Valentine's 2010

This Valentine's Day I decided a few things-

1. I was not going to babysit like I've done so many years before

2. I was content with sitting home and relaxing

3. I wanted to bake goodies and

4. I wanted to people who were babysitting to feel loved and appreciated.

On February 14th 2010, I accomplished all of the above.

Fresh Life Radio was putting on a Valentine's Soiree, so I decided I would surprise the volunteers with a yummy dessert buffet. It was super fun to bake and create this fun dessert table! I stuck with simple desserts, so i could make more and not stress :) here's how it turned out...

Before

(this is one of my classrooms at church, the orange room. Complete with play kitchen, green canopy, toys and a heater cover)...

After...

A white table cloth and 1 yard of fun Valentine's fabric was the base.

I have this great old window without the glass that I put fabric behind and then just hung the Valentine's day sign over it. It really looked cute!

I used waffle bowls that are usually used for ice cream to hold the puppy chow/muddy buddies/ whatever you want to call it.

I dipped the rim of the bowls in pink melting chocolate and then added some sprinkles. I think this was my favorite little touch.

Mini dark chocolate cupcakes with triple chocolate chip frosting.

Too cute!

With the left over cupcake batter I made heart shaped cakes, heated up some frosting and just poured it on top.

Side view.

Brownie bites form the day before.

Candy.

Basic rice crispy treats with Valentine sprinkles.

Goody bags to take the left overs home.

And of course I had to take a picture with the table :)

Hope your Valentine's day was as SWEET as mine!

barefoot brownies

i love an excuse to bake and Valentine's day is just that! so i decided to bake my FAVORITE brownies for my volunteers and as usual they were delicious!

the recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) and it makes a lot of brownies! i made them over 2 years ago and have never had a better brownie.

so cute :)

mmmmm..... i love walnuts.

i divided the batter into 2 cookie sheets this time and

used my cool double heart shaped brownie cutter.

also, i do not suggest cutting these brownies in the morning before you've eaten breakfast (like i did). there is too much temptation and you may end up with a stomach ache (again, like i did).

no brownies left behind! i chopped the edges to serve as brownie bites and saved the little scraps for me to much on.

bag them up.

this is what the kitchen table looked like...

this is cuter though.

Outrageous Brownies

1999, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 pound unsalted butter
• 1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 6 extra-large eggs
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares. Or 32 paris of hearts, a bunch of brownie bites and a bag of scraps ;-)

Did i mention these are NOT low-fat? Just sayin.

Happy Valentine's Day!

christmas decor 2009

Here are some pictures of my Christmas decor in my new place. i'll post other pictures of my new home in a few weeks when it's more settled :)

The lights over the kitchen table

Kitchen

Christmas cards on the closet door. Simple ribbon hung from the top and clothes pins holding out Christmas cards.

My inspiration for this years tree and decor was a scrapbook called "Peppermint Forest" which consists on greens, reds, pinks and blues.

i also really wanted to make a pennant out of the scrapbook paper.

Merry Christmas pennant and the tree!

Little pennants for the tree, so cute.

Same snow flakes from last years tree.

I didn't have a tree skirt, so I purchased some fabric and placed it around the tree stand.

ta-da!

My roomie Angi and I.

decorated tree

finally pictures of my fabulous Christmas tree!

elisha came up with thte great idea of having a black and white tree and i love it! 

here is me with our tree (yes, i match the tree. i have such issues)

elisha and michael spike (he was named after michael jackson and spike, well, that's obvious)

the base is my favorite. i love bows and ribbon and polka dots. 

pretty snowflakes

elisha being a woman of many talents made these origami cranes

here is the tree in a brighter light. notice the gifts under the tree match? 

i told you i have issues :)

also, if you're reading this in Reader, stop. go visit my real blog and see how cute it looks and how it matched my tree!