Family

Spent Saturday with Steve's sister and the family out in the desert.  Had the pleasure of also getting to love on my nephew Keith's son.  He is turning into the cutest little man.  Every time I see him it reminds me of when Elijah was his age.  Not just personality but in looks, so crazy.  

Little Weston adores his cousin, very much like when Elijah was his age and he would hang on Keith.  Such an amazing feeling to watch the generations.  Weston was all about Toy Story while we were there and I dug up this picture of Elijah playing with Woody and Buzz.  

Had a great time and can't wait for this weekend when Keith, Lindsay and Weston are coming to stay a few days. 

Lavendar Soap

A few weeks back I mentioned I was going to be making soap.  Well I finally was able to carve out some time to complete it.  Some background on the whole soap making undertaking. 

I decided months ago I was going to make Christmas presents for family and friends and soap was one of the items I was going to include.  I thought for the women I could do a "spa" basket and include homemade soaps, sugar scrub, and include essential oils, etc... I went out and bought a "kit" for spa soap and my girlfriend had some olive oil soap as well from a previous purchase that she never used. 

I spent an afternoon making soap to see how it was done and created "samples".  This was back in September.  I dragged it all out, mind you, my husband had me set up the hot plate outside in the event I make a mess.  So by the time I was done with my trial, had all the stuff picked up and put away, the idea of dragging it all out again was less than appealing. 

Needless to say, I ended up buying all the women socks. 

Now for today, my girl friends birthday is coming up and I thought, why not.  So I trimmed lavendar from my friends garden, Thank you Theresa, and pulled it all out this weekend.  I decided to do it at the stove, Steve frowned, but I made sure there was no spillage. 

I melted the soap with the lavendar and let it steep to infuse as much of the scent as possible.  I loved that the stems turned the soap a light shade of green.  I added extra buds to the container so it would be mixed throughout the bar.

I love how it all came out.  Took awhile to slowly melt and steep the soap but will definetly do this again.

Spring Fever

If you live in Southern California you know how amazing the weather is.  This year has to be one the best in quite some time.  Although I enjoy the rain, the clear skys and mild temperatures makes me want to spend every waking moment outside. 

The trees have been in bloom for the past few weeks, my roses have started to regrow and my tulips are just breaking free.

I am especially excited about the tulips.  My son gave them to me last year for Mother's Day.  I let them die back and just stored them in my Gardening Shed over the summer and fall.  I pulled them out a few weeks ago, took them out of their original pot and replanted them.  They are loving the warm days and cool nights.

I also have an Amarylis that I got for Christmas 2010 that never bloomed last year but had lovely leaves.  I stored it in the closet and took it back out in November.  I now have an amazing stem and a flower that is about to open, but no leaves, or rather just the start of a leaf.  So funny.

So now I am ready to jump in with both feet and start planning my vegetable garden.  I have limited sun and lots of bunnies where I correctly live so looking foward to being "creative".  Last year this consisted of 4 cinder blocks stacked to raise the plants and produced a so so yield of tomatoes.  Hoping to have a better result this year. 

This is the Fruitless Plum in the yard next door and the pink flowers remind me of Cherry Blossoms.  So lovely.  Can't wait for my fig tree to start filling out.

I will post more as the garden takes shape. 

Kahlua Chocolate Mouse Pie

The name doesn't do this justice.  My girlfriend Nikki and I came up with this desert after we had a very rich chocolate pie a few weeks ago.  The original version was so sweet and rich that we came up with a way to lighten it up, and by lighten I don't want to imply that we reduced any of the fat, calories or flavor.  The lightened version was by adding whipped cream.

The picture is but a slice of the finished product.  We were in such a hurry to have some I completely forgot to take pictures.   The recipe calls for Kahlua but can be omitted if you don't feel comfortable serving to children.  There is only 1 tablespoon so not a whole lot but does add flavor.  The layer of ganache was what the whole pie was previously made with and was very thick.  As the picture shows, we have a 3 layer pie with each having a unique flavor and really came together.  Yum.  Will definetly do this one again. 

Must be a Chocolate Lover to truely enjoy!

Recipe:  (I made this up as I went along so some of these are guesstimates.)

1 Baked 9" pie shell. 

1 bag 10oz Semi Sweet Chocolate morsels, 1/4c reserved

2T brewed Coffee, strong or espresso

4c heavy Cream, separated

1t vanilla

3/4c sugar

1T Kahlua
Grated chocolate for garnish (optional)

Cook the pie crust till lightly golden brown according to a pre-baked shell directions, pricking the bottom and sides of the shell before baking.  We used a Pillsbury Pie Crust.  When removed from the oven add the 1/4c chocolate morsels and allow to melt.  Once melted use a pastry brush and brush a thin layer in the bottom and sides of the cooled crust. 

(This will ensure that the crust doesn't absorb the mouse and get soggy.) 

In a double boiler under medium-low heat melt chocolate morsels with the coffee and 1 1/2c of the heavy cream to create a ganache.  Stir to melt the chocolate.  Once melted pour 3/4c of the ganache into the bottom of the prepared pie crust.  Place pie in refridgerator to chill.

In the meantime while the chocolate is melting, using a blender whip 1 1/2 c of the heavy cream with 1t vanilla and 1/2c sugar, blend until thick.  This works quicker if the bowl and beaters have been chilled.  
Set in refridgerator until chocolate is melted.

Once chocolate ganache is made and the amount for the pie is removed, remove the bowl from the double boiler and allow to cool slightly on the counter, do not place in refridgertor.  Once cooled, fold in the whipped cream to make a chocolate mouse.  Spread into the chilled pie to just below the top of the crust.  There may be some left over.  Great pudding for the next day! 

Return to the refridgerator.

While chilling, whip the rest of the heavy cream, 1c with 1/2c sugar and Kahlua until thick.  Spread over the chilled mouse and return to the refridgerator until ready to serve.

Just before serving grate chocolate over the top of the pie.