Irish Lake Quilter

......snippets and quilts, family, pets and friends....

Monday, February 5, 2007


Well, the SuperBowl outcome wasn't quite to everyone's liking here in Chicago and the temp dipped to -10* this morning at 7:30, but the sun is shining and there are many other important things to be thankful about! My sewing/laundry room is quite chilly for some unknown reason, so I've moved my sewing machine to the kitchen eating area and the sun on my back feels great. The sewing machine could become a semi-permanent fixture if this cold weather continues! The blocks on the right side of the table are more of the batik blocks that I'm putting together and the runner is one that I made some time ago.
Michael, some of his friends and Chris and Anne were home for the weekend, making it another fun time. Those 20-somethings bring a lot of life to our usually sedate home! Canasta Club on Saturday night meant trying out a new recipe. We often use each other as test subjects! This time I made a torte from Taste of Home Test Kitchen Favorites cookbook. The TOH center is only 45 minutes from us and I love going there to browse their selections of cookware and cookbooks. Often times, the cookbooks are reduced to as little as 3/$5, so needless to say, I have many and do use them all. The torte was quite easy.............

Raspberry or Strawberry Chocolate Torte
1 18.25 oz chocolate cake mix
1 pkg (3 oz) vanilla instant pudding
3/4 cup cold milk
3 oz cream cheese
8 oz Cool Whip (I used about 12 oz)
raspberries or strawberries - approximately 2-3 cups

Bake cake according to directions in three 9" round pans. Cool. (I used two 9" pans and cut each in half horizontally, making 4 layers instead of 3). Beat cream cheese with mixer until light and fluffy. Mix milk and pudding mixture together - it will be a bit thick. Combine pudding and cream cheese together and then add to Cool Whip mixture. It says to fold it in but I found it to be lumpy so I used the mixer on it and it was fine.
Place first layer of cake on cake plate. Spread with Cool Whip mixture and spread berries over it. Repeat thru all layers. The recipe calls for powdered sugar to be sprinkled on top but I spread more of the Cool Whip mixture over the top (not the sides) and then garnished with strawberries. It was very good tasting and looked awesome.
Stay warm and happy stitchin'!

2 comments:

Cynthia said...

thanks for stopping by my blog. It's always nice to see new bloggers. I noticed you're also a member of Stashbusters. I am also but i just lurk in the background.

Love the recipe you posted. I'll have to give it a try.

Quilting Kim said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Also, sorry to hear about the Bears - it was a good game until half time. Of course, I wanted to see my beloved Eagles in it - but there's always next year.

My sewing room is also cold this time of year. I think we are experiencing the same kind of weather. I would like to find a pair of gloves that don't have fingers. I know I've seen them somewhere