Portillo's Chocolate Cake

Anyone that lives in Chicago knows (or should know) the deliciousness of Portillo’s Chocolate Cake.  It is the BEST chocolate cake anywhere.  Now that I live in Atlanta, not only do I miss the hot dogs and cheese fries (I'm on a personal quest to bring Portillo's to Scenic Hwy.), I also miss the chocolate cake.  I’ve even converted Joe into a lover of Portillo’s chocolate cake.  He requests it when we’re back visiting my family.  He even went on a business trip to Chicago a couple of years ago and had to get some cake while he was in town!  I had seen copycat recipes for quite some time, but I was always a little leery of trying one in fear of it not being anything like Portillo’s cake.  I decided to make one for Sam’s 2^nd birthday.  It was a hit with the three of us and really easy to imitate.  If you like chocolate cake, this is a really close second to the actual, real Portillo’s Chocolate Cake.

Here are a few notes about the recipe.  I didn't have large eggs the day I was baking the cake, so I used 4 medium eggs.  The original recipe I used called for 3 large eggs.  The recipe also called for 2 cans of frosting and I opted to use one.  One was plenty, but if you like a lot of frosting, similar to Portillo's, go with the two cans of frosting.

Copycat Chicago’s Portillo’s Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

1 Betty Crocker Super Moist Devil’s Food Cake Mix (It's important to get the Super Moist kind even if you use another brand.)

3 large eggs (or 4 medium if you don't have large)

1 cup ice cold water

1 cup mayonnaise

1 can creamy Chocolate Frosting (or 2 if you really like frosting. I use one.)

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

 Grease 2 9” cake pans.  Beat all ingredients together for 4 minutes until smooth.  This will make the batter creamy and fluffy.  

Pour in pans and bake 30-35 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

 Cool on wire rack.  Frost double-layer cake.

Original recipe found here.

Local Fall Festivals

Here's a simple list with links to local upcoming Fall Festivals.
Some of these festivals are the entire weekend, but I listed all festivals on the Saturday of each weekend.  Click the link for the festival to find out more details and if it's being held multiple days.

Oct. 5
Rockin' Ribville, Lawrenceville Square  Here's a 2nd link on the Lawrenceville.org website.
Mountain Park UMC Fall Festival, Stone Mountain, GA, 9am-4pm
St. Stephen of the Martyr Fall Festival, Lilburn, 9:30am-4pm
Lake Fest Art & Music Festival in Pine Lake, Pine Lake (between Decatur and Stone Mountain, GA, 10am-6pm
Lumberjack Day at Rock Ranch
Norcross Art Festival
Free Fall Festival at Goddard School in Buford, GA
Dekalb County Fire & Rescue Safety Festival
Suwanee Wine Fest, 1pm-5pm
Oktoberfest, Helen, GA
Corn Dawgs, Loganville

Oct. 12
Taste of Suwanee, 12pm-5pm
Lilburn Daze, 9am-5pm
Fall Walk at McDaniel Farm, Duluth, Registration required at link
Green Halloween and Costume Swap, Buford, FREE
Old Fashioned Picnic & Bluegrass Festival, Gwinnett Historic Courthouse, 12pm-3pm
Oktober Fest in the Village, Stone Mountain Village, 12pm-9pm
Wings Over North Georgia Air Show, Rome, GA  (Oct. 12 & 13)
Oktoberfest, Helen, GA
Corn Dawgs, Loganville
(Yard Sale)  Grayson UMC, Grayson, 9am-2pm

Oct. 19
Anchor FREE Fall Festival @Grayson City Park, 4pm-7pm
Loganville Autumn Heritage Fest, 10am-5pm
Trunk-or-Treat Fest, Loganville Ford, 5pm FREE
Fall Benefit at the Family Tree Garden Center, Snellville
Sugar Hill Fall Festival
Groovin' on the Green, Loganville Town Green, 7pm
Fall Festival on Ponce, Decatur
Fort Daniel Frontier Faire, Buford
Hot Air Balloon Rally @Rock Ranch
Mountainview Fall Festival, Lawrenceville
Oktoberfest, Helen, GA
Corn Dawgs, Loganville

SUNDAY, Oct. 20
Brookwood Baptist Fall Festival, Lawrenceville, 3:30pm-6pm

Oct. 26
Snellville Fall Festival
Halloween Carnival, Snellville
Owl-O-Ween Hot Air Ballooon Festival, Kennesaw
Not So Spooky Halloween Festival @Rock Ranch
Oktoberfest, Helen, GA
Corn Dawgs, Loganville

SUNDAY, Oct. 27
Westminster Presbyterian Church Fall Festival, Snellville, 12:30pm

Tailgate Dip

I found this dip on Pinterest a while back, and it’s been my go-to party dip ever since.  It’s extremely easy and great to feed a large group.  I have served it with Ritz crackers, Wheat Thins, pretzels, tortilla chips, carrots, celery.  If you make it a few hours ahead of time, the tastes blend together even better!

Tailgate Dip

1 red pepper

2 jalapenos, unseeded (optional)

1 can of corn (drained)

½  can diced olives (I find it much cheaper to buy a can of regular olives and chop them in my mini-food processor.  Sometimes I'll put the whole can in the dip, too!)

 16 oz cream cheese (softened)

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dip seasoning

Mix all ingredients. Serve with crackers. Delicious!

My thoughts:  I think it might be good with something like black beans, too, Or you could change it up and add spices or swap out the Ranch packet.  Lots of possibilities!

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Fall is finally here!  I absolutely love fall...the colors, the sounds, the festivals--all of it!  I decided to try this simple, two-ingredient recipe for pumpkin muffins that I found on Pinterest.  I figured if they didn't turn out, it would only waste two ingredients.  They turned out great and people have loved how they taste!  Give 'em a try this autumn.  They'd go great with a cup of hot apple cider.

Tortellini Chicken Soup with Black Beans

Here’s another slow cooker soup I threw together yesterday.  I had most of the ingredients in the pantry, so it was something pretty quick and easy to put together.  This was one of those soups that you can just toss in a can of this or a cup of that if you have something you want to use up.

Tortellini Chicken Soup with Black Beans

Ingredients

1 can black beans

I can Rotel (I used Aldi brand.)

1 Can Mexicorn (I used Aldi brand.)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 onion, chopped or diced

1 small green pepper, chopped or diced

1 small red pepper, chopped or diced

2 32oz. chicken broth or stock

1 Ranch packet

3 Tbsp. garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. garlic salt (I added this about ½ hour before serving.  Add as much or as little as you like.)

1-2 Cups chicken breast, diced or shredded (I used 2 chicken breasts.)

1 bag frozen tortellini
Parmesan Cheese to sprinkle on top, if desired

Add all ingredients to the slow cooker except the tortellini.  Add the frozen tortellini to the soup about 30 minutes before serving.  In this final step, you basically just cook the soup until the tortellini is heated through.  Top each bowl with Parmesan cheese, if desired.  Enjoy!

I love simple recipes.  I really love simple slow cooker recipes.   

Community Group Banner

This is a quick project I put together for the first night of our Community Group tonight.  I have seen these burlap banners all over the place, and I've always wanted to make a personalized one, but I never knew what to make.  I saw how easy this is to do while at a Pinterest party earlier this year and a lady was painting/stamping lettering on her own project.

All I did was get a yard of burlap (super cheap!), a pack of $3 letter stencils at Walmart, paint, and paintbrushes.  I used some twine and hot glue to assemble.  You will also want something like scrap paper or newspaper to put under the burlap when you're painting, since the paint will go through to the surface underneath.  I forgot about that until I was about 3 triangles into the painting process.

Our church's name is Anchor church and this year our small group ministry has changed names from Home Groups to Community Groups.  With these two bits of information in mind, I wanted to incorporate both ideas into the banner.  I toyed with many different wording ideas, but they were all way too long.  My banner would go across the whole house if I used any of them.  Then, this idea struck me...so here's what we had for our first meeting tonight...

I absolutely love how it came out!  Seeing how easy it was to make, I see myself doing this again for other events, holidays, rainy days, you name it!  This is such an easy project to make and personalize to suit your needs.