Monthly Archives: January 2014

Jan14

Dream Treat

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No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake with Mixed Berries

Raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries colorfully adorn the top of No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake with Mixed Berries. DELICIOUS, I promise!

no-bake-chocolate-cheesecake-berries-ck-l

Yield: Serves 14 (serving size: 1 slice)
Total: 6 Hours, 25 Minutes

Ingredients
4 ounces chocolate wafers (such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers)
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons 2% reduced-fat milk
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
10 ounce 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
1/2 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Hershey’s Special Dark)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 cups raspberries
1 1/2 cups strawberries, quartered
1 cup blueberries

Preparation
Hands On: 25 Minutes
Total: 6 Hours, 25 Minutes
1. Place chocolate wafers in a food processor; process until finely ground. Place ground wafers in a bowl; stir in honey and butter. Press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch round removable-bottom tart pan. Cover and freeze 1 hour or until firm. Wipe food processor with a paper towel.
2. Combine milk and gelatin in a microwave-safe bowl; let stand 3 minutes. Microwave at HIGH 15 seconds; stir until gelatin dissolves. Cool slightly.
3. Combine cream cheese and next 4 ingredients (through vanilla) in food processor; process until smooth. Add milk mixture and cooled melted chocolate; process until smooth. Place whipping cream in a clean bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold one-fourth of chocolate mixture into whipped cream. Fold whipped cream mixture into remaining chocolate mixture. Spoon chocolate mixture into prepared crust. Chill 6 hours or until set.
4. Combine berries in a bowl. Top cheesecake with berry mixture.

Jan13

Auberge Du Chocolate – Orange Dessert

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This chocolate is named after the ice cream and looks stunning when cut into. Any remaining fruit paste tastes fantastic dipped in bitter dark chocolate and any remaining ganache can be flavoured and used for truffles.

Auberge Du Chocolate

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

1 zest of one orange lightly crystallized
250ml double cream
600g dark chocolate, chopped or in pellet form
4ml rrange blosson oil
8ml Cointreau
2 oranges
40ml sugar
40ml water
500g dark chocolate, chopped or in pellet form for dipping

Preparation

1. Prepare the lightly crystallised orange zest and dry it out at 100°C – in the oven, turning once or twice. Store any leftover zest in an airtight container .

Making crystallized fruit peel and grated zest

Simply grate the zest of a citrus fruit of your choice, then dip it into a simple sugar syrup, made by boiling 1 part sugar in 1 part water until the sugar has dissolved.

Leave the dipped zest to dry, then place on top of just-dipped chocolates so the peel sticks as the chocolate sets.

2. Temper 150 g (5 oz) of dark chocolate and spread onto a sheet of baking parchment. When touch dry, cut out 1.5 cm (3/4 in) circles with a pastry cutter.

Tempering Chocolate

Melt the quantity of chocolate you need. Pour approximately two thirds of the melted chocolate onto the marble.

Use a large, flexible scraper to repeatedly pull the chocolate together and then spread it out. This causes the chocolate to cool quickly and to thicken. The chocolate now contains a number of ‘seed’ crystals. As the chocolate temperature drops, more crystals form. You want to get plain chocolate to about 29°C – check this by putting a tiny piece of the chocolate on your bottom lip. If it feels cool, it should be ready.

Once you reach the required temperature, quickly stir in the remaining third of the melted chocolate. This will melt or stabilize any unstable crystals. If this doesn’t work, it is possible that there are not enough ‘seed’ crystals in the first two thirds (for example, if the chocolate hasn’t been cooled enough) or the remaining third is too hot. Unfortunately, should this be the case you will have to start all over again. When tempered, transfer the chocolate to a bowl ready for use.

3. Warm the cream a little. Add the milk chocolate and stir until all the chocolate is incorporated. If you still have lumps of chocolate, warm the mixture for about 10 seconds in the microwave and stir again.

4. Stir in the orange blossom oil and the Cointreau.

5. Using a piping bag and a 1 cm (1/2 in) nozzle, pipe the ganache onto the dark chocolate circles and leave to set.

6 When set, dip each chocolate in the remaining tempered chocolate so it is fully sealed. Sprinkle the tops of the chocolates with the crystallized orange zest, then leave to set before cutting away any ‘feet’ from the chocolate.

Jan13

The Burning Man

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OWN YOUR CREATIVITY

During the past Christmas holidays, I’d become as over zealous as ever with my decorating. I started with the living room thinking that it would make a sufficient statement. Moreover, there’s the memory of all the years that I got carried away with my quest to out do my last year of yuletide, and the pain of taking the art down.

While flying from the U.S. to Madrid last summer, I sat beside a guy from Israel who was returning home from the Burning Man Festival in Nevada. He explained that after a week of creating and exhibiting art installations, every piece of art was burned down. You could take pictures and videos, but you were not allowed to save any part of your creation.

Burning Man

The week-long event now attracts tens of thousands of participants to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert where they form a temporary experimental community known as Black Rock City. As it has expanded, Burning Man has been forced to adopt certain official rules and policies for safety reasons, but the essential tenets on which the event was founded (immediacy, participation, decommodification, civic and environmental responsibility, radical self-reliance and self-expression) remain the same. Art-making and performance are core components of the Burning Man festival. Each year participants at Burning Man create and perform works inspired by a given theme (recent themes have included: “Evolution,” “American Dream,” “The Green Man,” and “Hope and Fear: The Future”). Free from the confines of the traditional art world, the collaborative environment of the Burning Man has been fertile ground for outsider and visionary art. A permanent organization, The Black Rock Arts Foundation, now offers grants for artists, sponsors interactive art projects at Burning Man, and supports art that carries the values of Burning Man culture (e.g., impermanence, experimentation, and inclusiveness) into the broader community. The Burning Man effigy is an iconic reminder to keep the creative “fires” burning within long after the event has come to a close. Credit: wikifestivals.com

Christmas 2013-4

So, my Christmas decorations continued to grow throughout the house and extended outdoors. Each room had it’s own installation, one more over the top than the next. I actually commented that “it looks like a Christmas bomb went off in my house.” I did all of this knowing that the ultimate fate of my work, like the Burning Man, was it’s own destruction after a few weeks of enjoyment.

But the real enjoyment is in the creating. I’m challenging myself to achieve a goal that surpasses what I know I can do already. I’m motivated to prove something to myself and keep my own creative fires burning within.

Jan12

SUNDAY REFLECTIONS

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Proverbs 20:3
3 It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.

Free to Choose 2

Jan11

Chocolate Is My Kryptonite

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Fortunately, there are only a few things that I simply refuse to live without. Chocolate ranks pretty high on that list. So, I am constantly looking for fun recipes that are easy and delicious. Here is a new favorite!

Monster Marshmallow Cookies

Monster Marshmallow Cookies

Total Time: 45 min
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 25 min
Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

For the Cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/4 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup miniature marshmallows

For the Topping:
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
2 1/2 teaspoons half-and-half
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions

Make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and both sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time on medium speed, then beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined.

Stir the oats, cereal, chocolate chips, pecans and marshmallows into the dough with a wooden spoon. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. Bake the cookies in batches until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies rest on sheet pans to cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.

Make the topping: Combine the chocolate chips, marshmallows, half-and-half and cayenne pepper in a saucepan over medium heat; cook, stirring, until the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the pecans. Drizzle the mixture over the cookies and let set, about 4 hours.

Jan10

It’s Time To Fly

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For the first time in several years, I am feeling my own enthusiasm about the New Year from everyone in my circle.  Maybe after years of treading water in a bad economy, everyone woke up on January 1, 2014, and said: “Enough!”  Enough whining, enough pessimism, enough fearing that home values will tumble, another Bernie Madoff is already in “pod form” (i.e., Invasion of the Body Snatchers), waiting to take on the body of a Wall Street financier, or that the sky is falling. Just enough already!  

I am very excited by this new optimism, and here’s hoping that it carries over past Valentine’s Day.

The following is reposted from tylerperry.com: “Don’t Stay Too Long” @ Wed, Jan 8, 2014. Perfect message!

Image

I haven’t written in a while so this is a little long, but it’s so worth your time to read. I was in Wyoming recently and I was taking in the beauty of the place. I mean, I love it. As I was looking up at the mountains I saw an eagle flying above me. I had to stop and take in its majestic beauty. I had never seen a real life eagle.  All I had heard about an eagle was in church when the pastor said that the eagle pushes its young out of the nest to teach it to fly. It really did move me watching this bird that had no doubt been pushed out of the nest and had learned to do what I was watching it do. 
 
I got back to the cabin that evening and I started doing some research on eagles. I was so excited to read the story of how it learned to fly. Well, to my surprise, eagles pushing their young out of the nest is a myth. I was shocked. I know that I heard a preacher say that in church… now I ain’t gonna say that that pastor lied but I will say he didn’t do the research… LOL. So I did it on my own. I did find some interesting facts that got me thinking about life… mine and yours. It’s funny how God can speak through everything. Here’s what I found. Eagles build the biggest nest of all birds. It’s huge, comfortable and deep. One of the most interesting things that I found was the way that the eagle gets its young chicks to fly out of the nest.  For many weeks it brings food to the nest. The little eagles have no worries, they have all they need to survive. But when the adult eagle deems that it’s time for the young eagles to fly, things get uncomfortable.

Now the young eagle doesn’t know that it’s time to fly, but the wisdom and the bird’s eye view of the mother knows that it’s time for the chicks to leave the nest. So you know what she does? She doesn’t bring food to the babies anymore, and this is what I found fascinating. Many times she will fly around the nest with the food in her beak so that the young eagles will be tempted or so hungry that they are forced to fly out of the nest and take it out of her beak. Stay with me I’m going somewhere here. As I thought about this, I thought about my life and how many times I was in a very comfortable space. I had all I needed. There was no need for me to go any further because I was comfortable. I wanted to stay there forever. You have to be careful when you get comfortable and stay too long. It’s easy to stop dreaming when your belly is full. You won’t feel the need to fly at all. 

The truth is, as long as I was there in that really comfortable space, I wasn’t fulfilling my own destiny or my purpose. I wasn’t flying, I was content. Remember this, your greatest prayers are not usually answered in comfort. Think about it. I can really get deep into this with stories from my past but you’re probably tired of reading already… LOL… so I’ll try and wrap it up.

It took an uncomfortable situation or being hungry to make me get out and fly. Many times in life things are going well, but then everything that was so great changes and we wonder why. We wonder what happened. We are caught off guard. I am of the opinion that in those times God, who knows when it’s time for us to leave the nest, is allowing it to become uncomfortable so that we can move on to our next mission in life. Our next hope, our next dream, our next level.

After not realizing this for many years and resisting changes and going through hell, I’m glad to say that I have become so sensitive to when it’s time to move that I will move without having to have the turmoil.  I’m telling you I was so stubborn that the house had to burn down for me to move. Now I know better. I’m aware of when it starts to happen, like things happen that don’t make any sense. People you have been friends with or in business with or otherwise for years just seem to go crazy and you don’t know why. What I’ve learned in those moments is that it is a time to fly. Business changes, jobs go away, friends break your heart, marriages end, relationships end, and most times all these things are signs that it’s time to take flight to your next level.

Nobody likes change, I get it, but don’t be angry or bitter when things change. Don’t be mad with people, especially when you know you did right by them and you did all you could do for the friendship or relationship.  I’m sorry to tell you this my friend, but this moment was not about them it was all about you. I’m telling you if God has allowed you to become so uncomfortable in your situation, whatever it is, then its time for you to move! Don’t be afraid, just fly!

Last thing and then I’m done ;-). there is one part of the eagle story that I haven’t told you yet, and this is my favorite part. If those baby eagles get out of the nest and they are trying to fly and it’s not going well, then that same mother bird that provided for them while they were in the nest, that same eagle will fly under the baby eagle to keep it from falling, to keep it on course, and give it a sense of security. God’s got you, don’t be afraid! He won’t let you fall! Now here’s the question: what situation in your life has become so uncomfortable that you feel like you’re being starved for what you need? Maybe its God’s way of telling you it’s time to fly! It’s time to fly for your own dreams and your own hopes and goals. Fly for true love and real hope. This is your moment to fly, in 2014. Make this the year that you leave the nest without fear.

Jan9

Over The Hump Old School Sound Check- Marvin Gaye

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“What’s going on in your world?” We can all make the world better one day at a time, one person at a time. I’ll let Marvin Gaye remind us.

Looking forward to the weekend! Happy Thursday and Happy Birthday to my great friend Barbara Kapp! You are one of the truly cool people holding it down in Big D.

Jan8

Decadent Chocolate Mousse

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This easy chocolate mousse recipe is perfect to make ahead and best served in your fun drink glasses.

Classic-chocolate-recipes-chocolate-mousse

Serves: 6
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 2 mins

Ingredients

200ml (7oz) double cream
200g (7oz) milk chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp Grand Marnier (optional)
2 medium eggs, at room temperature
Shavings of white chocolate, to decorate

Method

Put cream into a pan and heat until almost boiling. Take off the heat, add the chocolate – don’t stir – and leave for 5min. Add Grand Marnier, if using, and stir until glossy. Pour into a large bowl and leave to cool until tepid.
Separate the eggs – it’s important not to get any yolk in the white or you won’t create volume when you whisk up. Using an electric hand-whisk, beat the yolks into the chocolate for 1 min until smooth. Wash and dry whisks thoroughly, then whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.

Using a metal spoon, stir a spoonful of whisked egg white into the chocolate mixture – this will loosen it so it’s easier to fold in the rest. Gently fold in remaining egg white (taking care not to knock out air) until mixture has no white blobs.
Spoon the mousse into six glasses and chill until set. Serve after an hour if you like a soft set – mousse will keep in the fridge for 24 hours. Take out of the fridge an hour before serving, then decorate with white chocolate shavings.

Jan8

The Power of Words

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As a writer with a marketing background, words are the foundation of my toolkit. I love words. I’ve studied their impact on messaging and their ability to affect people and evoke action or reaction.

This video was initially used by an ad agency to remind potential clients that messaging is critical to increasing sales. As the video went viral, its impact on humanity surfaced.

NOTE: Our words last beyond their intrinsic meanings. Choose them wisely.

Definitely worth reposting…

Jan7

DREAM TREAT

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Irish Stout Cake with Bailey’s Ganache

I love that chocolate lovers share a universal flavor. This chocolate cake has become one of my favorites. Another “Chocolate On Steroids” recipe!

Irish Stout Cake with Bailey’s Ganache

Ingredients

Irish Stout Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup unsalted butter
1 12oz bottle of Guinness Stout beer
3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s)
1 Tbsp espresso powder

Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting
6oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup shortening
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Bailey’s Irish Cream
Bailey’s Ganahe
6oz high quality white chocolate (not white chocolate chips)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
White chocolate shavings (garnish)

Instructions

Irish Stout Cake
Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Grease and flour 2 8in round cake pans. I also lined mine with parchment paper.

In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in the beer, cocoa powder and espresso powder until smooth. Bring to a simmmer and let bubble 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Set aside to cool 5-10 minutes. While it’s cooling, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk together the vanilla, eggs and buttermilk. Once the chocolate mixture has slightly cooled, add 1-2 Tbsp of it to the eggs and milk and whisk until smooth. This is going to temper the eggs so they don’t scramble. Slowly pour the remaining chocolate in with the eggs and whisk until incorporated. Make a well in the flour and pour in the chocolate. Use a spatula to fold together until no more flour can be seen. It will still be clumpy at this point. With your whisk, quickly stir the batter 20 strokes. Do not over mix. The batter may still have a few lumps in it, but that’s okay.

Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans. (I got about 2 3/4 cup of batter into each pan.)

Bake at 375 F degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 F degrees and cook another 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake in the pans for 10 minutes until removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, trim the tops so that each cake is level and the same height. Wrap cake layers and freezer for several hours or over night.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Frosting
Using your stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter and shortening until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar and beat on high for 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated. Add the Bailey’s and salt and mix for 1 more minute.
Chill in the freezer for about 10 minutes or until firm and easily spreadable without being too soft.

Bailey’s Ganache
Run the white chocolate though the food processor until it is in very small, fine pieces. If you don’t have a food processor you can just chop the chocolate into very small, fine pieces. Place them in a medium glass bowl.

In a medium pot, bring the heavy cream, Bailey’s and butter to a simmer. DO NOT BOIL. Pour
cream over the chocolate and let it stand for 1 minute. Stir chocolate and cream slowly and smoothly until all the chocolate has melted. Do not over-stir the chocolate… you don’t want to create air bubbles. Place the bowl in a ice bath until it has come to room temperature. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until it has thickened.

Assembly

Place first layer of cold from the freezer cake on your cake stand, cut side up. Using all the cream cheese frosting, spread an even, flat layer across the top of the cake to the edges. Place the second layer of cake, cut side down on top of the frosting. Press down gently until the top is level. Put cake in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
Remove the cake from the freezer and spoon ganache on the top of the cake. Using an offset spatula, GENTLY AND SLOWLY spread the ganache to the sides of the cake. Add more ganache when needed to create an even layer. You’ll want the ganache to slightly drip off the sides, but most of it to remain on top. Pop any air bubbles with a toothpick.
Garnish the top of the cake with white chocolate shavings. Store cake in refrigerator until ready to serve. Remove 15-20 minutes before you want to cut the cake. Store in an air tight container up to 2 days.