Category Archives: Domestic Diva

Making Whoopie… Pies

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A few days before Christmas I had the entire house to myself. So I did what I do best: I baked while dancing around the kitchen to holiday music. This year Knight chose a recipe he was dying for me to make, and considering the photo in my Food Network Holiday magazine circa 2009 looked amazing, I figured why not?

Turns out he picked a great recipe. After posting a photo to instragram of my finished product I had requests for the recipe. I realize I’m late on this but better late than never I suppose.

One thing to note: These are incredibly sweet desserts so make sure you have a glass of milk handy. Or share it with a friend or loved one. Or save the rest of it for later.

Photo Courtesy of Food Network.com; I promise they do look like this when you make them, though!

Ingredients
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup natural cocoa powder, such as Hershey’s or Scharffen Berger
1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons fine salt
18 large marshmallows, (not minis)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet.

Put the unsweetened and semisweet chocolates and butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl; heat at 75 percent power until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir, and continue to microwave until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. (Alternatively, put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching the water, and stir occasionally until melted and smooth.)

Whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla into the chocolate mixture until smooth.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into another bowl. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until moistened. Switch to a rubber spatula and finish folding the batter together; take care not to over-mix.

Use a small cookie scoop or spoon to drop a heaping tablespoon of batter onto the prepared pan. Repeat to make 36 cookies, spacing them about 1-inch apart. Bake until the cookies spring back when lightly touched, about 6 minutes.

Cool the cookies slightly. Transfer half of the cookies to a rack. Turn the remaining cookies on the pan over, so they lay flat side up. Place a marshmallow on top of each flipped cookie and return pan to the oven. Cook just until the marshmallow begins to soften and puff, about 3 minutes. Cool marshmallow topped cookies slightly, about 2 minutes. Top with the remaining cookies, pressing lightly to make sandwiches. Cool whoopee pies completely on wire racks. Serve.

Store in tightly sealed container for up to 1 week.

 What’s your all-time favorite cookie or dessert? Any favorite websites you go to for recipes?

Tradition: Holiday Bake-A-Thon

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Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There’s no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.
For the last few years, I have been having holiday bake-a-thons with my friends and this year will be no exception! This Sunday, Nilsa and I will be donning our aprons and making four or five Christmas/holiday cookies, fudge and cookie bars. My inner Martha Stewart loves this time of year: trying new recipes, sharing laughter with friends, hanging out in the kitchen amid the bowls and mixers, ingredients, and if we are being honest, some wine. As Nilsa has already said, she senses a new tradition. She’s probably right (and yes, I promise pictures and a recap next week!) {Photo credit: Me! Gooey Butter Cookies from last year.}

In past years, when I lived in St. Louis, my mom and I would open our house up to our friends and neighborhood buddies for a mini Christmas cookie exchange. Though I’m not there this holiday season, we are hoping to do something similar on Christmas Eve this year.

We like to keep the rules simple:  

Make two desserts to share. Come over in something festive. Hang out around the kitchen and dining room. Sample all the desserts. Take a TON home. Drink some wine (or eggnog). Enjoy holiday merriment. Leave all stressors at the door and kick back with good friends and great desserts. It was a combination girls night in/dessert with friends kind of a night and honestly, it is one of my favorite things to look forward to. In addition to hosting this mini Christmas cookie exchange there is lots of Christmas music, both traditional and the more contemporary remakes, for those who are inclined we have Christmas Karaoke, and of course no shortage of girl talk.

Leading up to the event my mom and I would spend a few hours in the kitchen baking together. Gooey butter cookies. Peppermint fudge. Oatmeal carmelitas. Chocolate covered pretzels. Holiday cupcakes. We would spend time wrapping up our dessert pairings in cellophane bags and ribbon because as we all know appearance is just as important as how the desserts taste. I’m looking forward to the bake-a-thons I have coming up in the next few weeks and sharing the baking with good friends and family.

Do you participate in any holiday baking events/exchanges? What is one holiday tradition you keep that you’re looking forward to this holiday season?

Remember to check out Duncan Hines’ website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

Peanut Butter and Rap

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Monday was one of those days. Full of stress, work chaos, hearing news that wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear (more on that later, but all turned out ok in the end) and it left me feeling angsty, emotional and couped up.

I’ve been working on coping mechanisms to deal with some of the stress in my life lately and as simple as it is, it’s also difficult. The advice that I’ve received is this: Acknowledge the stress. Say to yourself “did I expect anything less?” or “it sounds about right,” and then focus your energy on whatever makes you happy. Running. Baking. Reading. Cleaning. Whatever you define as your happy place, go there. Let the stress go.

So Monday night, with Knight at a work happy hour, I had the house to myself which is just what I needed. I cranked up the very inappropriate rap music playlist that I have, like so loud I could feel the windows shaking from the bass and Jack jumped on the couch and put his head *under* pillows and I set about to baking. I have had Halloween candy that I wanted to use creatively and so, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with Reese’s Peanut Butter cup pieces was born.

I danced around the kitchen to Pit Bull, 50 Cent, Nelly, Eminem, Jay-Z and more while I mixed together these ingredients (recipe found here, my edits/suggestions are listed as well):

Over the Top Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookies
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (Personally I prefer semisweet/bittersweet instead. I had some Ghirardelli bittersweet chips on hand and oh my, they are delicious in this recipe!)
32 mini Reese’s peanut butter cups, each cut into 4 pieces (I had the regular size cups, I just chopped them into various sized pieces)
Mix the ingredients down to the vanilla.  Add soda, salt, and flour.  Fold in chocolate chips.
(This part of the recipe is my edit; the recipe lady suggests making these as huge cookies, 18 to be exact, but I wanted more than that!)
Drop round balls of dough onto ungreased cookies sheets; flatten a bit. Bake at 350 for about 6 to 7 minutes; remove from oven and press Reese’s Peanut Butter cup bits into the tops of the cookies. Bake for an additional one to two minutes or to your personal chewiness preference.

They taste amazing warm. They taste amazing with milk. They taste amazing the next day. They also taste amazing to men; Knight gobbled some up when he got home and his office did the next day.

 

I felt so much better after baking. After dancing around the kitchen. After singing at the top of my lungs. And then? I exercised. I pounded out the remaining angst on the treadmill and with weights (special thanks to Nilsa for inspiring me to end my workout rut) and I felt even better.

Note to self: next time your angry and frustrated, bake up a storm to rap music and then workout. It will do you wonders.

How do you deal with your stressful days? What activities work for you? Anyone else a closet rap lover?

Friends, Fun, and a Brownie Recipe

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Remember the days of middle school and high school where you and friends would pile around the TV to watch some romantic comedy with the actor du jour? Junk food littered the room, music blared on the stereo, magazines strewn about. You know, like an old-school sleepover or girls night? Well Saturday night two of my friends and I got together for our more reformed, updated version of a girls night: Do-it-yourself pizza, a stack of movies, homemade brownies (the recipe follows since several have asked for it), big comfy couches, blankets, and plenty of girl talk. {Photo Credit}

One of the friends doesn’t live here anymore so when she’s in town we make it a point to get together once or twice. The things we talk about have shifted to celebrity crushes, the hopes and dreams of where we want to live and the latest fashions but instead talk of budgets, babies (theirs, not mine, though it’s fun to talk about my experiences with Knights’ girls), books we need to read, exercise, and a host of other seemingly boring topics. But you know what? It’s fun. It’s fun to hear about birth stories and their babies milestones. Fun to make fun of the movie while we watch it but then realize that we did kind of like it at the end. (Charlie St. Cloud, in case you were wondering. And yes, I’ll be reading the book to see how similar book/movie are. I’m just curious like that.) Fun to gather around in the kitchen to add tons of toppings to our pizzas, and eat a few brownies even if we aren’t really hungry or don’t think we need the calories. It’s fun to talk about moving (not only am I moving but my out of town friend is relocating again since her husband has new orders; he’s a Marine), to discuss how things “used to be” when we were 24 and could go out and drink like it was our jobs, laughing at the outfits we wore, remembering the people we encountered. Most of all it’s fun to just be with the girls, the old gang, yet again.

It may not look the same as it did five years ago, but there is something about friendship that resonates through time, distance, and over years. It’s pretty spectacular.

And now, for the brownie recipe that several people on Twitter asked for! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do; they are my absolute favorite recipe (found thanks to allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 3/4 cup melted butter
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup chocolate syrup (such as Hershey’s®)
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I tend to add more, but that’s cause I love it. Also great with mint chocolate chips, or peanut butter chips if you want a variation)

Directions

  1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
  2. Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside. Whisk the sugar, butter, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs and chocolate syrup; mix until evenly incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture and chocolate chips; stir until just moistened and pour into the prepared baking dish.
  3. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges have started to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 40 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

When’s the last time you had an old-school girls/friend night? Any favorite brownie recipes that I need to check out?

Weekend Knights

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It’s no secret I’m in a long distance relationship.

Love Knows No Distance

It’s also no secret that long distance relationships are hard. Worth it? Yes. But really hard. (Thank goodness for unlimited texts, emails and video chat dates, not to mention supportive friends and family.)

I know Knight and I are fortunate in that we get to see each other more than most people; the 375 miles that separate us don’t seem so daunting as they first did. The six hour drive is marked by landmarks, the pit stops that I always frequent, funny road signs (like a town named Paw Paw) and 6 highways (I love ticking off the highways I’ve been on in my head as it means I’m almost there). And those weekends where we see each other? We make the most of it.

This past weekend it was just the two of us. (Cue Will Smith song singing in the background…) The first time since mid-November that we had each other all to ourselves. It’s weekends like this that we spend them learning new things about each other, like how Knight had an earring in college (you can still see the small piercing hole if you look closely at his ear), or how I was an editor for my school yearbook and was voted “always has a shoulder to lean on.” There is laughter about Knight going to a rave sometime in high school against his mother’s will considering it was totally not worth it. There are moments you open your heart and share things about your past that you never thought you’d never talk about again over glasses of wine and amazing dinners. While you’re at a bar, there is no one else there; just the two of you. Public Displays of Affection are not gross, they are encouraged; after all you have to soak up all the hugs and kisses you can. Meeting friends for super late night drinks is required, followed by pizza at 1am, just because you can. You gain insight into what life would be like if you were closer to each other, could see each other on a regular basis. And you kind of love it. (Who are we kidding, you totally love it.)

Grand plans are made. Future vacations discussed. Hours are spent on the couch watching streaming Netflix. Dinners are made listening to favorite music, dancing around the kitchen, smiling and laughing. The night before he leaves we each look at other and say “we could get used to this.”

These weekends hold the promise of what is yet to come, a promise that is exhilarating, hopeful and full of joy. A promise I can’t wait to fulfill.

Fighting the Winter Blues

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So we’ve reached that awful time in the winter where there isn’t a whole lot to look forward to: Thanksgiving, the gateway holiday season has passed; Christmas, my all-time favorite is over and done; and New Year’s my least favorite, has obviously also come and gone.

We are into the winter doldrums. Grey, cloudy days. Threats of winter storms (well, what we StL-ers call winter storms) come and go on a weekly basis. The temperatures continue to plummet into the teens each evening and the car takes about 10 minutes to warm-up each morning.

We have 90 days until the Cardinals home opener, until flip flops are even considered a possible form of footwear, and until the weather thinks about starting to warm up for us.

What does this mean? That I’m eagerly seeking ways to make winter suck less. As I mentioned last week I have two exciting things coming up in the near future: the visit from Lisa at the end of this month and my trip to Florida, both guaranteed to make winter less dreary. In addition to that, here’s a few other remedies that I’ve found help:

* Pampering myself. I’m finally using one of my groupons for a manicure/pedicure in a few weeks which my hands and feet desparately need. Additionally, I’m going for facials every six weeks and make sure not to miss one in the winter. Between the heated bed that I get to lie on for an hour, the amazing treatment I get from my esthetician it’s literally an hour spent in heaven. And I’m allowing myself a top-shelf haircut/color at a fantastic local Spa every six to eight weeks. Indulgent overall? Maybe. But I feel good. My face glows and my hair looks great. Plus it adds some bright moments to the dull days.

* Video chatting! So maybe the roads are rough and I can’t afford either the vacation days or travel to all my favorite friends and family. But Video Chatting? It doesn’t require anything other than my computer and internet, two things I already have. I’ve enjoyed chatting with my friends from coast-to-coast, and Knight during our weeks apart. It makes the friendship grow stronger and as a bonus, I can be in my sweats and under a blanket!

* More trips to the library. And movie theater. The library is an obvious choice because it’s free and the literary works of art are endless. (Not to mention I have a challenge of 45 books to read in 2011 and I must meet it!) This means I’m spending more time relaxing and reading cozied up on my favorite red couch, book in hand, a cup of tea and not a care in the world. And then the movies! I have been absent from the movie scene for a bit, but I’m getting back into it especially now that Oscar season is afoot. Thanks to a stack of free movie passes I got from work, I haven’t had to pay for a movie in months and I’m thinking I’ll be a more frequent movie-goer until the sunshines on a regular basis.

* Spending time with an apron on. The amount of amazing cookbooks I received for Christmas was awesome and not totally surprising given the fact friends and family know I love to cook/bake. I’ve been trying out new recipes and turning to baked goods for comfort. It does wonders for the heart, even if not for the waistline. Might as well make the house smell delicious and warm, right?

* Exploring my city. Some nights I brave the cold, bundled up in warm sweaters and boots, my winter coat, and hit bars and restaurants and other attractions I’ve not been to before. I’ve lived here for 17 years and in the last few weeks I’ve discovered new favorite restaurants, coffee shops and beer bars. It’s fun to re-discover my town with Knight when he’s around, my friends and family; reminds me of just how awesome my city is.

Fighting winter doldrums early will work great, but if the doldrums keep going when the spring months come, it is great to seek help from someone who has graduated from a top psychology school.

What do you do to combat the winter doldrums? Any suggestions for me?

The 2010 Wrap-Up

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I hadn’t planned on doing the 2010 Wrap-up partially because a good portion of the year was spent recovering, healing, with my nose in books finsihing up my masters. And partially because you were all here for the good, the bad, the ugly (and I thank you for it!).

But it doesn’t seem right to start a new year without looking back, at least a little bit.

So, 2010, in a paragraph…..

Blogger meet-ups that were good for the heart and soul. Fried food on a stick. Bar Crawls that left me with mean hangovers. Training for a 10-mile race, getting injured, but forging on and running a 10k anyway. Adjusting to living with the parents. Countless books read, movies watched, journal pages scribbled in. Learning how to get over heart-wrenching pain. Embracing the people in my life who make me feel good. Eating a whole lot of Mexican food. Letting go of toxicity in my life, whether it be plans, people, or dreams. Cuddles with Jack. Laughing so hard it made my stomach hurt and tears roll down my face. Reasserting my hopes and dreams, ones that are attainable. Finishing my masters and being so thrilled that I actually did it. Squeeing with joy when my diploma came just before Christmas. Getting back to my roots, back to who I really am. Being surprised by love. Being surprised by what I would do for love. Growing stronger every day. Being choosy. Road trips, lots of road trips. Allowing myself to be a hopeless romantic again, and not apologizing for it. Refusing to settle. Learning to say no. At the same time, learning to say yes. Becoming obsessed with all things Ann Taylor Loft, Nintendo, and baking (again). Deciding that I won’t dye my hair any color other than it’s natural color, even if the grays show through. Making amazing new friends that I would be 100% lost without. Hugging my parents more. Falling in love with not only a great man, but also myself.

I’m not making resolutions this year (I’m really bad at them). Instead I’m just facing 2011 head-on with all the changes that I know are ahead of me, some which will change the rest of my life I suspect, and am prepared to tackle all the changes and challenges that I can’t yet see. I’m going into 2011 with hope, joy and smiles and I know that it will be a good year.

What are you going into 2011 with?

What Christmas Means to Me…

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This song by Stevie Wonder is one of my all-time favorites. And yes, you can find me singing it (loudly and likely off key) in a regular basis during the holiday season:

It also puts me in the best mood ever and reminds me of why I love the holidays so darn much.

Here’s what Christmas means to me this year:

Getting super excited about exchanging presents with the boyfriend (who needs a nickname, I realize this); we’ve both kept the hints and clues to a minimum and so basically I have no idea what I’ll be getting from him. ♥ Enjoying evenings by the fire combating the bitter winter cold (at least bitter winter cold to the STL, I know it’s worse elsewhere!)♥  Borrowing cheesy holiday books from the library and loving them so much I cry at the end. ♥ Making my list and checking it twice to make sure I have really completed my Christmas shopping (turns out I haven’t). ♥ Sneaking in extra time to sleep in the mornings. ♥  Continuing to decorate the house with Darling even though Christmas is 10 days away. ♥  Christmas Cards! This year I’m a bit behind but I’m 50% of the way done with them. ♥  Listening to holiday music all the time. I can’t get enough. ♥  Remembering the reason for the season and enlisting the help of my coworkers to raise money for some very worthy local charities. ♥  Lots of laughter, lots of great food, lots of time spent with family. ♥  Reunions and catching up with friends who are home for the holidays. ♥  Being thankful for all that is good in my life. ♥  Embracing the various assortment of tights I own as they really extend one’s wardrobe. Skirts + tights + boots in the winter? Don’t mind if I do. ♥  Remembering my grandfather; my heart aches for him at this time each year. ♥  Baking up a storm. December 23rd will be Nora in the Kitchen Day and I can’t wait. ♥ Romantic evenings out with the boyfriend, getting all dressed up, enjoying wine and then totally forgetting to take pictures because we are “in the moment.” ♥  Watching the excitement on the little kids faces as they run to see Santa at the mall. Too adorable. ♥  Christmas Puzzles! We do one each year and although we are missing pieces (on a new puzzle!?) we are forging ahead anyway. ♥  Dreaming of a White Christmas even though it surely won’t happen. ♥  Bubbling over with happiness, excitement, hope and general joy for all things going on in my life right now. ♥ 

 

What do the holidays mean to you this year?

Things I've Decided

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* Someone should really come up with a way for bloggers to be paid to meet their fellow blog friends.

* The sound of my dog Jack snoring is one of the cutest sounds in the world; cute enough that I don’t mind if he’s sleeping on my newly washed comforter.

* I have to see Ray LaMontagne in concert next time he comes to STL. 

* I will no longer feel guilty about sleeping in on the weekends.

* As much as I love training for races, like my upcoming 10k, I really hate that my physical fitness is tied so tightly to a schedule. I’m a gym rat by nature but I like to do things when I want to, not because I have to.

* 38 degrees in October is too darn cold.

* The days that you look messy are the days you will run into cute guys. It’s just a fact.

* Sometimes the best weekends consist of no plans whatsoever. This leads to lots of laughs, naps, catching up household chores, with friends and leaving you feeling truly rested on Sunday evening.

* The kindness and generosity of the people I have met through this blog will never ever cease to amaze me.

* People look at you just a bit differently when they notice you have a nose ring. Mostly good different (so far).

* I will be having a total guilt-free, laze-about, movie-marathon, dessert-baking weekend when mygrad school finals are turned in.

* Now that I’m 27 I don’t feel any different at all.

* I would love to meet my future husband at a Dave Matthews Band concert.

What have you decided recently?

The Weekend: Cupcakes, Specs, Rain & Cookies

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This past weekend was one of those great ones.

On Friday I headed over to Jen’s house to embark on our girls’ night out  for ten which she won from Dove. We received complimentary car service (aka a huge limo) and then Jen was given money to spoil us for the evening! I think we spent it pretty well: cupcakes from The Cup (I got the Tuxedo and Buttercream which I noshed on over the weekend), dinner at a fabulous local tapas restaurant, Mosaic where I fell in love with infused cheddar cheese, mini rib burgers and potatoe croquettes, and hours of girl talk, laughing, jokes and pictures. As if all that wasn’t great enough, we all received three lovely smelling deodorants courtesy of Dove of course, after the night was over. It was great to meet more of Jen’s friends (I knew about half the group already from various past parties) and enjoy a truly luxurious night on the town. (Bonus: getting to see Jen’s son, now two months old, and take a picture with him and all of the girls in front of the limo. Cutest thing ever.)  Below: Liz, me, Jen, hanging out in the limo.

 

For whatever reason on Saturday morning I woke up with a start at 7:30am and couldn’t fall back asleep so I decide to go into uber productive mode: wrote a paper, took the dogs around the block, and was ready to go for the day all before 9:30am. I picked out my new glasses, did a little gratuitous shopping at H&M and Express, and then jaunted over to my Gram’s with two Starbucks Double Chocolaty Chip Drinks for two hours of girl time. We talked boys, computers, school, memories, goals. Quite possibly the best two hours I’ve spent with my Gram in awhile. The fatigue started setting in around this time so I headed home for some quality time with my Netflix movies, the couch, the dogs and my books. I watched Griffin & Phoenix which is a heartbreakingly beautiful movie; I really did love it. However, I do not recommend watching it unless you want to cry. Like, a lot. Then, and I can’t believe I’m admitting this on my blog, I watched Mary Poppins to cheer myself up. Took the dogs on some walks, read a ton, and then enjoyed the crazy thunderstorms that rolled into town.

For those who are interested, a pic of my new glasses (they are dark brown with caramel on the outer rims). I’m pretty much in love with them:

And then on Sunday? Lots of naps with the dogs at my feet, more reading, peppered with school work of course, news that a good friend is moving out of St. Louis which prompted the quintessential “what am I doing with MY life thought process?”, baked some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and went for a run. Throw in a present from my parents (a really awesome scarf), a surprise phone call from my brother and it was the perfect lazy Sunday.

This past weekend was a perfect blend of fun, friends, and time to myself. With the next six weeks being a little crazy with trips to see family and friends, finals, and weddings it was just what I needed!

How was your weekend? What’s your ideal weekend look like?