Lazy

I have been feeling very lazy lately and haven't wanted to do much of anything but lie around. I think it has something to do with the 20 & 30 below weather. It has been freezing! I did find some energy the other day to make some Meringue cookies! I had lots of leftover egg whites from another recipe that called for several yolks. My meringue cookie recipe that I usually use only calls for 4 whites so I tried searching for another recipe that might call for 7 egg whites but had no such luck. I did come across a recipe that for "mocha" meringue cookies that sounded yummy so I decided to go off of my recipe and add the ingredients from the mocha recipe. The result:



I was impressed with what I came up with. They were very chocolatey and had the perfect hint of coffee flavor. Unfortunately, I didn't write how much of what I put in! I really need to get better about that. It just seems that I get so busy adding a little of this & a little of that, oh maybe some more of that, just a little more. Before I know it I have lost track of how much I've added. I am open to suggestions!

Jello, anyone?

Anyone who has seen The Office will surely appreciate this story! A co-worker was on vacation and would be returning the next day. Jessie & I decided to give her a welcome back "present"! And being The Office lovers that we are headed to the show for inspiration and here is a picture of what we came up with.

We had it strategically placed on her desk so she wouldn't be able to see it until she had actually finally reached her desk. She said she wasn't too surprised because she was wondering on her way into work if we had done anything to her desk. My opinion: that's just a cover up; she really had no idea! ;)

Jumping on the Bandwagon

I honestly never realized how big blogging is! None of my friends, family or fellow co-workers have caught on yet or maybe it just hasn't quite reached Montana! Ha! I was a little leery when I first started mine but now I have discovered a whole new world! Lately I have been visiting other blogs and then from clicking from one to another and so on. There are so many out there! The list is endless and I am only really checking out food blogs! I never knew! Right now I have about 20 blogs sitting in my favorites that I want to go back and keep reading. Another thing I didn't realize is that there are blogging contests and even Adopt-a-Blogger! A couple of blogs that have the blogging contest events are at Is My Blog Burning? & Sticky Date. I'd love to enter a contest but I don't know which I'd like to do most for my first time. Did I mention I am a horrible decision maker?!

Processing the greatness

I just can't help it; I love my food processor. I bought it about a month ago telling Brandon that it could be one of my Christmas presents (by the way, he told me I am spoiled. Me: "I know, and I love every minute of it!") I just got done using it to make the guacamole & the salsa to go with our dinner (which is another story in itself). It is such a handy machine; it puts my blender to shame. I have been less than happy with my blender, it is SO loud (I feel like I will wake the neighbor up two houses down!) and such a pain to remove the food and an even bigger pain to clean. My food processor on the other hand is very quiet (you can still talk while it is running) and I can't get over that I can grate cheese with it! I have begun buying the huge blocks of cheese, grating it when I get home from the grocery store then freezing it! Having already grated cheese on hand is so nifty! It even has little suction cups on the bottom so it sticks to the counter & can't move around. I can use my food processor for such a variety of things: Scones (from Katherine), chopping nuts, Mom's manicotti, salsa (which I love to try homemade recipes but never knew where to begin until I got my FOOD PROCESSOR!); I mean the list could go on and on and on. I love that I can make Desserts & Dressings & Salsas & Meals & Applesauce (love to experiment with flavors), so many different types of foods. We tried making milkshakes with it before we realized that when it comes to liquids it can only be filled so full. We had a mess everywhere! I have to admit that for those a blender did work much better. But my food processor hasn't ceased to amaze!

The Office

I think my favorite TV series is The Office. My sister, Heidi got me started on it last year and now I'm hooked. I am borrowing seasons 1-3 from Jessie (she's amazing!). Brandon & I usually watch an episode each night before bed sometimes we can't resist & have to watch two! It's a show that can get me laughing anytime of day. I'm so glad Jessie sits right across the cubicle from me at work so we can share our funnies from the show! She even has a daily The Office calendar! Each morning she reads the new "quote" and we reminisce over it! We are dorks, I know BUT we have so much fun!

A Month of Sundaes

If my sister or I got grounded growing up our parents would tease us saying that we were grounded for a month of Sundays. Neither of us knew what that meant and it drove us nuts; Mom & Dad got a kick out of it! Now after we are both grown up and married my mom found this book and gave it to us as a gift from her and Dad this Christmas. The really cool thing about the book is it's all about ice cream; ice cream is my FAVORITE! It's about the start of ice cream in the USA! I find it interesting that all ice cream parlors/soda shops back in the day were in drug stores (pharmacies). Who'd have ever thought? I guess a spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down! At the back of the book it has a list from state to state which are the best ice cream parlors and one listed is here in my hometown! It also mentions what is the "best" at each place.

Double-Chocolate Christmas Praline-Fudge Cake

I am obsessed with cooking & baking. I am both proud and slightly embarrassed to say that I own around 200 cookbooks. The amazing thing is that I have only purchased maybe a total of 10. My friends and family know me too well. My mom bought me a Gooseberry Patch Christmas Cookbook last year; a cake in it caught my attention and I really wanted to make it. Brandon was deployed in Iraq at the time and I couldn't imagine making it just for myself! Well now that he is home, I FINALLY made it last weekend! And it was just as delicious as I imagined it would be (well worth the wait)!!!





I usually have a really difficult time with layered cakes so I am really proud of this cake! I've got a story about the last time I tried a multiple layer cake! My parent's had gotten me a cake pan to make a checkerboard cake; I made the cake, assembled the layers and went about my business. When I came back upstairs, a huge chunk from the top layer had fallen off! I "glued" it back on with some frosting and continued on my way only to come back and see that the chunk had fallen off again but it took with it part of the next layer. I tried "gluing" it again but came back a third time to find that even more had fallen off! It was hopeless, but HILARIOUS! I ended up dumping the entire cake into a regular 9x13 pan. It looked really sloppy but still tasted oh so delicious!
Here is the recipe to the cake in the picture above. If anyone makes this let me know what you think!

Double Chocolate Christmas Praline-Fudge Cake

1 cup butter or marg
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
Chocolate Ganache
Praline Frosting

Cook first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter melts and mixture is smooth; remove from heat. cool. Beat buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add butter mixture to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. Combine sugar, flour and salt; gradually ad to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. (batter will be thin). Coat 3 (8") round cake pans with non-stick vegetable spray; line with wax paper. Pour batter evenly into pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 22 to 24 minutes or until set. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool layers completely. Spread about 1/2 cup ganache between cake layers; spread remainder on sides of cake only (not top). Chill cake 1/2 hour. Pour frosting slowly over top of cake, spreading to edges, allowing some frosting to run over sides. Freeze, if desired; thaw at room tempurature 4-6 hours. Makes 10-12 servings


Chocolate Ganache

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter or marg, cut up into pieces

Microwave chocolate chips and cream in a glass bowl on medium power (50%) 2-3 minutes or until chips are melted. Whisk until smooth. Gradually add butter, whisking until smooth. Cool, whisking often, 15-20 minutes or until spreading consistency. Makes about 2 cups.


Praline Frosting

1/4 cup butter or marg
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring often; boil one minute. Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add toasted pecans, stirring gently 2-5 minutes or until frosting begins to cool and thicken slightly. Pour immediately over cake. Makes about 1 3/4 cups.