Tag Archives: Marcia Williams Cromer

Jan16

Carlos Santana – Over The Hump Old School Sound Check

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Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to “Over The Hump Old School Sound Check” for the week!!!

Carlos Santana is a Mexican American musician who first became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered a fusion of rock and Latin American music. The band’s sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin and African rhythms featuring percussion instruments such as timbales and congas not generally heard in rock music. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. In 2003 Rolling Stone magazine listed Santana at number 20 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is a song written by George Harrison, first recorded by the Beatles in 1968 for their eponymous double album (also known as The White Album). The song features a lead guitar solo by Eric Clapton, though uncredited on the record. Credit: Wikipedia

I love how Santana has continued to evolve by collaborating with other amazing musicians and singers. Here he performs with one of my favorite artists, India Arie.

Jan15

The World As Chocolate -Nanaimo Bars Recipe

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These chocolate bars are great for entertaining and can be prepared days before your event.

Nanaimo (pronounced nah-NIGH-moe) Bars are a traditional Canadian bar cookie whose origins are said to be from Nanaimo, British Columbia.

NanaimoBar2

Cuisine: British Columbia
Yields: 1 (8-inch by 8-inch) pan
Prep time: 30 min

Bottom Layer – Crust Base:
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsweetened unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 cups graham cracker/wafer crumbs
1/2 cup finely-chopped almonds or pecans
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Custard Filling – Second Layer:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons vanilla custard powder (Bird’s Custard Powder is preferred)*
2 cups powdered (confectioners’ sugar)

* Bird’s Custard Powder is widely available in the UK and Canada. However, it is harder to find in other areas of the world. If you are unable to find it, you could substitute instant vanilla pudding or corn starch. It’s not quite the same, but it is a good substitute.

Chocolate Topping – Top Layer:
4 squares (1 ounce each) semi-sweet chocolate or 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preparation of Nanaimo Bars:

Line a 8-inch by 8-inch square baking dish or pan with either plastic wrap or aluminum foil. The original recipe does not call for lining the pan, but believe me, this makes for a must neater and easier removal of the finished bars.

Bottom Layer – Crust Base:

Place the beaten egg in a small bowl; set aside.

In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, sugar, and cocoa. Whisk a small amount of the hot melted mixture into the egg. Return the egg mixture to the pan, whisking constantly. Cook and stir until mixture reaches 160 degrees F. on your cooking thermometer and begins to thicken. Remove from heat.

Stir in the graham cracker crumbs, almond or pecans, and coconut. Press the cracker mixture firmly into the prepared baking dish or pan. Set aside.

Custard Filling – Second Layer:

In a large bowl of your electric mixer, cream together the butter, cream, custard powder, and powdered sugar until well blended. Spread over the Crust Base. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes or until set.

Chocolate Topping – Top Layer:

In a large saucepan over low heat, melt together the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and pour the chocolate mixture over the chilled Custard Filling. Refrigerator at least 1 hour or until set.

Nanaimo Bars may be stored in the refrigerator, covered up to 1 month.

Served chilled.

Jan14

Situational Leadership

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If you are a leader are a manager, you’ve been there. The pressure is on and someone has to ensure productivity. You need to exhibit calm under pressure. Leaders should adopt some proven skills to succeed in the midst of a storm.

Leading In the Storm
Reposted: Personal Advice from Ken Blanchard

Have a positive attitude. Don’t be negative. Your actions can create a positive morale amongst the team. This will be contagious and you will get more out of your team. Try to make your staff believe things are better than they seem, even when the pressure is on. The worst thing you can do is to badmouth any person or department within the company. You can kind of joke about company related issues, but in a lighthearted way. Sometimes a good laugh or feeling of solidarity can work to your benefit, just don’t be malicious or slanderous. It could also come back to haunt you. You would be surprised at the loss of respect you would receive if you acted unprofessionally in this manner. Remember this old adage, “It takes years to build respect, and only seconds to lose it…”

Be passionate about the objectives and organization. When you become passionate about a task, project, or departmental goal, your team will also become passionate. Channel your passion to be the best into your employees. Passion is the key ingredient between being good and being great. You want your department to be exceptional, not just good enough. Be passionate about becoming a world-class organization and your team is sure to follow.

Be enthusiastic and optimistic. Striving for a better future with an energetic drive is contagious. Your team will pick up on the same vibe. They want a better future just as much as you do. Your job is to make them want to be the best and take pride in their work. The more enthusiastic and optimistic you are, the more they can identify with working in a success driven manner.

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.

Jan7

I HAD TO TELL YOU OFF

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Empowerment

I had to tell you off
To be free
I had to tell you off
To really find me

I had to tell you off
In your own place
I had to tell you off
To get you out of my space

I had to tell you off
To understand
That God is sufficient
over any man

I had to tell you off
To love you more
I had to tell you off
And continue to explore
My life that is sufficient
Over any man

I had to tell you off
To turn me on
to the truth and see my rites
I had to tell you off to take flight

Empowerment 2

Jan6

Mistakes of a Cynic

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Second chances are gems of rarity
Whose value is reaped by those
Who acknowledge their coming
Second chances are answers
To the desperate prayers

Third chances are hooks
In the pond
Fishing out repetitive fools

Cynic