Beatty's Chocolate Cake by the Barefoot Contessa

Happy belated birthdays to my two big sisters and my mom! Since they all fall so close together, we decided to celebrate the three together.  This is by far my sister Tina's favorite cake recipe, and she requests it every year.  It is a moist chocolate cake, but by no means the most decadent or rich one I've ever tasted.  The coffee component adds a nice touch but isn't overpowering, and the frosting? Just check out the ingredients - how could that combination not be delicious?!  

The one complaint I received was "Sunny, why were you so stingy with the frosting?!!!" Mea culpa.  I'll glop it on next time.

This was a funny picture that happened accidentally when my little sister and I 

tried to eat the cupcake with a fork.  He's not really sad; just delicious.  

 

I made cupcakes instead of a 2 layer cake just for portability, but either would work!

Chicken Chili

I'm not sure if everyone else is having this experience, but it has been very, very cold.  And when I am cold I become very, very hungry.  I've been making an effort to cut down on my red meat intake (besides burgers for dinner last night.  And strip steaks on Friday night.) but chili is such a great way to eat a lot of food, warm up, and not feel bad about it.

This chili is seriously yummy without the guilt - serve it with some corn bread, or sour cream and cheddar cheese!