Hot Cocoa Cake

Do you know what I love?

Cake. Love it. Can't get enough of it.

So I guess it works out pretty well that Crock Pot cake is made of awesome.

I used a recipe from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes and it worked out pretty well! I brought it to my book club and people were still talking about it today.

It's available here, but I'll post the text just in case that link ever dies.

Serving: 10Prep Time: Prep 20 mi minutesCook Time: Cook LOW 4 hours, Stand 5 minutes

Butter-flavor cooking spray, Mazola Pure

2 cups milk

1 box (18.25-ounce) chocolate cake mix, Betty Crocker

11⁄4 cups water

3 large eggs

1⁄3 cup canola oil, Wesson

1 box (5-ounce) chocolate cook-and-serve pudding mix, Jell-O

Miniature marshmallows, Kraft

Chocolate-flavored syrup, Hershey's

Coat a 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray; set aside. In a small saucepan, over high heat, heat milk until almost boiling. Remove from heat; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, water, eggs and canola oil. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping down side of bowl. Transfer batter to prepared slow cooker. Sprinkle pudding mix over cake batter. Slowly pour in hot milk. Cover and cook on LOW heat setting for 4 hours. (Do not lift lid for first 3 hours of cooking.) Turn off slow cooker. Sprinkle cake with 1 cup of the marshmallows. Cover; let stand for 5 minutes to allow marshmallows to melt slightly. Serve warm by scooping out cake.* Top with additional marshmallows and chocolate-flavored syrup (optional). *Note: Cake also can be left to cool completely and sliced. From Sandra Lee Semi--Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes ©2006 Meredith Books

Buffalo Wing Soup

A lot of people out there are making and creating Crock Pot recipes, yeah? As a librarian and novice crock pot user, I'm more about trying the recipes and talking about which ones are really ones to try. See? I try them so you don't have to! Well, at least you don't have to try the ones that suck. The ones that are awesome though, you should probably try. Moving on!

One of my favorite recipes is Buffalo Wing soup, which is one of the first recipes I tried from Stephanie O'Dea's cookbook Make It Fast, Cook It Slow (and is also available on her web site). I used half the amount of celery and garlic salt and it was delish.

Try it! Your friends and family will be glad you did.