Day 329

This afternoon was a lesson in sacrifice. I "slaved" over making this pie for the pie social this evening at church. Each family is supposed to bring a pie, and I wanted to make something that varied from the traditional pumpkin pie most families bring. I made this chocolate pie, and as I feared, I didn't have one bite.

I did buy a few extra ingredients to make it again, so maybe I'll get a piece soon.

Day 230

Today is my husband's birthday and a few days ago he mentioned that he really wanted some Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats. The problem is that Matt can't have peanut butter yet. I took the ingredients to work and during my lunch I managed to make a batch of treats, separate out a bit for Matt (and me since I'm not a big fan of the peanut butter ones), and add peanut butter to the rest.

It's not quite how the directions say you should do it, so the peanut butter wasn't as well blended as it should have been, but my husband was thrilled, so that's all that really matters.

Day 209

To say it's been a little hot today is like saying the Pacific Ocean is a good sized pond. It is excessively hot here and there seems to be little relief in sight. We decided to take a trip out to the mall and were surprised that Cold Stone wasn't packed, so we stopped in for a cool treat to share.

Day 207

Today I have a recipe to share because that's the kind of friendly blogger that I am. We had a church picnic this evening, and were supposed to bring a dessert. I decided to make Toffee Brownies, which are really super easy.

First you make up a regular batch of 9" x 13" brownies, but don't bake them. Then you melt a 1/4 cup of butter in about a 12-inch skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add one cup of brown sugar and one cup of chopped pecan. I made mine with about 1/3 cup of chopped pecans and 2/3 cup of walnuts because that's what I had in the house.

The recipe I follow is a bit vague at this point and says heat until melted. You stir and stir for a while and think you're done, but if it looks like this...

then keep going.

Once it looks like this...


you need to "pour: it over the brownies, which really means drop. Then spread it out a bit, but work quickly because it will harden into a toffee in not too much time.

Bake it in the oven per your brownie directions, and you'll have...


Pretty easy, tasty, and you probably won't come home with any.

Day 179

Over the past two days, Paul and I have made a couple of batches of ice cream. This afternoon we made some mint chocolate chip. Here's Paul pouring in the milk. We brought our ice cream to grandma and grandpa's house tonight. Paul was very proud to be making it for his family.

Day 165

Today was the dinner celebration for my birthday with my hubby's family. For the last several years, I've shared my celebration with Father's Day and have been overruled on my dessert preference in favor of some sort of lemon concoction. Not a big fan of lemon - unless it's lemonade.

This year I got lucky since Father's Day is next weekend. My sweet mother-in-law served my favorite birthday pie - apple. And I got to take home the leftovers.

Happy birthday to me! ;)

Day 86

About a month ago we made plans to go out to dinner with our friends for an evening of good food and adult conversation without the kids. We love our kiddos, but between the two couples, we have five children under five. A decent meal is nearly impossible let alone attempting a conversation.

We dined at The Cheesecake Factory, and we were not about to miss out on the full experience. Here is a picture of my dessert - Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake - taken with my iPhone in poor light, but trust me, it was divine. I look forward to enjoying it over the next couple days.