Tag Archives: Family

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No Strings Attached

Rise & Shine!

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Happy Monday! Go do your thing!!

Life is a beautiful struggle

Sunday Reflections

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Happy Sunday! Here’s wishing you positivity today and always. And don’t forget to do something kind for someone today…

Proverbs 11:17 Those who are kind benefit themselves, but the cruel bring ruin on themselves.

Proverbs 11.17

Chocolate Chip Potato Chip Cookies

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Chocolate Chip-Potato Chip Cookies

It’s true! Chips x 2 – chocolate chips and potato chips. Sweet and salty goodness all rolled into one yummy cookie. #dreamtreat!

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups lightly crushed original potato chips
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt – stir to combine.

3. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

4. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

5. Turn mixer speed to low, and slowly add the flour mixture to the creamed sugar mixture – mix well.

6. Gently stir in the crushed potato chips and chocolate chips.

7. Place in the refrigerator and let chill for at least one hour.

8. Using a cookie scoop drop 1-inch balls onto an ungreased baking sheet a few inches apart to allow for spreading (I did use a Silpat and mine did not spread very much).

9. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.

10. Cool for 5 minutes on the tray before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

White Chocolate Praline Ice Cream Terrine with Blackberry-Raspberry Sauce

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Just in time for your fabulous weekend… an elegant terrine with pretty layers of walnut praline and homemade white chocolate ice cream. Do-aheads: praline, 3 days; sauce, 1 day; entire terrine, 3 days.

White Chocolate Praline
Ingredients

Praline
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Terrine
4 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
8 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Blackberry-Raspberry Sauce

Preparation

For Praline:
Line rimmed baking sheet with foil. Stir sugar, 1/2 cup water, and cream of tartar in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until syrup is pale amber color, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 5 minutes. Add nuts; stir with wooden spoon until coated with syrup. Continue to cook until syrup is deep amber color, gently pushing nuts into syrup, about 3 minutes longer. Immediately scrape mixture out onto prepared baking sheet, spreading as thinly as possible with metal spatula. Let praline stand until cool and firm, about 1 hour. Break praline into irregular pieces. Set aside a few pieces for garnish. Coarsely chop remaining praline. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

For Terrine:
Whisk yolks in bowl to blend. Bring cream, milk, and sugar to simmer in heavy medium saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Gradually whisk cream mixture into yolks; return to saucepan and stir constantly until mixture thickens slightly and instant-read thermometer inserted into mixture registers 170°F, about 3 minutes (do not boil). Transfer custard to 4-cup measuring cup; cool slightly.

Place white chocolate in medium metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water; stir just until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Gradually whisk warm custard into melted chocolate. Mix in vanilla. Cover and chill custard at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

Process custard in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to container; cover and freeze at least 6 hours or overnight.

Line 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with double layer of plastic wrap, leaving 4-inch overhang. Spread 1/3 of ice cream over bottom of prepared loaf pan; sprinkle with half of chopped praline. Spread half of remaining ice cream over; sprinkle with remaining chopped praline. Spread remaining ice cream over. Fold plastic wrap over to cover. Freeze overnight. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep frozen.)

Invert terrine onto platter; remove plastic wrap. Serve terrine with sauce and garnish with reserved praline pieces.

Do One Thing

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Do One Thing

“Do one thing… Stop being miserable and start being alive. “

goldfish's avatarFish Of Gold

How am I not dead yet? That’s a completely reasonable question for any humanoid considering the crapshoot that is life. You could be peacefully sleeping at home when a mountain crashes through your bedroom. You could go on a trip where your plane disappears, your bus gets hit by a truck or your ferry capsizes.

What I’m saying is, a lot of shit can happen and it’s a damn miracle that any of us are still breathing, especially people in their 90s and above. Imagine the sheer luck it would take to have your crappy human body survive for a hundred years or more with you still in it.

Misao Okawa, world's oldest person, 116 years, bitches. Misao Okawa, world’s oldest person, 116 years, bitches. (Getty Images)

High five, Misao! She said her secret to longevity is eating and sleeping a lot. “Eat and sleep and you will live a long time. You have to…

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Bird Watching

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Bird Watching

I stood
in a good place
to watch this small bird struggle

She had fallen
To the ground
From a nest on a limb
I could not see

I wanted to help
But figured one like her
Might come along
And so I waited
And waited
And none came

She was broken
But brave in her pain
This little bird
Didn’t flinch when I picked her up
And brought her inside
Where she stayed with me
Long after she flew away

Weird Is Good

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Blessed Are The Weird People

Dark Chocolate & Peanut Butter Pan Cookie

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When the world hands you a day you’d rather forget, treat yourself to some much needed dark chocolate comfort. This pan cookie recipe calls for chunky peanut butter and dark chocolate morsels– a winning combination!

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Ingredients

3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose baking mix (Bisquick)
1 (12-ounce) package dark chocolate morsels, divided (Hershey’s Special Dark Chips)

Preparation

Stir together peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl.

Stir in brown sugar until combined. Add baking mix and 3/4 cup dark chocolate morsels, stirring just until moistened. Spread mixture in a lightly greased 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan.

Bake at 325° for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate morsels; let stand 5 minutes or until chocolate melts. Spread melted chocolate evenly over top. Cut into triangles, bars, or squares.

Happy Easter 2014!

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Happy Easter all! I hope that you feel the Son on the inside and outside of your hearts today.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Happy Easter 2014 2