Homemade Hot Cocoa

I wasn't going to post today but I felt compelled to do so because of the weather outside here in sunny Centerville, Utah. 

 It's beautiful! All 18 inches of it!

I love huge snow storms (as long as I don't have to drive or the roads are clear).

 

So anyway, I had a really bad headache this morning and decided that Hot Cocoa would definitely make it go away. Funny thing.... it did. :)

Here is a fabulous and super quick hot cocoa recipe for those days when you find yourself lacking pre-made hot cocoa powder or just like to make things from scratch. There are lots of good hot cocoa mixes out there (Stephen's Dulce de Leche Hot Cocoa...drool), just make sure you use milk! That's what makes it creamy and rich, plus it gives you some nutrients too.
If you do make the hot cocoa from scratch it is a bunch cheaper.
Plus you can adjust it until it is your perfect flavor!
You like it sweet? No problem! Add a little more sugar.
You a chocoholic? Right on! Add more cocoa powder!
You can add hazelnut, caramel/ dulce de leche, peppermint sticks, you name it! You can have it your way!

So snuggle up in front of your fire with a warm blanket and a good book and sip away at your rich creamy hot cocoa. Enjoy the moment. Mmmm..... :)

Dang it. My headache is back. Better go make some more hot cocoa...

Homemade Hot Cocoa

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar (or adjusted to your preferred taste)

1 Tbsp cocoa powder (or more!- I used Ghirardelli sweet ground chocolate and cocoa)

2 Tbsp water

1 cup milk

¼ tsp pure vanilla extract (or other flavoring)

Combine sugar, cocoa and water in a small saucepan and heat over medium until sugar is dissolved.  Stir regularly to prevent scorching. Add the milk and flavoring and whisk well until it reaches your desired temperature. Make sure not to get it too hot before serving so it doesn’t risk burning someone, especially children. If you need to keep it on the stove, just turn the heat down to the lowest setting to keep warm. I love hazelnut or caramel/dulce de leche flavored hot cocoas so adding a bit of that flavoring is next on my list! I'll add an addendum if I find other awesome additives! Apparently, doubling the cocoa powder is a fabulous idea! ;)

Perfect Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

I don't know what it is about winter, but it always makes me crave ice cream despite how cold it is outside. Maybe it's the heavy cream that tempts my senses into thinking it will eventually make me warmer.... at least around the hips. ;) That's my theory.

Anyway, I have the perfect recipe for fresh strawberry ice cream. It is amazingly creamy strawberrily delicious. Yep. I'm excited. =D

I love me a good strawberry ice cream.

Plus I found out it gets better as it ages in the freezer. Mmmmm.....

 

Today I made some fresh pasta for my niece's birthday and was thinking (as I was licking an empty spoon) that I should have made her ice cream! What kid wants fresh pasta over ice cream?! Silly Aunt Sara. ;)

The key to amazing strawberry ice cream is amazing strawberries. I've said this before and I'll say it again. You can't expect to get amazing strawberry flavor in your dessert from dull or tart strawberries. It denies all laws of food physics. Just don't try it. Get good sweet delicious strawberries.

Oh, and if you are needing to clean out your automatic ice maker in your freezer, this is surely the way to do it. I used exactly one full binful of ice. Perfect!

I am trying to say lots of interesting things because I got so many yummy pictures...

Yup.

Mmhmm.

 

Ok. On with it already!

Perfect Strawberry Ice Cream

Serves 6...or just 1
Ingredients
1 pound fresh sweet strawberries, hulled and chopped into pretty small chunks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 big pinch salt

Directions
Combine chopped strawberries, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup sugar in a mixing bowl, set aside in fridge for a couple hours (I did 2.5 hrs). In a large bowl, beat eggs for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Sprinkle in 3/4 cups sugar and mix well. Stir in the milk, vanilla and salt and mix well. Mash the strawberries pretty good so you don't have large chunks (keep the juice). You want pretty small chunks so they don't freeze and break your teeth. Add to the other mixture and mix well. Stir in whipping cream and refrigerate until chilled or overnight (I waited almost 24 hrs). I like to give it more time for the flavors to meld. I could definitely taste a difference after it had sat in the fridge overnight. Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions. I have a good old fashioned (motor driven) ice cream maker and it churned for about 30 minutes. Then I took out the dasher and scraped it off, packed the ice cream down into the can, corked the lid and replaced it. I covered it with more ice and a little more salt (I used our water softener salt... it worked) and let it sit for about 3-4 hours to harden it. Dish out and enjoy quickly or store in freezer. (It melts fast) You'll want to eat it within about 5 days so it will be creamy and not crystalized. Enjoy!

{Original recipe I found on Food.com but I tweaked it a bit}

Peanut Butter Bars

There are certain things in this life that are just meant to be together.

Salt and Pepper
Jack and Jill
Yin and Yang
Macaroni and Cheese

Well, in the world of sweets you can bet your knickers that one of those pairings is
Peanut Butter and Chocolate
 Mmmm....
Who doesn't just love the combination of creamy peanut butter and rich chocolate?
{All of you who overdosed on Reese's cups and now can't stand to eat them don't count...}

Point being, it's pretty good and my husband, Ben, loves the peanut butter/chocolate duo. He requested I make some peanut butter bars... "the kind with oatmeal in the bottom".
And so it began.
I whipped out a ward cookbook and knew there was going to be a gem in there. Peanut butter bars are one of those desserts you can expect most people in your neighborhood to be able to make. Everyone has a different recipe and they are somehow all amazing.

Here they be in all their glory.

These are fabulous with their fudgy texture.

I just love ward cookbooks. ;)

Testimonial:

"Fact: I don't like peanut butter. Second fact: I would give my first born for these bars. Delicious!"  ~Jillian Rose

Well there you have it ladies and gentlemen. Need I say more?

This recipe is also very easy to make. Guaranteed success.

It is great because it makes a lot at one time so it would be perfect for gifts, parties, vacations, etc.

These bars are sweet so if you (like me) prefer desserts that are less sweet and more rich or "deep", for lack of a better term, then this may not be the recipe you are looking for but it is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients for cakey-doughy part

3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

3/4 cup White Sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup Salted Butter, softened

1 tsp Vanilla

1/2 tsp Salt

3/4 tsp Baking Soda

1 1/2 cups Flour

1 1/2 cups Oatmeal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan (standard half sheet baking pan with sides ~ 10x16") with a sheet of parchment paper. You can use a smaller pan for thicker bars if desired. Beat together peanut butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs and butter. Add vanilla, salt, baking soda, flour and oatmeal.  Press mixture into bottom of pan to spread (mine did not reach to all the edges). Cook for 10-12 minutes (I cooked for 10 min). They will look undercooked when you remove them so don't overcook them. Let them cool and top with more peanut butter (optional- I did not do this but probably will next time) and the chocolate frosting.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.

Ingredients for Chocolate Frosting

1 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Chocolate (I used semisweet chocolate chips)

1/4 cup Salted Butter

1/2 cup Milk

2 Tbsp Light Corn Syrup

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (or until desired consistency, decrease for less sweetness)

1 tsp Vanilla

Bring all ingredients except powdered sugar and vanilla to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring. Place bottom of pan in cold water until mixture cools and thickens a bit. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until thoroughly blended. Pour on bars before mixture hardens.

{Recipe from Brooke Johnson in Parish Canyon Ward 2012 Cookbook- Thanks Brooke!}

 

 Enjoy!

New and Improved Share Dessert Blog!

 

Hello and welcome! My name is Sara.
I have decided to change up the website a bit. Besides the beautiful re-design that I absolutely love I have decided to share ALL of the fun things that I love especially since I hope to be taking on a long and loving project of redesigning my home... by myself. {Eek!}
Since we moved in 3 years ago, I have only done 1 thing to change the inside of the house and that would be painting one of the bedrooms a vibrant pink.... yeah, a whole room of pink looks a lot different than a small swatch of pink. :) I might keep it and see if I can salvage it (probably not). I do like the color.... there's just  A LOT of it. Anyway, I shall introduce you to my home as we continue the journey.

I have a fine appreciation for fabulous things. All those little things that make you smile.
What's fabulous in my book? Anything that is pretty, efficient, has character and that helps others.

Simply put, this is now a blog about all things fabulous.

I have come to have a far greater appreciation for those tiny good things in life that we often so much take for granted. This appreciation has grown through trial as is often the case. My husband has terminal cancer and only has days to weeks to live. When you count life in numbers of hours and days you start to appreciate very small things like the smile on your husband's face, the way his hair sweeps across his head or the cute oddities of his personality that you may have once found peculiar. You even more appreciate the beauty of snowfall, a piece of hand-crafted furniture and the love that strangers can have for each other. Time seems to slow down and you have a lot of time to think about what really matters. What matters to me? God, family and making life the best it can be for myself and others. "... men are that they might have joy." 2 Nephi 2:25

My vision for this site is to be a resource to find awesome ideas of all sorts that you can do at home to bring a smile to your face while also saving money or salvaging used materials. I really don't like to waste (it hurts me) and with just a little bit of elbow grease, old items with character can be made so beautiful again while also saving the earth and money! And so with you I will share my desserts and share my journey.
The other more important thing I hope to do is help others along the way however I can whether it be baking for a bake sale or giving a restored item to a charity auction. Join me in the cause to make this world a friendlier and better place for everyone.... one cupcake at a time.

~Sara