Colorado!

I have MUCH to update on here...but I wasn't on a computer very much last week, because we are too busy skiing in Colorado with Eric's family!! It was so great! What a blessing to be able to spend that time together and in such a beautiful (and fun) place!! Here are some pictures we took....more to come. :)

Eric, Eric's Dad, and Eric's Grandpa. These were my skiing buddies all week - they were very sweet and obliging to go on blue runs with me... ;) Eric's Grandpa schooled us all - he is as comfortable as a fish in water on the slopes! I think Marty caught Eric on video...if so, I will find a way to post - I love watching him snowboard!

This was our weather all week - look at that beautiful blue sky!! Already looking at the calendar to figure out when we can go back!! ;)

Survey

While I am waiting to load the pictures (don't hold your breath) from our WONDERFUL skiing trip to Colorado, I will break my blog-fast (quite a few days here without a new post) with a little survey I got "tagged" to do. :)

How long have you been married? 3 1/2 years
How long did you date? friends for 5 years, dated 2 years, then engaged for 1 year
How old is he? 26
Who eats more? Hah - Eric. Have you not seen my husband's metabolism in action? How silly of you to ask... ;)
Who said I love you first? My hunny
Who is taller? Eric
Who sings better? Hmm...can I defer to Donnie for the singing ability in the family? Eric and I both love to sing, but aren't either likely to be asked to do a solo if you get my drift...
Whose temper is worse? it depends on what we are responding to
Who does the laundry? Bets
Who does the dishes? Bets
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do (if we are laying in bed)...looking at the bed, he does
Who pays the bills? Eric
Who cooks dinner? Bets
Who drives when you are together? 99% Eric (love not having to drive)
Who is more stubborn? Bets
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Eric
Whose parents do you see the most? Bets'...but, after they move back to Germany this summer, probably Eric's.

Brownie Cookies

I set out to make homemade brownies from scratch and figured one of my favorite food blogs (Joy the Baker) would have a great recipe. As I searched her site for brownie creations, I came across these. I knew in an instant, it was meant to be: I had only 1/2 a stick of butter in my house, but what sensible homemade brownies don't have more than 1/2 a stick butter in them? Brownie COOKIES! Actually, that should be their selling point...they taste as delicious and rich as a brownie, but the whole batch only has 3 tbsp. of butter in it! What more could anyone ask for? This blog is here, after all, but to serve your inner chocolate cravings. ;) And to drag you through my long, drawn out cat stories, which I can only imagine makes you all want to run out and adopt a cat! Or even better, a couple of them! Oh, the crazy life I lead....

Anyway, back to what will make you salivate until you whip a batch up for yourself!

Brownie Cookies

Ingredients:
8 oz. dark chocolate - I used 60% cacao chips (you can use semi-sweet instead of dark if you prefer)
3 tbsp. butter
1 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. butterscotch chips - I thought the sweetness in the butterscotch brought a perfect balance to the richness of the dark chocolate, but if you like life on the edge, you could use semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips if you are on the hunt for even MORE chocolate!! Also, this amount is very adjustable based on what you want in your cookies - remember, you're the boss!

Directions:

In a double boiler (or in the microwave if you are lazy like me!), gently melt together the chocolate and butter. To avoid heating the chocolate too much and possibly burning it, the best method is to heat until the butter is melted and the chocolate has partially melted, then remove from the heat. Stir until all the chocolate melts. Try to refrain from digging in with a spoon at this point...but I am not here to judge.

In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar and eggs until thoroughly combined. You don’t need a mixer, just do it in a medium sized bowl with a wooden spoon. Add the warm melted chocolate, then stir in the remaining ingredients, including the butterscotch (or chocolate) chips. Please make as big of a mess in the bowl as you can; I have demonstrated this technique below. ;)

Refrigerate the "dough" (consistency more like batter) for about an 1 hour...you can throw it in the freezer for less time if you want (be honest, who has the patience to wait a whole hour?)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease (or line with tin foil) baking sheets. Drop the cookie dough using two spoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave about 2 inches between the cookies, because they will spread as they bake.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until their tops are shiny and cracked. They won’t crack until the very end, so keep a close eye on them. You want these baked all the way through, but just barely; additional baking makes them more crispy rather than chewy. Remove the cookies from the oven, wait a couple min., then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Now for your challenge: try not to eat the whole batch by yourself! I wish you all good luck! Tip: have a glass of cold milk handy; these babies are rich!!

Valentine's Day

So, this is a little late to be sharing what we did for Valentine's...but the motto in my family was always "better late than never"...I am inclined to think the Adams family actually invented that phrase... ;)

Anyway, it was so fun that Valentine's was a Saturday this year, so we could just take the whole day to hang out!

My day actually started the day before (Friday afternoon), when my sweetie couldn't wait to give me my roses...they were breathtakingly beautiful as well as pleasing to the nose to smell! Somehow the pictures make them look kinda pink, but they were crimson red...

Loved the bow... ;) Unfortunately, so did the cats...we battled who's ribbon it was for the entire life of the flowers. Those cats sure keep me on our toes most days!

Saturday morning, I made us a lovely breakfast of eggs, with fresh parsley, fresh tomatoes, and green peppers. We also had toast - my favorite these days! Ezekiel 4:9 Raisin and Cinnamon bread - SO good. Eric wasn't as big of a fan, but I have been on a recent kick of eating two pieces of this bread for breakfast every day...haven't gotten sick of it yet!

Then we went for a walk in the woods around Lake Brandt...just love that area. I really enjoy living only 5 min from a lake and great hiking trails. We love to kayak on Lake Brandt in the summer! Looking forward to warmer weather in the upcoming months!

After our walk, Eric planned the perfect movie date....Pink Panther 2!! I am a big Steve Martin fan and find the humor in the Pink Panther just hilarious! He took me to see the first one for my birthday a few years ago and knew I would be very excited to see the sequel. We hardly go to the movie theatre, so it is always a fun treat! Hah - I am easy to please I guess!! I am all about casual dates. ;)

For dinner, we enjoyed a quiet night in - we each got to choose exactly what we wanted to eat...well, surprise, surprise - we couldn't have picked more opposite choices! Eric enjoyed a marinated steak on the grill with *gulp* mac'n'cheese while I made myself a delicious veggie pita, filled with hummus, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and a homemade tzatziki sauce from Greek yogurt, dill, fresh parsley, lemon, etc. It was... awesome. We both love asparagus so I was excited that it happened to be on sale at HT! I roasted it in the oven with a little olive oil, salt/pepper, and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. We both ended up very pleased with our choices and wouldn't have traded with each other for anything! ;) Everybody wins, right? ;)

Dessert. I thought long and hard about this one. I almost made a molten lava cake thing, chocolately with a gooey center....I toyed with a couple other ideas too, but in the end, I decided on a simple, sweet favorite. Fresh strawberries with homemade whipped cream. You can tell I was impatient to eat with the quality of photos! Hah - I am not one inclined to wait for food....hmm...so yummy.

We both had a blast and loved the excuse to make a regular Saturday something special. It ended up being both of our favorite Valentine's day together so far! It was our 7th one celebrated together - wow!!