Yeah, yeah, I know. 95% of you just made new year’s resolutions to eat healthier. And here I am tempting you with chocolate mousse. I’m kind of evil. Plus, I’m looking out for the 5% who didn’t make such lofty goals…there is far too much health food talk going on around the food blogosphere right now. We want chocolate. We need chocolate!

Resolutions be damned, this mousse is too good not to share. For those of you who are crazy enough to have cut sugar and/or chocolate out of your life, well, just tuck this recipe into the back of  your brain for a day that you feel like cheating.

After Thanksgiving I had a hankering for some honest-to-goodness chocolate mousse, mousse without whipped cream mixed in. I did a little web search and came across a blog post by David Lebovitz where he had made Julia Child’s recipe. Since both of these people are beyond trustworthy in the chocolate department, I decided to give it a try. All I have to say is Julia knows her chocolate. It was beyond rich and the texture was just what I was looking for. Ooo. La. Laaaaa.

Observe the texture. THAT is mousse.

Warning: you may die eating this mousse. That is how rich this dessert is. A dollop of whipped cream on top is advised.

Warning #2: This recipe requires lots of bowls. That’s just how Julia rolls.

 

I am so voting for Leslie Knope because she truly is a visionary. She is the brains behind salgar after all, which is nothing short of a revelation! Plus, salgar is going to save me a lot of $$$ that otherwise would have been spent at Starbucks.

Let’s start at the beginning. I’m a little bit in love with the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate at Starbucks. However, there are two things wrong with this love affair. First, it costs me too much money. Second, they only serve the stuff during the holidays. I’ve kind of sort of half-heartedly tried to replicate it at home before, but never with much success. Probably because I wasn’t trying that hard.

This year, things are different. Which brings me back to Leslie Knope. When she introduced the world to salgar last week, well, I knew that my days of whipping up salted caramel hot chocolate to rival Starbucks’ had finally arrived. And I was right.

For those of you who don’t watch Parks & Rec (p.s. you should be), salgar is simply sugar and salt mixed together. Sure, everyone thought Leslie was crazy, but I’m a believer.

Which brings us back to the quest for the perfect salted caramel hot chocolate recipe. On Sunday I pulled all my ingredients together. Yummy hot chocolate. Perfect whipped cream. Caramel sauce. Salgar.

I nailed it. And I might even be so brave as to say that it’s better than Starbucks. The best part? When the whipped cream and salgar topping are gone but you still have hot chocolate left, you can just throw a little more cream and salgar on top! For some reason Starbucks doesn’t let you go back for seconds. Who needs them? 😉

 

Today I made my first cocktail. Okay, it was a mocktail. But I still got to use a shaker. Which feels cool, people. Even if you’re just mixing up a mocktail for your kids.

Sierra Mist contacted me recently about doing two sponsored posts involving cocktails and mocktails made with Sierra Mist Natural, a new drink that contains only real sugar, no artificial ingredients and 100% natural flavorings. I thought it would be fun so I decided to give it a go! I’ve honestly always liked Sierra Mist, so I’m happy they now have a natural version. And it’s a great ingredient for mixing up some fun mocktails and cocktails! {Shake, shake, shake! Shake, shake! That’s me with my new shaker. I can’t get enough of that thing.}

For my first post I tried out one of Sierra Mist Natural’s mocktail recipes, the Frost Bite (see below). The girls and I had a little mocktail party and we all loved the drink! I like the subtle taste of lime and pineapple, which pairs nicely with the hint of mint. AND, I think I almost got frost bite shaking the cold stainless steel shaker, so the drink is appropriately named. 😉

Without further ado, the recipe! I am going to share a few recipes with you, actually. The one I made was the Frost Bite Mocktail. Like I said, it was YUM. But there is a cocktail version, as well as a mighty delicious-looking martini, too! If you’re looking for even more mixing inspiration, you can “Like” Sierra Mist on Facebook and gain access to a bunch of other great drink recipes.

Next week I’ll share an original mocktail recipe created by yours truly (now that I have a shaker, I am a mixologist after all) and a giveaway you won’t want to miss!

Tell me, did I make the right choice going with the Frost Bite Mocktail? I think so…but the Meet Me at the Mist-letoe Martini is starting to call my name…might have to get that shaker out again!

Merry Mixing!

Today’s recipe involves drinking butter. Yep, you heard me. We are going to drink butter. And it’s going to be awesome.

Every time I make bread pudding, I want to drink the milk mixture that goes into the recipe. So today I whipped up a variation of that milk mixture and drank it. And just like that ‘hot vanilla’ was born! (Okay, okay, maybe not born. I did a google search and turns out hot vanilla is not new, but whatever. I’m just pretending google doesn’t exist.)

I am officially a fan of hot vanilla, especially my version (I know, so humble). It’s sweet, has a nice cinnamon-vanilla flavor, and the butter gives it a silky, almost-savory twist. Perfect for a cold winter day!

Here’s to drinking butter!

I know, I know. It’s December. Everyone’s moved past pumpkin. Pumpkin is so November. But whatever. I’m not that stylish anyway.

I haven’t made Pumpkin Rocks in about ten years. I needed to make a treat for Anna’s preschool’s Thanksgiving Feast and thought these would be quick, easy and yummy. I was right. I forgot just how stinkin’ good these cookies are. And both of my girls could not stop eating them. I had to inform my sweet little piggies in no uncertain terms that man (or little girl) cannot live on Pumpkin Rocks alone. They didn’t agree.

A quick note: despite the name “rock,” these cookies are actually light and cakey. And addictive. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

 

I’m about to share a gem of a recipe with you. Seriously. It’s my new favorite apple pie recipe. So yummy and so easy.

When my mother-in-law Pat was in town, she kept telling us how she was going to make us Swedish Apple Pie (which she did). She said it was a recipe from someone she knew named Grammy Dutton. I asked if Grammy Dutton was Swedish. Pat’s reply, with a laugh, was, “Not at all!” Apparently the real name for this recipe is “Grammy Dutton’s Makes-Its-Own-Crust Apple Pie.” But whenever Pat’s friends are looking for the recipe, they’ll ask for the Swedish Apple Pie recipe, and Pat will say, “The Makes-Its-Own-Crust Apple Pie recipe?” and then they’ll say, “Yeah, yeah, Swedish Apple Pie.” I guess this pie really wants to be Swedish. Because being Swedish is awesome. (That last sentence has nothing to do with the fact that I’m 3/4 Swedish, by the way.)

Nomenclature aside, Nate and I both really loved this “pie.” I personally do think it’s better than traditional apple pie, but I’m sure there are people who would debate that point with me. But even those people would agree that this is a delicious dessert. The crust bakes on top of the pie and sort of seeps down into the apples in a super tasty, cobbler-like way, but it stays nice and crusty on top. Wow, that’s a terrible description for a really wonderful thing. You’ll just have to trust me. Plus, it’s way stinkin’ easier than making real pie crust. I’m all over easier!

 

My computer is finally fixed so I can finally publish this post, complete with the photos that were being held hostage by the Genius Bar! Yippee!

The icing on our fabulous Thai dinner proverbial ‘cake’ two weeks ago was pineapple satay with coconut caramel sauce. The pineapple was super yummy, but the sauce is what I really loved. Erika (who made the dinner for us) says she doesn’t just use this sauce for pineapple satay – she also uses it for pancakes and other stuff. I’m thinking on top of ice cream would be divine. Regardless of how you use the coconut caramel sauce, you need to tuck this recipe away for later use. It’s a keeper if there ever was one.

 

Sorry I disappeared. No baby. Just Cate and her broken arm. She had surgery on Tuesday and is doing very well…today was her first day back at school, where she was welcomed by applause and many interested friends who were very happy to see her. Between her doctor’s appointments and mine this week, I’m plum worn out! The baby should be coming this weekend, so stay tuned for an announcement!

All this nuttiness had me craving baked goods. I had seen a recipe for cream cheese chocolate chip cookies on Pinterest recently and decided to give them a whirl last night. When I sat down and read the recipe, I realized it was an adapted recipe by a mom who’s son has an egg allergy. The cream cheese was serving as an egg substitute in the recipe. I can eat eggs, so I was just going to throw an egg in there, but I decided to be courageous and give it a try.

I dug around the web, found a few similar recipes and ended up going with this recipe from a blog called Art of Dessert. The verdict? The flavor is great, but it took some tweaking to get the texture right. I cooked the first batch right after making the dough. Combine that with not cooking them quite long enough at 325 degrees and they were super flat and sort of gooey. After letting the dough sit in the fridge overnight, things improved greatly. I highly recommend cooking the cookies after the dough has been refrigerated at least overnight. I also cooked them longer and at a higher temperature. The shape and texture came out much better. Once I got it figured out, the cookies were fab! Definitely a great eggless chocolate chip cookie recipe!

Yes, these two cookies came from the same dough! Left: Unrefrigerated dough, not cooked long enough. Right: Refrigerated dough, cooked at the right time and temperature. 

In the spirit of ‘Equal Opportunity Cookies’ everywhere, I thought it would be fun to do a special Call for Recipes today. The theme? Cookies for people with special food considerations! Please share your best vegan, gluten-free, eggless and/or allergy-friendly cookie recipes!

Yesterday I happened to see this recipe for Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits on my friend Maria’s food blog. (Side note: Maria is just as pregnant as I am, but with her first baby…yea for Maria and Josh!) I pinned it so I would not forget to try the recipe later, then made a command decision that later would be now. I literally made them within hours of seeing the recipe!

These Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits are just that…gooey, cinnamoney, biscuity goodness. We all enjoyed them for dessert last night, but they certainly are perfect for a breakfast or brunch treat. (In fact, I’m eating leftovers as I type this morning and, oh man, they are good.) This recipe is super easy and doesn’t take long to throw together.

Warning: Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits are not healthy. But who’s keeping track?

Also, the original recipe calls for cinnamon chips, which my lame-o grocery store doesn’t carry. But I was determined to give this recipe a try, so I modified it without the chips and everything came out great. But you can bet your bottom dollar I will be ordering some cinnamon chips from King Arthur and trying the recipe again sometime! (Hershey’s makes cinnamon chips as well and Maria found them at her local grocery store, so maybe you’ll be lucky like her!)

Have you discovered Pinterest yet? It’s a lovely website that allows you to essentially bookmark stuff you love. And discover stuff other people love. Which is where I found the recipe for these peanut butter cups on a food blog called Iowa Girl Eats. I “pinned” the recipe so I would remember to try it later…and later came sooner than I was planning and I ended up making them that night.

These little treats are super easy to throw together and they really hit the peanut butter cup spot. A few of my friends had some the other night and loved them, so you don’t just have to take my word for it.