Animal whisperer

My second daughter has a gift or talent, if you will. She loves animals, big or small. She gets a thrill seeing horses when we take a ride in the car and heaven forbid, we ever go to the pound, she would leave with every animal they had. The other day, our nieghbors had a yard sale and the kids searched high and low for coins, so they could buy themselves a treasure. E came and sadly told me she just didn't even have a dollar to her name. I thought welcome to my world, honey, but said maybe she could have the coins by the t.v. I actually found a roll of nickels and gave it to her, watching her eyes light up at all the money I had found. :) She ran on down the street to barter for something 'really cool'.

Later, the door burst open and E came in with a bunch of 'equipment' that was labeled 'reptile cage'. The cage and heat lamp (yes, a heat lamp) were about 10 dollars but E marched up to my neighbor's friend (who was selling the cage), waved the roll of nickels at her and asked her if she knew how much money she had. The lady guessed $2? E said, that's right and it's all yours! My neighbor's son, who is S's age grabbed the light and E grabbed the cage and before the lady could say anything, they left with their loot. By the way, my neighbor was in the background watching this and was laughing her head off.

After watching E tote this glass cage around the house, looking for suitable places to stash it, I told her to go put it outside before I lost it. She looked at me and said "How could you lose it? I'm carrying it." Just take it outside, please! Within 10 minutes (seriously) she had found TWO garden snakes, 3 grasshoppers and a praying mantis. She came in and asked what else snakes eat. I was on the computer and googled it. Don't we live in an amazing time? Don't know the answer? Google it!
Anyway, we found out the snakes can eat earth worms or baby mice, which are found at any pet store! I said "Earthworms are your only bet, cause you can bet I am not going to the store to buy mice!!"

Yesterday morning, the dog was going crazy outside, so I went to see what Patches was so worried about. There was a mouse in one of our window wells. When the kids got home from school, I was on the phone with my husband, telling him about the mouse. E shot outside, put gloves on and caught the thing before I could even tell her not to touch it. She was going to kill it, put it in the freezer then feed it to the snakes. I opted for no on this one and told her to put the yucky mouse into the snake cage. Eww...snakes and mice...What am I doing?? E asked me what was wrong with the mouse, it was so cute!! All I could do was shiver.

huh?

I went to the Post Office today to mail out my chocolate letters and went inside, but couldn't see a place to just drop them off. Since I had alot of letters (about 300), I thought well I will just wait in line and hand them off to the Mailperson. There was only a couple people ahead of me and I stood in line for about 10 minutes. So it's my turn and I step up to the counter to hand him the box of letters. The Mailman says to me, "Next time, Don't be rude, put your letters on the counter and you can just go." I thought "huh?", was something I did rude? I'm pretty sure I wasn't making weird faces as I stood in line...but maybe I was. I am still thinking, huh?

One great and busy week!

This was probably one of the busiest weeks I have had since school started. We found out my husband's niece was getting married, so I decided to make her a t.v. quilt. I think I made this in about a week and 1/2, sewing nonstop. It was fun to have a project again after not doing much of anything during the summer. I happened to have her colors in some leftover fabric on my sewing table. I hope she likes it and doesn't look at it too close! :)
Anyway, Monday, we got invited to K's friend's house for a BBQ, then Wednesday was the wedding dinner, Thursday was the wedding in Bountiful (which was fun for us since that is where Big S and I were married almost 14 years ago, can you believe that?). Thursday night was the reception and my sister-in-law hosted the reception in her back yard, it was really beautiful. Friday I made 3 different kinds of cheesecakes for a baby shower and went to Taste of Home's cooking show at the Dee Events Center with a friend, and Saturday, I made a baby blanket for my cousin's baby shower (I just sewed a 3 inch ribbon around a yard and half of fleece, again I hope she doesn't look at it too close...I have never done that before and thought I could just wing it but....oh well, it was cute anyway. Well, until her mom pulled out a beautiful sailboat quilt!) Then it was on to my cousin's baby shower and a few hours later, I went to a suprise baby shower for my friend, Jen.
To top it off, the chocolate season is starting and I have about 250 letters to send out. I had to buy a new Word program because my other program quit working. I also have to teach the lesson in my ward next Sunday and just started preparing it.
I am grateful for this week cause I don't have anything to do but get my chocolate business going again.

Whew, just looking at my post makes me tired. But it has been a fun week, I just love weddings. It makes me want to get married all over again. Girls these days are so creative with their weddings.

I cried a chocolatier...

My husband says I must bleed chocolate and so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite chocolate recipes.

Here is my favorite chocolate chip cookie:

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder & salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugars & vanilla till the batter lightens and is fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs, beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. Drop by rounded teaspoons or tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned. (If you overcook these, they will be crunchy) Leave on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

Pan version:
Spread batter in greased 15 X 10 X 1 jelly roll pan. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Cool completely, cut into about 4 dozen bars.


This next cookie recipe is from my good friend, Jen, who forgot she even gave to me. It is yummy!!

Double Chocolate Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 brick (8 ounce) cream cheese
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips

Cream butter, sugars & vanilla. Beat in eggs. Add softened cream cheese, beat until smooth. Gradually add dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-13 minutes.


This next recipe is from the Hershey's Chocolate Lover's Cookbook that I got when I was first married. Whenever a recipe calls for a brownie mix, I just use these.

Hershey's Best Brownies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 cups chocolate chips, optional
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13 X 9 baking pan. In large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter. Stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with a whisk or spoon after each addition. Add cocoa; beat until well blended. Add flour, baking powder & salt; beat well. Stir in chocolate chips & nuts, if desired. Bake 30-35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut in bars.

Happy Baking, everyone!
I would be happy to make any of these for you if you don't want to!
Seriously, I would-maybe $5 a dozen or so to cover cost of ingredients. And don't forget I have yummy chocolate chips for sale at my house!

One Beautiful (Stressful) Day

On June 26th, my youngest cutiepie turned 8 and she got to have a friend Birthday party and I made her a special cake. The cake was a little different this year but it turned out really fun.

On July 4th (yes, the 4th of July), K got to be baptized. We got up around 9, rushing around so that we could go to the parade. It was the nicest parade ever since it was overcast, I love storms!! After the parade, I made lemon bars, coconut bars and brownies for after the baptism. Here is my recipe for the coconut bars which I found in the Taste of Home Magazine and I tweaked it a little:

Coconut Bars

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 15 full crackers or so)

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 cans (14 ounces each) sweetened condensed milk

1 package (14 ounces) flaked coconut

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

24 whole almonds, optional

In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into an ungreased 13 X 9 pan. Combine milk and coconut; carefully spread over crumb crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and peanut butter. Microwave on high for 1 minute: stir. Microwave 30-60 seconds longer or until chips are melted; stir until smooth. Spread over warm bars. Garnish with almonds, if desired. Refrigerate for 1 hour before cutting. Yield: 2 dozen.

Now for the Baptism story:

After I got the treats done, we threw on our church clothes and went up to the white church. Of course, S could care less about getting dressed and was more concerned about getting his train into his backpack (which I have lost and have had to buy a new train since then :( ) When we got to the church, we gathered all our stuff, you know, suits and white dresses and towels and stuff to keep the kids busy, etc and I noticed that S had managed to get out of the car and he was making a beeline for the church. I think he tries to find the biggest group of people and then decides to go right through them, much like a bowling ball going down the alley towards the pins. (Can you hear the sound of a bowling ball hitting the pins? I am cringing right now) Luckily the people see him coming and move, so I picked up my pace and tried to catch him. I can't find him in the hallway so I hurried and put K's stuff in the bathroom next to the font and hurry down to the chapel.

I don't know where my husband is at this point or E, my second daughter, for that matter. I get into the chapel, with K and M trailing me and I see S up on the stand, trying his best to yell into the microphone with all the Stake leaders milling around him. If they touch him, he does his best impression of Muhomed Ali, cutting and weaving and screaming, "You are hurting me!!" I tell K to sit on the front bench to wait for her father, who's still not there, and M to sit in the middle bench and go to grab S who repeats his statement from before and adds loudly, "Don't smack me, mommy!" I assure him I won't "smack" him and smile wearily at the people filing into the chapel. Then S yells, "I have to go poop and potty!" Where is my husband?? I tell M to wait there, thinking that the bench would be saved for my family because she is sitting there and I grab S by the arm and hurry to find the bathroom, which is all the way to the back of the church.

Meanwhile, while S is taking his sweet time on his throne, the chapel is getting full and another family has taken over the pew I left M in. By the time I get back in there, they had filled up the whole row and were even sitting by M! I asked her why she didn't save our spot and she replied "You didn't tell me to." By this time, I was going into nervous breakdown mode and had S in a arm grip that he was trying to wriggle out of. My husband was finally sitting with K, oblivious to all this drama so far. He hurried over to me and asked what was the matter? "Oh nothing", I snarled (yes, I am sorry to say I did snarle), "just go sit with K" So I was in the top corner of the chapel and all of my family, In-laws and my side, had sat clear on the other side of the chapel, just so they could watch my meltdown, not really, but I should have sat in the back instead of the front, don't you think?

The program started and I realized that I had not seen E all this time. I mouthed to my husband, who was having grand time sitting with sweet K, "Have you seen E?" He could see I was wrestling with S, who decided he wanted to torment the gentleman behind us. My husband got up and asked my dad if he could go look for E in the hallway. 5 minutes went by and my dad appeared in the doorway, shrugging his shoulders. I told M to stay put, gripped S by the arm and went to see if I could find E. As I was getting to the back of the church, all kinds of things were passing through my brain as to what might have happened to E as all mothers think of from time to time when their kids are lost. Kidnapping, being lost and afraid, etc. The thought came to me that I should look in the car and I thought "Why would she be in the car? That is ridiculous!" But I hurried and looked out the window at my car which was hidden behind a bush. Dragging S, I went outside but couldn't see anything. I peered into the window and still didn't see anything, I stood back up and out of the corner of my eye, saw movement. E was in the car this whole time!! I had tried the front door handle but it was locked, I tried the second door handle (it was locked too!) and it opened (I want to thank tithing for that one!).

I had a rush of emotions go through me, relief, peace, suprise...then anger. I asked E if she was all right (she had been in the car for more than 20 minutes!! in July!!! Thank heaven it was overcast that day but even still!!) and then I told her to get her butt out of that car! What was she thinking?!! It was then that my meltdown reached the melting point. I was still gripping S by the arm and proceeded to give E a piece of my mind. I think at some point I must have looked like a lunatic, throwing a temper tantrum like I did. Oh, did I mention that when I opened the car door, the car alarm went off? I practically threw S at my dad, grabbed E and marched into the church and into the boy's bathroom to retrieve the car keys from my husband's suit so that I could turn off the car alarm, still ranting and raving at E. She could have died from heat exposure!! I could have gotten a ticket or gone to jail!! E's excuse for sitting in the car? Not that she didn't know where we went or that she was lost or even that she didn't know how to open any other door (S's door is child locked so you have to open it from the outside).

It was because she didn't want to sit by M in the chapel.

She sat and pouted in a hot car because she didn't want to sit by M in the chapel. M was being mean to her on the drive up to the church. I was totally speechless with anger. I marched back into the chapel where I had missed all but the last talk and just tried to breathe so I could calm down.

At this point in the program, the Stake leader announced the order of baptisms and can you guess? Our ward was dead last!! I wanted to laugh or cry, I didn't know which one I should do. So then we waited and waited, at least 30 minutes went by while all the other wards filed out of the chapel. E decided she wanted to change part of her outfit and I kept telling her no, they were going to call our ward anytime. Finally, I said "You have two seconds to change. Hurry!" A couple minutes later, they called our ward and we walked to the back of the church to the font. I sat down in front and didn't even realize E wasn't there again. K got to be baptized first and she looked so cute in her stake baptism dress. I went back to help her get dressed in her white dress that her grandma made and when we came out, E was sitting there crying. She had been in the other bathroom messing around all this time and missed K's baptism! I asked her where she had been and she said "You didn't tell me to hurry! and I wanted to see K getting baptized!"

You will be glad to know that the rest of the day went better. K looked beautiful in her baptism dress and the dinner was nice. My mom and dad were there with my grandma. My aunt and uncle came along with their son and his family, all 4 of Big S's sisters came and even one of Big S's nephews and his family came from Idaho. I am sad though that I didn't get a picture of this motley crew on this crazy day, but seriously I am just glad it is over and nobody died!

Mean Neighbors

I guess I need to post this and maybe I will stop thinking about it over and over, wondering what I could have done to make this situation better. So if you have heard this story, just skip this post! :)

A couple weeks ago, S went to play with some neighbors down the street and they actually let him go into the backyard to play. (Since S has had seizures, his social skills are about on a 4 year old level and he sometimes can't remember how to play with others). I had to run an errand and went to see if S could play there for 5-10 minutes. When I got there, Mean Neighbor was mad about something but this was nothing new cause she always looks like that and S was sitting quietly on the swing as if nothing had happened. M.N.'s (mean neighbor) son, who was 3, was screaming and crying. I found out that S had been on the swing, hopped off for a second, the 3 year old got on and S proceeded to shove him off the swing, then promptly got back on it. I told S that he shouldn't shove kids smaller than him and then I took him on my errand. When I got back, S immediately went back to M.N.'s house to play and I sat in front of my house to keep an eye on him. M.N. was in the front and as soon as S made it to her lawn, she told him he was to go home and he wasn't welcome there till he could be nice. Of course, if you know S, he had no clue what she was even talking about and preceded to go into her garage to get a toy he had been playing with before. She was furious and so I got up to collect my son. As soon as I stepped on her lawn, she started in on me. She was about a foot or two from my face and was enraged by my son's "behavior" and began to practically spit in my face as she yelled at me. She told me it had taken her 20 minutes to calm down her son because S had hurt his feelings so bad and that S wasn't welcome to play unless I was there to control him. I was so shocked by this I didn't even know what to say but I started crying a little and said that we have had a hard couple of years. Hearing this, M.N. told me to not throw my life in her face, that I didn't know how bad her life was and what she was going through. At this point, all I could think of was to get out of there. So I grabbed S and told M.N. that she wouldn't have to worry about S anymore, he wouldn't be playing there anymore. She then told me I was unreasonable and he could play another time as long as I was there. I replied that I didn't want to hover around S or at the neighbors houses. That made her even madder. How did I get myself in this mess? I was shaking and just made it back to my house before I started crying. I don't want S to be a bully and I don't justify what he did but if it had happened at my house, I would have brushed the kid off, give S a lecture of how to treat people and gone back into the house. The M.N. follows her kids everywhere they go, they can't even ride their bikes w/out her following them. Granted, I want my kids safe but I refuse to be a "helicopter mom".

As if that isn't bad enough, 2 days later, we finally let S ride his scooter in the front (while I was there, OF COURSE) and he crashed into Miss Paranoia's kid (M.N.'s best friend) who lives next door to me (I am in the middle of these two neighbors, isn't that nice?). They have the same opinion of raising children, you have to be a foot away from your children at all times! One time, Miss Paranoia, let her son come to my house to play with K (this was a couple years ago). They were playing just fine, when he tripped and fell. (S was nowhere near him, I promise!) He started crying and screaming and started heading for the front door. Now all the windows and doors were shut, there was no way he could be heard crying from the outside. I was trying to see if he was okay and telling him to stop crying and I opened the front door and, no lie, Miss Paranoia was running full tilt across my lawn and made it to my front door before it opened all the way. I am not kidding! This is how they raise their kids and why they think I am a failure as a parent.

Only a few days later, I stopped to get the mail and to pick up the kids from choir class which is just down the street from me. S wanted to sit in the front seat and since it was just a block away I let him. I got the mail and was opening one, when I heard S start crying, I looked over and he had rolled up the window on his head. This was in view of M.N.'s house. He happened to cut his eyelid just a little bit but no blood or anything. Luckily, M.N. wasn't outside!! Pour S's eye puffed up but he was ok. Bandaids fix anything!

Now if you can endure one more story about S... this was still within 2 weeks of the first incident. I was at my mom's house but I had left my husband in charge. He had gotten in the shower w/S when I left. He got S all clean and S got out of the shower with his hooded towel and Big S (my husband) told him to get his underwear & jammies on. Big S proceeded to shave. When he got out of the shower 5 minutes later, the phone was ringing off the hook. Big S got the phone and one of our nicer neighbors told him that our son was in his Birthday Suit riding his bike around the neighborhood. Nice! Big S threw on his own clothes and ran to get his naked son off the street. I think I have lost my mind about 3 or 4 times since then. I think I will take a break and then tell you what happened at K's baptism!

Bread of Life

Well, I have been baking bread all day while juggling and chasing S since he can't go outside (in the front) without me. (long story about mean neighbors) Anyway, I am baking bread cause everytime I go to the store I end up with a million things I want but don't need. I can't remember where I got these recipes, probably the Taste Of Home magazine, but I have tweeked them just a bit to make them my own.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

5 cups water (70-80 degrees)
1/2 cup honey or sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
6 Tablespoons salt
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
7 cups white flour (or bread flour)
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups quick oats
2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
2 Tablespoons gluten (optional)

Place water and sugar in a Bosch or Kitchen Aid mixer. Add yeast, let sit for about 5 minutes till foamy on top. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix for 5-6 minutes. Let rest in mixer (or another bowl, greased) till doubled in size (about 45 min. to an hour). Punch dough down and let it sit again for 20 minutes while you prepare the pans. Grease (using Pam) 4 bread pans and set aside. Divide dough into 4 loaves and put into prepared pans. Let them rest again for 30-45 minutes or until doubled. Turn oven to 350 and bake bread for 30-35 minutes or golden brown. When they are done, take out of pans and let cool on wire racks so they don't get soggy.



Cinnamon Swirl Bread

1 cup warm milk (70-80 degrees)
1/4 cup water (70-80 degrees)
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
3-4 cups flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

This recipe fits into a bread machine pan if wanted. I just use my Bosch since I usually have to double it.

Place water and milk into Bosch mixer, add yeast and sugar and let sit for 5 minutes till foamy. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix for 5-6 minutes. Dough should be elasticy and slightly sticky. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Roll each portion into a 10 X 8 inch rectangle. Mix together 2 Tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons cornsyrup & 1 Tablespoon cinnamon together and spread onto the dough rectangle. Roll up tightly jelly-roll style, starting with short side. Pinch seams and ends to seal. Place seam side down in two greased 9 X 3 inch pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, then cover with foil for 5-10 more minutes (sometimes I do this and sometimes I don't). Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Sometimes I change the filling to orange. Just switch out the cinnamon filling with this: 2 Tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons corn syrup, 2 teaspoons orange zest and 1 teaspoon orange extract.

These are both yummy breads and freeze well for later. I will try to post a picture of the baked goods when I can figure out how to load the pictures! :)

Cake on the brain!

K's birthday is coming up next week and of course she wants a special cake! I have done some fun, some hard to decorate for a few years. M always asks for a barbie cake, which I hate by the way, but I always grit my teeth and decorate one more for her, thinking at the same time "I will never do this again, you can bet on that!"



Anyway, I thought I would post some pictures of cakes I have done in the past. Like I said, some are bad and some are good.

I personally thought it was the worst but M loved it. Oh, well.

Here is E's 9th Birthday cake. She is obsessed by horses right now if you can't tell. Sometimes, if you listen close, you can hear her neighing and clopping around the house. Seriously.

This cake was really fun and easy but as you can tell the birthday girl had to help decorate!

Here is S's 4th Birthday cake, courtesy of Family Fun. They have the best ideas for themed cakes.

Here is my first recipe for my new blog. Hope you try it, it is yummy!!

Chocolate Orange Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1 box yellow cake mix (1 lb. 2.25 ounces)
1 package (3 oz.) orange Jell-O powder (not sugar free)
1 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
4 eggs
1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Grease and flour a Bundt pan. Dump the dry cake mix into a large electric mixing bowl. Mix in the orange Jell-O powder. Add the next 4 ingredients and mix throughly until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Fold in the mini chips by hand. Pour the cake batter into the Bundt pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Loosen the outside edges and middle, then tip the cake out of the pan onto your serving plate. Let cake cool while you make the drizzle frosting.

Orange-Fudge Drizzle Frosting

2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (you can get this from me!! :) )
1 teaspoon orange extract (I have this too!!)
2 Tablespoons orange juice

Put the butter and chips into a 2-cup microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring after each interval. Stir till smooth. Add the orange extract and stir. Add the orange juice a Tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition. Drizzle the frosting over the ridge of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Refrigerate the cake without covering it, so the frosting will set up. After the frosting sets up, you can leave this cake on the counter.


Happy Baking, everyone!!

http://www.blogger.com/www.thechocolateshop.net

I finally did it!!

Well friends, I did it! I am online...Now what?

I think my blog will be half food (because I love to cook and bake and it will be really fun to post what I make without little ones in the background making ugly faces!) & half family (because I really do need to start documenting the crazy and absurd and peaceful times in my life).

How does life go by so fast and yet so slow at times?

Anyway, here is to a new adventure in my life...Blogging!! Wish me luck!!