Tag Archives: Friendship

Feb28

I Choose to Follow My Dreams

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Happy Friday! Today seemed like a good opportunity to remind myself and my readers of the real TenaciousM!

TenaciousM's avatarEgos & Buffaloes

In most cases, I would confirm that I am definitely not a follower.  However, I recently found myself in the midst of some serious self-evaluation.  I wondered: “Am I really following my dreams or am I chasing them.”

As I look at the difference, to follow means that the dream is real and I own it.  But to chase a dream says that on some level I’m not really convinced that it’s obtainable.  As I follow dreams/goals that are decades or days old, I feel empowered to know that there is already a connection to that dream. For instance, I shared with a friend recently that I am going to Paris in April. There, the goal has been verbalized and now I follow my path to fulfilling that dream.  Although I have been to Paris several times, each time I visit increases the value of the first dream I had many years…

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Feb27

Grilled Chocolate Sandwiches

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There’s always room for dessert, especially for this sweet treat; it’s delicious and takes almost no time to prepare.

Grilled Cocolate Sandwiches

PREP: 15 MINS
TOTAL TIME: 15 MINS
SERVINGS:4

INGREDIENTS

2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
4 large slices challah or Italian Bread, (cut 3/4 inch thick)
4 ounces thin semisweet chocolate bar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

DIRECTIONS

STEP 1
In a large, shallow dish, whisk together eggs and milk; set aside.
STEP 2
Form two sandwiches with the bread and chocolate (break chocolate as necessary to cover bread without extending over edges); dip both sides of sandwiches in egg mixture to coat.
STEP 3
Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat; transfer sandwiches to skillet. Cook, pressing occasionally with a spatula, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Cut in half, and dust with confectioners’; sugar before serving.

Feb26

WORD JONES

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Most writers will relate to the compulsion that can occur when you are writing. It can be ceaseless, day or night, you think of a line and have to write it down before the idea escapes you. It’s our addiction of sorts…

Word Jones

Nose open inhaling time
Your head and hands make contact and
Ignite the smoking mind
With a need
You deal a line to whomever wants a hit

Waking words inject rhyme
Trip in waiting rooms where
Junkies have no sleep lines to trace
Thoughts will always find you-
They clasp creative veins and constrict
Normal flow outside the high place

Feb25

5 Times Tina covered The Beatles

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I will always love Tina Turner! #musicfriendsofTenaciousM enjoy!

5 Times Tina covered The Beatles.

Feb23

No Bake Oreo Ice Cream Cake

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My weekend/Sunday has been extra crazy! So how does TenaciousM give stress an uppercut? You guessed it! Chocolate! Here’s an all-time favorite. #chocolatefriendsofTenaciousM enjoy!

No-Bake-Oreo-Ice-Cream-Cake-recipe

Ingredients
1/2cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
16 OREO Cookies, chopped (about 2 cups), divided
12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches

Directions
WHISK fudge topping and 1 cup COOL WHIP in medium bowl until blended. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. Stir in 1 cup cookies.

ARRANGE 4 ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on 24-inch-long piece of foil; cover with half the COOL WHIP mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining sandwiches. Frost with remaining COOL WHIP; press remaining cookies into top and sides of dessert. Wrap loosely with foil.

FREEZE 4 hours.

Feb22

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

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This is a very rich pie, but oh-so wonderful. If you like chocolate and peanut butter, you’ll like this!

Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-Pie-recipe

For the crust:

1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick), unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter until well blended. Press the mixture into the sides and bottom of a nine-inch deep dish pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool completely.

For the filling:

14 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Beat cream cheese and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the peanut butter and vanilla and mix well.
Beat in the melted butter gradually. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form.
Gently fold the cream into the peanut butter mixture using a spatula. Do not over beat.
Pour into the prepared, cool crust and refrigerate for several hours until set.

For the Ganache:

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate finely chopped (high-quality such as Ghiradelli – not chocolate chips).

Bring the cream to a boil in a saucepan. Pour over the chocolate in a bowl. Stir gently to melt the chocolate and mix well. Cool slightly and spread evenly over the pie. Chill until served. Cut with a knife that has been heated under hot water and wiped dry between each slice.

Feb21

Chocolate-Whiskey Soufflé Tarts

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Chocolate-Whiskey Soufflé Tarts

There’s just a wee bit of the favorite Irish spirit in these treats. Enjoy!

Serves 8

Ingredients
For crust
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon (scant) salt

For filling
10 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup Irish whiskey
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoons instant coffee crystals
Pinch of salt
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
Sweetened whipped cream
Chocolate shavings (optional)

Preparation

Make crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend all ingredients in processor just until dough gathers together. Shape dough into log. Cut into 8 equal rounds. Press 1 round over bottom and up sides of each of eight 4 1/2 x 3/4-inch tartlet pans with removable bottom. Pierce crusts with fork. Bake crusts until pale golden, about 18 minutes. Cool in pans on rack.

Make filling:
Set aside generous 1/3 cup chopped chocolate. Place remaining chopped chocolate in medium metal bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water); stir until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Whisk in whiskey, vanilla, coffee and salt, then yolks. Beat egg whites in another medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold half of whites into chocolate mixture. Fold in reserved 1/3 cup chopped chocolate, then remaining whites. Divide mixture among crusts. Freeze at least 3 hours. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and keep frozen.)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Push bottom of frozen tartlets up to release from pan sides. Arrange tartlets on pan bottoms on baking sheet. Bake until filling puffs and begins to crack, about 20 minutes. Place tartlets on plates. Spoon whipped cream alongside. Top with chocolate shavings, if desired.

Feb19

Baileys Chocolate Pudding Parfaits with Oatmeal-Walnut Crunch

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The oatmeal and nut mixture in this dessert is usually baked on fruit. Here, it is cooked on its own, then layered with currants and a pudding made with Baileys Original Irish Cream topped off with chocolate shavings. Delicious!

Baileys Pudding Parfaits with Oatmeal-Walnut Crunch

Serves 6

Ingredients

For crunch
1 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons instant coffee crystals
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup dark chocolate shavings

For pudding
1 1/4 cups chilled whipping cream
12 tablespoons Baileys Original Irish Cream
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
6 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
12 tablespoons dried currants

Preparation

Make crunch:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture forms moist clumps. Mix in walnuts. Sprinkle mixture onto rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and crisp, occasionally stirring gently and leaving mixture in clumps, about 35 minutes. Cool completely. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight.)

Make pudding:
Combine 3/4 cup cream, 6 tablespoons Baileys liqueur, sugar, yolks and nutmeg in large metal bowl. Place over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water). Using electric mixer, beat until custard thickens and thermometer registers 160°F, about 8 minutes. Remove from over water and beat until cool, about 8 minutes. Mix in remaining 6 tablespoons liqueur. Beat remaining 1/2 cup cream in medium bowl to medium peaks. Fold into custard. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

Layer 1/4 cup pudding, 1 tablespoon currants and 3 tablespoons crunch in each of six 12-ounce goblets; repeat layering 1 more time. Top with chocolate shavings. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 1 hour.

Feb19

Black History Month Salute – Tina Turner

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Black History Tina Turner

Tina Turner has long been one of my role models. Born in Nutbush, Tennessee in 1939, international superstar Tina Turner (née Anna Mae Bullock) moved to St. Louis in her teen years and from there she left for California. Although Tina lived in the Los Angeles area for about 25 years, in 1986 she moved to Europe and has lived there since. Living first in London, she later moved with her then boyfriend (current husband) to Cologne, Germany.

Tina formally filed paperwork with the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland on October 24, 2013 to relinquish her United States citizenship, declaring that she “has no plans to reside in the United States in the future.” But before she lived in Switzerland full time, Tina divided her time between Zurich and Nice, France at the French Côte d’Azur. Just like countries everywhere in the world, France adores Tina.

Photo 1: Tina Turner, Paris, 1984: “Tina’s fantastic. She’s one of the best, original entertainers [and] performers in rock ‘n’ roll, in the world. I actually just happened to be in Paris, found out Tina was there shooting a video and went and met her there. It’s kind of great, because Tina’s such a classy lady. To have a picture of her in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower is just kind of a natural, because she is such a world-class celebrity. Paris is the city of romance, and it’s a great place for her to be.” ~Bob Gruen, Rock N Roll Photographer

In 1996, Tina was awarded with France’s highest honor, the Legion D’Honneur Award. “France is very special to me. I received my first encore here in Paris.” > http://youtu.be/ot_JfudQv3c.

In Photo 2 at Paris’ Élysée Palace on July 3, 2008 at France’s Prestigious Legion D’Honneur Award celebrating Giorgio Armani.

Photo 3: Tina Turner receiving the honorary citizenship of Villefranche sûr Mer, her [former] home in France, August 7, 1995.

Photo 4: Those famous legs on the back cover of her 1984 Private Dancer album, Tina’s fifth solo album. It has been alleged that Tina’s trademark legs were insured for upwards of $3 million.

Photo 5: Singer Tina Turner performs in concert at Bercy in Paris on April 29, 2009.

Photo 6: Tina Turner on the front cover of Architectural Digest. Her house in France was built especially for her and she decorated it herself > http://ow.ly/tHOtf. Video of her former home in France via Oprah: http://youtu.be/GfpwyzSz_mY.

Feb18

Tsholo Dikobe “Khoi-ness Style”

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I am in LOVE!! Botswana has got style. Read more about the woman behind Khoi-fro free issue http://www.nawmagazine.com

I vow to fall in love countless times, everyday. With colour, with ‘Africanism’, with my past, with my future.

Tsholo Dikobe 1