Recipe: CHOCOLATE SCONES

2 1/4 cups flour
3 tbs cocoa powder
1/2 cup + 2 tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
10 tbs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
5 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup + 2 tbs heavy cream
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In bowl, whisk together first 6 ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Fold in chocolate. In separate bowl, whisk together whole egg and 1/2 cup plus 1 tbs cream. Fold egg mixture into flour mixture until dough comes together. Turn out dough onto floured surface, pat into 18x3" rectangle 1" thick. Cut rectangle into six 3" squares. Place squares on baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, freeze until dough is firm, 1 hour or overnight. (Heat oven to 375 degrees). In bowl, beat egg yolk with remaining cream, brush over scones. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake 30 min. or until sugar turns golden or cake is done. Transfer to cool or serve warm.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS OF SCONES.

The Rules of Eating Chocolate

§ If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too
slowly.

§ Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices & strawberries all
count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.

§ The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a
hot car The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

§ Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off
your appetite and you'll eat less.

§ If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge.
Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to
protect themselves.

§ If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a
balanced diet? Don't they actually counteract each other?

§ Money talks. Chocolate sings.

§ Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.

§ Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That
way, at least you'll get one thing done.

§ A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories
in one place. Isn't that handy?

§ If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if
you can't eat all your chocolate, what's wrong with you?

Recipe: MEXICAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 box devils food cake mix
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
7 oz jar marshmallow cream
1 cup powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. You will need 2 round cake pans coated with nonstick spray. Line bottoms with wax paper, coat paper with spray. Prepare cake mix as package directs adding the cinnamon, stir in chips. Divide batter into pans, bake as package directs. Cool cake layers in pans 15 min. invert, remove pans and wax paper. Cool completely.

FROSTING---Beat butter in a large bowl until creamy, beat in cocoa. Beat in marshmallow cream, then powdered sugar, beat until fluffy. Place a cake layer on a serving plate. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting, top with remaining cake layer. Frost sides and top of cake.

MAKES 16 SERVINGS OF CAKE.