Oh, la la! ~dessert crepes~

Yum.

 Drizzled with chocolate, double Yum.

We really like this recipe for Dessert Crepes found at allrecipes.com.

A few tips about making crepes:
1)This is not a time to skimp, you need real butter, real eggs and real milk or they aren't worth making.
2)Crepes are meant to be extremely thin & delicate. How to cook crepes: pour the batter into the center of your (well greased and hot) frying pan, immediately tilt pan to cover the bottom of the pan with batter so the result is like a very thin, delicate pancake.
3)They are best enjoyed fresh, though you can make them ahead of time & refrigerate if needed. To re-heat, use a frying pan over medium high heat, and warm crepe for 10-15 seconds per side to crispen back up before serving.


We enjoy filling our crepes with fresh berries, homemade whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

Whipped Cream from scratch:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

With hand mixer; beat on high speed for 1-2 minutes, until soft peaks form.
Whip cream doesn't last long, so make it right before you're going to eat it. Make it fresh, it is so easy and the taste is infinitely superior to the canned version. 


Homemade Chocolate sauce:
1/2 cup of your favorite chocolate chips

In a double boiler; over low heat, melt chips slowly whilst stirring constantly. Remove from heat when slightly lumpy and continue stirring until smooth.

If you don't have a double boiler, never fear. You can use a small sauce pan, fill with an inch or so of water, bring to a low boil and place a stainless steel bowl on top. Melt your chips in the stainless steel bowl. You do not want the bowl touching the water, ideally you want a few inches of air space in between your bowl and pot to allow steam to slowly and gently melt your chocolate.

Lunchtime Talk

Each day while we eat lunch (which is done in a very casual manner; standing around in the kitchen or sitting on the floor) I try to guide Bodhi in building a few words with the magnetic letters on the fridge.

These were his choices today:

I had to oblidge him on the word poop. It's just such a fun, yucky word for a little boy to say. So we built the word, and then proceeded to build Jesus. Hopefully, Jesus doesn't mind the poop ;-)

a conglomeration of new! experiences

Life has been busy, yet fulfilling and I've stumbled across some fun things to share!

1)New {gluten free} Wholesome Chocolate Cake

Seriously delicious chocolate cake, made with no flour or butter.
Yep, you heard me right. This bad boy is held together with the incredible garbanzo bean! We visited some dear friends over the weekend, and my girlfriend told me about this cake she had discovered, and naturally; we promptly baked it together. I love cooking with friends.

I am going off of memory here, but I am pretty astute when baking; especially new recipes which have my interest from the start, just as this one did!

Melt on stove top over double boiler:
12 oz semi sweet or dark chips; melt the chips slowly over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove when the chips are mostly melted but slight chunks remain. Continue stirring until smooth, then add 3 tablespoons cocoa.

Puree until smooth in sturdy food processor or blender:
2.5 cups garbanzo beans (you want these fully pulverized, no chunks of bean in your cake!)

Add:
6 eggs, beaten
1.5 cups sugar
1.5 teaspoons baking powder

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour into a greased 9X13 pan and bake @ 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

This cake was dense, more brownie like than spongy-cake like. It had great flavor, and I could barely taste the garbanzo flavor. I am going to bake this again and add about 4 oz of strong coffee or even better, espresso. I might also leave some of the chips whole to get the additional texture of the whole chip. We did not frost it, but I think frosting would seriously put this cake over the top. It's a hearty cake, and I think it could support a thick frosting, but I am not much of a frosting girl. So I will stick with my espresso addition and be "exceedingly happy" in the words of my dear friend Em.


2)New Red Wine

Evodia Old Vine Grenache 

I recently discovered this new wine, and it is a great value. Economically priced at under $10 a bottle, yet full of flavor; highly complex (to my taste-buds). It is a red wine from Spain made with Grenache grapes.

3)New Tunes

This guy, Mike Tompkins, has amused Garrett and I for some time. He makes his music using only his voice and mouth. All sounds, man made. He only does covers, but most of the time I like his version better than the original artist. See more of Mike's magic here.


4)New Adornments

I was given a beautiful Lisa Leonard Designs necklace for my 30th birthday, and I adore it! If you haven't heard of Lisa's hand stamped artwork, check her out here.