So I came across this recipe the other day for Espresso Brownies with Peanut butter Mashmallow frosting. I took one look at it,  drooled, and then went back to trying to find things I could actually do. I mean, who has time to sift things? And then I got to thinking… Maybe it’s worth it? Let’s face it, we all watch Ina Garten and secretly wish she was our mother. Home made this, organically grown that. But who actually does it?
And if you are one of those people, well, I’m tipping my proverbial hat, but I just don’t.
Unless it comes to chocolate and peanut butter. Because the truth is, I will take the chocolate/peanut butter combo over my own children. Ok, that may be a bit harsh. But seriously. Â I will.
Moving on.
I went back to the recipe, sized it up, mumbled a “screw it†under my breath, and had Siri make me a shopping list to send to my husband. Then I had to go back and edit the shopping list because Siri is an idot that obviously doesn’t understand Southern. But I digress.
Skip to the baking part. I’m going to have to admit. It wasn’t that bad. And that’s why I’m blogging it! Or maybe the ridiculously good-tasting result out-weighed all the tedious baking steps. Whatever. End result…Worth it.
Ingredients for the brownies:
At this point, I did feel like Ina. You know, chopping chocolate and all.
I thought I would have to do the double-broiler thing, but since you’re incorporating it all together you don’t have to. Whew,  that was a close one.
Silky-smooth, chocolaty, buttery goodness.
I probably could have used a smaller pan and made them a little thicker, but hey, more brownies in the end!
Ingredients for the frosting:
I’m a lucky girl, when I met Chris he already had one of these. Yay!
Mix it! Mix it good!
The finished product! There were WAY more than we needed and we thought about taking some to the neighbors. And then we didn’t.
Just in case you want step-by-step directions on how to make these gems, here’s the original link. I didn’t divert from the recipe at all. Why mess with genious?
Do you have a chocolate/peanut-butter recipe you wanna share with the world? Huh? Do ya? Because I’m going to need you to email it to me.
Like right now.
I can’t really talk enough about Pork.
Piggies are pretty gross animals but man… they taste delicious. My husband went to culinary school the year before we met (lucky me!), and I’ve been reaping the benefits ever since. Having said that, it’s not very often we take on task of Braising an entire Pork shoulder.
But yesterday, we did.
I’ve never done it myself, but I observed his teqnique and I feel pretty confident that next time I could maybe have it ready when he gets home from work. (Let’s just keep that between us, shall we?)
Really all he did was sear it in a hot pan and then stick it in the crock pot with lots of yummy-smelling herbs. Next time I’ll have step-by-step pictures for you, but I did snap one of the finished product.
Yum, pork heaven.
Also, I did contribute a little something to this meal. We had to sweet potato fries in the freezer and I remembered pinning a brown butter sauce for them a while back. The planets must have aligned or something because I had every single ingredient. Yes, it was magical. So I whipped that up and boom. Meal time.
Here is the original pin for that sauce. I followed her recipe except I only had 2 Tbl. of butter. It still turned out delicious.
Just to start us off, here are a few hilarious, and sometimes inappropriate things my kid has said:
Watching Tinker Bell:
*The fairy tears her wing*
Harper: “Oh no mom! Tinker Bell’s wing! Bless her heart.â€
-See, I told you we were from the south
When asked if she had $ 100:
*She wanted to go on a boat ride, so Chris tried to put in in perspective by telling her it was very expensive*
Harper: “You know I don’t pay for things!â€
-Translation: I’m a four-year-old, that was a dumb question.
On passing gas:
*Sitting in the living room*
Harper: “Dad, did you just fart?â€
Chris: “Yep! So sorryâ€
Harper: “Well then I guess we’re both sorryâ€
-Between the two of them I should buy stock in Febreze
My iPhone:
*She wanted to download a game*
Me: “Harp, do you remember the name of it? Unless you know the name it will be tough to findâ€
Harper: “Nope, but that’s okay. I believe in youâ€
Me: *laughing*
Harper: “I can’t handle this right nowâ€
Regarding teachers
*It was Valentines Day and we bought her teacher some chocolate*
Me: “How did Ms. Lora like her Valentine?
Harper: “Good. She said she would eat it laterâ€
Me: “I’m sure she will when she gets homeâ€
Harper: “Mom. That is her home. Didn’t you know that?â€
First of all, let me just say it.
I. LOVE. IKEA.
English: Logo of Ikea. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’m sure you do too, and for those of you that have never been…well.. Let’s just say the Ikea in Seattle lists it as an “attraction†on their interstate sign. Yep. It’s that awesome. Having said all this, those good folks in Sweden (I had to look up the spelling. embarrassing.) do tend to skimp on the quality of the stuff. Let’s face it, you’re not buying Pottery Barn or West Elm furniture here. But, It’s cheap! I always have a deep internal struggle of quality vs. quantity when I shop there. Also, quantity always wins.
So let’s talk about our latest Ikea find.
I’ve seen so many awesome blogs lately on Pinterest that turn simple Ikea furniture into very cool retro pieces and such. It got me thinking… Maybe we should dig a little deeper into the Ikea world of products. You know, not just grab the first piece of Liatorp or worse, Lack furniture we see. So we did.
We were in the market for some shelving. I love shelves. They hang on the wall and hold cute things out of the way, what in the world is better than that? Nothing! So my husband found these beautiful wood plank shelves and had the idea to stain them to match our dining room table. We then chose these fabulous metal brackets and Bam! Gorgeous, custom shelving. Ok, so that wasn’t digging that deep, but still. I was pretty proud.
He’s in the military, so chalk lines are a necessity.
Sweet Finley Mae making observations and directing from her seat
This color matches pretty close with my dining room table. I’m in love.
The finished product. What do you think? Now to just get some stuff up there.
Side story: while this beautiful shelving was being put up, Harper was playing three steps from our back door with a couple of other little girls. Be sure, this is a great thing because normally it’s little boys who just want to karate chop her. So I stick my head out the door and notice that one of these little crazies has formed a mutiny and got them all digging up our backyard (which they know isn’t allowed) and is now hurling dirt on my kid.
Not in my yard, crazy child.
My first thought was to going “trailer†on this girl. Then I realized she probably belonged to another hot-headed Army mom and we’d have a neighborhood feud on our hands. Not really something I’m ready to take on after only being here two weeks. So I decided to very politely ask the girls what they were up to and remind them that digging isn’t aloud. The dirt-thrower immediately replies “She found a coin and its mine! (Throws more dirt on my kid) We’re looking for buried treasure. You shouldn’t argue with me!â€
Ummm….hello. Be a mature pre-schooler, would ya?
And then I heard Harper add “Yeah mom, duuhh.†OH. HECK. NO. What’s funny is she knew that was the wrong thing to say when it was halfway out of her mouth. It was like when you pass a cop speeding, like really speeding, and then you just pull right over because the inevitable is going to happen. Yeah that’s what happened, playground style. She just got up, mutiny and all, and came inside. Lets just say she’ll probably be getting karate chopped by little boys from now on…
Like these shelves? Go get em’!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30094629/
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30140004/
Those two links are for the shelving and the brackets. We also bought the stain from Ikea, but they don’t have it listed online. Good luck and let me know how they turn out!
Happy New Year!
Wait. That was like 4 months ago. No, 5?
Do you ever feel like your life is in a constant state of newness? Hold on to your seats, folks, and I’ll give you the short-version of my “new†life.
I would say this part began last year around March. My husband of six years decided that he was going to go join the military. Yeah, I know. Not only was I terrified for him, I was extremely scared for myself and my then three-year-old daughter, who like all little girls, thinks her dad is the best. ever. How were we going to cope with him being gone? How was I supposed to do this by myself? Where were we going to live? My man and I both grew up in Florida and had never lived ANYWHERE else. I had never even traveled anywhere above the Mason-Dixon line. Okay, moving on. So a week goes by, my daughter and myself move in with my parents so we don’t have to be alone.
Extent of the original Mason-Dixon line. Mason and Dixon were prevented from finishing the western portion of the line due to a potential conflict with American Indians. The line was later extended (by others) to the Ohio River and not only established the Pennsylvania-Maryland/Virginia border, but also the border between Marshall and Wetzel Counties (now in West Virginia). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Then I peed on a stick. Guess what it said?
You guessed right. Pregnant.
Fast forward through the agonizing nine months alone, with my four-year-old, living with my (awesome) parents, while my husband is off training to be a soldier: We had another sweet, tiny version of him in the form of a little girl named Finley Mae. She’s fabulous, so is her sister, blah blah blah. But it was a lot. Like, a lot a lot. So a week after this new little human is born, her dad has to say goodbye again for four months. It was all just really, really sad.
So two months goes by, I get a phone call one morning from the husband. All of a sudden I hear “Washingtonâ€. My life flashed before my eyes and I almost wrecked my Prius on the way to my daughter’s preschool. Yikes. Of course, it only makes sense that when you grow up in Florida, the military will want to move you to the opposite side of the country.
Two more months. Finally, April. Graduation. Reuniting. MOVING.
72 hours, 10 states, and a major blizzard later. Fort Lewis, Washington.
Then came more “newnessâ€. Do we live on-base or off-base? Get a job? Stay home? Daycare? Preschool? I need pizza. And beer. With the help of my newly-trained soldier-medic husband, and lots of encouraging and hilarious words from Harper (the four-year-old), we made all of those decisions.
So here I sit, at my new computer, taking on this new blog, and I realize something. I kind of just want my old stuff back.
没有评论:
发表评论