Practicing for this semesters musical, "Widows Might" is going to classically rock because I have the opportunity to spend time with two of my favorite gals, Katie and Skye. Lovely girls. It is coincidence, but it seems that I've been at least around them in some form or fashion in every musical. If their parents let me, I'd gladly adopt them as nieces. ;-)! Thankful for another opportunity to be a part of a cultured musical!
I have been not so great in keeping up with photos, but here is a blog post of some photos compiled that were taken over the summer with family, friends, and the culinary arts!
Some Aunt Niece time
Spending a little time with Jack and his mom Kristen while on a walk with Sophia.
Lighting was terrible, but a fun dinner with the Terrell's and my family
Alexander and his dad visited the waterfall on campus the same time Sophia and I were there.
Talking to grandma on the phone.
Riding in Dad and Moms car with Aunt Carolyn in the backseat with me. :-) Only a few more days when I'll be officially two years old and can ride in the car seat facing forward. Hooray!
Below: A nice evening and dinner at Paseo Grill thanks to Mrs. A. Burks with Paulette and Mrs. L. Harrison. I have to say the food is super expensive but worth every penny. Just for myself the bill was around $70 just for my food including, drink, main entree, and dessert, but we knew it was a higher end restaurant and it was delicious! Not normally willing to spend that much on a meal out, but hey, it was a fun time! Riding in Mrs. Burks' husband's muscle car totally was fun being that I'm fascinated by sports car driving, not that we raced, but it was fun to ride in one. :-)
Below: What to do when there is no Bible Study....have Sherry B. over for dinner! Lovely young lady!
Below: What to do when you still have a lifelong friend, Melissa B., in town after PYC...have her and her teens over for dinner and a movie. Savannah had some fun PYC stories to share which was such a fun bonus!
A few pics from Joel's going away party. This is the only people shot that I took, the rest are all of the culinary fun that I had on his behalf. Hopefully he enjoyed which is what it was all about. We all miss this boy, but happy for his new life adventure!
Total fun to make a piano out of chocolate. I used a mold that molded each part separately, and then put it together each piece at a time with melted chocolate piece by piece. It wasn't so bad, and turned out okay, but next time I will know how to perfect it better. Joel doesn't play the piano, I just thought it would be a neat special thing to try to do.
Melting the legs on was the toughest part, but the word toughest isn't really the right word that I'm looking for...at a blank for the right word. :-)
Below: Homemade Bailey's Cheesecake using homemade Bailey's that turned out yummy and so much cheaper than buying it.
Below: Two homemade bourbon peach pies....peaches were in season. I have to be honest and say I put way too much sugar in them. I have been using Stevia for so long that I have forgotten proportion wise how much sugar to put in. It was alright, but could have been way less sweet! I didn't really use a recipe, but I think I used about 6 or 7 peaches, flour, corn starch, sugar, homemade vanilla extract, pecans, a hint of squeezed lemon juice, a pinch of cinnamon, all spice, and of course bourbon! ......just used flour, oil, and water for the crusts.
and one homemade apple cider cake that always seems to be well liked by tasters. It has a unique flavor. This one is my secret recipe, but similar recipes are online. ;-)!
Below: I wanted to bring a little "savoriness" into the dessert going away party, so I attempted to make a savory cake for those who would not just like their taste buds having all sweets. The reason for the savory cake was to keep the theme dessert. :-) Here is how it was made if you're interested.
Made two whole wheat bread cakes in two round cake pans...used staple ingredients you would use to make a cake, you know whole flour, oil, water, eggs, baking powder...etc....but left out sweetener agents and vanilla etc......
Once bread cakes were made I cut off any risen bumps on the center, and then "iced it" on the side and in the middle like you would a regular cake. I melted cream cheese and sour cream mixed together as the "frosting."
I then added smoked turkey sandwich meat and pureed some chicken mixed with mayo on top of the turkey.
Then I added some green onions
...and then cilantro
..then turkey bacon
...and some dill pickles
Below: A nice evening and dinner at Paseo Grill thanks to Mrs. A. Burks with Paulette and Mrs. L. Harrison. I have to say the food is super expensive but worth every penny. Just for myself the bill was around $70 just for my food including, drink, main entree, and dessert, but we knew it was a higher end restaurant and it was delicious! Not normally willing to spend that much on a meal out, but hey, it was a fun time! Riding in Mrs. Burks' husband's muscle car totally was fun being that I'm fascinated by sports car driving, not that we raced, but it was fun to ride in one. :-)
iced the top layer, garnished it, and......
Voila!...a savory cake! It's basically a glorified sandwich. :-)!
How to make the Bailey's cheesecake if you are interested.....
Made the crust from crushed chocolate graham crackers with tons of melted butter. Put in freezer for about 10 minutes after I packed the butter crumb crust in the bottom of spring form pan, then removed from freezer and....
Put cheesecake filling over it. I made the cheesecake filling like you make any cheesecake filling....cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, sugar, eggs, butter, homemade vanilla extract, homemade baileys of course since it was a Bailey's cheesecake after all....baked cake on top oven rack with a water pan on bottom oven rack underneath it to keep cake moist from cracking for about 50 minutes. I alternated the temperature as it baked.
How to make the homemade Baileys for the cheesecake and for a nice homemade version of the drink. I had saved the bottles from store bought kind and the bottles came in handy for the homemade remake!
All you do is blend all of the ingredients together in a blender. Use a stronger Irish Whiskey. American whiskey will change the taste and won’t be the same.
Ingredients
1 cup heavy whipping cream
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1- 2/3 cup Irish whiskey
1 teaspoon coffee
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
1- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
...and that pretty much sums up the fun positiveness of latter summer this year and there is a fun culinary recipe post for fun! :-)
Ingredients
1 cup heavy whipping cream
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1- 2/3 cup Irish whiskey
1 teaspoon coffee
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
1- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
...and that pretty much sums up the fun positiveness of latter summer this year and there is a fun culinary recipe post for fun! :-)
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