German Chocolate Bundt Cake

As I have previously mentioned, I married a German and when my Mr. German gets a "bee in his bonnet", as his mom used to say..."Look Out"!!  What's worse, is when my Mr. German gets a sweet tooth and I have "PMS", which in my house means "Putting Up With Mark's ****", it always makes an interesting combination.

Add to this, we are fully into Fall here and when there is a chill in the air, all I want to do is bake!  It makes the house so warm and cozy and the wonderful aromas from the oven always make everyone happy (including my hips).  So last week's issues of having no "treats" in the house have now turned into my husband complaining that he has to go down one notch on his belt.  Really?  I just can't win around here some days.....

German Chocolate Bundt Cake

For The Cake:
1 box (16.5 oz.) Devil's Food chocolate cake mix
1 cup Best Foods Olive Oil Mayonnaise
1 cup water
3 eggs
1 tsp. ground cinnamon 

1 Tablespoon brewed coffee (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray bundt pan with non-stick baking spray. Set aside.

Beat cake mix, mayonnaise, water, eggs, cinnamon and coffee 30 seconds in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed. Beat on medium speed, scraping sides occasionally, 2 minutes. Pour batter into bundt pan.

Bake 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 30 minutes before inverting onto serving platter.

For The Frosting:
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, and butter to a boil. Stir over medium heat until mixture thickens to the likeness of pudding . Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, coconut, and pecans. Let cool and thicken a little.

Spoon frosting on top of the cake, letting it run down all the inside and outside of cake.

Slow Cooker Sauerbraten

The other morning, I was frantically looking for my laundry and found it in a business developer's conference room where they were working on payroll....Yes, my brain is still on overload and I am still having the most "off the wall - make no sense" dreams (when I am able to sleep, that is).

I don't know if I am going to make it through high school this second time around and I think I am putting more time, effort and brain power on the upcoming end of season volleyball dinner, more than I did my own wedding.

Once I get through the banquet the middle of next month, then two weeks later our son is coming for Thanksgiving with his family and we are meeting our twin grandbabies for the first time.  Then, two weeks after that is my husband's birthday...then two weeks later is Christmas, then our girls' sweet 16 birthday at year's end.  I can't imagine why it's so hard for me to get a decent night's sleep right now.

Well for now, I'm working on Oktoberfest fun.  I married a German and each year I try to up my German dish repertoire, even though I can barely pronounce some of the recipes.

I had never made Sauerbraten, but I figured anything I can put in a crockpot can't be all that difficult. This was awesome!!  I threw it all together before we all went off to work and school and came home to the most amazing roast dinner.

Slow Cooker Sauerbraten
Courtesy of Taste of Home

1 boneless beef chuck roast or rump roast (3 to 4 pounds)
4 cups water
1 bottle (14 ounces) ketchup
1 large onion, chopped
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon mixed pickling spices
3 bay leaves
1-1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies (about 30 cookies)

Gravy:
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Cut roast in half. Place in a 5-qt. slow cooker; add water. In a
large bowl, combine the ketchup, onion, brown sugar and vinegar;
pour over roast.

Place pickling spices and bay leaves on a double thickness of
cheesecloth; bring up corners of cloth and tie with string to form a
bag. Add spice bag and cookie crumbs to slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove roast and keep warm. Discard spice bag. Strain cooking juices;
transfer 4 cups to a large saucepan. Combine cornstarch and water
until smooth; stir into cooking juices. Bring to a boil; cook and

stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice roast; serve with
gravy.

I also served it with the most amazing Spaetzle with Gruyere and Carmelized Onions

One Year Ago:  Weeknight Ravioli Bake

Rouladen and Relatives

So, we have these special little greeters at our front door...Santa Clause that used to sing and dance and get his groove on at our entrance and two little ice skating children.  Now, please understand that when I found the ice skaters, the girls were about their size, and they thought then that the dolls were adorable.  In these times when I put them out this year, I believe the phrase I heard was, "those creepy little ice skating dolls".  I think they have been watching too many SciFi Channel movies.  Yet, when I said, "Okay, I will throw them away"....the response was, "NOOOO", don't throw them way!!".   I rest my case.  Tradition always wins!!

Santa and his little friends.

Well, our greeters happily welcomed our niece Heather and her husband Matt this weekend.  They live three minutes from us down the street and are the most adorable couple.  When we moved here a little over a year ago, they were our angels.  Met with realtors, scoped out houses for us and had the most beautiful house warming basket ready for us on our move-in day (complete with toilet paper, now that is true friendship).

Heather and our youngest at the Sun River Family Reunion 13 years ago - so precious!

Heather and Matt (photo bombed by Theo)

Heather and I discussed our family holiday dinner and she had the most incredible idea for a traditional German dinner.

If you’re German, you’ve probably heard of rouladen, a very traditional dish in German cooking. If you haven’t, rouladen (roo-la-din) is a pickle wrapped in a thin piece of steak and then wrapped in bacon. Sounds strange, but it is delicious!  Tonight though, we opted out of the bacon.

This family recipe is slightly different, and slightly easier to make than what you might find elsewhere. Rouladen is something a little different if you’re looking to make a traditional meal from another country.

Traditionally, rouladen is served with spätzle or dumplings and red cabbage. Spätzle is a type of homemade dumpling in Germany which my kids absolutely love, but you can just use regular store bought egg noodles or dumplings as a substitute.  I also served it with a side of sour cream and it made the sauce so creamy along with the dish.

Rouladen
Courtesy of Heather

1 (1 1/2-pound) piece of flatiron or sirloin steak, butterflied open (by you or your butcher), cut into 4   equal pieces and pounded 1/4-inch thin
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons country-style or Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons butter

1 large carrot, thinly shaved slices

2 dill picles, thinklly shaved slices

1 carton of beef broth/stock

3 juniper berries
4 slices of bacon, cut in half horizontally (optional)

1 large carrot, rough chopped
1 celery stalk,rough chopped

1 large yellow onions diced large pieces

Special equipment: toothpicks

Slice the beef about 1/4 inch thick across the large surface. This can be done with a slicing machine or by the butcher, or by hand with a very sharp knife. This works best when the meat is partially frozen. Lay beef out flat.

Spread each slice with mustard, fill one end with 1 - 2 carrot shavings and 2 slices of pickle. Roll up from the filled end (like a jelly roll) and secure with 2 toothpicks. (This is where you would wrap it in the half slice of bacon if you are so inclined).

Melt the butter and oil in a saucepan or Dutch oven and brown the outside of the roulade in it.  Meanwhile, dice the carrot, onion and celery.

Remove the roulades to a plate, add the "Suppengrün" or mirepoix and sauté for a few minutes, until soft. Place the beef rolls back on top of the vegetables, add enough of the beef broth, to make about 1/2 inch of liquid in the pan.  Add the juniper berries.  Cover, turn temperature low and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove beef roulades and keep warm. Puree sauce and thicken (optional) with a little cream, sour cream or "Wondra" (like Sossenbinder") flour. Season to taste with more salt and pepper as needed. Place roulades back in sauce until serving time.