Fat people running past it

There was a Bob's Big Boy restaurant located less than a mile from the home I grew up in.  We didn't dine out very often, but we did go to Bob's sometimes for special occasions like end-of-the-year promotion to the next elementary school grade, or as bribery for me to get all my homework done on a Friday night instead of procrastinating until Sunday night.  My mom, who is an RN, liked to comment on the statue of BBB and his, ahem, plumpness.  Her favorite saying regarding BBB was that there were more fat people walking into the restaurant than running past it.  Probably true.  But I still love it.
 

The original

My favorite foods there were Pappy Parker's Fried chicken, and the hot fudge cake.  I always ate too much food there and ended up with a wicked case of the hiccups because of it.  Soooo, in honor of my hometown BBB, which closed down in the early 90s, here are some recipes that are ALMOST as good as Bob's, but not quite.

 

Bob's Big Boy Copycat Hot Fudge Cake

Cake - Make one boxed chocolate cake mix, any kind, but use a 10 x 13 pan to bake it in.  Then cut off a 3 x 3 inch piece.  Then cut that in half HORIZONTALLY.  The ice cream will go in the middle.

Ice Cream - Use your favorite brand of store-bought vanilla.  Cut it with a sharp knife to make a one and a half  inch thick slab that is 3 x 3 inches square.  Place on top of the bottom part of the cake.  Then put the top half back on, but flip it upside down.


Hot fudge - I use the following recipe because it tastes and looks pretty darn similar to BBB's, plus it's super easy to make.  I adapted it from the recipe here.

1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine evaporated milk, sugar, butter and corn syrup in medium, heavy-duty saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in morsels and vanilla extract until thickened and smooth. Strain to remove any small lumps.  Store leftover sauce in tightly sealed container in refrigerator.  Reheat in the microwave for 2 minutes before serving again. If needed, add water to thin to desired consistency. Recipe makes approximately 3 cups.

Spoon the hot fudge over top of the cake, letting it run down the four corners and puddle on the plate generously.

Toppings - Use a can of your favorite whipped cream to make a round dollop on top of the hot fudge, then add a long stemmed Marachino cherry from the jar.

Here's my easy version of BBB hot fudge cake. (I didn't have any whipped cream or cherries in the house, so it's a little naked on top, but nevertheless super delicious! And I got a little messy with the hot fudge.  Oh well! ) 

Yummy Fried Chicken
(not sure where I got this recipe!)

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces and the back piece removed (or about 4 pounds of assorted chicken pieces)

Brine:
1/2 cup kosher (course) salt
1 gallon of water

Coating:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper (or white pepper)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp paprika
optional additions: 1 teaspoon each of crushed oregano and thyme.  Smell them to see if you want that flavor in your chicken.  I tend to leave them out.

Wash:
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk (if you don't have any, just use milk!)

Directions:
1. Mix the water and kosher salt in a large bowl.  Add the chicken pieces, cover, and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours. Give it a stir once in a while if you think of it.
2.  Rinse and drain the chicken and discard the brine.  Dry pieces off with paper towels.
3. Mix together the flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, baking powder, and paprika
4. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and buttermilk.
5. Dip each piece of chicken into the wet mix then into the dry mix.  Refrigerate for 2 hours to set the coating (I never have time to do this step!)
6. Fry in 3/4 inch vegetable oil or Crisco shortening, skin side down, in a cast iron pan or in an electric skillet, for 18-20 minutes.  Keep the temperature at about 365 degrees.
7. Drain on a metal rack with paper towels.  Serve hot.

Lemon-aid!

I grew up with a lemon tree in my backyard.  There were summer days when my friend Myra from down the street and I would pluck a lemon off the tree, cut it in half, dip it in sugar, and eat it...until my mother caught us and told us we'd rot our teeth out of our heads.  I set up my fair share of lemon and lemonade stands over the years, and made a good amount of change at it.  I watched my mother make many a lemon meringue pie, and they were absolutely heavenly, even if the meringue separated from the crust.  For these reasons and more, I LOVE lemon.  I love cooking with it, I love drinking lemonade, and I absolutely love baking all things lemon.  My dentist hates me for it.  Here are some lemony favorites that you might like too:

Some lemon meringue pie secrets:  First of all, make twice as much meringue as the directions tell you to.  That will allow you to spread the meringue thicker and more effectively all the way to the edge of the crust.  And second of all, brush the crush with beaten egg white BEFORE you spread the meringue on.  The meringue will stick to the egg white and stay put.

Lemon Meringue Pie (from the Pillsbury Family Cookbook with some pointers added by me)

Crust for an 8-9 inch pan
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
3-4 Tablespoons cold ice water
Crust Directions:
Sift four and salt into a bowl.  Cut in shortening until the size of small peas.  Sprinkle with water, a little at a time, while tossing and stirring until dough is just moist enough to hold together.  Form into a ball.  Flatten to 1/2 inch thickness and smooth the edges.  Roll out on a floured surface into a circle 1 1/2 inches larger than the pie pan.  Place crust into pan and pat out the air pockets.  Fold the edges to form a rim.  Flute the edges.  Prick generously with a fork.   Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  Cool before filling.
Filling
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cold water
1 1/3 cups hot water
1 teaspoon freshly ground lemon rind
1/3 cup lemon juice
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
Filling Directions:
Crack eggs and beat yolks slightly.  Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.  Blend in the cold water.  Add the hot water.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a long-handled wooden spoon, until thick and clear (5-8 minutes).  Remove from heat.  Stir in lemon rind and lemon juice.  Cook for two more minutes or until thick again.  Blend 1/2 a cup of the hot mixture into the eggs.  Pour the eggs into the hot mixture and cook two minutes, stirring constantly until very thick.  Blend in the butter.  Cover and cool in the freezer or refrigerator to lukewarm.  Pour into the baked shell.  Cool to warm before topping with meringue.
Meringue (This meringue recipe has already been doubled, as suggested above)
6+1 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
12 T granulated sugar

Meringue Directions:  
Beat 6 egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar at highest speed until soft peaks form.  Add sugar gradually, beating continuously until stiff peaks form.  Beat the 7th egg white, then brush it all over the edges of the cooked and filled crust.  Spread the meringue over the cooled filling, sealing it all the way over the edges.  Use the back of a spoon to create points in the meringue (push the spoon's back down flat into the meringue, then lift up) Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes (or 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes), watching closely to make sure the tips' points are brown but not burned.  Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Lemon Bar Torte (my recipe!): This dessert looks beautiful and is about the simplest dessert you can make and it tastes so darn lemony.  I made it up when I was in a pinch.  Here's how:  Buy a box mix for lemon bars.  I like the Krusteaz kind, but whatever kind the grocery store has is fine.  Make the crust as directed, but put it in a pretty tart pan with fluted edges or a pretty pie dish instead of in a square or rectangular pan.  Now for the filling.  Make it as directed, except instead of the water it asks you to add, use half water and half fresh lemon juice (or the stuff in the plastic squeezy lemon if that's all you've got).  If you really like lemon, use all lemon juice and no water--it'll be tart but that's how I love it.  Add in 1/2 cup shredded coconut, and 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (optional).  Bake as directed. When mostly cooled, sprinkled powdered sugar over the top by putting it into a sieve and shaking that over the tart.  It looks like a very fancy lemon tart, yet it only took you 5 minutes to put together!

Two minute frozen lemonade (my recipe!): Blend together in a blender until silky smooth- 2 cups ice cubes, 1/2 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, 1/2 cup clear soda (sprite, sierra mist, 7 up, or whatever).  Garnish with a slice of lemon or a lemon-slice-shaped candy, and serve immediately with a straw.  Makes one tall 16 oz serving.  Pictured here. You could add one drop of yellow food coloring before blending if you really wanted to.

My grandma's amazing lemonade: My grandma, Hester Dieter, was an amazing cook.  (She was also an amazing cake maker, secretary, member of the Navy Waves, Sunday school teacher, mom, and grandma) and this is her recipe.  This is REALLY GOOD stuff.  It's pretty concentrated, so when the ice all melts, you'll still have lots of flavor.
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
4 lemon RINDS, cut into pieces
Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Boil about 7 minutes.  Pour it all into a large (one gallon) pitcher.  Add to the pitcher 2 cups of lemon juice (about 4 cubes of lemon juice made in an ice cube tray).  Add  8 cups of ice water. Serve over more ice. Remove the rind pieces if you are going to store it overnight.

Pitcher of Pampered Chef's Lemon Drop Martinis: I had one of these at a Pampered Chef party and probably bought more kitchen gadgets than I should have because of it.  Deeelish!  This recipe makes about 15 servings.
2 (12 oz) cans frozen lemonade concentrate
24 ounces citrus vodka
1 cup sugar
juice of 4 lemons
ice
15 lemon heads
Mix all ingredients except the ice and the lemon heads.  Put ice into the glasses and one lemon head into each glass. Pour over, then serve immediately.

My mom's lemon bars: These taste like home to me. Yuuuummmm.  Not sure where she got the recipe.
Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Mix with a fork to make into a pie crust and press into an 8 x 8 pan.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
Filling:
1 cup sugar
4 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3 T flour
Mix together and pour over the crust.  Bake for 20 mins at 350.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar while still a little warm.  Easier to cut into bars when cool.  Makes 9 bars.

Owl birthday party - peach and chocolate brown color scheme

My little punkin pie turned ONE a few weeks ago.  Sigh.  And as you may or may not know, I am obsessed with owls, so I decided to do her birthday party in owls (and also because I'm sure she'll have an opinion about what she wants for her second birthday).  I do love me some pink, but once I found these adorable peach and brown owl plates, and matching cups and dessert plates, the color scheme was decided.   

At the bottom of this blog, I'm going to put links to most of the stuff I bought for the party, in case you want to find any of it.  If there's something I missed, please put it in the comments and I'll add it!

I made most of the decorations myself and would be happy to post directions here upon request for anything you're interested in making!  I did post directions below for the name banner pictured above in the top center of the collage.  Note: the cute owl banner pictured above in the top left corner I did NOT make, but got it from this very talented lady on Etsy.

And HUGE props to photographer, Erica Stephens who spent the day taking amazing pictures of the party!  She rocks!  The crappy pictures you see on this blog are ones that I took, and all the good ones she took!

I think my favorite parts of the decorations were the Chinese lanterns that I made into owls (I got the idea here),

 

the tissue paper topiaries (I copied the tree idea from here then added peach tissue paper roses and owls I bought at Michael's almost two years ago),

and the glittered name banner that I made using supplies entirely from Walmart.

I also thought the hand-made-by-me owl invitations turned out pretty cute...I got the idea here.

I made the peach, pink, and white tissue paper pompoms by using Martha Stewart's directions online here.

The owl picture frame below is a nice big size (21x21 inches square) and came from Kirkland's. I printed out the words WHOO LOVES EDEN? and added them inside the frame, then put pictures of the party guests holding her at various times over the past year.  Everyone loved being up on the wall of fame!

I also found adorable brown and white striped straws, which you can kinda see behind the punch bowl, and some brown and white polkadot cups (not pictured) that I pre-scooped the ice cream into on Etsy (see the links below).  

The peach layer cake was made by my sister-in-law, and she did such an amazing job, don't you think!  Her fillings are as amazing as her decorating, making her cakes absolutely delicious!  

 

The owl-shaped smash cake was made by The Cake Shop in Apple Vallley, CA.  I sent them a couple of pictures of kind of what I had in mind, and they came up with this design. It was super cute, but way too big for her to eat by herself, so she ended up eating one of their delicious chocolate cupcakes! 

A simple arrangement of grocery store peach roses and white snap dragons went on the punch table.  I wish I had bought the arrangement two days before the party because the roses just kept getting more beautiful as they opened up over the next week! 

  

The eating tables were covered with a cheapy peach plastic tablecloth, then I put a cute brown and white polka dot placemat at each chair, an owl chocolate sucker that I made myself using this candy mold, then I scattered little puched out owls that I bought at this shop on Etsy in the middle.  

The balloon holders/centerpieces were little owls I made myself out of baby cereal puff containers, oatmeal containers, and bread crumb containers. They had two owls on them, made of scrapbooking paper, and were filled with rocks and/or cans of soup.  We poked a hole in the center of the lid, shoved the balloon strings through the pre-made hole with a phillips head screwdriver, then tied a knot in the strings to keep the balloons in place.

I hung some of the paper owl lanterns inside, and some on the patio to decorate the place up.

In the front entryway, I hung a banner with a picture of my punkin taken each month of her first year, beginning the day she was born and the last one was taken on her actual first birthday, as the party was a few days later.  I just used scrapbook paper to make the bunting triangles and modified some owl clip art to make the month tags on the bottom.  

 

In the front entry way, we had owl name tags for everybody to wear and a journal with owls on the cover for everyone to write her a little birthday message in. We kept that journal and put it out at her 2nd birthday party too for people to write in again.

We also had a lawn sign and a door wreath, both of which I made just with some scrapbook paper and ribbon.

 

I had a peach dress with an owl on it custom made for her to wear during her party, and the lady who made it did such a great job!  

She also made briefs to go with it, and a cute headband.  Her prices were super reasonable and she used exactly the fabric and designs I wanted ($29.00 for all three, plus shipping!).  Here's her Etsy shop.

For the kids' gift bags, I decided to make them myself after seeing these super cute ones on Etsy that were a little beyond my budget (here).  I bought plain white bags from Michaels, then cut out scrapbooking paper to make the owls and adhered them with sticky scrapbooking squares.  Each bag was different, and I made 12 girl ones and 12 boy ones.  Inside each bag was a sheet of owl stickers (Amazon), a bottle of owl bubbles (Oriental Trading Co), a bouncy rubber ball, a package of 4 crayons (Target and Party City), and a lined notebook (dollar store).  The girls ones also got a colorful plastic bracelet (Walmart) and the boy ones got a car-shaped eraser (Dollar Store?).  The tags (which you can't see in the picture) I made in Photoshop for the bags say "Thanks for making my birthday a Hoot" and are attached with skinny dark brown hemp twine (Walmart).

 

Speaking of the kids, to entertain them, we bought a pinata shaped like an owl (I added some peach and brown to it because it was very orange).  And we also had a ball pit made from a blow-up swimming pool and 500 plastic balls (both from Walmart). 

I made the owl shaped decorations for the hard candy lollipops by simply printing out this owl clipart onto cardstock then punching around it with an award-shaped punch. I then hot glued two together at just the side edges then stuck the stick through.  The holder was made by covering a piece of white styrofoam with peach scrapbooking paper. Helpful hint: make a template in a Word file for where you want to punch the lollipop holes by placing evenly spaced "o"s.  Print it out, then lay it on top of where you want the holes to be, then use an awl to punch the holes.  Remember to leave enough space between each lollipop or the heads will bump into each other!   I wish I had left more room!

Here is a brief tutorial for making the glittered name banner:

 

Supplies needed:

-wax paper

-3 1/2 yards of 1 1/2 inch wide ribbon (not wired and not sheer)

-wooden letters of the child's name (find at Michael's or Walmart)

-prepainted wooden animal shapes, as many as there are letters in the child's name, plus on extra (I found these owls at Walmart

-a hot glue gun

-acrylic craft paint (I mixed together Plaid brand Summer Peach #2549, Nutmeg Brown #20521, and Berry Red #20525 to make my peach color)

-sponge-style paint brush

-glitter (I used ultra fine prisma glitter)

-Spray on adhesive glue

-2 clear push pins

Directions:

1. Mix your paints together to get the desired color.

2. Lay down wax paper and paint the wooden letters, both front and back.

3. When letters are dry, spray the front of them with adhesive glue and apply glitter all over them, then shake off the excess.

4. Lay the ribbon out on your workspace, then lay out the letters and the animal cutouts evenly in the center of it, leaving at least 12 inches of ribbon left over on either side. Be sure to position the letters and animals so that the top of them is touching the ribbon.

5. Using the hot glue gun, pick up one letter or animal at a time and glue it securely to the ribbon, leaving the others there for spacing help.

6. Hang your banner using clear push pins.

Here's links to most of the stuff I bought (some of the links are also given above, but here they are again together in one place).

Owl lunch plates, owl dessert plates, brown cutlery, owl cups – Big Dot Of Happiness  http://www.bigdotofhappiness.com/owl-girl-birthdayparty-dinnerplate.html?cmp=nextopia&kw=owl-girl-birthdayparty-dinnerplate

Brown swiss dots placemats – Birthday direct.com http://www.birthdaydirect.com/brown-swiss-dots-coordinating-placemats-p-29697.html

3-D Owl smash cake and 34 cupcakes – The Cake Shop, Apple Valley, CA, off HWY 18 http://www.bakerysweets.com/The_Cake_Shop/Home.html    

Brown with white polka dots cupcake wrappers – Dress my cupcake                 http://www.amazon.com/Dress-My-Cupcake-Brown-Wrappers/dp/B005U8BYSE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331403411&sr=8-1

Coral and white polkadot cupcake wrappers - Designer Emma Cupcake Wrappers  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005JTOX7I/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details

White with white polka dots cupcake wrappers – Designer Emma Cupcake Wrappers  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0061RLT56/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

Brown plastic dessert forks – by Touch of Color http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GQHOCY/ref=oh_o05_s00_i00_details

Peach luncheon napkins  in Peaches and Cream color by Touch of Color http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018AI94K/ref=oh_o02_s00_i00_details

Brown polka dot Dessert napkins – Partyamerica.com http://www.partyamerica.com/product/brown+polka+dot+beverage+napkins+16ct.do?sortby=ourPicks&size=all

Owl piñata with pull strings – Partyamerica.com   http://www.partyamerica.com/product/hippie+chick+owl+pinata+10in+x+12in.do?sortby=ourPicks&size=all

Notes about the pinata: The pull strings at the bottom didn't work - we ended up ripping it open with our fingers, so you'll probably just have to use a stick instead of the strings if you buy that kind of pinata.

Owl banner made of felt and fabric – whimsysweetwhimsy  (Etsy shop) http://www.etsy.com/transaction/74718376

Brown and white striped straws and brown polka dot muffin sized cups (used for ice cream) – DimeStoreBuddy (Etsy shop) Straws - http://www.etsy.com/listing/90616235/30-chocolate-brown-white-stripe-paper Baking cups http://www.etsy.com/listing/94924925/brown-dot-baking-cups-candy-nut-cups20

Owl nametags – By Carson-Dellosa Publishing  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1936023873/ref=oh_o00_s01_i00_details

Owl chocolate pop molds - CK Products 3-Inch Owl Sucker Chocolate Mold  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003QP3C92/ref=oh_o00_s00_i02_details

Owl stickers - by Carson-Dellosa Publishing   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604189681/ref=oh_o00_s00_i01_details

Peach plastic table cloths   54 x 108” – Factory Direct party  http://www.factorydirectparty.com/peach-plastic-table-cover.html

Yummy and mild Mexican meal

My husband, Lord bless him, is one of the pickiest eaters I know.  And by picky, I mean he won't eat anything containing mayonnaise (there goes most salads), won't eat any meat that's cold (there goes most sandwiches), and he won't eat meat off the bone (usually).  He would eat Mexican food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if he could.  I could just drive through Del Taco three times a day, and he'd probably be much happier than he is eating my cooking.  So I'm trying to serve Mexican-style food more often, and have been trying out and modifying some recipes.  Here's a meal that he actually likes, and I actually like too.  I can't say these recipes are exactly my creations, but I did combine and modify several different recipes to arrive at them.  Enjoy!

Black Bean, Corn, and Avocado Salad

Prep time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4-6 as a side dish

Ingredients:
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped (that's about 1/4 of a medium sized red onion)
1 avocado, diced
1/2 a medium orange bell pepper, chopped small
1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
4 drops Tobasco sauce (use more if you like things hot...this turns out very mild.)
2 T olive oil (or veggie oil if you don't have olive)
1 T balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 T lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (this gives it the Southwest flavor)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Combine everything EXCEPT the avocado in a serving dish and stir well.  Add the avocado and mix in gently.  Can be served immediately or covered and refrigerated for several hours to meld the flavors.  


and now for the main dish!

Easy Chicken Enchiladas 

(I adapted this recipe from Tortilla Lovers Cook Book by Bruce Fischer and Bobbi Salts, 1996)

Prep time: 20 minutes     

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

26 ounces of cooked, shredded chicken (canned, or from leftovers, or from a store-bought rotisserie chicken, or 4 cooked and shredded chicken breasts)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese

1 small onion, very finely chopped

1/3 cup milk

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of celery OR cream of mushroom soup

2 T butter

1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles, drained
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon tequila lime seasoning (optional)

12 corn tortillas

OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup vegetable oil

OPTIONAL: 1 small jalapeno, peeled, seeded, and diced

Directions:

Combine the cheeses and onion in a bowl, and set aside.  Combine the chicken, milk, soups, butter, and chiles in a large sauce pan and simmer for approximately 15 minutes until the chicken is heated all the way through. 

Heat the oil and soften the tortillas by dipping each one into the hot oil for a few seconds per side (or microwave the tortillas to soften them if desired) then drain them.  Fill each tortilla with a generous portion of the chicken mixture and a portion of the cheese mixture, roll up, and place seam side down in a baking dish. (Uses up two 9 x 13 pans with 6 tortillas in each pan.)   When all are rolled, top with any remaining chicken mixture, then any remaining cheese mixture.  Bake at 300 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Serve hot. 

I'll add a picture after I make 'em again!

Almost as good as McPhee's

It was a sad, sad day when I realized that us moving away from California's beautiful Central Coast also meant leaving behind my favorite dessert on the entire planet: Ian McPhee's Grill's Chocolate Decadence Cake.  McPhee's is Templeton's fanciest restaurant, and this dessert is positively out of this world.

We actually called our daughter "Lime Sauce" while she was in utero as an homage to that dessert.  And on the day after she was born, someone on Ian's staff gifted my scruffy, unslept husband with a piece of this heaven to take to me in the hospital.  That was a very good day.

It's a flourless chocolate cake served with a lime sauce and a crunchy chocolate garnish thingy on top (that last part I can live without). The menu's exact wording is"Flourless bittersweet chocolate cake with caramel lime sauce."  My mouth is watering just writing that.  And here's a photo of said cake.

At any rate, after resigning myself to the fact that we were moving, I set out to find a recipe for this dessert that I could make wherever we moved to, and after much searching, intermingling of recipes, and experimenting, this recipe is the closest I could come up with.  Ian's has some sort of a smooth glaze on top, which this recipe does not have.  Altogether, it's not as good as Ian's but for a girl now living 5 hours away, it'll have to do...until my next visit! This recipe is mostly adapted from this recipe: torta- xocolata by chef john sedlar

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Lime Sauce

Cake
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 8 oz package semisweet chocolate squares, broken into pieces (I use Baker’s)

12 oz semisweet chocolate chips (I use Toll House)

Line an 8-inch circular cake pan with a circle of waxed paper or parchment paper large enough to come halfway up the pan's side.

In the top of a double boiler, place the cream and chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate has melted completely and is fully blended with the cream.

Pour the mixture into the lined cake pan and chill it in the freezer until solid, about 2 hours. Then store in the refrigerator until serving.  To unmold the torte, place a flat platter or plate over the pan then invert it and peel off the paper.  If stuck, replace the pan and dip the pan into warm water.

Cut with a warm wet knife, cleaning after each cut.

Caramel Lime Sauce
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup key lime juice (bottled works fine; I use Nellie & Joe’s brand)

Put the sugar and water in a heavy medium-sized skillet. Heat the mixture over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts and turns a medium caramel color, 10 to 15 minutes. 

Immediately after all the sugar is melted, add the cream and continue to heat and stir until it is fully incorporated. Remove the pan from the heat and strain out any lumps. Then, stir in the lime juice and let the sauce cool in the refrigerator or freezer.

To serve, cut a SMALL wedge of the cake and place it on a chilled dessert plate, then spoon a puddle of the sauce on the side.  Deeeelicious.

Here's a picture of how this turns out.  I promise you, it's tangy and delicious!

Fourth of July 2-D star garland

Okay, I'll admit it!  I usually just borrow other people's ideas when decorating my house for a holiday.  But I was feeling inspired to try to come up with something all by myself for the 4th of July.  I figured that if carrot garlands can be made from paper (carrot garland), surely there must be a cute way to make a star garland, so this is what I ended up with! 

Time needed to complete: about 2 hours

Level of difficulty: 2 out of 5 (in my opinion...I'm unaware of any official craft difficulty rating scale!)

Supplies needed:

-5 sheets of coordinating scrapbook paper, in 12x12 size

-Star pattern, but enlarged to 5.5 inches across link to star pattern

-Paper slicer (I used my old but faithful grey and orange Fiskars one)

-Ruler

-Glue stick

-White school glue that dries clear

-Scissors

-Needle

-Clear thread

Directions:

Step One: Choose five coordinating 12 x 12 scrapbooking papers.  I used what red and blue papers I had handy at home: 2 solids (Celestial blue by Wausau, Re-entry red by Wausau both bought in a multipack at Target) and 3 patterns (orange-red dots are Peach Crisp by lilybeedesign, Indian looking design is the back side of Peach Crisp, and blue with light blue polka dots is by K&Company bought in a patterned multipack at Target)

Step Two: Using a craft cutter, cut four strips off the edge of each paper, 3/4 inch wide each by 12 inches long.  You’ll end up with 20 strips total (4 of each of the 5 papers).

Step Three: Glue two matching strips together by overlapping them about half an inch and using the glue stick.  Do this to all the strips so you end up with 10 long strips instead of 20 shorter ones.

Step Four: Print and cut out the star pattern.

Step Five: Using the pattern and what's left of the paper, cut out four stars of each paper, for a total of 20 stars.

Step Six: Take one of the paper strips.  Make a fold half an inch from the end of it to form a little flap.

Step Seven: Measure just under 2 inches from the fold and make another fold (I folded it at two sixteenths away from two inches.

Step Eight: Fold the rest of the strip up, accordion style. Crease well to make the star’s corners sharp.

Step Nine: Bend the paper around to form a star, and cut off the extra paper, at a fold.  How do you know what to cut off?  Make sure your star will have just 5 points, and do not cut off the flap!  Using a glue stick, glue the flap down to close up the star.

Step Ten: Apply a thin line of white school glue (glue stick doesn’t stick well for this) all along the surface edges of the folded star, then stick one of the flat stars onto it, with the flat star sticking out over the edges of the folded star a little. (Notes: It helps the glue come out slower and thinner if you open the bottle only part way.  I used a different paper for the edges of the star than the front and back, to make the stars more colorful.)  

  

Step Eleven: Let it dry for a few minutes, holding it in place as needed. 

 Step Twelve: Flip your star over and apply glue to the other side, then apply another flat star.

Step Thirteen: Repeat the process to make all 10 stars.

Step Fourteen: Carefully run a needle with clear thread through one of the points of each star to make them into a garland.  Tie a knot and a loop at each end of the string, hand up your garland, and let the festivities begin!