New Looks and Snickers

So, what do you think of the new look? I was so excited when I learned that I had won a giveaway for a blog design by Kelly of Fabulous K! She was SO easy to work with and very accomodating to this detail and symmetry-loving girl! I am so very pleased with how it all turned out!

It's been awhile since I've shared a recipe...sorry for slacking! But this should make up for it! I made this yesterday as an anniversary dessert, and it is delish. I think it will be even better tonight, since it didn't get all the chill time it deserved yesterday!

Caramel-Chocolate Mud Cheesecake (who can resist a title like that?!?)

Ingredients:

1 single refrigerated piecrust (or homemade 9" crust)
6 (2.07 oz) Snickers candy bars, diced
1 1/2 lbs. cream cheese, softened (3 8-oz. packages)
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter, warmed slightly
1/2 cup caramel topping
1/4 cup chopped semisweet chocolate, melted

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Press piecrust into bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan and place pan on prepared baking sheet.

2. Bake until very light golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Scatter candy bar pieces over baked crust.

3. In a mixer bowl, blend cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and flour until smooth. Blend in sour cream and whipping cream and then add both types of chocolate chips. Using a spatula, swirl in the peanut butter and caramel topping.

4. Pour batter over candy bar pieces in pan. Place pan on prepared baking sheet and bake 55 to 70 minutes or until center is set. Cool and then chill at least 8 hours or overnight before serving.

5. Drizzle warm melted chocolate over top of cake before serving (or up to 2 hours ahead.)

Eight years ago...

This girl...

and this boy...

became one.

I love you Brent.

The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Hadleigh

A story in pictures:







(She didn't know we were watching from inside until the end. That fourth picture's my favorite. I think Marcella would be quite pleased. Only the tea party and a kite were missing!)

"...but at sunset or at the hour of salut..."

"One moment longer", whispered solitude and the summer moon, "stay with us:
all is truly quiet now; for another quarter of an hour your presence will not be missed:
the day's heat and bustle have tired you; enjoy these precious minutes."
--Charlotte Bronte

Last night,

this little girl
and this little girl (who's growing up so quickly...you can't see that she has put six clips in her hair!)
joined me outside for a glorious evening in the backyard. It was just before seven o'clock...the sun was making it's descent, and we could see the faint moon as it waited patiently for evening to begin. But we enjoyed that last hour of the warmth of the sun. A few stolen moments that I will treasure up in my heart.

We spread a blanket on the ground, brought out a stack of books, a few balls, and various "necessary" items (Hadleigh kept dashing inside to bring "just one more thing".) We went swinging, watched Madeleine run after balls, and read books. We watched birds, played games, and sang songs. We colored the patio with chalk, played hopscotch, and told stories. I listened to the calls of the geese...and I actually had a few quiet moments to myself...to watch my girls play together in the grass and read a little bit of my magazine...though I didn't get to my book.

It was one of those evenings that you dream about. Perfectly delightful.

(And my boys were enjoying the evening out on the golf course. Enjoyable evening for all!)

It has been raining

All. Day. Long.

And I love it!!! A nice, slow, steady rain with a brief mid-day thunderstorm.

(My all-time favorite rainy day picture...oh, she was so little then...)

Some days require chocolate.

Like the Monday mornings when you discover that while you were getting dressed, your too quiet children had been having a tea party in the kitchen windowsill with a plastic tea set, real water, and an insane amount of blue and red sprinkles. All before breakfast too.

And your first hint of the said tea party? The fact that your littlest (who thankfully is still confined to the crib) has blue stains and crystals all over her face and sheets. Compliments of big sister who can't stand to leave someone out of a tea party.

And so begins another week. :) Good thing my chocolate stash is in good condition. After all, dark chocolate is good for you.

(I'd have taken pictures of the actual evidence, but it was not funny at the time.)

Breakfast Break

It's been awhile since I've made a yummy "big breakfast" (silly weight watchers) but Brent's birthday was a good excuse.

Mmmmm....just seeing that makes me want to make breakfast for dinner. I pulled out an old recipe that I had saved but never made...I think it was from Cooking Light...Baked Coconut French Toast with Tropical Fruit. Loved it. Hope you do too.

Baked Coconut French Toast with Tropical Fruit

Compote Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple, chopped

1 cup peeled mango, chopped

1 cup peeled papaya, chopped

1 cup peeled kiwi, chopped

3 Tbsp. sugar

3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

French Toast Ingredients:

16 slices French baguette, sliced diagonally

1 1/4 cup light coconut milk

1 1/4 cup egg substitute (or 5 large eggs, as I used)

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1/2 cup flaked coconut, sweet (I used the large raw chips which are unsweeted)

1. To prepare fruit compote, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight.

2. Arrange bread in a single layer in a 13x9" baking dish coated with Pam. Combine all other ingredients (except shredded coconut), stir, and pour over bread evenly. Turn bread over to coat. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Remove bread from fridge. Turn bread over and sprinkle with coconut. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.

4. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes until coconut is golden. French toast will puff up beautifully but will fall after taken out of the oven.

5. Serve warm with the fruit.

Signs of Spring

A precious little robin's nest in our front yard...it's in a holly bush, a little to close to cat's reach for me...but in perfect view for the camera! The mommy was not very happy with me and chirped away to let me know it! We're looking forward to seeing these little ones hatch and fly!

Birthday Blessings

Join me in wishing this special guy a very happy birthday! (His laugh blew out half of the candles right before I snapped the picture!)

Brent turned 33 today and celebrated by getting off work a bit early, playing 9 holes of golf, opening a generous pile of presents from family, and enjoying a delicious "French dinner", with some fabulous Italian cheese delivered from New York. (My parents gave him a "French dinner" gift of cheeses, wine, and a bread pan for making our own baguettes...since we're out in the middle of no man's land with no great options for bread. A gift that we will both enjoy!) Seriously, some of the best cheese we've had since being in France years ago!

Then we all enjoyed his birthday dessert choice of Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Torte! It was yummy! (I think I've mentioned before that he's not a traditional birthday-cake-kinda-guy!) Tomorrow night, Brent and I are going out to dinner at a fun little place downtown...looking forward to it immensely!

A few years ago, a friend gave me a great suggestion of using a notebook in lieu of individual birthday cards for the children to give to Brent. Thus, our "Birthday Blessings" book was created when Hadleigh was two. I just picked up a navy blue spiral notebook full of blank pages, wrapped a festive ribbon around it to resemble a package, and added some metal "Happy Birthday" words from Making Memories to the bottom. (I think I found everything at Hobby Lobby.)

In it, the kiddos color pictures, write short notes, and hopefully, one day, letters to Brent. This eliminates the storage solution for all those many cards (which I am too sentimental to part with. If you've ever written me a card, chances are I have it somewhere stashed away!) It is also a really fun way to see how much the munchkins have grown, how their scribbly lines turn to doodles, their doodles to pictures...how their handwriting changes year after year. And I know that one day, it will contain precious letters of love written from a child's heart to their very special Daddy. One day, it will be a written testimony of the blessing that this father has been to his children and the blessing these children have been to their Daddy.

This was the entry for this year! Hadleigh wrote all her messages herself (though I spelled for her)...while I helped Nathanael a little with his name--except for his "H's", he's really good at the "H"! (And of course, I wrote Madeleine's name...though at the rate she's learning and growing, she'll probably write her own name next year!) I love how Nathanael turned the box for Madeleine's birthday message into a house or a cake...not quite sure which!

Hope your weekend is full of celebration as well!

a gorgeous day

deserves a gorgeous dessert, right?


I made Brownie Tiramisu the other day...and it totally exceeded my expectations. They were fun to make, assemble, and eat. But they are rich...so next time, I think I'm going to make them in shot glasses because that would be the perfect amount...though you might want two! (But 8 oz. of Brownie Tiramisu is definitely a bit much for most people--and generally, I am not "most people" when it comes to dessert...but I barely finished half of mine!)

Brownie Tiramisu

1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/3 cup coffee liqueur
1/3 cup brewed coffee
2--4 oz. semisweet chocolate bars, divided (you'll only use half of one of them)
3/4 cup butter
2 1/4 cup sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1 cup flour
8 oz. mascarpone cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup whipping cream

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Arrange pecans in a single layer and bake 5-7 minutes until toasted.
2. Stir together coffee liqueur and coffee. Set aside.
3. Coarsely chop one chocolate bar. Microwave chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave at Medium power (50%) for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until smooth, stirring at 30 second intervals. Whisk in 2 cups sugar and eggs until blended. Stir in flour, just until blended. Spoon batter into greased 11x7 inch pan.
4. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pan 10 minutes. Pierce brownie multiple times using the tines of a fork. Pour coffee mixture over brownies. Let cool one hour until cool.
5. Whisk together 1/4 cup sugar, mascarpone, and vanilla. Beat whipping cream at medium speed in a separate bowl until peaks form. Fold into mascarpone mixture.
6. Crumble half of the brownies and divide among 6 8oz. glasses. Spoon half of mascarpone over brownies. Repeat layers. Chop remaining 2 oz. chocolate into thin shreds and sprinkle over mascarpone. Top with pecans.

And I do realize that I'm WAY behind on archiving recent recipes in the sidebar...it's on my list of To-Do's!