Chocolate Mocha Crepe Cake

Chocolate Mocha Crepe Cake
Chocolate Crepes 

Mix in medium bowl:

2-3/4 c. (350g) flour

3/4 c. (90g) cocoa powder

2 tsp (2g) instant coffee powder

1/2 tsp (3g) salt

In large bowl mix: 

4 eggs

1/2 c. (100g) sugar

1 tsp (5g) vanilla extract

Add: 

2 c. (480mL) milk

Flour mixture - mix well

Add:

6 Tbs (80g) oil

2 c. (480mL) sparkling mineral water

Heat 9" non-stick pan over medium heat. Sprinkle a bit of oil or butter. Pour a small ladle of batter in the middle of the pan and with a circular move spread the batter to the edges of the pan. Cook the crepe until the top appears dry. Flip over and cook the other side for a few seconds. Place on cooling rack and repeat with remaining batter.

Prepare Mascarpone Mocha Frosting

In large bowl:

2lbs (1kg) Mascarpone cheese - beat until smooth

Add:

1-1/3 c. (160g) powdered sugar

1-1/2 tsp (7g) vanilla extract

3-1/2 tsp (7g) instant coffee powder

In separate bowl beat:

2-2/3 c. (640g) whipping cream until stiff peaks form.

Fold the two mixtures together.

Assembly:

Place a bit of frosting on a serving platter and place the first crepe. Spread with about 1/4 c. frosting. Top with another crepe and spread about 1/4 c. frosting. Repeat the process until the crepes are used. (I had leftovers. I used 24 crepes for this cake)

Spread the remaining frosting on top and sides of the cake, smooth the top and sides. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 

Prepare Ganache:

4 oz. (120g) semisweet chocolate

5 oz. (140g) whipping cream

Place cream and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place over a pan with simmering water. Melt over low heat. Use a spoon and start making drips around the edges. Spread rest of ganache over cake. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes prior to serving. Decorate with whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate curls, chocolate covered espresso beans, etc....

Favorite scones

Cream Scones

2 c (9oz) flour

1 Tbs baking powder

4 Tbs sugar

½ tsp salt

4 Tbs cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes

3/4 c. heavy cream

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbs sugar for sprinkling on top

 

Place dry ingredients in bowl of food processor and pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse until combines. Add cream, egg and vanilla; mixing just until combined. Knead briefly. Form into 2 disks and cut into a total of 16 scones. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes.

Almonds - in Muffins and Cakes

One-bowl Blueberry Almond Muffins

Streusel:

2 tbs. unsalted butter

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. slivered almonds

pinch of salt

Muffins:

1 large egg

½ c. sugar

1/4 c. oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp almond extract

½ tsp. white vinegar

½ tsp. bakind soda

1/4 tsp salt

½ c. sour cream

1 c. flour

1 c. blueberries

Preheat oven to 350° (180C). Spray a 12 count muffin pan with nonstick spray, or line with cupcake wrappers. 

To make the topping, melt butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Add the flour, sugar, almonds and salt and stir with a fork to combine untio a crubly streusel. Set aside.

Combine the egg, sugar, and oil in a large mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously for 30-45 second, until the mixture is thick and slightly frothy. Add extracts, vinegar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine. Add sour cream. Whisking to combine, then gently stir in the flour. The batter will be thick and lightly lump. Gently stir in the blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups and prinkle the topping evenly over the tops. Bake for 18-22 minutes until the top are golden brown and a toothpick inserted int he the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for about10 minutes in the pan, then removed to a wire rack to cool completely.

Buttery Almond Pound Cake

For the Cake:

½ c. butter, softened, plus more for the pan
1-1/4 c. flour, plus more for the pan
1-1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1½ tsp almond extract
1/4 c. milk
½ tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt

For the Glaze: 

1 Tbs. butter, melted

1 c. powdered sugar

1½ Tbs milk

½ tsp almond extract 

½ c. sliced almonds, (opt)

Preheat oven to 325°. Arrange oven rack to the center of the oven. Thoroughly grease and lightly flour a 6 c. loaf pan with butter.

To make the cake, combine the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy crumbs form. Add the eggs and almond extract and beat until smooth. Add the milk and beat on low speed to combine. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Beat until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until golden on top, and light brown on the edges. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then place the cooling rack on top of the cake, hold the sides firmly, and invert the pan over the rack. The cake should drop smoothly out of the pan. Let cake cool completely before slicing. If you'd like to make the glaze, melt the butter in a small glass bowl in the microwave. Add the powdered sugar, milk and almond extract. Whisk together until smooth. The glaze should pour off the spoon in a white stream. Add 1 tsp more milk to think it, or 1-2 Tbs more powdered sugar to thicken it. Pour over cake, sprinkle with almonds.

Pie season

This post-Thanksgiving blog post is courtesy of a request for the pie crust recipe I use. I'm quite sure there are those out there who think I'm blaspheming all that is good and right in pie world by posting this Betty Crocker recipe, but I like it best and it is easy! I've tried a lard pie crust and nope! didn't like it! So here's the Oil Pastry crust thanks to Betty Crocker!

For 8-9" one crust pie:
1 c. + 2 Tbs. plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c. oil
1-2 Tbs. cold water

For 10" one crust pie or 8-9" two crust pie:
1-3/4 c. plain flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. oil
3-4 Tbs cold water

For 10" two crust pie:
2-2/3 c. plain flour
1-1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c. oil
4-5 Tbs cold water

Measure flour and salt into bowl. Add oil; mix. Sprinkle in water, 1 Tbs. at a time until dough almost cleans the side of the bowl. If dough seems dry, add 1-2 Tbs. oil, not water). Gather dough together; press firmly into a ball.

Shape dough into flattened round (divide into 2 for 2 crust pie). Place between 2 strips of waxed paper (taping two strips together for larger pies). Roll pastry 2 inches larger than inverted pie pan. Peel off top paper. Place pastry, paper side up, in pan. Peel off paper. Ease pastry loosely into pan. If you are pre-baking the pie crust, pierce multiple times with a fork and bake at 475°F for 12-15 minutes, allowing crust to cool before filling. For two crust pie, roll the same way, cutting slits in the crust after removing the top paper and before placing over filling.

Lavender! It's all about the Lavender!

At convention this year, I served Lavender Shortbread with coffee. In discussing lavender-scented recipes I also mentioned the Lavender Lemon Pound Cake I've made and was then quickly persuaded to post those recipes here! The links to the original recipes are posted, but for ease, here is the recipe without leaving! Hang out here and check out my other posts, too! You're always welcome! :)

Lavender Shortbread

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons teaspoons dried lavender flowers

zest of one lemon

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

course sugar, optional

In a food processor, gently blend powdered sugar, dried lavender, and lemon zest until lavender flowers and lemon are well incorporated. 

Add softened butter to the food processor and cream with the sugar. 

Add flour and salt and mix just to combine. 

Remove the dough from food processor and on a large piece of parchment or waxed paper, delicately form into an 8-inch log. 

Carefully roll the paper around dough to create a smooth log and chill far at least 4 hours or up to a few days. 

When ready to bake, heat oven to 375 degrees and slice chilled dough into 1/4-inch slices. 

Optional: roll or sprinkle in a course sanding sugar before placing in the oven. 

Bake for 13-15 minutes, then remove from oven and cool completely before serving.

Lavender Lemon Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup (6 ounces, weight) 2% Greek Yogurt 

1 Tbs. lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. lemon zest

1 Tbs. dried lavender seeds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease one 9x5 (or two 5.75x3 mini) loaf pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter. Gradually add the sugar and cream until light and fluffy, about 7 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each until fully incorporated.

Slowly add the dry ingredients, alternating with the Greek yogurt, to the creamed butter and sugar and mix just until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, vanilla extract and lemon zest and beat on low just until blended. Gently stir in the lavender seeds.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and bake for 30-35 minutes until the edges begin to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool in the loaf pans for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Cookies!

So, by now I think you have a pretty good idea that I like to bake! I tried two new recipes for convention.  I made the biscotti for our traditional French press coffee time at 2 pm during convention. The other cookies are for the general fund. I think they may be new favorites!

Oreo Biscotti

1 cup sugar

1⁄3 cup butter, melted

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

16 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

2 ounces semisweet chocolate or 2 ounces white chocolate, melted

Beat sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until blended.

Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.

Fold in chopped cookies.

Divide mixture in half.

With floured hands, shape each half into a 9x3-inch loaf on a lightly greased large baking sheet.

Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the centers come out clean.

Remove from oven; cool for 10 minutes.

Cut each loaf diagonally into 15 (1/2-inch thick) slices.

Place slices, cut side up, on same baking sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes more on each side or until lightly toasted.

Drizzle tops with melted chocolate.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup pumpkin (we use Libby's canned pumpkin)

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup cinnamon chips

Cinnamon Sugar Topping:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla and mix until combined, about 3 minutes. Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Stir in the cinnamon chips.

4. In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into rounded tablespoons and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Lightly press down on the cookies with a spatula or the palm of your hand.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Happy Couple Recipes!

So, if you know Kent at all, he's not a big dessert fan, but he does like chocolate cake, or French Silk Pie, so in that idea I posted a long time ago the recipe for the Happy Hubby Cake.  But what's the wife supposed to do when she'd rather have something a bit fruity?  She looks for a recipe for one!  Thanks to Taste of Home, I came up with this as my dessert and I made him his chocolate cake-in-a-mug!  And it was really big enough for me to save half for tomorrow's lunch!!  Yay!!

Mini Apple Crisp

• 1 medium apple, peeled and sliced
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons quick-cooking oats
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Cream, optional

Directions

• Place apple slices in a small greased baking dish. In a small bowl,
• combine flour and brown sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles
• coarse crumbs. Add oats and cinnamon. Sprinkle over apple slices.
• Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until tender.

Lessons of the Heart

Yesterday I had the extreme pleasure of introducing the heart to three adorable young ladies!  We listened to the heart with a stethoscope, found our pulse, dissected a sheep heart and talked about what makes for a healthy heart.  I didn't feel it quite right having these girls here right after school without a snack, but I also wanted the snack to be heart healthy so I looked for an oatmeal cut-out cookie recipe that I could cut into heart shapes.  I found this recipe and want to make sure to keep it on file!  I made just half of the recipe so I had just an egg white and I also used part whole wheat flour and did NOT pack the brown sugar!  The cookies were huge hits! (As was the whole heart experience!)

Iced Oatmeal Cut-Out Cookies

• 1 c. butter
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1½ c. flour
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1½ c. old-fashioned oats (cut with a knife)

Pre-heat oven to 350°.  Prepare parchment covered baking sheets; set aside.  

Cream butter and brown sugar.  Add egg and mix well. Add flour, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder and oats and mix well.  Dough is VERY sticky so make sure work surface is very well floured and roll out with well floured rolling pin.  Cut out with well floured cookie cutter.  Place on prepared cookie sheets and bake 7-9 minutes or until golden brown.

White Icing

• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. corn syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. water

Mix all together and pipe onto cookie with a #4 tip.  Start with outline and then fill in until smooth.

Cinnamon Icing

• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. corn syrup
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
•  5 drops cinnamon extract
• 2 tsp. water

Mix together as for white icing, adding drops of water if needed to get a creamy consistency.  Ice cookies in same way.

A Fall Flavor

Old-Fashioned Gingersnaps

2 c. flour

 2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. dark molasses (not blackstrap)

1/2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1/3 c. sugar

3 Tbsp, peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 large egg, beaten

Turbinado sugar

Position oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven.  Preheat oven to 350°.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and set aside.   

In medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, the 2 tsp. ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together butter, molasses, brown sugar, sugar, 3 Tbs. fresh ginger, and egg.  Add the flour mixture.  Stir to combine.  Cover and chill 1 hour.  (I did not do this step!)

Place turbinado sugar in a small, shallow bowl.  Make small balls out of dough and roll in turbinado sugar.  Place on baking sheet (2" apart).

Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are crisp and centers are still chewy.  Switch baking sheets between racks and rotate them front to back halfway through.  Remove from oven.  Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

These are so good!!  I didn't have near enough fresh ginger, but it was still very good and the turbinado sugar adds a nice dimension to the cookie!!

Well Hello There!!!!

How fabulous to see your smiling face here!  SOOO much has happened since we last met here.  Let see, right after that last post, Tiana flew to Alaska for 3 weeks and I started my summer quarter.  Now, then, we have a 17 year-old in the house and it is officially my summer vacation.  While Tiana was in Alaska, Kent and I took a road trip over to Eastern Washington.  We took in a Western Themed town, did some hiking up to some caves and stuck our feet in Soap Lake.  We went to Meeting with my cousins in Tri-Cities and saw a number of young people at a birthday get together for another cousin.  We drove home by way of Mt. Rainier State Park on the scariest road I've even ridden on!  We are both VERY sure we know why they close that road in the winter!  In case you haven't see them, and if you are at all interested, here are the links to the pictures from that trip:

• Day 1 - Over the North Cascades Highway to Winthrop
• Day 2 - Winthrop, Grand Coulee Dam, Steamboat Rock
• Day 3 - Leftovers from Day 2, Hiking Lenore Caves and Dry Falls
• Day 4 - Heading Home

We also spent one more Saturday on the road where we went to Mima Mounds State Park, the Capitol Forest and stopped at Nisqually for some serious photo ops.  Those pictures are here.

After Tiana got home we went to Oregon and spent the weekend with my parents.  We took a nice hike to Silver Falls and stopped on the way home to pick blueberries and raspberries.  Was SUPER fun and a great day!  Our raspberries sort of smashed so we made freezer jam that was so good!  The rest are in the freezers! ☺

Since being home, now we've done even more berry picking.  There seems to be a bumper crop of blackberries this year and I've picked more than just a few.  Those have an awesome price tag, too!  FREE!!!!  Ivona and co, Tiana and Bug and I all went blueberry picking the other day.  Ivona ended up with 8 pounds and we had 10.  I froze most of them and plan to make a blueberry sour cream pie.  Today I made a blackberry cobbler that was FABULOUS!  I found the recipe at Pioneer Woman.

We've also been to convention and enjoyed good days there.  We got to see some long-time friends of Kent's and so that was fun to catch up with them a bit.

So, I think that's it in a very large nutshell.  Hopefully it won't be so long until we meet again!  Soon it will be time for me to fly away to the East Coast where I will spend a few days with some friends and paper!  Just like a couple of years ago I will go to Pennsylvania to do some scrapbooking.  I'm quite sure that family will be glad not to be there! :)

Super Duper Yumminess!!

Found here and HERE!
OREO TRUFFLES
1 package Oreos (NOT double stuf!)
1 8oz. package cream cheese
2 8oz. packages semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted

Keep out about 6 Oreos to crush and sprinkle on top of the finished truffles.  Beat the cream cheese until fluffy.  Add finely crushed Oreo cookies, mixing well.  Form into 1" balls and dip into melted chocolate.  Sprinkle with leftover crumbs.  Refrigerate for 1 hour before enjoying.  Store leftovers in the refrigerator.  
Some people in their reviews on the website said that their truffle balls crumbled when they dipped them.  I used two forks to lift the truffles out of the chocolate and I had no problems! I also used a double boiler so my chocolate could continue to stay very liquid-y.  Another reviewer suggested using other sandwich creme cookies, including Nutter Butter!  Now, honestly, how bad could THAT be?!?!  Well, other than what it would do to my scale!!
Oh, and I also sprinkled them with my Chocolate/Coffee/Sugar from Trader Joe's -- it comes in a grinder!! 

Low-Fat Chocolate Mousse

So, this just sounds too good to be true! I'll have to make this sometime soon! Who knows, with Valentine's Day tomorrow it might happen. We'll see! If nothing else, I didn't want to lose the recipe since it was in our Spry Living magazine in yesterday's newspaper!
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
8 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. plus 2 Tbs. confectioner's sugar
Preheat the oven to 350º. Coat an 8½" springform pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment or wax paper. Set aside.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave, a double boiler or a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Meanwhile, separate the egg yolks from the whites and transfer the yolks to a bowl. Beat the yolks until thick and pale. Gradually beat in the chocolate until blended. Fold in the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, beat the whites with ¼ c. of the sugar until soft peaks form. Fold ¼ of the whites into the chocolate mixture and then fold in the remaining whites.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until almost set but still slightly jiggly in the center. Cool in the pan to room temperature before cooling completely (still in the pan) in the refrigerator. Removed from pan; dust with remaining sugar before serving.
Serves 12
Per serving: 156 cal., 9 g fat, 5 g protein, 16 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 145 mg cholesterol, 44 mg sodium

Eggnog Loaf Cake

Of course, I shouldn't probably follow my last post with this post, but...!!! ☺ To be honest, I haven't even tried the cake itself yet because it just started to bake, but I did like the beater!!

Eggnog Loaf Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon rum flavored extract
• 3/4 cup milk (I used eggnog!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8x4 inch loaf pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and ginger; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together sugar, butter, and shortening until light and fluffy. Blend in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the rum extract. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

How about a quick catch-up!

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted here.  Let's see...we've had some AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, WARM late summer days!!  So incredibly awesome!!!  It was so worth the wait to have some nice weather!  I'm currently out on the front deck writing this as the evening finally cools down.  I'm also out here for another reason, but I'll tell you about that a little later.

Next up...hm...school's officially halfway back in session.  By halfway I mean that the high school portion has begun.  Tiana is now a junior and as such she is also eligible for Running Start at the local community college.  That would be the same college that her mother attends!! Hee!Hee!!  The Running Start portion of her day doesn't get underway until the 20th.  We're both quite excited for that day to get here I think!  For now it means an incredibly crazy schedule for her because she's not allowed to stay on the high school campus if she doesn't have class.  Things are a bit tight for her to get home, and then back to the school if I'm not here to give her a ride.  She'll get to try out the bus system tomorrow!  So, public school session started on Wednesday -the same day that necessitates me being outside where I can keep an eye on Coda.

Click for more pictures

After I helped out at the school with schedule distribution I came home, picked up the happy, clueless pooch and took him to the vet.  He's had a mass growing on his belly and it has grown rather large rather quickly and it was determined that maybe it would be best to have it removed.  So began a fitful day of worrying and waiting anxiously for the call from the vet.  I know you don't understand that worry if you don't have a furbaby, but...! (Sis, that's for you!!)  Anyway, we finally picked him up about 3:45 and that was when I just about cried!  Poor baby was SOOOO loopy and out of it!  His tongue was all dried and folded and hanging out of his mouth.  All he could do was attempt to stand up and cry.  He made it into the car but we had a hard time getting him back out.  When he did finally get out of the car, he just collapsed on the front lawn and didn't move until MUCH later!  I've never felt like such a horrible "mom"!!  He was so bad off that Kent stayed home from Bible Study with him!  He finally "woke up" at about midnight which left us with a pretty sleepless night.  He was wandering and whimpering and so confused and in a lot of pain and couldn't get comfortable.  Now, 4 days later, he's his usual perky, spunky self, but he's also healing and itching and wanting to lick his wound.  That means he's now got to have a cone on or be watched like a hawk so he doesn't lick his incision!  He's already possibly battling an infection so it's best to watch him!  It will be so nice when his belly hair grows back!

Today was the last day of work for another shift supervisor.  For the last three who've left I've granted them a treat request.  For Kate I made a rhubarb pie, for Seann it was cinnamon rolls and for Kourtney it was Turtle Cheesecakes.  I melded two recipes and WOW!!!!  What a pain they were, but soo worth it!!  I used my favorite Individual Cheesecake recipe and the Ultimate Turtle Cheesecake recipe and made 18 cheesecakes!  Definitely a keeper recipe!!

So, there you have it.  Pretty much what we've been up to in the last while.  There have been odd trips downtown.  Once to see a friend play his first game as quarterback for his high school -- BUT at the pro football field, and once just because it's been a long time since we went downtown.

Happy Independence Day!

We've enjoyed a beautiful day today!  Well, "enjoyed" might be a bit strong!  I started the day working at 4:30 am where it was SUPER SLOW and then SLAMMED!  I ended up being 12 minutes late in getting off and I'd started the day thinking I'd go home early!  During part of that time Kent was busy working on the side of the house.  The south end has needed new siding for a long time and he's finally getting around to it.  Of course, he's finding oh so much more that's going to be needing done.  The dining room window's hanging on by, well, I'm not really sure what in the one corner!  The screw isn't into the stud at all!!  I made some incredibly yummy cream puffs and for dinner we had BBQ salmon with an AWESOME lemon dill sauce and ribeye, grilled corn, Russian Vinegret salad, fruit and Chinese steamed buns!  Interesting but quite good if I say so myself!  Anyway, now starts the fun part of the day -- fireworks.  Coda is NOT impressed!  Poor guy is about ready for a benadryl and I'm going to need to go to bed soon, too, as I open at 4:30 tomorrow again!  So, I hope YOU have enjoyed your day and Happy Freedoms!  Most of all - THANK YOU to every person, past and present who has done their part to ensure our freedom today!

Siding project

Hello!!

WOW!  Where to start?  I've been in a different world for awhile now, I guess.  We have been SUPER busy with all sorts of choir/music/jazz concerts/gigs and whatnot.
At one of the 2 sleepovers Tiana had I made a coffeecake that was SOO good!!  Even Kent had the second half of the piece he took!!  I took a basic recipe and switched a few things up.  I can't leave a recipe alone you know!!

 BASIC COFFEE CAKE

Cake:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup sweet butter, room temp
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk -- OR -- Sour Cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Streusel:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp softened butter
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts, or chocolate chips, and/or raisins

Grease a 9" cake pan and dust lightly with dried breadcrumbs
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg. Alternately add the dry, sifted ingredients and the milk with the vanilla mixed into it.
Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Top with 1/2 the streusel and a bit of the coconut. Top with the remaining batter and then the streusel.
Bake at 375º until tests done. I find it varies greatly by the oven it's baked in, ranging from 25 minutes to 45, so just test it to be sure. That is the only "fussiness" of this recipe, it is easy and reliable.

And now for my changes:

I used a little less sugar in the cake, used ½ butter and ½ non-fat plain Greek yogurt, egg substitute for the egg,  substituted the milk and vanilla with light eggnog and I did NOT pack the brown sugar in the streusel.  It was so delicious!!

 After the delicious coffee cake breakfast we headed out for the Mello-Aires first gig singing at Macy's.  The kids sounded good and would have been heard if they'd had a sound system.  But later in the day they did have that system and sounded great! 

.  

 We spent some time with my sis, Ivona, and her family as well as Trevan, Jill, Toriana and the very new Bryson!  That was so fun!  Jonathan preferred to spend his time in Uncle Kent's arms, but maybe someday he and Bryson will be good friends!

  Moroccan Party

Last night we were invited to join our neighbors as they welcomed their new baby with a traditional Moroccan party.  Can I just tell you it was INCREDIBLE!!!  The women were all stunningly, exotically beautiful in their traditional dress.  There was music, dancing, DELICIOUS food, and the evening was topped off with a belly dancer!  I didn't get any photos of her because the lights were too low, but it was obvious that this, too, would be a traditional addition to such a party.  Many of the people joined in the dancing either by dancing or their participation was a call similar to what we know as an "Indian war holler" or clapping.  The women rained cash on her.  The food was all home prepared by the grandma who just recently arrived in the U.S.  There were cooked vegetable salads (served cold), olives, a fabulous eggplant salad, bread (that's the utensil!  No forks, although they were kind enough to offer them to us.), saffron rice, lamb and chicken.  I tried a little of everything and it was all so incredible!  Tiana and Kent liked it, too.  There were some fried, honey dipped almond cookies as well as other almondy, coconutty cookies.  Had we stayed, there was tea (most likely mint) and coffee.  Such an awesome cultural, learning experience!!  Check out the photos at the link under the picture of Said (SIGH-ed) and Laila.

 

Party fun 

Today we had a little early birthday party for Jonathan.  Gordon, Ivona, Emily and Jonathan joined us for tacos after meeting and then we had cupcakes for the soon-to-be birthday boy!  What fun!  Tiana also gave Emily an old ladybug umbrella of hers.  I guess that was the absolute HIT of the day!!  She hasn't stopped playing with it since they got home according to Ivona!! I forgot to mention one thing that made us all laugh!  Emily came to Tiana and she said, "Why do you always have a mess in your room?"  Gave us all a good laugh!  According to her dad, she gets asked the same question!
And to finish today I baked a ½ batch of gingerbread cookies and a batch of sugar cookies.  Getting closer to being ready for the holidays!
And with that, I believe that you are mostly caught up on the happenings at our house!  We still have 3 more concerts/gigs to go before the winter break and then it is crunch time before school starts and Aimee gets here from Australia.  She'll be with us for 11 days.  All sorts of fun yet to come!

A good day...

A beautiful Sunday! Loved every minute of it! I started out by throwing together a batch of rolls to go with our dinner. We had Gent, Elaine, Victoria and Grant stay for lunch after Meeting! I LOVE to do that kind of cooking and entertaining! The meal was really quite simple, but so yummy. We had ham, potatoes au gratin, salad, rolls and a relish tray. For dessert we had pumpkin cake and coffee, of course!! I really need to cook more often! I do enjoy it, but it just seems, I don't know, like busy work, I guess, when it's just for the 3 of us! Anyway, here's a recipe for you -- and it's fairly healthy, too!

PUMPKIN CAKE
1 can (29 oz.) pumpkin puree
1½ c. fat-free milk
¾ c. fat-free dry milk
6 egg whites
¾ c. sugar
1½ tsp. cinnamon
1½ tsp. ground allspice
1 pkg. (9 oz. Jiffy brand!) yellow cake mix
1/3 c. brown sugar (I don't pack it)
¼ c. butter
¾ c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350º. Coat a 13x9" pan with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat pumpkin, milk, and dry milk until smooth. Beat in egg whites, sugar, cinnamon, and allspice. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine cake mix and brown sugar. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle with walnuts, if using.
Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15-20 minutes longer, or until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan before cutting.
16 servings

Per serving: 188 cal., 5 g protein, 33 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat, 2 g fiber

Yay Me!!

Ok, you have to know that I think I might be ill! All 6 of the below articles were hand-sewn by ME!! I abhor sewing so to think that I sat down and made all of this in the last 4 days or so is a really big deal! I bought the fabric for the turquoise bubble skirt and the two aprons about 5 months ago. Well, you see how I did at that point! Now Tiana has 3 new skirts, a new pillow out of leftovers from a skirt of mine that's now over a year old, and Jonathon and Emily have new aprons for when they help mommy in the kitchen! On top of all of that we had Meeting here at home today, we ate a meal or two at home, I made a Low-Fat Whole Wheat Sour Cream Coffeecake and a completely-tweaked Double-Chocolate Cream Pie with a Nut Crust. So the tweak is -- I used coconut milk instead of the 1% milk and I used all almonds in the Nut Crust and I pre-baked it at 400º for 10 minutes. I have not yet tried it, but the little bit on the spatula tasted just fine! I'm going to take the recipe with me to Lancaster this weekend so that my friend can have some chocolate pie along with the rest of us! No wheat, no dairy but (hopefully!) all YUM!! And yeah, about this weekend. Thursday I fly out to D.C., leaving Kent and Tiana to fend for themselves for a few days! I'll join a group of women that I've known online for over 5 years as they enjoy their annual Cozy Crop scrapbooking weekend in Lancaster County, PA. I'm super excited to meet these ladies as well as take in Amish country!! So, I'll be back with you after the 13th!! I'm leaving this machine behind, turning my cellphone off and generally taking it very easy! I will let you know how the tweaks on the pie turn out, though! FOLLOW UP!-The pie is to-die-for! The coffee cake not so much. As a matter of fact, I took the link out to save you. The only thing I took away from the recipe is that when baking a coffeecake in a bread pan, layer the nut/crumb mixture in between and on top of the cake!

Memorial Day Barbeque -- a day early!!

Ok, so we were hoping for some sunshine today and so we planned to do our Memorial Day barbeque today instead of Monday. Well, this being the Pacific Northwest and all, we had to settle with a bit of rain to go with our ribs! I received this recipe from myrecipes.com in my email inbox earlier this week and so we decided to give 'em a go. ALL of us -- Kent, Tiana, Gordon, Ivona, Mark, Meredith and I give them a double thumbs up! Emily and Jonathan not so much, but they might have if they'd tried them! And Coda says, Paws Down they are truly the best! So we recommend, "Shay's Fall-off-the-Bone-Baby-Back-Ribs" with roasted corn on the cob and a dessert of "Double Chocolate Cream Pie"!! Sorry I didn't get any photos of any of it, but trust me -- you want to try these!

SHAY'S FALL-OFF-THE-BONE-BABY BACK RIBS
1 large onion, sliced
3 1/2 pounds (1,5kg) (about 2 slabs) baby back ribs
1 (12-ounce/350ml) bottle beer (porter) 
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 cups Chipotle Maple Barbeque Sauce or your favorite bottled sauce (see original recipe for link to sauce recipe!)

1. Preheat oven to 275°F/135°C. Spread onion slices evenly on a rimmed baking sheet, and place ribs, bone side down, on top. Pour beer over ribs, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, and cover tightly with foil. Bake 2-1/2 hours or until tender.
2. Brush both sides of ribs with Chipotle Maple Barbecue Sauce. *Grill over medium heat, meat side down, 10 to 15 minutes or until slightly charred and crispy, basting several times with sauce. Flip ribs over, and baste cooked side liberally. Close grill lid, and cook 10 to 15 minutes more, basting often. Remove from heat; let rest 10 minutes. Cut individual ribs apart, and serve warm.
Note: You can bake the ribs (step 1) up to a day ahead, but you'll need to leave them on the grill a few minutes longer to make sure they're heated through.*Kent suggests spraying grill with non-stick spray!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE
Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
3 tablespoons ice water
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
Cooking spray

Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed

Preheat oven to 425°.
To prepare the crust, lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine 1/4 cup flour and water, stirring with a whisk until well-blended.
Combine 3/4 cup flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl; cut in shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add slurry; mix with a fork until flour mixture is moist.
Press the mixture gently into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, into a 12-inch circle. Freeze 10 minutes.
Remove 1 sheet of plastic wrap; fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap. Fold edges under; flute. Line dough with a piece of foil; arrange pie weights or dried beans on foil. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes or until edge is lightly browned. Remove pie weights and foil. Reduce temperature to 350°. Bake an additional 5 minutes; cool on a wire rack.
To prepare filling, combine 3/4 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and milk in a medium saucepan; stir well with a whisk. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute until mixture comes to a full boil. Gradually add 1/3 cup hot milk mixture to beaten egg; stir well. Return egg mixture to pan. Cook 2 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add grated chocolate, stirring until the chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Spoon mixture into pastry crust. Cover surface of filling with plastic wrap. Chill until set (about 2 hours). Remove plastic wrap; spread whipped topping evenly over filling.

CALORIES 301 (28% from fat); FAT 9.3g (sat 5.5g,mono 2.7g,poly 0.5g); IRON 1.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 46mg; CALCIUM 89mg; CARBOHYDRATE 48.5g; SODIUM 180mg; PROTEIN 5.6g; FIBER 0.5g

And to surely mess up the nutrition facts, I cheated and used a pre-made Oreo cookie crust!! Oh YUM!!! Now Emily and Jonathan gave this two thumbs up!!

Happy Memorial Day. And THANK YOU! to all of the soldiers - past and present - who have given their lives, willingly, for freedoms - ours and in the pursuit of for others. Thank you.

Cookies

This photo comes to you in a circuitous route courtesy of Kent. He sent us on a wild chase with a too cool site - Taste Spotting. From there we hop off to And Now for Something Completely Delicious where we find this delightful recipe. I only made a half batch and so put it in a 9.5" square pan, but it is more than plenty! The cookies are very thick and rich, somewhat soft and oh so delicious! I sprayed my hand with Pam and just used my hands to press the cookie dough into the pan. I followed someone else's advice and used the full 1 Tbs. of vanilla in the frosting, but I don't think I'd do that again as mine was a bit off due to the alcohol content of the extract. I'm thinking that cinnamon would be AWESOME!! Anyway, these are incredible!

Full Recipe:
Sugar Cookie Bars

From The Repressed Pastry Chef

Makes 24 bars

1 c. butter, at room temperature

2 c. sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract (I used ½ almond extract)

5 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 375º. Grease a 13 x 18 inch sheet pan and line with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixture, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium high. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add the vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 2 addition, mixing until just combined.

Press the cookie dough into the sheet pan, using a greased spatula or parchment paper to spread it evenly. Bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely.

Buttercream frosting

½ c. shortening

½ c. butter, at room temperature

4 c. confectioners sugar

1 Tbs. vanilla extract

4-5 Tbs. milk

Pinch of salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and butter until combined and smooth. Add the vanilla and salt and mix until combined. Add the confectioners sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Cream together on medium high for about a minute. Add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until smooth. I only needed 4 tablespoons of milk to get a light spreadable consistency, but you may find you need more.

Spread onto cooled cookies. Slice into bars and serve.