of celebration.
For a non-chocolate option, try Buttermilk Back-to-School Cake.
One-Pan Chicken Burrito Bowls
We’re always looking for quick and easy weeknight dinners that appeal to our preschooler as well as us. With this recipe, you cook the Spanish rice and chicken together, and then add black beans and corn to the same pan (though it’s easy to separate them out for picky eaters who like their food in separate piles). Add more piles of chopped avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream, and salsa, and you’ve got dinner.
Caramelized Onion Dip
Last month we had an amazing vacation in Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone. After a day of hiking around Jenny Lake, we were ravenous and ended up at Signal Mountain Lodge for a very late lunch. We ordered their fried Brussels sprouts and French onion dip, which was better than any onion dip we’d ever had. Served with homemade potato chips, their dip was a creamy base filled with rich caramelized onions, like this recipe we ran across when we got home.
Jamy’s Apple Crumb Cake
Apple desserts aren’t always my favorite (I’ll choose chocolate every time), but this apple crumb cake is sooooo good. It has quite a few components (shortbread base, thinly sliced apples, custardy sauce, and crumb topping) and is a labor of love, but it’s a special dessert that’s worth the work.
Serve with a German Riesling.
Double Chocolate Quick Bread
This quick bread is moistened with apple sauce and either sour cream or Greek yogurt, and has both cocoa powder and chocolate chips.
Khanh’s Breakfast Casserole
Khanh had this dish, also known as Buffet Potatoes, at a friend’s brunch. She said it’s delicious and easy, and most importantly, divine.
Coyote Cantina Chicken
Serve seasoned chicken, sautéed bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes on a bed of Spanish rice with sour cream sauce.
Fran’s Cheesecake Squares
Fran is a wonderful woman who used to work at Matrix with me. She brought in baked goods for the office quite often, whenever she thought we all needed a pick-me-up. She baked this cheesecake in a 13×9″ pan and cut it into small squares, so we could all snack in the afternoon. I love the lighter topping layer.
Glenda’s Chocolate Cake
This cake based on a cake mix, pudding mix, and sour cream also has chocolate chips, melted chocolate, and pecans.