A few pictures of the....... CANDY.....!!!!!

I have a few major passions in life that can just scramble my mind in an instant I get so excited by them, here is the list in no specific order:

1) Evan
2) Diamonds
3) Sweets - all kinds, desserts, candy - If it has enough sugar I will like it!!
4) Family/Spouse
5) Creative projects
6) Car's

The more I can combine them, the more elated I become:

This is a trifecta, the little man who is yummy all on his own, candy and jewels! It just get's better...

a whole box!!! Oh, and more...

Mint crisp & Homemade Ganache

Just because I can.....

More to come!

What motivates you? Spinich, Chicken and sun dried tomato pasta

I have been thinking all day about motivation. What motivates me today, how it has changed and why. I am not sure that I have the answers but I am thinking about it. Has what motivates you changed? Are you happy with those changes and why....have you given this question any thought before say, ummmm NOW???

I am not sure that I have in a direct and thoughtful manner asked this question of myself. I am beginning to recognize that what motivated me 10 years ago is very different from what moves me today. This last statement in itself opens up a whole question and conversation that I know I do not have the answers to, yet. I do know that my motivation has changed and I am starting to think that if the motivation changes.....does the path as well? Clearly the same path will not be as satisfying if the goal is not there to excell, so then what?

I have identified so much of myself with those goals and have felt pretty lost in  the grey area I have been floating in for the last year (or so..). Just conceptualizing the idea that what moves me has changed may seem simple and clear to you but goodness knows, it has not been clear to me. The mucky waters of expectation and the weight of not having desire to meet those goals, has been hanging on me like a lead x-rey blanket.

I feel better today just uncovering this question, thinking of the possability and knowing that I can do anything I set my mind to. Have you faced this? Are you there now? The idea of a new, different road is both exciting and frightening. I prey for the courage to choose well and not get derailed by fear, either mine or others. I ask those I love and that love me to take my hand with an open mind so that we may discover these unchartered waters together.

Think about it, what really motivates you? What do you get giddy and excited about, is it part of your everyday life or is it a back room gig? Why?

Ok, enough about thinking let's get on to eating!!! So I made some of my first chocolates tonight, real chocolates - so exciting! I wish all of you lived on my street so I could share them with you NOW, see you taste and enjoy them. Ultimately that is really the best part, watching others enjoy what you have created with love. I am asked again and again does it bother me to see the cakes I have made cut and I always answer the same way~ they are made to be cut, eaten and enjoyed. Gezzz, what else is cake for but to gobble up!!! Eat up buttercup! I will have to post a photo later of the chocolates as I have not finished decorating them just yet. Tomorrow..

When David and I first met we would go to Via Piacerre (where we ultimately got married) a wonderful resturant on Ventura between Topanga and Shoup in Woodland Hills. They made a spinich with sun dried tomato and chicken dish that we loved and that after many tries I was finally able to duplicate. They have since taken it off the menu to our dismay, but lucky you.... as I have it here!

Spinich, Chicken and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta:

1 package sliced chicken strips
1 bag baby leaf spinich
3-4 tbsp. minced garlic
olive oil
sea salt
pepper
sun dried tomatos - either in a jar with oil or packaged and you can blanch them. I usually use the jar brand as I have found them to be more flavorful and they save time in preperation. Cut them up.
Garlic powder
Pasta of your choice

Wash the chicken and cut each strip in half or thirds. Wash the spinich and cut off the stems. Bring your sun dried tomato's over to the pan so you are prepared and ready with all of your ingredience.
In a pan, coat the bottom with a medium layer of olive oil and let it get hot on the burner.

Add the garlic, being careful not to burn it. Add the chicken - making sure that it is DRY when you put it in the pan or it will not get that yummy brown crust add a pinch of salt. Let the chicken brown on each side in the oil. When the chicken is cooked, add about 1/3 a cup more of olive oil and your tomatos, let those flavors merge for just a few moments and then add the entire bag of spinich. You may get worried that there is too much spinich and that it is too big for the pan, don't worry. Just wait, spinich cooks down VERY fast. As all of this is coming together make sure that you have enough oil in the pan to use over your pasta, if not ADD some! Season with salt, pepper and if you like add a little cyanne. I usually dust it with garlic powder and remove from the heat or it can get overcooked.

I serve this over pasta with fresh french bread and a salad. This is a fast and easy meal to make and everyone usually loves it. Goodness knows we liked it enough to serve it at our wedding, duplicate it and now to guests in our home and.......with you!

Enjoy!

p.s. - if anyone out there knows how to spell check in blogspot, please enlighten me. If there are spelling errors in this post, please forgive me..

Mommy, this is yummy in my tummy! (Pumpkin Soup and a few other tasty treats)

After a full day of making sure that what I can get done is actually done, I crawl into bed and think.....CRAP~ I never updated my blog!!! I have realized that I must put it on my daily "to-do" list to ensure that I make this a part of my routine. There is just so much everyday to share with you..

A few nights ago I went on a bit of a cooking binge and after watching countless "Food Network" shows on different soups of the season, I plunged in. For whatever reason roasting a pumpkin sounded like a good idea and off to the market I went. With little more then an idea, I somehow created a soup that made Evan say, "Mommy, this is yummy in my tummy"!! Ahhh, music to my ears..

Astoundly enough, David liked it as well!!! Be still my beating heart! Here is a photo of my boy's taken this past weekend. Evan got his first "Fo-Hawk" and Debbie the hairdresser decided to color it red for shock value.. which worked and because Evan got all giddy about it.

I was not as thrilled about the color as I was told it would last 6 weeks (and we have a wedding next weekend). But I quickly came to understand it was a big joke on Mommy who was not there for the haircut. I was at Candy Class......deep breath in and sigh~the happy place!

Before I get sidetracked by candy, cakes and other yummy treats I want to share this recipe I created with you: Pumpkin Orzo Soup~

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

1 Medium to small fresh pumpkin (not a baking pumpkin)

2 Shallotts chopped up

1 leak stem chopped up

5 c. chicken broth

1/2 stick butter

3 tbsp. sour cream

olive oil

salt

black pepper

white pepper

garlic powder

1/2 box orzo

Shreaded Parmesan cheese

Take pumpkin and carve out top (just like doing a jack-o-lantern). Remove all seads and inside goo (do you like that technical term?). Put pumpkin on a cookie sheet lined with foil and put in the oven for approx. 45-50 min. (it could take longer or shorter depending on the size of your pumpkin so please check regularly). When pumpkin is soft and can be pierced with a fork it is ready. Remove from oven and let rest. After about 10 min. slice down the sides to open up like a flower. Cut out all the meat and chunk it leaving the skin.

In a soup pot line the bottom with olive oil. Use enought to coat the bottom of the pan plus a little ex-tra. Warm the pot. Chop up the shallotts and leak and toss them in adding butter, a bit of salt, black pepper and garlic powder to flavor. (flavor at each step). When leaks and shallotts are almost clear add in pumpkin, stir in. Add chicken stock and allow to simmer for about 15-20 min stirring regularly. If needed add a little more stock depending on the consistancy you like your soup. Stir in the sour cream. Using a hand blender~carefully~blend the entire mixture until smooth. Add the Orzo and let simmer until rice (pasta) becomes soft.

After about 30 min of simmering check flavor and add as needed, salt and a little white pepper. If you like a kick to it add a little cyanne!! Serve with shredded Parmesan on top. Here is a photo of the finished product. Yummy!!!!!

This past weekend David's family was hosting a reception "open house" for his step-sister who just got married. I offered to do the cakes for the event. I had really wanted to do a "quilted" cake so this was a great opportunity to test it out.. Ta-Daa!

Last week I could move photos wherever I wanted them to go and this week I am apparently not the boss of the photos as they are not cooperating in my placement. Uggggggh, technology!

There was another cake done for the reception as well (and, yes I am afraid to add the pictures but here goes..)

There are other photos but this is just too frustrating, so the 3 will have to do. I am not sure what exactly changed in the last couple of weeks with this program but something sure did!! There were other goodies made these past few days, a lime fruit tart that is amazing and thanks to Paula Dean, lamb chops and a delicious side dish of mashed sweet potatoes. Yummy and easy, a favorite combination. If you are ever looking for a fast and easy side dish that is great anytime, try this~

Buy enough potatoes (1 for each person) of either sweet potatoes or yams bake in the oven for 45-50 min at about 375 degrees or until very soft. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for about 10 min. Cut lengthwise and another cut across the middle. Scoop out all the insides to a bowl. Add lots of butter, some brown sugar and vanilla sugar (I do cook healthy for the most part but some things...you know they just have to be GOOD!! Sweet potatoes are fantastic right out of the oven, this just adds a little delish to the meal) Mash together adding more of any of the 3 to your taste. Everyone loves this and it is also great for holiday meals.

On another sweet note, I have officially been bitten by the candy bug! Darn you Shelly and Denise at Kake Kreations! Now, not only do I think about baking all the time but I dream about the chocolates that I can make to dress it up! I made my first homemade batch of Ganach the other evening and it is divine! I am going to test out Truffles next as I got 3-4 different recipes from Shelly the other day that I can not wait to try.

I'll just put this out there now, if you know me...you are getting treats for the holidays because I have spent all my ex-tra money on candy making supplies. Really, it just makes me giddy - I thought cake was good and then add candy to it and I am thinking that a 3 step program might be necessary! I keep asking Denise for a frequent buyer card~ come on friends out there back me on this! Just as a side note and a dangerous one at that....Saturdays at Kake Kreations they hold a FREE, yes FREE candy and goody class 9:30-11:30 and I can tell you that it is amazing.

With all this said, I am still in termoil about work. Very worried about my friend Steve and my Uncle Fred is having surgery in a few weeks. More on that to follow on a later post.

We are going to the desert this weekend for a wedding, it will be nice to be away with both Evan and David for a couple of days and hoping for a better trip then Hawaii. I bought Evan a tie, dress shirt and slacks for the event. He was thrilled and wanted to wear his "work" clothes to school the next day. "Daddy wears them", he shouted at me as I stood there telling him he could not wear them to school. Between that the "fo-hawk" and "boyfume" (cologne) for 4 he is relatively high maintenance. Darn good thing he is adorable!

For some reason the pictures are not totally in focus, but you get the general idea. He is too freaking cute for words!

I must sign off now and get a couple more things done so I can crawl into bed. Tomorrow is a new day and I would like to say that I will see you then!

Goodnight all, sweet dreams!

Today...Mint Brownies!

I have been away for a few days.

I mentioned in my prior post David and I had a trip to Hawaii planned, and we have just got back. I will have to learn to post via my Blackberry as I know it is possible, I just do not know how to do it ( I am a bit technologically challanged sometimes). There were many moments when I wanted to write.

I could go over the trip and tell you about all that I and we did, tell you how David was sick for most of the trip, how it was not quite the vacation we planned or how disappointed we both were. I could tell you that I worked much of the vacation and that although we did not have Evan with us, I thought of him constantly. I could tell you about the books I read (which I will..later) and how they made me think and want to write or I could share some of the deeper thoughts that have been going through my mind.

I am generally a very happy and optomistic person. I have always been able to find the light in the tunnel and see the bright side of things. These last 3.5 years have been different. The sun is not always shining in my window, and the reflection is not always smiling, vibrant and strong. Stuff happens in life, in our day to day world..some good, some bad and then there is sugar! :-) Ahh, thank g-d for baking, I think it is almost all that has kept me sane. Sugar never disappoints, it is never hesitant to show up, it stays with you (no matter how hard you try to get rid of it) it can take a million different forms, you can take it or leave it and you can give it away and you always get a smile.

The last few years have been filled with disappointment, great saddness and loss. Disappointment in people that I never expected to feel that way about, in people I thought were friends, in people I thought cared as much as I did.

I feel crushed by the weight of some of the losses and illness that have been part of these last years. For the people I love who have lost family and friends, for those who are losing them now and those that I may not know but who have lost, especially to cancer ~ a truly evil dis-ease!! I am pained for those that are suffering as watching is almost worse then going through it I am beginning to think, for the fear of their every breath. (to: Mark, Carol, Edie, Uncle Richard, Elaine's Dad, Aunt Bea, Ben, Cathy, Pat, Greg, Uncle Gil, Rudy Lugo, Alexa's Mom, Steven and Sam (everyday I am grateful you both are well!!! To Steve who is just starting his journey, to Patty who fought back and is healthy, to Craig who is forever changed ~who has endured and survived, to Alex who is fighting, David who is thankfully doing well and to Tony who has to keep watch and to all of their support (Wendy, Tracy, Elaine, Eileen, Rob, Karl, Mom, Nancy, Joanne, Diane, Cindy, Barbara, Anna, Irasema, Carolanne, Jennifer, Steven, Lauren, Ellen, Alexa) and to many, many more.

I am greatly saddened by an industry that I have invested my entire professional career in and will recover.....someday. To an industry that I have loved that was raped and left by greed and an unfathonable loss of ethics. An industry that ultimately should be there for the common man, to protect, educate and serve. To always be mindful that we are dealing with an entity that most do not understand, that their home is their largest investment and we have a responsability to them to be honest, forthright with information and to NOT LIE!! We are the keepers of that key and to have seen it so wrecklessly abused is beyond my comprehension.

I am disappointed in the expectations that have not been met and the muck I have let my feet cement into and now have to chip my way out of. Slowly but surely, one little chip at a time the same way babys learn to walk and stand..in some ways I must learn that all over again. Just like the cement, it was not there overnight nor did it harden immediately but I did sit there long enough for it to harden..

The list is long, those layers of concrete have many titles to them so as I learn to heal those aches, deal with the soars from chiselling away at them and possibly exposing some gaping wounds..I trust you will be gentle with me as I have not always been so gentle with myself and need to re-learn that skill as well. There are no perfect people, I certianly am not. I do care and love with all my heart and have mistakenly thought that others would as well.

For a woman who has alwys been an emotional eater, I say let's make some brownies (easy brownies!!)!

Pick a box, any box of brownie mix on the shelf. Prepare the box as directed, add a handful of mini chocolate chips and 4-5 drops of peppermint flavoring. Find a smaller pan, I like the 8X8 as it gives you nice thick brownies and bake as directed. Make sure to let cool, cut, wrap up pretty and give away! (listen, I would be the size of a house if I ate everything I baked - SERIOUSLY!!!)

You will feel good because you made them, they are darn good, you did not eat any (many..) and you took them to someone and brightened their day. Pay it forward..

More to follow.............

p.s. tonight I can not remember how to spell check, so please forgive any errors!

Post Halloween

Once again, one of my favorite holidays has passed. I love Halloween~do you?? I decorate from the front walkway to the rear door. I prepare and make it a feast for the eyes (at least the 4 year old eyes that live here!), making sure that we all have fun, festive costumes and that the treats are plentiful.

Tinkerhell! Whoo-hoo!


This past few days has been busy, not just with Halloween but with several other happenings. I mentioned in my prior post that I was making some goodies, one being the cake for a good friends son's 1st birthday. Very fun to make especially because I changed my plan that day about the entire style of the cake and then had to figure it out. Love that! Well, I was very happy with it in the end and I hope she was as well. Here is a picture of the finished product...a special Thank you to Carolanne for the transportation of the sugared goods!!

Note the flying ghosts....Love that!!

There were other goodies made these past few days as well~oh, and then there was Saturdays candy class at Kake Kreations....AMAZING!!!! Truly, I never knew what could be done with sugar, candy and some plastic molds..

I am in love and singing the praises of Kake Kreations, Shelly, Mary, Denise and the rest of the wonderful staff there. Ahhh, my happy place did not disappoint!



In other news, my little man has had a very tough few days. Last week he got the H1N1 and the flu shot. Sunday, my sweet little guy was trying to help his Daddy clean off his diving gear when he decided to check out the diving knife. OUCH!!!! So, with a cut across his thumb David ran up the stairs to tell me we were going to the ER as Evan had just cut his hand. Mind you, I had just gotten out of the shower and I am not one to be ready in a jiffy! But, I was on Sunday!

I went out of the house without my hair done, without make up on and barely finished getting dressed. For any of you out there that know me, this just does not happen! David and I were sure that Evan would need stitches but fortunately the Doctor decided that a butterfly stitch and glue would work! Heck for the $100.00 I could have crazy glued it at home!! Oh well, we have a hospital wrist band for posterity and the memory of the day I left the house not ready for the real world. So here is Evans boo-boo!


and the hospital bracelet....just for your viewing pleasure!



As if that was not enough, today he had an appointment with the doctor and they decided to draw blood. Oh my, I was so totally not prepared for this...this is a Daddy job, i usually schedule this much better!!!! I had to suck it up, pull on my big girl panties and do the deed no matter how much my little boy cried and screamed (thankfully I had both gum AND lollipops in my purse!)! Ok, all that done then tonight he falls out of bed and now has a black eye!!! Really, I could not make this stuff up! Pictures to follow...

On another note ~ David and I are leaving for a few days on vacation to go to Hawaii! Yes, a vacation just the two of us. (suddenly, in my mind the song, just the two of us started playing...we could make it if we tried..just the two of us, you and I..sing along....just the two of us..!!). I will have pictures and stories I am sure to tell when we return and if I find time while away..I will post.

We will be doing a helicopter tour above the volcano (I cannot wait (David is afraid...shhhh)), we will be swimming with the dolphins and he will be doing a couple of dives while I try to actually read a book again. You know, something other then baby instructions (that rarely help) or a cookbook (which does help but then requires exercise which will be a topic for another day and another post)....good old fashion smut. True vacation reading at it's best, I have not read a book for pleasure since Evan was born (oh, other then my friend Alexa Young's book - Frenimies!! In bookstores NOW - buy it!!).

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge my dear, wonderful friend Patti's 40th Birthday! Happy Birthday Patti~we love you!

Wishing you lots of yummy snacks-n-treats and more recipes to come!

Aloha!