A Long Long Time Ago, in a Kitchen Far Away (Mocha Muffins)

 

I made these muffins a long time ago.  So long ago, it happened while I was pregnant.  Which is a long time ago, since my kiddo is now cruising (though unsteadily and slowly) along the furniture.

What's out there, mom?

Anyway, I made these to take with us on our trip to Cape Cod last summer.  They're everything that a great muffin should be, moist and rich, with a nutty crunch from the pecans.  They'd be perfect with some french vanilla coffee for a tasty weekend morning, sitting outside before the heat hits, sharing the first hours of the day with those you love.  The recipe is from Tate's Bake Shop, and like everything Kathleen King makes, they're perfect.

Summer Lovin' (S'mores Cookie Bars)

After several weeks of hot weather, wet weather, cold weather, humid weather, this week has been beautiful.  Hubster and I have made a point to eat outside and enjoy our patio as much as possible.  Last night we had a little impromptu cook out with our besties and my sister - just simple, steaks on the grill, corn on the cob and this yummy zucchini recipe (from Kalyn's Kitchen - check it out), and this dessert.

Mommy Wishes (Caramel Chocolate Chip Blondies)

I stare at my kiddo a lot.  He's adorable; how could you not?  This morning I was staring at him and wondering what he's going to be like when he grows up, what kind of character he will develop.  I know all parents want things for their children.  They want them to be smart, happy, successful, better off than they are.  This morning I thought about what I want for my son.  

 I want my child to be curious.  Curiosity leads to questions and questions lead to problem solving and creativity and knowing things.  All those eventually lead to intelligence and understanding.  All of the smartest people I know are also very curious (with maybe the exception of George, who was a good little monkey, haha).  I hope that my child will to want to know everything, to be interested in the world around him, and to constantly ask questions:  why is the sky blue, how much water will the bath tub hold, who invented the refrigerator, what is the difference between baking soda and baking powder, where do butterflies come from, when do the red crabs make their migration across Christmas Island...everything.  Wanting to know everything is the first step toward actually knowing everything.  Or at least enough to make you happy.

Wacky Weekends (Espresso Cinnamon Shortbread)

I love being a nurse.  Aside from enjoying the actual work of "nursing", I love the schedule - 2 or 3 twelve hour days might seem long, but to have the other 4 or 5 days off every week to spend with the kiddo makes it all worthwhile.  Our scheduling at work is pretty flexible, but we're required to work every other holiday and every third weekend.  Since your weekends are assigned when you're hired, you spend each one with pretty much the same group of people.  My weekend peeps are awesome - we usually have a good time while we're there.  

To me, this is a great opportunity to try out new recipes and pawn them off on hardworking, unsuspecting co-workers.  This weekend, figuring we needed a little kick in the mornings, I opted for espresso shortbread from a recipe off Smitten Kitchen (one of the yummiest food blogs I read).  The first batch, the ones that I took to work on Sunday, I made with chocolate chips (like Deb does in her recipe) and toffee pieces.  Those, however, I didn't get a chance to photograph before they were snapped up by my husband and my co-workers - that's how amazingly good they were.  

Match Made in Heaven (Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies)

Some things are better together.

Laverne and Shirley.  Wine and cheese.  Burgers and fries.  Black and white.  Blankets and pillows.   

Sun and sand.  Bonnie and Clyde.  My pup and tennis balls.  Milk and cookies. 

Peanut butter and chocolate.

Merry Christmas! (Peppermint Brownies)

Merry Christmas!  I hope that you all are in the midst of a wonderful and joyous holiday season!

Our Christmas was the most exciting one I've ever had.  As we were opening the presents with the baby on Christmas morning, my perception started to seem like a movie home video montage. It struck me, as I unwrapped bath toys and blocks and a huge stuffed Curious George, that we were actually parents.  Over the past 8 weeks, I've felt like a mom (sort of).  We've done the baby things - feeding, changing diapers, feeding, giving baths, feeding, napping, feeding, soothing in the middle of the night, feeding, reading stories, feeding, having tummy time and oh yeah, feeding.  But parents - other people are parents.  My parents are parents.  That was some holy grail of having a baby, working together as a unit for the enjoyment of a child, not just to keep them alive with their basic needs met.  Parents.  And now, after this Christmas morning experience, after this unified effort to bring joy and happiness to our child, I think we qualify.

Parents.  Wow.

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap (Peppermint Kisses)

This year, I participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap of 2011 (typed in my best Madison Square Garden announcer voice), hosted by Julie at The Little Kitchen and Lindsay at Love & Olive Oil.  (Check out their blogS - love it!)  The idea was like any other cookie swap, that we would each bake a dozen cookies to send to 3 other bloggers and would receive 3 different kinds in return.  Except better, because these cookies come in the mail.  Finally, after weeks of online Christmas shopping, there's a package that comes for me!  Very exciting.

I decided to put a new twist on an old favorite cookie of my husband's, the peanut butter blossom.  For those of you not in the know, this is a peanut butter cookie with a Hershey's kiss stuck in the top.  Delicious.  Wonderful.  Traditional.

(Funny story:  the first time I made those for Bob, years ago, I forgot the baking soda, so they turned out to be peanut butter pancakes with a Hershey's kiss stuck in the top.   He married me anyway.)

Waste Not (Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Jack Daniels Chocolate Ganache)

I believe in recycling.  I reuse boxes and gift bags.  I wear clothes long past their fashion window.  I freecycle. I hate to throw things out.  I don't like to waste anything.  Especially chocolate.  

Especially chocolate and booze.  That's a sin.

So when I had some leftover chocolate sauce from last week's post about Chocolate Jack Daniel's Cake, I knew that I had to do something with it.  The sauce had hardened in the fridge to a soft ganache-like consistancy.  And what's better with ganache than cheesecake?  Especially in easy to serve bar form.

But, since I believe in the principle of "go big or go home", wouldn't it be better to have the chocolate IN the cheesecake?  As a layer?  Instead of as a topping?

True Love, Again (Chocolate Pecan Jack Daniel's Cake)

Baby Chase is 11 days old today.  He's such a good baby!  Eats, sleeps, poops...again and again and again.  We're having a great time hanging out together, mostly he sleeps and I just stare at him.

How could you not?  Have you ever seen a more beautiful baby?  

I really had no idea how much you could love another person until I first laid eyes on this squirmy, squeaky little man.  Every day I fall more in love with him...and with my amazing husband, who is proving to be the best daddy in the world.

Hennebaby watch: Week 33 (White Chocolate Cinnamon Cookies)

Things that give me heartburn:

Water.  Tea.  Milk.  Tomatoes.  Cheese.  Bread.  Apples.  Yogurt and granola.  Chocolate.  Cinnamon.  Pancakes.  Chinese food.  Macaroni and cheese.  Chicken and broccoli.   Sitting up.  Laying down.  Walking. 

Things that make my heart happy:

My hubby and my puppy. Feeling Hennebaby kick. 

Autumn Love (Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies)

We were lucky enough to survive Hurricane Irene with little damage around here, but my heart goes out to those who are dealing with the destruction.  Around here, it feels like Irene brought us autumn.

I love fall.  I love the warmth of the sun on the downslope of summer.  I love the richness of autumn veggies and fall recipes.  I love sweaters and jeans.  I love the chill in the air when I take the dog out in the mornings.  I love Halloween and wreathes of red and yellow leaves.  Summertime is all fun and games, but fall is really my favorite.

Midsummer Night's BBQ (Brownie Cheesecake Bars)

Right now, as I write this, I'm sitting down, feeling Hennebaby play soccer in my belly and eating a piece of heaven.  All three things are equally exciting - sitting down, feeling the baby and eating heaven.  In the past less than two weeks, I have taken an unfortunate trip home for my grandmother's funeral, painted a bedroom, worked 6 twelve hour shifts, relocated all the furniture in our house so that we could have our hardwood floors refinished, moved two people and a dog out for a week so that said floors could be completed, moved both people and dog back in, cleaned up after said floors, had two doctors appointments, did 5 loads of laundry, moved all the furniture back and hosted a barbeque for 20 people.  

Today I'm sitting down.  And enjoying Hennebaby dancing the Macarena in there.

It's wonderful.  :-)

On to third exciting thing:  the heaven.  Brownie Cheesecake Bars.  My good friend Liz celebrated her birthday yesterday, and was sweet enough to spend some of it on our deck, getting bitten by bugs and eating my husband's grilled hamburgers.  I wanted to make something special for her, something creamy and delicious and decadent and not too hard, because - let's face it, this pregnant girl was tired.  Since I couldn't reach my cookbooks until it was too late, buried as they were under the dining room furniture stacked in my kitchen, I turned to my handy dandy bookmarked list of desserts, where I found this gem from one of my favorite blogs, Brown Eyed Baker.  How I managed to bookmark this and not make it until this weekend I'll never know.

These bars completed my life.  For realsies.

Spring Surprise! (Fudgy Chocolate Cake)

The trees are budding, the flowers are blooming, the puppy is shedding and it's finally feeling like springtime!!

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything - don't worry, nothing terrible has happened in the past few weeks.  I just don't have anything yummy to post.  I haven't been feeling well since ACE-a-palooza, because, well....I'm pregnant!! 

Hennebaby is due November 18, and we're all really excited!!  (We have names picked out, but for now our last name has to do.)  I found out during finals week, which made it REALLY hard to concentrate on studying change theory and gerontological disease processes, but somehow I made it through the last four days of finals, passed my exit exam (with flying colors, not to brag, haha) and convinced my classmates that I had actually given up alcohol for Lent.  Then, a few days into my first week of free-me-time, it started....Morning sickness.  Or the proper name for it, All The Freaking Time Sickness.  Starting Week 6, a few days after ACE-a-palooza, I haven't been able to stomach even the idea of food, let alone make anything to take pictures of.  In fact, I've watching TLC nonstop and been eating a lot of this:

Ahh, to be 8 years old again.  Anyway, my body feels like a science experiment.  I started to read the "What to Expect" book, only to find that I had EVERY. SINGLE. SYMPTOM. possible, including the weirdo ones like nosebleeds, congestion, headaches, acid reflux if I lay down with less than 2 pillows and the ability to smell better than my dog.  I swore that if one more person suggested that eating crackers in the morning was going to fix me, I would throw up on them.  Needless to say, a food blogger's worst nightmare.  Poor Layla  has been stressed out about why her Girl Human can't seem to stand up without making a horrible retching sound and why Boy Human is the only one who feeds her anymore. 

So that was the past 4 weeks.  For the Easter weekend, my parents came to visit, which was such a blessing.  It was so nice to be pampered and waited on for a few days!  Bob is a wonderful Baby Daddy, and he takes good care of me, but one of us has to go out and bring home the bacon, and that's not me for the next few weeks.  It was soo nice to have some help for a few days.  My mom turned into Mama Extraordinaire, making Easter Saturday dinner, cleaning my disaster of a house and doing all the laundry that had piled up.  In those few days, I moved into my 10th week and started feeling better, with the nausea fading to just the morning and before bed.  (It's my theory that Hennebaby is a boy, since a boy fetus starts to produce testosterone during Week 10 and I'm thinking that's what's counteracting my preggo hormones and helping my body to calm down a little.  We shall see!!)

So, my plans for this blog are to include one pregnancy recipe and (eventually) postpartum/new baby recipe a week to help those other food-loving expectant moms and their families.  The remaining recipes will probably be to satisfy my cravings, which are starting to be, um, interesting in their diversity and surprise factor.  

But, without further ado, I bring you....chocolate cake!!  One of the things I have had no interest in during my icky-feelings is chocolate. Given that it's Easter time, and that Hubby's favorite Easter candy is Reese's peanut butter eggs, my mom decided that for dessert on Easter Saturday she would make him a little treat, in the form of chocolate peanut butter fudge cake.  Using her easy recipe for chocolate fudge cake, she substituted chocolate peanut butter from Peanut Butter & Co for the fudgy filling and drizzled some fudge topping on the top.  Also, the recipe calls for a bundt pan, but since I somehow don't have one, we used a springform pan that worked just as well.  

This cake was rich and delicious and even Hennebaby seemed to approve of the two tiny pieces I had.  The peanut butter flavor was infused throughout the cake, and it was sweet and rich without being tooth-achingly over the top.  And as an added bonus, my house smelled AMAZING for several hours!!

Fudgy Chocolate Baby Daddy Cake

(from Mama Extraordinaire)

1 box chocolate fudge cake mix
1 box chocolate fudge instant pudding mix
8 oz sour cream
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
2 eggs
1 jar fudge ice cream topping (or chocolate peanut butter topping)
Powdered sugar for the topping

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, oil and sour cream well.  Place one half of batter in a greased bundt pan.  Using the back of a spoon, make a 'well' around the center ring of batter.  Fill with topping and cover with the remaining batter.  Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or till cake tester comes out clean.  Cool in pan 5 minutes then invert on cake plate.  When cool, top with glaze or powdered sugar.  Store covered.  Enjoy!!!

**For Turtle cake, use caramel ice cream topping for the filling and top with pecans.  Dream up your favorite combination!!

The End, Finally (Homemade Samoas)

Well, folks, we did it.  My classmates and I are officially nurses!!  Last Saturday was our exit exam, and I passed with flying colors (not to brag, haha).  It was a crazy, wild ride, and while I can't honestly say that I enjoyed every second of it, I'm definitely grateful for the experience.  

So now that insanity is over, I'm recovering from a year of no sleep and mucho stress.  This past week has been blissfully relaxing.  I should start working in May, once I take the boards and get my license, but until then I have a few things going on that I'll share over the next few weeks.  I have some new ideas on where to take the blog, and I hope that my readers (all three of you, haha) will be excited.  More about that later.  On to the main event!

My Little Sister... (Homemade Tagalongs)

My little sister turns 21 today.  21.  The age of adulthood.  And drinking.  And gambling.  And generally having fun in a legal-ish type way.

But first, before all of that, I had to make her something to celebrate with.  Rachel loooooooves peanut butter.  Loves it with a capital L.  So, taking this all into consideration, I made her my homemade version of our favorite Girl Scout cookie, the Tagalong (also known as Peanut Butter Patties.  Original Tagalongs and Samoas, however are the best.  You can read about the GS cookie bakeries and varieties here, if you're so inclined.)

This had nothing to do with my love of peanut butter and chocolate.  This was solely for the purpose of making my little sister happy.  I'm pleased to report that these cookies are deliciously like the originals.  I only had one, just for testing purposes. 

Seriously, just one.

Handful.  :o)

Happy birthday, little sister!!!

Homemade Tagalongs

(from the wonderful Love and Olive Oil)

 1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups white flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

1-1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar

pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

12 oz milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips (your preference)

1-1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preheat your oven to 350 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Cream the butter and sugar and slowly add the flour, baking powder and salt (this way it won't make too much of a mess).  The dough will form a ball in the bottom of the bowl.  Chill the dough for 15 minutes, then roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into 1 to 1-1/2 inch circles.  You could do this part by hand if you had a really good eye, but let's face it, I don't, so I used the cookie cutter.  Place on the lined sheets, close together because they won't spread very much.  Bake for 12-13 minutes, until the edges are browned.  Place the cookie sheets on a wire rack, and press a thumb-sized indentation into the middle (this is where the peanut butter will go), then transfer off the sheet onto the racks.  Save your parchment paper.

Once the cookies cool, stir together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, pinch of salt and vanilla into a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for 20-40 seconds, until the mixture is soft enough to pipe.  Put the peanut butter mixture into a pastry bag or a plastic baggie with the corner snipped off and pipe a small amount into the middle of the cookie (about 1 teaspoon, depending on the size of your cookies).  I used a knife to spread the peanut butter until it was flattened.  As the peanut butter mixture hardens,  in a small bowl, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave (usually 2 rounds of 30 seconds will do) or over a double boiler.  Stir in the vegetable oil.  Place your saved parchment paper under your wire rack.  Dip the top of each cookie into the chocolate, and place on the wire rack to harden.  

Store in a cool place, if you have any left to actually store.  :o)

Life by Chocolate (Truffles)

Today, I'm officially renaming Valentine's Day "Life by Chocolate" Day.  I think this name better captures the essence of what modern V-Day is all about - loading our loved ones up with sugar.  Honestly, I'm all for it.

 

Hubby and I don't go all out for Valentine's Day, since we just had Halloween, Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas, New Years, and his birthday (in two weeks).  We kind of look at is as a good time to reexamine how we share our love for each other over the entire year.  

And as an excuse to drink wine and go out to dinner.

These little bite-sized Life by Chocolate Truffles go really well with wine.

Or milk.

So whip up a batch and go drink some with the one you love.  Even if that's yourself.  I won't tell.  :o)

Life by Chocolate Truffles

12 Oreo cookies, crushed

8 oz white chocolate

2/3 cup heavy cream

8 oz dark chocolate

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened ever so slightly

Over a double boiler or in the microwave, heat 1/3 cup of the cream to just before boiling.  Chop the white chocolate and stir into the hot cream.  Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted, set aside to cool.  Mix together (a hand mixer works best) the crushed Oreos and cream cheese until combined.  Stir in the cooled white chocolate mixture, being care not to overmix but making sure that the ingredients are combined completely.  Shape into 1 inch balls; refrigerate on a piece of wax paper for 20-30 minutes, until firm.  Heat the remaining 1/3 cup of cream.  Chop the dark chocolate and pour the cream over top.  Stir until combined, allow to sit for 5 minutes, until cool.  Dip the truffle balls into the chocolate and allow to sit 20-30 minutes, until set.  Enjoy!

It's that time again, folks (Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies)

Time for midterms!!

For what is hopefully the last time, my classmates and I are cramming for midterm week.  This quarter (hopefully our last) we have fluffy classes like "Leadership and Management" (which strangely reminiscent of a corporate training seminar), Ethics (what is the answer to life the universe and everything?) and "Research and Nursing" (a hypothesis is an educated guess).  We're also taking an NCLEX and skills review class to get us ready for the final comprehensive HESI exam (read: giant pretend nursing licensure exam at the end of the term that we have to pass to graduate) and review our clinical skills, like IV medications and dressing changes.  On top of all that fun, we have two serious classes, Critical Care Nursing and Gerontology (elderly) Nursing. 

Due to some curse by the scheduling gods and the Philadelphia area meteorologists, both our heavy class midterms are scheduled for tomorrow.

Which is Friday.

The Challenge (Lamingtons)

I'm slightly competitive.  Just a little.  Growing up I was never good at sports.  Even grown up, now, I'm not good at physical activity.  Even walking at a slow pace on a flat surface requires the kind of visual-spacial-hand-foot-eye coordination I barely possess.  This made it a little difficult to find a good, un-awkward outlet for my competitive streak.  "I read more books than you!  I finished my homework first!  I can name the entire prime time line up of Nick at Nite in 0.43 seconds!"  These things do not make you cool.

I'm older and wiser now.  Still not much cooler.  

Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie (Peanut Butter Buckeyes)

That song always makes me thing of home, especially around Christmas, mostly because I'm from Pennsylvania and we always had homemade *some kind of* pie around our table.  Makes me all warm inside.  

What I have for you today is not pumpkin pie.  It is not pie of any kind.  But it is homemade.  And it is delicious enough to drive from Tennessee for.

Over a hill... (Puppy Chow)

My birthday is on Monday.  I'll be 27 years old.  Somehow 27 seems so much more grown up than 26.  When you're 26, you're still in the mid-twenties, you can still get away with being a "retired college kid" (as my husband calls us) and the life is all ahead of you.  By the time you're 27, you're closer to 30 and to figuring out how to be good at this thing called life.  I'm 27 and starting over with a new education and (hopefully!) a new career.  It's been a long road, this 26th year, but I think it was one of my best.  I made some great friends, found furry love, grew a new marriage with my wonderful husband, took some huge risks (like quitting my job for something completely different), discovered new parts of me (like this blog) and learned to trust myself.  When I look back to the turning 26 me from the me who is turning 27, I think I did good by the old me.  I think I can honestly say that I took stock of my life and then made it better.

I guess we'll see if that's true when grades are posted.  :o)