Cauldron Cakes

A bunch of Potterheads united tonight to have a little Harry Potter party for Halloween. Fun fact: not a single person in attendance was a Gryffindor. So much for it being "the most popular house" and all...

I tried my hand at making Cauldron Cakes (recipe found here, but I used my own chocolate cupcake recipe instead of devil's food) and they didn't turn out too bad for a first timer! So, ya know, I had to give you all some close-up pictures of all the imperfections ;) I made the handles too thin though, and they kept breaking and/or melting as I tried to attach them to the cauldrons (even after freezing them and rubbing my hands on an ice pack to cool them down).

Oh well, at least I got one misshapen handle to attach properly enough to take a picture! (And it broke not long afterwards. Womp womp.) You could always change the filling (maybe dye it green) and call it a witch's cauldron instead of a Cauldron Cake to make it a more general Halloween treat... for those of you weirdos who don't like Harry Potter. :P

Chocolate, My Love

If there is one thing in my life that I am pretty much addicted to, it's chocolate. I am completely and ardently in love with it. It's very unhealthy, as most addictions are.

So it's a pretty big deal that I've decided to participate in Lent this year and have given up chocolate in any and all forms. I've always been interested in Lent when my friends have done it, and love the intentions and meanings behind it, but I haven't ever joined in. This will be good for me. Not only will I feel strengthened by knowing that I can resist my cravings, it should also help a lot in my quest to lose the baby weight. It will also add a fresh element to the Easter season for me.

And of course, Doug came home with a pack of giant chocolate muffins from Costco the day after my fast started. Ooops.

On a different note, we had a good Valentine's Day! Flower bouquets, chocolates, a new candle, a little scavenger hunt that I put together for Doug, and we even got to escape for a little late lunch date while our brother-in-law watched Nicole. (Thanks Nick!) It was great to have a little baby-free time.

BTW, I'm already down a pound from when Lent started. You guys. I really do eat too much chocolate.

{Recipe}: No-Bake Peanut Butter Squares

Sometimes, you NEED the classic chocolate-peanut butter combo.

And sometimes, it's the middle of summer and you don't want to turn on your oven.

I think these treats are the perfect solution! Not only does it satisfy my little preggo sweet-tooth, but I cannot eat these things without a good glass of milk - so our milk will quickly disappear as these treats do. The recipe is listed right below. Just take note that I did not use peanuts in mine; I just used a full 3 cups of graham cracker crumbs instead. Whatever floats your boat! And yes, I've shared this recipe on my blog before, but I can't help it! They're just so good! Gotta share the love.



No-Bake Peanut Butter Squares

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup chopped peanuts (like I said before, I left these out and just used a little more graham cracker crumbs)

For topping:
1 package (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
1/4 cup peanut butter

Line square pan, 9x9x2 inches, with aluminum foil. Beat powdered sugar, butter, 1 cup peanut butter, and vanilla in large bowl on medium speed. Stir in graham cracker crumbs and peanuts (mixture will be stiff). Press in pan.

Melt chocolate chips and 1/4 cup peanut butter over low heat, stirring frequently, until smooth. Spread over bars. Refrigerate about 1 hour, or until chocolate is fairly firm (but not too firm because you don't want the chocolate to break when you cut it!) Remove from pan, using foil to lift. Cut into rows (6x6 is a perfect snack-size, but for the pictures above I did 4x4). Refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm. Store covered in refrigerator.


Enjoy! (with an enormous glass of milk, of course)

Ending the hiatus (and banana bites)

Pardon my blog hiatus. I'm just busy enjoying the last of my school-free summer hours (because BYU is strange and we don't start classes until this Tuesday. No complaints here, though).

Doug and I have been Harry Potter Marathon-ing it up over here (currently on movie 6) and I still need to make my snickerdoodle cookies sometime tomorrow. In the mean time, I've been snacking down on these awesome semi-but-not-really-healthy treats that I have affectionately termed "banana bites".

I originally got the idea from Pinterest (here) but I decided to flip things up a little. These little beauties are filled with Nutella and coated in melted peanut butter chips. The original ones on Pinterest are filled with peanut butter and coated in melted dark chocolate chips (although I used semi-sweet for mine).

I'm not going to lie... I think I like the super chocolaty ones a bit more. Go figure, I'm a chocoholic. The best part? Doug is not a fan of frozen bananas, so I got the whole batch to myself. I ate over half of them before I remembered I needed to take pictures.

In case you want to make them... you have to freeze the bananas and their filling first (about 1 hour) and THEN dip them in the melted coating. Otherwise they'll get mushy. And once you take the bananas out of the freezer to dip them you need to work fast because the bananas defrost quickly and the melted coating hardens quicker than you expect. Then just pop them back in the freezer again for a while and they're ready to eat!


Alrighty, it's back to the magical world of Harry now.

Must. Finish. Before. School. Starts.

Texas Sheet Cake

I don't know why this delectable dessert is called Texas Sheet Cake because it doesn't seem very "Texan" (can anybody shed some light on that for me?) but it sure is delicious! I could care less what it's called, as long as I can eat some.

If you have not heard of Texas Sheet Cake, I pity you. If you have, and if you like it, we can be friends. Because it makes my top 10 for the cake/brownie dessert category.

It's not your typical cake, so don't expect it to taste like one. It has a taste all its own! And it is wonderful when you serve it with ice cream :)


TEXAS SHEET CAKE

You will need:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
4 tbsp cocoa powder
2 sticks butter (I used margarine and it turned out fine)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Set aside. In a saucepan, combine the water, cocoa powder, and butter. Bring to a boil. Mix the dry ingredients and the chocolate mixture together. Then add sour cream, eggs, and baking soda. Pour into a greased large cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with sides. Bake for 20 minutes.

While that bakes, you can make the FROSTING!

You will need:
1 stick butter (once again... I used margarine)
6 tbsp milk
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 one lb. box powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Bring butter, milk, and cocoa to a boil. Then turn off hear and add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Spread on warm cake.


Alright. Now stop looking at this blog post and go make it for yourself. It's yummy, I promise!

Well, color me flattered!

My little sister had the copy cat syndrome when we were growing up. All of my favorite things were her favorite things too. When my favorite colors were pink/blue/purple, so were hers. When I changed my favorite colors to pink/blue/green, she did too. She liked tigers just as much as I did. Sometimes she even tried to pass off my ideas/favorite things as her own original ideas. No bueno. This really annoyed me, particularly because she was my little sister. Now I look back and think, "Gee, I must have been a pretty darn awesome sister, since she wanted to copy me all the time". Thank you Carissa for boosting my ego.

I have learned to be flattered by attempts of mimicry (except when it's outright plagiarism or something like that).

For example: one of my dear childhood friends made this cake for one of my bridal showers last May. It is a big chocolate creation of awesomeness: chocolate cake with chocolate filling and frosting, surrounded by a layer of chocolate Hershey's squares and completely coated on the top with M&Ms. I promptly posted it on my blog and put the picture on Pinterest. Something that chocolatey had to be shared with the online world.

Yeah. My friends definitely know how much I like chocolate.

And then I ran across this beauty yesterday on Pinterest:

At first I was like "Whaaaaa, they stole my cake!" but... think about it... someone saw my cake pinned on Pinterest and decided to try it out! Hot diggity dang, how awesome! Except they used Kit-Kat bars instead of Hersheys, and I like Hersheys better.

...not to mention that other people have made cakes like this before. But I've just never seen them on the internet before yesterday, so let's pretend that mine is the original! You guys can give me that, right? Right? Because I feel cool right now. Okay. Thanks.

Have you ever put a picture/idea on Pinterest and noticed that other people tried it too?
Or have you randomly come across a pin from your blog on someone else's Pinterest boards?

The BEST no-bake cookie recipe there is!

I am a huge fan of chocolate/peanut butter combos, as I said when I shared this recipe last September.

This being said, I am a sucker for a good no-bake cookie. There are plenty of no-bake cookies recipes out there, each a little different from the next, but I would like to claim that I have pinpointed the best no-bake cookie recipe of them all! I tell no lies! These things are amazing!

Don't mind me playing with photo filters in these pictures :) It's something I'm trying out.

I made two batches because I promised my cast members that I would bring them a treat on the day of our first run-through, and they were gone in a heart-beat. I've eaten tons of them already.

You guys... I don't call them the best dang cookies for nothing!

For those of you who don't believe me, go try them for yourselves.

The BEST No-Bake Cookies

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons cocoa

1 stick margarine

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups oatmeal

Directions:

Mix the cocoa, margarine, sugar, and milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure that you stir it constantly. Let it boil for 2 minutes (or 1 1/2 minutes if you have a pot that retains a lot of heat because the mixture will keep bubbling after you take it off the stove... you might have to experiment), still stirring constantly. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Mix well. Add oatmeal. Drop spoonfuls on cookie sheet. Let cool (I put mine in the refrigerator).

Short, sweet, and simple. Just make sure you boil it for the right amount of time or else the cookies will be too sticky (not enough boiling) or too dry (too much boiling).

I promise, you'll enjoy them!

Cupcakes & A Preggo Lady

Before you ask, no I'm not the preggo lady.

But as for my former roommate... she sure is! Her baby girl is due in August, and we're all so excited to see her! In the meantime, I figured it wouldn't hurt to take the mama-to-be out on a birthday cupcake outing. Because what preggo lady doesn't like cupcakes?

I may or may not awkwardly rub Donnie's belly each time I see her.

What can I say? It's become a tradition.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying a couple days of no-school before summer term starts up. No rest for the wicked! I'm like the Energizer Bunny, I just keep going and going...

Chocolate Bowl... someday

I'm adding this to my list of "food crafts".

I'll just let the picture speak for itself.

Original Source Unknown

The question is, what would I need a chocolate bowl for?

One of my friends needs to hurry up and get engaged or something so that I can make this for a bridal shower. A chocolate bowl filled with strawberries. Perfection.

And the bowl is so... artistic!

P.S. You should go here and enter to win medium ad space on my blog.

P.S.S. Thanksgiving Break countdown: 4 days. I can hardly wait.

A Combo I Cannot Resist

If there is one dessert combo I love, it is that of peanut butter and chocolate.
It is divinity in an edible form.
If you want to get on my good side, feed me something with PB&C.
It's a true weakness, and an effective way to get me to consume too many sweets in one day.

My family and I had a tradition as I was growing up of making cookies or brownies every Sunday. The kids would take turns every week choosing/making the dessert. You can bet your britches that when it was my turn, the dessert would be something involving the classic peanut butter/chocolate combo.

No-bake cookies are an all-time favorite of mine. Top of the list, for sure. However, I've discovered a different recipe that is just as yummy... and my hubby definitely has trouble staying away from them.

In fact, we just made these delectable delights this very evening! I just got done cutting them up... the chocolate topping is still a little soft.

Behold... No-Bake Peanut Butter Squares!

Doesn't it make you drool just looking at them?! I've already eaten a couple.

Let me share the happiness with you.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Squares

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup chopped peanuts (I always leave these out)
For topping:
1 package (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
1/4 cup peanut butter

Line square pan, 9x9x2 inches, with aluminum foil. Beat powdered sugar, butter, 1 cup peanut butter, and vanilla in large bowl on medium speed. Stir in graham cracker crumbs and peanuts (mixture will be stiff). Press in pan.

Melt chocolate chips and 1/4 cup peanut butter over low heat, stirring frequently, until smooth. Spread over bars. Refrigerate about 1 hour, or until chocolate is fairly firm (but not too firm because you don't want the chocolate to break when you cut it!) Remove from pan, using foil to lift. Cut into rows (6x6 is a good size). Refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm. Store covered in refrigerator.


There you go. Now you can have happiness in your life. Unless you are one of those people who does not like peanut butter. If you are... you are missing out on a great-tasting treat. Just saying.

Huge ol' bag of M&Ms

My ward (aka, church congregation) decided to have an indexing competition during the month of August.

For those of you who don't know what indexing is: You look at images of old death certificates, birth certificates, war registration cards, etc. that have been scanned onto the computer and copy the information from these pictures into a huge online genealogy database.

It's strangely addicting.

Long story short, one M&M was put in a bag for every name that was indexed.
My ward did over 1,100 names.
The person who indexed the most names would take all the M&Ms.

Guess who won.

These will keep my desire for chocolate in check for quite some time!

Chocolate is not the only reward for indexing, though. I think it is wonderful to know that I am helping to preserve the records of thousands and thousands of people. It's family history work at its finest!

On another note... some fall colors are slowly creeping into my home. I am excited to improve my decoration skills! (Let's face it... I am not the most creative person. I hope to change that!)

Hooray for decorating on a newlywed college student budget!

Wigs and cupcake cravings

Before I get to my main post, I would just like to say...

I'm really craving these red velvet cupcakes from The Cocoa Bean.

Totes getting this type next time I go.

What can I say... I like chocolate-dipped strawberries!

                                                                              Source: facebook.com via The Cocoa Bean on Pinterest

Alright.

We were working with wigs in my Makeup class today.

I was super disappointed when I found out we wouldn't be putting them on our own heads...

And then I saw how gross the wigs looked.

So I'm okay with it.

This is called an "Esmeralda" head.

Isn't she gorgeous? Haha. Ha.

Oh, the lovely pictures I can take with my phone... (cue the eye-roll)

And here is what she looks like with her wig on!

It was a real process, getting that thing on her head.

I had to put parts of her hair in pin-curls, parts of it in French Braids, put a wig cap on... etc...

And the wig ended up being too big for her head. Wonderful.

It was nice and secure though.

You could yank on that wig and it wouldn't come off.

So... need a legit wig put on your head?

I can take care of that.

Haha... ha...

Cupcake Date

I got to spend some girl time with one of my old roommates Allison this afternoon.
We went to The Cocoa Bean for cupcakes and chocolate drinks!
It was a late birthday present for Allison/celebration of the end of summer term.

So. Good.
She got Better Than Whatever, I got Grasshopper.

Isn't she just too cute?!

And I can't seem to take a serious picture

My cupcake and drink... "Love Potion". It has strawberries in it.

Perfect "what I wore" opportunity! Pay no attention to my super white feet.

 blouse:Target///purse, belt, pants:Kohls///shoes:Ross

One thing is for sure... If you are ever in need of a sugar fix, go to The Cocoa Bean!

Do any of you have any sweet shop treats that you love?

Bridal Showers

I was somehow lucky enough to end up with 3 different bridal showers... which is fine by me, quite frankly.

I had one here in Provo, put together by my lovely mother- and sisters-in-law. I, unfortunately, did not get any pictures of the event... but there were plenty of friends, fun games, and lots of food! And all held conveniently in the lobby of my old apartment complex. It was fun, having so many friends right there in one place.

Once I was back in Fresno, my aunt Shelby put together a bridal shower for family members and friends to attend. It was great... like everything Shelby puts together. She took some pictures! So I borrowed them off facebook :)

This stuff is ah.maze.ing. SO good!

Centerpiece on one of the tables: Take a picture frame

and put cutesy stuff in the middle of it, like

fake flowers, bird cages, etc

Cupcakes!

Take-home favors

And here's what she did with the dining room area

Let's not forget friends!

I wish I had gotten pictures with everyone...

These are only a few... and yes, I know these pics are on facebook already

 Yes... I allowed them to tie big bows on my head using the classic 

purple Bed Bath & Beyond ribbons

AAAAaaaaand finally, I had a 3rd bridal shower that was put together by and for people in my church... old Primary leaders, Young Women's leaders, people I've known for years growing up... and I regret not getting pictures of it, the shower was very cute. Held outside, more lemonade (everyone seems to know that I love it), it was super windy...

BUT

I did get a picture of this awesome cake, made specially with me in mind.

Because I love chocolate.

Thank you, Hibbard family. Jacee knows me too well.

Isn't that a ridiculous amount of chocolate?! 2 layer chocolate cake with chocolate icing, Hershey's chocolate around the whole outside, and completely covered with M&Ms on top. Ridiculous.

Needless to say, it was very good.