Chocolate

I was in the mood to spend some lazy time in the kitchen. I wanted to make something that didn't require too much thought or work but created something fun. Both of my daughters, Jenna and Jaelyn, requested time with me to bake, so we came up with this recipe to appease both their tastes. I like the consistency of Red Mill hot cereal, and it's not processed with fillers and added sugars like popular name brands. It also holds up well in the baking process and gives a nice texture to cookies.

Boonsboro cook Marilyn Hembrock has years of experience in making chocolate candies, dating back to before her husband's tour as an Army chaplain in Germany in the 1970s. Hembrock said German chocolates are different from American chocolates. "They have (candy bars) like Toblerone, and they have lots of molded chocolates," she said. "They had molded rabbits and they also had molded pigs, which were for one of their celebrations. Different candies for different celebrations. " This month, Hembrock shared her chocolate-making experience with the youth group at Trinity Lutheran Church in Smithsburg.

A favorite among both women chocoholics and those of us who desired extra fruit servings. - Shelby Penn, host of After Hours For Women, a women's group pursuing individual paths leading toward prosperity. For more about the group, call Penn at 301-733-0625. Chocolate-covered strawberries 16 ounces milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips 2 tablespoons shortening 1 pound fresh, ripe strawberries with leaves In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and shortening, stirring occasionally until smooth.

  Double Chocolate Summer Berry Cupcakes 3 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips 1 1/2 cups hot brewed Starbucks vanilla coffee 3 cups sugar 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 3/4 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 3 large eggs 3/4 cup vegetable oil 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350 degrees....

Need a different kind of chocolate for your recipe? Hershey Foods Corp. offers the following substitutions: Unsweetened baking chocolate: 3 level tablespoons cocoa plus 1 tablespoon shortening, liquid or solid, equals a 1-ounce bar Semisweet chocolate: 6 tablespoons cocoa plus 7 tablespoons sugar plus 1/4 cup shortening equals a 6-ounce package, or 1 cup, semisweet chocolate chips or 6 1-ounce squares semisweet chocolate ...

Mousse Au Chocolate 10 1/2 ounce semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 tablespoon instant coffee 6 egg yolks 4 egg whites 3 1/2 ounces sugar 14 ounces heavy cream 1 vanilla bean rum, a generous splash Measure all ingredients. Melt chocolate chips on water bath or double boiler Mix drop of hot water to instant coffee. Mix egg yolks, 3/4 of sugar and vanilla bean in a bowl.

6 cups whole milk 2 cups heavy cream 1 1/2 cups chocolate syrup 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons maraschino cherry syrup 1 tablespoon powdered sugar 4 red maraschino cherries with stems In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, 1 cup of the cream, the chocolate syrup and 1/2 cup of the cherry syrup. Cook, stirring, until the mixture has bubbles around the edge of the pan. Do not boil. Reduce heat to low to keep warm. Use electric mixer to beat remaining cream until foamy.

It's things like this that make me embarrassed to call myself an environmentalist. According to The Associated Press, "An environmental group sued chocolate manufacturers Wednesday, contending chocolate contains potentially hazardous levels of lead and cadmium and should carry warning labels. " It brings new meaning to the dessert "Death by Chocolate. " Forget the fact that the United States Department of Agriculture says kids younger than 6 who eat lots of chocolate take in 6 percent or less of what's allowed by law. The American Environmental Safety Institute wants us to be warned.

Walnuts and chocolate enrich creamy caramel squares This is the season for treats. Walnut Caramel Squares, set on a crisp baked crust, are rich with nuts and caramel-browned sugar and a topping of drizzled chocolate. continued The recipe was devised by Christine Riccitelli of Danville, Calif., and it won her first prize in a recent Ultimate California Dessert recipe contest run by the California Milk Advisory Board. - The Associated Press Walnut Caramel Squares 1 cup flour 1/2 cup butter 3 tablespoons sugar 1/3 cup chocolate chips 1 1/3 cups sugar 1/3 cup light corn syrup 1 cup butter 1 cup whipping cream 2 1/2 cups chopped walnuts 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Editor's note: Tim Rowland is on vacation. His column will resume when he returns next week. This column originally ran Nov. 28, 1999. SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The closest I've come to death is when I've accidentally stood between a stressed-out woman and the chocolate-bar vending machine in the lunch room. You would have thought I'd stepped between a mother grizzly and her cub. As a man, of course, I don't get it, just as I don't get women's irrational hatred of the TV remote or their inability to speak to a dog or cat in a normal tone of voice.

For a 15-year-old, Danielle Hill is already a very experienced cook. She prepares meals for her family. She enters baked goods in the annual Washington County Ag Expo and Fair. And now, she has added another accolade to her cooking resume: Danielle's entry was declared the winner of the third annual Herald-Mail Cupcake Contest. Twenty-three entries were submitted to this year's cupcake contest. Flavor trends this year included banana, root beer and apple pie. But Danielle's winning entry was more traditional: chocolate and berries.

A chocolate cupcake contest takes place Saturday, April 27, as part of Main Street Martinsburg. Bakers must enter two dozen cupcakes. All cupcakes will be entering the Chocolate Walk for the public to taste, as well. Cupcakes must be in standard cupcake liners. All cupcakes must contain chocolate with anything else you want to add. Participants may submit two entries and there are no age restrictions. Bring a small index card stating the type of your cupcake. Please put your name on the card.

Boonsboro cook Marilyn Hembrock has years of experience in making chocolate candies, dating back to before her husband's tour as an Army chaplain in Germany in the 1970s. Hembrock said German chocolates are different from American chocolates. "They have (candy bars) like Toblerone, and they have lots of molded chocolates," she said. "They had molded rabbits and they also had molded pigs, which were for one of their celebrations. Different candies for different celebrations. " This month, Hembrock shared her chocolate-making experience with the youth group at Trinity Lutheran Church in Smithsburg.

Retired teacher Marilyn Hembrock worked with the youth group at Trinity Lutheran Church in Smithsburg to make chocolate candies for a fundraiser. One of the popular candies they produced was a version of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. "We adapted them just through trial and error," Hembrock said. "We tried different things, because the kids love peanut butter cups. " Reese's comes in paper liners similar to those used for cupcakes, so Hembrock used those in her recipe. The kids also wanted to try different flavors, such as mint and chopped nuts.

Nearly 30 years ago, Marilyn Hembrock and her husband moved to the Smithsburg area. Her husband pastored a church and Hembrock taught school in Montgomery County, Md. But earlier, the couple spent time in Europe with the United States military. "He was an Army chaplain," Marilyn Hembrock said. "We were stationed in Germany 40 years ago. That's when I got interested in gingerbread houses and German pastries. Also, they had a lot of interesting chocolate candies. " Making food comes easy to Hembrock.

Just the vision of melted chocolate, sugar and vanilla mixed together into chewy Christmas cookies that melt in your mouth can tempt even those with the strongest wills. Not only are decadent sugary treats a part of the holiday season, but the familiar red kettles and sounds of Salvation Army bell ringers are synonymous with the season. The Franklin County Visitors Bureau sponsored a friendly C is for Cookie Contest at the Chambersburg (Pa.) Mall on Wednesday as part of its Food Fight on 11/30 promotional effort.

This is the ultimate decadent chocolate mousse that is so simple to make. If you have a mixer or a strong arm for mixing then this recipe will be a breeze to prepare. The key is to use the best mascarpone cheese you can find, and in my opinion, of course, the best comes from Wisconsin. You can usually find Wisconsin mascarpone in your grocery store, and its consistency is similar to cream cheese, but with sweeter, creamy note. In addition, you need to find the best semi-sweet dark chocolate to melt.