Tiramisu Drops

I am not a HUGE cookie fanatic, but I like to try new things so when Jeff saw this recipe in a local newspaper article we wanted to try it because we had an extra container of marscapone cheese, we like Tiramisu (chocolate style) plus we had Choffy to replace the coffee.

1 c. almonds, chopped
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. Choffy or coffee grounds
1/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. flour
8 oz. marscapone cheese
2-3 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
- Preheat oven to 350 farenheit and line cookie sheet with parchment paper
- In food processor mix almonds and sugar; then butter, vanilla and salt; then Choffy or coffee grounds and flour and pulse until combined
- Roll into 1 inch balls and press in center for indent and place on cookie sheet 1-2 inches apart
- Bake 10-12 minutes and let cool on cookie sheet
- In a bowl mix powdered sugar, cocoa powder and marscapone cheese; put in pastry bag, or plastic bag with corner snipped off, and pipe into indent of cookies
-Makes 2 dozen cookies, but they are small 

They are super cute, and you could even NOT add the cocoa and it would make them look cuter with just white in the center of a brown cookie. Also, you have to refrigerate them because of the cheese and don't worry about putting them too close to each other on the cookie sheet because they don't expand very much.

Let me know if anyone tries it!

Halloween Party

What is up with the lack of posts?

So, I have been semi-busy with something new and exciting...refinishing & painting furniture! I think it is fun and I have been checking out every blog and book available to learn what to do and how to even turn a profit. So, I can officially say now that I have a small mini-business of redoing furniture. It's called "Preloved Furniture" and you can check out my projects on my personal artsy blog at creativejojohnson.blogspot.com.
So Calder has been enjoying school and soccer this fall. I signed him up for a program called SoccerTots that teaches skills and coordination with soccer, but they don't compete or have to wear soccer gear. It was a really good program for his first "real" sports experience which make me much more confident he will excel next year on a soccer team and not have to learn skills and the rules in one season. Here are some photos of his last practice.

The boys also did a lot of yard/garage sales this summer and two items obtained at these yard/garage sales were finally nice enough to be placed in each of their rooms - with pride from the boys and disdain from me.
(Note: no animals were harmed by my children in the production of these decorations)

Yes, that is exactly what you find at yard/garage sales in Montana. At least my children didn't want any with faces on them - so not allowed in my house.

Sister Swap - and my super lateness

Okay so our month has been a little crazy with moving and all and I am just getting around to doing this "Sister Swap" recipe thing. The theme for September was BBQ so here is a chicken winger/thigh recipe that we really like and you can freeze them in bags and save them for another time if you don't eat all of them in one sitting - like Jeff does.

Oven BBQ Chicken
2 1/2 lbs. chicken w/ bones (we like to do the mini-thighs)
1 Tbsp. oil
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
3/4 c. bottled sweet chili sauce (found the in asian section of the grocery store)
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. soy sauce (we always buy the reduced sodium)
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1/4 tsp. red pepper

- Put the chicken, oil, onion and garlic in a BIG pot/pan and brown the chicken a little just by stirring it up every once in a while
- Then add the rest of the ingredients on top of everything and bring to a simmer then remove from heat
- Take some tongs and place the chicken on a broiler pan or a cookie sheet lined with tin foil
- Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes (serves our family of 4, so if you want to save any for later you should make some more)

There you go Kricket, April & Bethany! I wonder what October's theme will be?

We moved!

Sorry we have been quite MIA lately but we have been really busy with Jeff's new job, Calder going back to school and moving into our own apartment! Here are some pictures - we'll post new photos of when everything is in its proper place.

 Front (we have made it look this nice)

 Entry way (left)

 Family Room (our room for now)

 

Back yard

 Entry way (right)

 Living/Dining/Kitchen area

 Laundry room (and our new W/D mismatched set)

 Calder's room

 Phaelen's room

 Living/Dining room again

 Master bedroom (under construction)

 Master vanity (well it will be)

 Master toilet (no worries the pet door in the wall will be gone)

 Master tub/shower

The semi-happy boys of the household

So there you have it...apartment C in Lolo. We will give everyone an updated address and phone number probably next month when our landlord gets the mailbox up for us and we get our internet and phone figured out as well. A huge bonus about living here is that the two neighbors upstairs are both in our ward at church and have young kids. It is great to be living on our own - but it's even better to have Jeff working his dream job everyday!

Lincoln City Henry Reunion

Left to right top:

Connor, Sasha, Susan, Trey, Kricket, Garrett, John, Max, Zach, Bethany, April & Brian

bottom: Brea, Devan, Cooper, Jenna, Ryder, Calder, Johanna, Phaelen & Kris

Not shown: Sean, Collin & Jeff

Catch up photos

 

I'm such a slacker with posting pictures. I apologize because we have been doing plenty of fun things so far this summer - that's probably why we don't take the time to make new posts.
We have been going to lots of different parks this summer with the church playgroup every Thursday mid-morning and finding a lot of fun places with trees and splash decks and cool playgrounds. We have the privilege to go up to the Crist family cabin every now and then up near Seeley Lake and the boys love getting rides in the boats, fishing, catching all kinds of critters, sleeping on the bunk bed, and riding the motorcycles. We have had lots of visitors this summer too! Grandma B came for a quick visit on my (Johanna) birthday and she came to church with us and reunited with some friends from growing up in Spokane and college (a whole other story) that were also visiting and we just had to go to the carousel in Missoula. Grandpa Don came over too and spent an entire week with us and we did lots of fun things like go to the cabin, went yard sale-ing, work in the garden and watch Calder in his last swimming lesson. On the fourth of July Jeff's step-brother and his family came over for a couple days the kids had a ton of fun playing all day long.
We also got a very important and long-awaited letter in the mail recently....JEFF GOT A JOB OFFER AS A FIREFIGHTER with the City of Missoula!!! (p.s. I'll dedicate an entire post to that later along with another post for Calder's birthday too)

Happy early Easter

Yes, Grandma Kathy got a new bunny! (Mostly because the old bunny was trying to make babies with the hens) Calder has named her Pikachu and she is really fun to have. Both boys can comfortably pick her up and hold her.
We got her at a feed store (aka small farm supply store) and there were also ducklings and chicks. I don't know why but I don't feel comfortable around chickens but ducks don't bother me as much. So I picked up a little black duckling and the boys pet it and it was as calm as can be, then some little girl came up and snatched it away from me and was holding it a little to tightly because it started peeping for dear life and I coaxed her into giving it back to me so it could be with it's other little duck friends. She gave in hesitantly but then as soon as I put it back in the big bin/cage thing she tried to pick one up herself. Thank goodness she was only about 3 and her short little arms could reach the running around ducklings. It reminded me that I really like animals. I hope we are able to have a bunch of different animals in our house as the boys get older.
Jeff has always wanted to have a self-sustaining way of living and grew up with the experience and opportunities to do so, but I didn't. I am now realizing first hand how beneficial and fun it could be - especially with our boys.

Happy Easter everyone! Let us enjoy the new life the spring season brings.

More yummers!

 I have never made or even eaten a souffle before, and I saw this recipe that used coconut milk and white chocolate and I had to at least try it. Most souffles have rum in them, so I looked up a substitution and used one that I had the contents of in the pantry/fridge. I followed the recipe ingredients to a "t" but didn't do exactly what it said in the whole process but tried super hard to b/c I really wanted them to turn out edible. Plus I ended up having a ton of extra so I accidentally over-filled my baby ramekins and 90% of them over-flowed, but they didn't collapse! Plus I think it could fill at least 4 more ramekins. These little ramekins are only 4 oz. dishes (which is what the recipe calls for) but they were so rich and divine that I could only eat one! I also figured out that the oven isn't as hot on one side so I had to return three to the oven for a few extra minutes on the warmer side to cook and brown a little more. Jeff isn't a huge coconut fan, unlike myself, and said it could do without the shredded coconut flakes, but I don't know if it would taste the same without it?
It may be a lot of work for these little cups but COMPLETELY WORTH IT!

Coconut White Chocolate Souffle

1 1/2 c. whole milk (we always have this in the fridge)

1/2 c. coconut milk (I used the pure fatty kind, not lite/light)

8 large eggs, separated

1/2 c. + 6 Tbsp. sugar (I used organic)

2/3 c. flour

4 oz. white chocolate (I used chips) 

1/2 c. unsweetened coconut flakes (I accidentally used sweetened)

2 Tbsp. butter, melted (I used coconut oil instead)

2 Tbsp. coconut flavored rum

OR 

grape/pineapple/apple juice of equal amount + 1/2 tsp. vanilla/almond extract   

 powdered sugar for dusting

In a medium sauce pot heat: whole milk & coconut milk. Bring to a simmer over med-low stirring occassionally.

In a separate bowl, mix egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar and flour. Place the egg white in a deep bowl you plan to beat them in later and chill in fridge.

Add 1/3 of warm milk mix to yolk mix in bowl and whisk, again.(I know this step seems silly but you don't want to scramble/cook the yolks by adding too much hot liquid all at once - you will know if you did this if you have chunks of egg yolk)

Pour the yolk/milk mix from bowl to sauce pot with warm milk mix. Stir until thickened over med-low heat (3-4 minutes) and add the white chocolate until melted and smooth. Mix in coconut flakes also and turn off heat. 

Pour warm thickened milk/yolk mixture into bowl and cover with plastic wrap/plate to prevent film/layer from forming. Let it cool to room temperature!

Grease (with melted butter) 8 ramekins (4 oz. size) and sugar coat them (4 Tbsp.) then place them on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bring out the egg whites in chilled bowl and whip until frothy, then add 2 Tbsp. sugar and whip until soft peaks form. (I strongly suggest using a mixer of some kind b/c unless you have mad hand whipping skills this could give you carpel tunnel)

Beat bowl of cooled milk/yolk with rum/substitute until smooth.

Fold 1/3 egg whites into milk/yolk mixture until well incorporated. (I saw a sweet trick on a cooking show the other day where you don't use a spatula to fold in your egg whites, you used a large whisk instead and tap the contents through to keep a lot of the fluffy airiness but mixes well too) Fold in remaining egg whites to the milk/yolk mixture.

Pour into ramekins (I would guess about 3/4 full so they don't over-flow like mine did) on cooking sheet and bake 12-14 minutes (watch closely) & souffle is risen 1 inch above the rim and centers are set (aka not jiggly). 

Transfer ramekins from cooking sheet (the best thing I found to do this and not destroy the souffles was a set of rubber canning tongs/grabbers) to plates and dust with powdered sugar. Serve immediately!

Love Day 2011

Well, we didn't have a super romantic Valentine's day but it was full of yummy food!
I made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and sliced strawberries on top all from scratch. I had never had a red velvet cake before and Jeff said they were "d-vine" so I decided I could do that for Valentines day. I also made a delicious chicken curry that Jeff requested I make again for dinner tonight, because he ate the leftovers for breakfast. Calder and Dann even liked this curry recipe, which is saying a lot. Strange enough, Phaelen didn't like it but I don't really count him this time because he hasn't been eating much of anything lately with his episode of croup and cold this past week and a half. So without further a due...

  I was SO good. Moist. Flavorful. Not super dense. Smooth. I actually think the heavy rich cream cheese frosting took away from the cake the recognition it fully deserved. Oh, if you want to make it yourself I got the recipe from bakerella if anyone else wants to give it a go. Oh and I only used half of the red food coloring- and look at it! The strawberries were my own personal touch though and were a wonderful compliment to the tastes.
Calder also had a party at school and passed out his personally made Valentine cards. There were only 15 to make so I figured it would be a fun activity for us to do together. I cut the hearts out and helped him spell names, but that was it. He did everything else! He didn't want them to be too "ewy and lovey" so he put dinosaur stickers on them. I was surprised when he came home and we went through his envelope, only two or three other kids in his class actually made their Valentines. And two of the three were boys. Everyone else had the store bought ones - which aren't bad, I just think the personalized ones are cooler. Oh, the treat we put with Calder's Valentines were red/pink popcorn balls! I hadn't ever made them before but it was good - although SUPER gooey. I think I should have added more popcorn because I couldn't actually make them into balls. It was fun and I felt good about doing it Calder's way instead of mine, but he still let me help. I'm glad that he enjoys school so much, because he is so smart!
I hope everyone else out there who reads our blog had a nice Love Day 2011. And if not, let me know and Calder and I will make you a personalized Valentine to cheer you up!

Holly Jolly Christmas

 

Living in Montana has opened my eyes to a lot of different things. One of them being that you can get a tree tag from the Forest Service for a mere $5 to cut down your own tree and they give you a map to show you where you are allowed to cut. I guess I have high expectations when it comes to Christmas trees because this was the most "normal" looking tree I liked and then once we got home and all the pretty voluminous snow had fallen off the branches, I was pretty sad at how measly and wimpy our tree was. We couldn't even use 3/4 of our ornaments because the branches weren't strong enough. It barely even smelled good. I guess next time I'll either fork over $28 at a tree lot or do the pagan thing and have a potted tree from a nursery.

 Phaelen got a lot of great gifts this year. He loves his cool cool cars, light saber, magnifying glass and fun books. He also got some pretty cool clothes if I dare say so myself. He is getting used to bundling up before going outside to play and realizing it's more fun with gloves on rather than off.

 Calder got a lot of great stuff this year too. It is so easy to shop for him I had to control myself on many occasions to not buy anything else. He is really into Batman stuff right now and so he got 3 really cool shirts that he loves to wear. He really likes science and learning too, thank goodness for cheap school Book Orders! He also got some really nice new snow boots that will keep his feet nice and dry while playing outside at school and on our family adventures.

 Thank goodness for these two, Kathy and Dann. Without them we would've spent all of our money on rent and living expenses if they hadn't let us move in on such short notice. We know that it isn't easy having little kids and grown adults live with you when are aren't used to it 24/7, but we are super grateful. We are so grateful for our families this time of year and we always miss those whom we can't be with during the holidays. Moving to Montana was a great opportunity for us but it won't be without it's own uncertainties and struggles.

 Jeff is working hard and studying Para medicine homework so he stays awake during his shifts at work (7pm-7am Fri, Sat, Sun). He is #9 on Missoula's hiring list, #2 on Butte's hiring list and Great Falls should be getting back to us next Friday. We are starting to apply for more jobs though as departments get budgets approved and the new year starting. Jeff will be done with his Paramedic class in May so we'll see what happens after that as well.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!