Checking in

Sorry I've been slacking on the blogs. Got some fun things to talk about, but not enough time to do it. Dang holidays!

I promise that I will get back on the blog wagon...maybe this week. Most likely next week. My last day of work is this Friday (woo woo!!). Then I don't come back til the 11th of January. WOW!! What will I do with all my time?! We'll visit parents and in-laws, maybe a Vegas trip, lots of reading...maybe even some baking. Sounds fun, huh?!?!

When I have more time, I will tell you about our friends' engagement party we went to last weekend. So cute and so fun! Plus...an awesome video to go with it.

For now, I'll leave you with my favorite wedding picture. Awwww! :D

They're here...

Here are the videos that I've been slacking on posting.

The first video is Scratch attempting to walk on water. He's not successful! Although, later in the week he did try again and his top half made it to the other side of the pool..so I was fairly impressed.


This video is on our ride to Mystic Mountain. Our driver was serenading us with Bob Marley.



This next video is at Mystic Mountain...we had to ride the "Sky Explorer" (aka ski lift) up to the top of the mountain. Scratch was filming, while I was holding on to the safety bar for dear life.



The last 2 videos are of us zip lining. The first is Scratch filming me....I kept turning around, therefore zip lining backwards. So scary! The second is Scratch filming as he zip lined. Kinda shaky, but it's pretty close to what you actually see.





Have fun watching!

Catching Up

So, Scratch and I had a good long weekend. Wednesday I didn't have work. Yay! I took Bella to get groomed, ran a few errands, and went home to start baking. Finished 2 of 3 desserts than Scratch came home from work (sucka!) and we went to dinner.

Thursday morning I finished up the desserts and we went to my Uncle's house for dinner. It was fun to see the family, especially my cousin. I really need to get some pictures of her. She is too cute. After dinner we played a card game called nickels. My grandma likes it because the most you can lose is 95 cents. haha.

Friday Scratch and I went shopping. We got up at 7 am and hit Walmart, Office Max, and the mall. It was this day that I have 2 epiphanies.
#1 Going Black Friday shopping at 7 am is a lose-lose situation. Not only do I not get to sleep in, but 99% of the deals are gone already. Next year, I'll have 2 options (A) Wake up and go stand in line early-Sacrifice sleep with the promise to get the deals or (B) Sleep in and go at 11-12-Sacrifice deals with the promise to sleep in.
#2 Don't bring Joe if I go with #1A. He is such an inefficient Black Friday shopper. Let's just say he wanders. lol. I spent 10 minutes of good shopping time searching Walmart for him. The plan is to get in and get out...not wander the aisles. lol I know better now though.

Saturday Scratch and I tailgated with some friends, then went to the ASU v. UofA game. I won't talk about the game because that was disappointing, but I will talk about the interesting weather. I know what you're thinking..weather? interesting? Well, sorta...sorta evil. When we started tailgating it was a little chilly (light sweater weather one might say). The longer we were outside, the warmer it got. I eventually took off my sweater and changed out of my boots into flip flops...thinking "Man, I wish I would have worn capris". We get to the game and the weather turns on us. It gets really really windy and the sun gets covered by clouds. When halftime hit, I was sooo tempted to run and get my sweater. It was so cold. But that wasn't too convenient since we parked so far. By the end of the 3rd quarter it was raining. You might think I'm crazy for staying, but by then the game was getting good. The 4th quarter...well, at one point Scratch pointed to my arm and asked "What's that?"...it was a chunk of ice. It was hailing! Can you believe it!! At the end of the game, I didn't care who won or lost I just wanted the game to be over. (Crucify me if you want...you weren't there, if was flippin' freezin'!).

I eventually thawed out and Sunday was an extremely lazy day...caught up on reading, TiVo, and football. (Ok Scratch mostly did the football thing...I was in the other room napping :D).

I did a lot of checking off this weekend too.
-#11 Donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. My coworkers were growing mustaches in November to "change the face of men's health". They all look like pervs. haha
-#22 Started an auto-deposit into Scratch and my joint savings. It feels good to actually start saving again.
-#39 Went to the ASU game.
-#45 Watched 3 movies the weekend, several that we purchased on Black Friday and some we rented from Redbox: The Day the Earth Stood Still (not as bad as I thought it would be), The Goods; Live Hard, Sell Hard, and Angels and Demons.
and
-#72 Bought a breadmaker on Black Friday and didn't even have to wait in line. Thank you Amazon!

Phew....I'm just tired writing about all of those. :P

Thanksgiving Dessert #2

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies...mmmm.

Now these were good. I was pretty happy with how they turned out and my family loved them. This might become one of the Thanksgiving staples.

I made a double batch, so it got a little confusing doubling everything. I should have written them all down first. Then the recipe calls to put 2/3 of the brownie batter on the bottom of the pan. I don't think I put enough..and I think I put too much on the top. Oh well. Still really good.

I couldn't really taste the cheesecake, so I thought it tasted like "chocolate"ly pumpkin. However, my uncle could only really taste the cheesecake. Weird! :D


Makes 1 8"x8" pan

Ingredients:
Brownie Batter
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake Batter
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 - 2/3 cup pumpkin
1/3 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 tsp cinnamon
1/3 tsp ground ginger
1/3 tsp ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 8"x 8" square metal baking pan.
2. Brownie batter: Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients and gradually stir into butter mixture with a wooden spoon.
3. Cheesecake Batter: In a separate bowl, beat together cheesecake batter ingredients.
4. Spread about 2/3 of chocolate batter into prepared pan and spoon cheesecake batter over. Dollop remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. Swirl together by running a butter knife back and forth through the pan.
5. Bake for 40 minutes, or until center is set. ( I needed 50 minutes).
6. Cool on wire rack and chill before cutting and serving.

The last dessert...the Double Layer Pumpkin Pie was good, but didn't hold the form as I had hoped, aka pudding pie. I plan on working on this pie a little more and once it's perfected I will let you know.

Thanksgiving Dessert #1

I bet everyone is on the edge of their seats, thinking how did the Thanksgiving desserts turn out...well here is one.

Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie
*Looks can be deceiving :)
So, I made a few mistakes...not gonna lie. It's not until I was typing out this recipe that I learned that I should have melted the chocolate (FYI it works if you don't too :D ), as well as folded the crust decoratively. No wonder it looks like it does. haha. I also overcooked it slightly.

That said...I have never had or made Pecan Pie. Scratch heated some up for me last night and I thought it was delicious. It may not look like much...and that was one reason I hadn't planned on showing the recipe...but it was pretty good. So here ya go!



Serves: 8
Active Time: 40 min
Start to Finish: 3 hrs (includes making crust)

Ingredients:
1 (3.5-4 oz) fine-quality 60%-70% cocao bittersweet chocolate bar, finely chopped. ---I used dark chocolate.
Pastry dough (recipe below)
2 cups pecan halves (7 oz), toasted (directions below)
3 large eggs
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
Accompaniment: lightly sweetened whipped cream

Pastry Dough
Makes enough for a 9-inch, single crust pie
Active time: 10 min
Start to Finish: 1 1/4 hrs

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3-5 Tbsp ice water --I used 1/2 ice water, 1/2 vodka

1. Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle 3 Tbsp water (water/vodka mix) evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.
2. Squeeze a small handful of dough: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 Tbsp at a time, stirring until incorporated. Do not overwork dough or crust will be hard.
3. Turn out dough onto work surface. Divide into 4 portions. With the heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all dough together with a pastry scraper. Press into ball, the flatten into a 5-inch disk.
4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until form, at least an hour.

Pecans
1. Preheat over to 350F.
2. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Spread pecans in a single layer on parchment paper.
4. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. Remove and allow to cool before using them.

Pie
1. Preheat oven to 375F with rack in middle.
2. Melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over barely simmering water, stirring. Remove from heat.
3. Roll out dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured pin. Fit into a 9-inch plate. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold overhang under and press against pie plate, then crimp decoratively.
4. Spread chocolate in bottom of of pie shell with back of spoon and let it set, then cover with pecans.
5. Whisk together eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl, then whisk in corn syrup and pour over pecans.
6. Bake pie until filling is puffed and crust is golden, 50-60 minutes ( I would do 45-50). If pie is browning too fast, after 30 minutes, loosley cover with foil. Cool pie on rack to warm or room temperature. Serve with whipped cream.