The 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways continue! Make sure you enter the other giveaways as well.
Are you busy planning your family's holiday meal? It can be hard to keep track of everything that needs to be done this season, so it's definitely a good idea to have some helpful tips in hand when planning. This year, Midwest Dairy has polled a few dairy farm moms to find out their best tips for holiday meal preparation!
Family Togetherness
If you are planning an event, no doubt you are hoping to create new family memories. Here's a tip on how to maximize family time during this busy season: “To squeeze in extra family bonding during busy days, I encourage my kids to get in the kitchen and help out. Don’t worry about making a mess; it’s creating traditions and memories that are most important.” — Shannon Squibb, Topwinds Dairy
Entertaining Made Easy
What would the holidays be without celebrations with friends and family - and what would those parties be without dairy? Around here, no party is complete without cheese and lots of it! If you are in need of recipes to add a little something new to your traditions, make sure you head over to the Midwest Dairy Association's recipe collection! There are a number of delightful recipes available - including this one for Dairyman's VERY Chocolate Cake - my mouth is watering just reading the recipe!
Ingredients
Cake:2 cups water
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 ¾ cups sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Filling:
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Frosting:
3/4 cup chocolate chips
½ cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup unsalted butter
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Remove from heat, add cocoa and mix until smooth. Let cool.
In a large mixing bowl, beat 1 ¾ cups sugar, eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Alternatively, add dry flour mix and cooled cocoa mix to the sugar mix. Beat until just mixed.
Pour into three greased 9-inch round cake pans lined with wax paper. Bake for 25 -30 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
For filling, beat 2 cups powdered sugar, ¼ cup butter and vanilla until consistency of spreadable frosting. Place first cake layer on serving plate. Spread with half of the filling. Place second cake on top and spread with remaining filling. Top with final cake.
For frosting, in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stir chocolate chips, cream and butter until melted. Slowly stir in 2 ½ cups of powdered sugar until thoroughly mixed. Remove pan from heat and place in large bowl filled with ice. Stir occasionally as frosting cools (about 10 -15 minutes.) Spread cooled frosting on sides and top of cake.
Delicious, don't you think?
Giveaway
One My Kansas City Mommy reader will win a Midwest Dairy Prize Pack (as pictured above) - so that you can try out something new this holiday season! The prize pack features a Crate & Barrel Baking Dish, A Dairy Makes Cents Hot Pad, and a Pumpkin Pie Squares recipe card. This giveaway will end on December 15 at 11:00pm CST. This giveaway is open to US readers only.
To enter this giveaway, follow the instructions in the form below (you will need Javascript enabled to see the form and it may take a moment to load)! Once you complete the first entry (entering your name/email), the other entries will open up so that you can complete them as well! Make sure you enter your name and e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win! Winners will have 48 hours to respond. Please note that My Kansas City Mommy is not responsible for shipping the giveaway prizes and prizes may not arrive before Christmas!
All of the "extra entries" are optional. You can do just one - or as many as you want! You may tweet once per day. Good luck!
Thank you to the Midwest Dairy Association for providing my review sample and the giveaway prize! I received no other compensation and all views expressed are my own. For more information, you can read My Kansas City Mommy's Giveaway Policy. Looking for more prizes to win? Check out My Kansas City Mommy's current giveaways!
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