The week of Sept. 19-25, 2012 we spent in Windsor visiting family. We went back specifically for our niece's wedding, but we got a lot of other activities packed into that one week. I hate to admit it, but I really haven't looked through all of the pictures until this past weekend. I decided I wanted to get a one-page layout done highlighting each day. So this is how it all came together...
...and, a video about the process...
This is a layout of pictures from October of Grace. The layout was inspired by Nancy Damiano's Mickey's Halloween layout. Nancy's layouts are always awesome and make me want to scrapbook more. I totally "scraplifted" (as we call it) the spiderweb canopy idea, but then I went on to use different products and design. I explain more about my layout in the video below.
FINALLY!...I made this layout of the kids...I've been thinking about doing something with these pictures every since October when I took them. I made them each a little candy bag for Halloween and inside I put these funny glasses with the noses. Of course, they all had to assemble for pictures for Aunt Lisa. I took quite a few, but I had to narrow it down for the layout.
Here's a short overview video of my layout where I explain more about it and then the pictures are below.
Close-up shots:
...and I just haven't been posting that much because of it. This illness that hit has finally cleared from me, but now Tony's suffering from it.
Now that I'm feeling better, I went to a cooking demo at the newly opened Surfas in Costa Mesa. I LOVE this store. It has everything for cooking that I always wondered "where the heck do I find that" when I'm doing a special recipe. Silly, but my happy find there yesterday was parchment sheet pan liners. I like using parchment, but I've only found it in rolls and they are always wider than the sheet pan. So now these are pre-cut to fit perfectly.
I found Surfas a couple of days ago and saw that they were having Whitney Miller do a demo. She was the Season 1 winner of Master Chef.
I love that show and watched her through the whole season. That was in the Fall of 2010. She was 22 years old and Gordon Ramsey was hesitant to give her the opportunity because she was so young...but he did, and she went on to win it!
So I thought it would be interesting to go to her demo and I'm so glad that I did. She's just adorable. Great personality and very composed for her age. She demoed two desserts from her book Modern Hospitality.
I also took a little video of her talking about following her dreams...
In the above video she is starting the recipe for the MOLTEN LAVA CAKES FOR A CROWD:
Rich and fudgy brownies were the go-to dessert at my house when a chocolate craving struck. That is until I started making my molten lava cakes. These rich, gooey cakes will satisfy even the most die-hard chocoholics, and since they’re baked in a muffin tin, it’s easy to whip up a large batch in no time at all.
| Whipped Cream: | |
| 1 | cup heavy cream, cold |
| 2½ | tablespoons powdered sugar |
| Cakes: | |
| 1 | cup dark chocolate chips |
| 1 | stick plus 2 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter |
| 2 | tablespoons brewed coffee |
| ½ | cup all-purpose flour |
| 1½ | cups powdered sugar |
| 3 | large eggs, lightly beaten |
| 3 | large egg yolks, lightly beaten |
| 1 | teaspoon pure vanilla extract |
| 2 | tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder |
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
To make the whipped cream: Beat the cream using an electric mixer in a large cold bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in 2 tablespoons of the powdered sugar. Cover and refrigerate while you make the cakes.
To make the cakes: Melt the chocolate chips and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Once the chocolate and butter are melted, stir in the coffee until smooth.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and powdered sugar. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Add the whole eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until the cakes are slightly jiggly in the center, about 7 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges of each cake and transfer the hot cakes to dessert plates. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and dust with the cocoa powder.
She also made some Crispy Coconut Bites and this video popped up relating to my video on YouTube and it was her demoing the same recipe somewhere else, so I thought I would link it in here.
Bring the coconut water and milk to a slight boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the grits and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the grits reach porridge consistency, about 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and shredded coconut. Spoon the grits mixture into a wax paper-lined loaf pan. Spread out evenly with a rubber spatula and let cool at room temperature for 2 hours or until slightly firm.
After 2 hours, cut the coconut mixture into 12 rectangles.
Chop the chocolate into small chunks.
To temper the chocolate, fill a small saucepan with a few inches of water. Bring the water to a simmer over medium heat. Place a bowl on top of the saucepan and add a third of the chocolate chunks. Once the chocolate starts to melt, begin stirring the chocolate. Stir in the second-third of the chocolate chunks until melted. Then, stir in the last of the chocolate chunks until smooth. Transfer the bowl to the counter lined with a kitchen towel.
Lay out a large piece of wax paper on the counter.
Working with one bar at a time, place a bar on a slotted spatula. Top each bar with a pecan halve in the middle of the bar. Spoon melted chocolate over the bar until completely coated. Lightly tap the spatula to remove excess chocolate. To cover the bottom side of the bar, spoon a line, the size of the bar, of chocolate on to the wax paper. Using a butter knife, slide the chocolate coated coconut-grits bar onto the line of chocolate. Repeat with the rest of the coconut-grits bars. Allow to rest until chocolate has hardened.
After the demo, I walked through the Farmers' Market that was just outside in the parking lot and then through to the shops. This is February...and why I love California...
It was a GOOD DAY...and so great to feel NORMAL again!
65 years ago today Leo & Herminia were married. We miss you Leo. But today we celebrate your life, your love and this special day.
Photo taken Feb. 2005 - dinner at the Queen Mary Long Beach
