Potato Leek Soup with Roasted Corn

Perfect for a cold rainy winter day.

¼ lb bacon
5 leeks, whites only, diced
1 stalk celery, minced
6-8 small to medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes
5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 pint heavy cream or half and half
1 can corn
4 oz cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400oF. Line cookie pan with greased sheet of aluminum foil. Drain can of corn, spread out evenly on foil and bake for 20 minutes, stirring once half-way through

Cook bacon till crisp
Drain off all but 1-2 tablespoons of bacon grease, and sauté leeks and celery till translucent, ~15 minutes
Scrub potatoes, then dice to ¼- ½,” leaving skins on
Add broth, leek/celery mixture, potatoes and cream or half and half to 3-quart saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer till potatoes are fork-tender, about 25-30 minutes
While still simmering, whisk in cheddar, stirring till melted
Using hand mixer, puree soup in pan till reaches desired consistency (I like mine chunky, so don’t blend it all the way)
Add corn
Salt/pepper to taste
Serve garnished with crumbled bacon and shredded cheese
Can be served in a bread bowl

"Hot" chocolate cake

This is the cake I made for my work's holiday Christmas party dessert contest. I won third place, behind a homemade pear tart and a from scratch coconut cake.

Ingredients:

Cake
1 package chocolate cake - generic is best
1 package cook-n-serve instant chocolate pudding
1 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup water
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
4 oz dark chocolate morsels
3-4 ounces of red pepper infused chocolate (one half bar), chopped fine

Frosting
one container commercial chocolate frosting
3-4 ounces of red pepper infused chocolate (other half of bar), chopped fine

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350
Grease inside of bunt cake pan
Use 1-2 tbsp of cake mix to powder the inside of pan, shaking excess into mixing bowl

Mix all dry ingredients in medium sized mixing bowl - this helps prevent random "hot spots"
Add wet ingredients, use egg beater on medium till smooth, using spatula to scrape down sides of bowl
Add chocolate morsels and 1/2 of chopped chocolate bar at end of mix

Spoon into bunt pan, using spatula to spread batter evenly in pan.

Bake 50-55 minutes, until cake surface springs back when touched and toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool on cooling rack 10-15 minutes, then invert onto cake platter. Cake should separate easily from pan. If not, use spatula to loosen cake.

Allow to completely cool before frosting.

For frosting, melt chocolate in heavy sauce pan, and mix in frosting when melted. Use spatula to spread on cake. Dried hot peppers can be used for decoration/garnish, but caution your guests not to eat them (unless they really, really want to!)

Milk is a must with this sweetly spicy delight, and the powdered peppers can be adjusted to taste.

Unfortunately, I neglected to get a picture, so you'll just have to make it yourself and find out how beautiful it looks