A LITTLE HUMOR TODAY - IF A CUP OF…

 

If a cup of coffee doesn’t fix it, 

then it is officially time to add chocolate!

(With thanks to Pinterest for today’s inspiration)

MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER MUG CAKE - SERVINGS: 1

I haven't tried a mug cake for a while and this one sounded so good. You can find it at Sweet2EatBaking hosted by Lisa. The original recipe is at this link.  If you would like to see great tips for making it, I recommend visiting Lisa's site, also to see other great recipes.  Thank you Lisa for a very yummy dessert.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake - serves 1

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 1 minute

Total time: 6 minutes

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

40g (1.4 oz) dark chocolate, finely chopped

1 medium egg

2 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

3 tablespoons of self-raising flour (if you don't have any self-raising flour, substitute plain/all-purpose flour and add an additional ¼ tsp baking powder)

2 tablespoons peanut butter

Optional: 1 tablespoon salted peanuts, coarsely chopped and additional peanut butter to put on the top when cooked

Add the butter and chocolate to a large microwave-safe mug and microwave in short 20-second bursts until melted.

Add the egg and milk and beat with a fork until smooth.

Add the sugar, salt and flour and beat again until smooth. Microwave for 30 seconds then gently add the peanut butter to the top of the batter - do not stir.

Microwave again for around 1 minute to 1 minute 10 seconds, or until cooked.

(optional) top with more peanut butter or with peanut butter and peanut sprinkled on top.

Lisa gives ideas for add-ons.

If you want a more chocolate-y flavor, remove 1 tablespoon of flour and add a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder.

Again, to add more depth of flavor, add a pinch of instant espresso powder. It doesn't add a coffee flavor, just gives the chocolate flavor an incredible depth.

Changes made:

I didn't have any dark chocolate. I did have Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips in the pantry and used those instead.

I substituted walnut halves that I roughly chopped as I always keep them handy for a quick snack. Didn't have peanuts at the time.

A scoop of vanilla ice-cream went very nicely with this.

I felt this made enough for two servings and ended up leaving half for the next day. My dear other half is not a fan of chocolate.  He does enjoy oatmeal and raisin cookies. I have several of those recipes on here, but these are his favorite. I made them minus the chocolate chips, substituting raisins and chopped walnuts.

If you would like to copy and paste instead of using the link at the beginning of the recipe, here is the address in full.  

https://www.sweet2eatbaking.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-mug-cake-recipe/

"Wanted: Chocolate with the nutritional value of kale, but that does not contain any traces of kale. Your move, science."

~Author unknown~

Thanks for looking and have a great week.

THE CHOCOLATE CAFE IN WINCHESTER, VA - PART 2

As I mentioned in my previous post, The

Chocolate Cafe is a wonderful place for lunch.  We had already had delicious sandwiches next door, and then you walk through a doorway and find this area, selling all kinds of chocolates...

and if you click here it will show you their chocolate menu.  

Here are the ones we took home.

There are also a few cute and cuddly animals.

Bear and I became fast friends.

Lots of displays to look at.

A treat for the little ballerina in your family.

A little bit of everything for everybody.

And let's not forget the coffee.

Thanks to our friend we had a delicious lunch and The Chocolate Cafe was a fun place to look around.  

THE CHOCOLATE CAFE IN WINCHESTER, VA - PART 1

A couple of weekends before last we had an all-ladies stay-over at our house.  Gregg is a good sport about it and doesn't mind tucking himself away upstairs when he wants to retreat from all our chatter.  He is content going off to whatever place he enjoys for some alone-time, enjoyed a nice long bike-ride among other things, and in the evening watches baseball and other shows in our bedroom. Our bedroom turns into his retreat at such times, when he is outnumbered by us females.  All joking aside he enjoys my friends and having a chat with them, but a lot of the time he is in his, what do they call it these days, his "man-cave"?

I didn't take many photos of our time together, just this one before Gregg's bike ride.  All the flowers I am sharing came from a friend's garden when we dropped her back home a couple of days later.  She has a magic touch.

The weekend was over all too soon but the one friend mentioned above stayed a day longer, the friend who has a magic touch in her garden.  Before we dropped her off at her home, she treated us to lunch at a place in Winchester called The Chocolate Cafe.  (I like to mention that I am not getting anything for this free advertising, but if I find a place we truly enjoy, I like to mention them on my blog.  We will be going back.)

When we walked in I looked around and knew we had come to a neat place.  I asked the manager if I could take photos, and she very kindly gave me the okay.

We ordered our sandwiches and I forgot to take photos of those, but we all enjoyed them.  I had a pastrami on rye and it was the best sandwich I had had in a very long time.  If I don't take a photo I can't remember what anyone else had, but they all agreed their choices were excellent, which included a small side dish of orzo pasta salad which was my choice.

As you can see from the photo below there is a definite connection to furry friends.  The tip jar contents go to their local rescue shelter.

There is even an adoption wall.

Hopefully you can enlarge all the photos and have a better look.  In the sign below it says the walls are covered with photos of rescue animals from a no-kill shelter that they support.  This cafe definitely has a big heart.

Attached to the cafe is a place that sells all kinds of chocolates, and I will share photos from there in another post, but here is a 'taste' of what to expect.