SURPRISE: Happy Birthday Jeanne!

Hello everyone,

If you’ve been following the blog and theme weeks for awhile, you know that Jeanne from Inside NanaBread’s Head is a large part of my world.  She keeps our little group organized and up-to-date on crafting, hooch, and Tex Mex delights.  She’s hilarious, caring, and absolutely one-of-a-kind.  So we decided to throw her a virtual surprise party for her 50th birthday!!!

We all brought a dish to share for the party…AND…we’ve scheduled an even bigger birthday surprise for Saturday.  So stay tuned!  It arrived on Jeanne’s doorstep in the form of 11 sealed packages.  :)  heeheehee

Now Jeanne’s love of Tex Mex inspired something deep inside of me to make a cheesy dip…obviously.  So I created this Cheesy Chorizo Dip to bring to the virtual party.  Can I get an amen?

You will need:

1. 1 package softened cream cheese (8 oz.)
2. 8 oz. light sour cream
3. 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning
4. 1/2 diced onion
5. 2 cloves minced garlic
6. 1/2 minced jalapeño
7. 1/2 chorizo sausage
8. 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
9. 2 diced green onions
10. 1-2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
11. Bag o’ tortilla chips!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, and taco seasoning together.

This picture is a result of me playing around with a new iPhone app. Please disregard how ominous the sour cream looks. I promise, the sour cream only brings love! This got weird fast.

Brown the chorizo and onion together over medium high heat until thoroughly cooked.  Toss in the garlic and jalapeño, sautéing for about 1 minute, until the flavors are released.

Chorizo browning on the skillet looks like dog food in pictures, so instead, please enjoy this snap of some chopped onion, garlic, and jalapeno.

Mix the chorizo mixture with the cream cheese mixture.  Attempt not to eat with spoon.

Put the mixture into an oven-proof dish and top with the shredded cheese.

Bake until mixture is bubbly and golden brown (approximately 10 minutes…I didn’t actually time this because I was doing other things in the kitchen.  Don’t trust me, just keep an eye on it!)

Top with the green onions and cilantro.  EAT with chips!

Jonathan and I couldn’t agree on whether or not this was better than my original taco dip recipe, but the meat added an element of yowza!  Enjoy!

Happy happy birthday, Jeanne!

-Mads

To keep the party going, check out… Kirsten’s Orange Cream Pie, Allison’s Coca Cola Cake, Beka’s Aged Manhattan, Megan’s Nutella Turnovers, Anne’s Mexican Vanilla Ice Cream Cones, Monica’s Tropical Ice Cream, Katie’s Chocolate Cake with Cooked Flour Frosting, Lauren’s Mini Key Lime Pies with an Animal Cracker Crust, Madeline’s Fig, Fontina and Pecan Flatbread, Carrie’s Coconut Banana Brownie Pie, and Kat’s Guacamole.

One Kitchen Many Hearts Box

Hello internet,

By now you know that every other month my group of bloggy buddies sends each other goodies in the mail.  It’s a wonderful way to stay in touch, give each other trinkets unique from our region of the US, and to stuff our faces with the noms we receive.  Normally I only receive packages when I go on an Amazon.com shopping bender, so a handcrafted box of love is a wonderful change of pace.

The ladies

This month’s theme was Winter Essentials (i.e., all of the things you need to successfully survive the winter in a girly and elegant way).  I realize winter is non-existent in California, but we played along anyway.

Snowflake cookie cutter is essential!

I received my winter essentials box from Kirsten at Comfortably Domestic.  Homegirl is a wonderful food nerd, crafter, mother of 4 boys, Midwesterner, and friend.  I love getting boxes from her because she intuitively knows what I need as a Midwestern expat…she gets me.

To start, she sent a mitts and paws kit, complete with lotions and soaps to keep my hands from drying up.  I can’t tell you how grateful I was for this because my hands get so dry and cracked, even in milder climates. Sad times.

Mitts and paws kit

She also made homemade hot cocoa mix!  I laughed out loud when I saw this because I attempted to make hot cocoa mix for Allison’s box, but failed miserably.  My attempt at cocoa was clumpy and bitter, so I ended up throwing it directly in the trash.  Kirsten, I’m going to need your recipe!  Alton failed me…as always, that bastard!

I got another box of Danish dark chocolate…score!  This stuff is incredible.  So incredible that it’s hard not to eat the entire thing in one sitting.

Speaking of eating everything in one sitting, Kirsten also sent me the best orange shortbread cookies in the world!  These cookies disappeared faster than the Girl Scout cookies, which is really saying something.  They had the perfect balance of tart orange zest and buttery cookie dough.  The recipe is in the works and will be up on her blog soon, so stay tuned.

Orange shortbread cookies from heaven

Thanks for an incredible box, Kirsten!

What is on your winter essentials list?

-Mads

Reading Rainbow Roundup

Hello loves,

I recently posted a “to read” reading list, and I was actually able to read a handful of them.  Rejoice!  I thought now would be a great time to report back, as we are finally getting into the post-holiday lull.

Are you feeling the lull?  Truth be told, this semester is whipping by, but I could definitely use a little more fun reading time in my life.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Click image for original source. From cherylstrayed.com

Wild is a true memoir about a young woman who hits rock bottom in her life and spontaneously decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (a treacherous mountain trail from Mexico to Canada) by herself.  As a first time hiker, she has to dig deep within herself to keep moving forward and to conquer all of the crazy adventures that meet her on the trail.  It was really well-written and will make you laugh and cry.  I am nothing like the main character, yet she is completely relatable.  You need to read this.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Juliet Ashton

Click to be redirected to original source at Mazurkaplan.com

Kat recommended this book long ago and I avoided it for so long because it has a stupid title.  Seriously. I am embarrassed to tell people how good this book is because the title is so goofy.  However, this was a wonderful book!  It’s about a writer who is looking for writing material after WWII.  She finds a little town chock full of stories of how a group of friends survived the war together through books.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Click to be redirected to original source at Wikipedia

The Poisonwood Bible was on Oprah’s book club list, so you know it’s a little intense.  It’s about a family who goes to the Congo for missionary work and the story of how their family falls apart.  It shows you 5 different perspectives (it’s narrated by 5 different characters in the story) on religion, family, marriage, and other big-life issues.  I thought the characters were fairly static, but I think that was probably Kingsolver’s intention, in an effort to show 5 perspectives that can all exist within 1 person.  At least, that’s how I interpreted the book.  This book is definitely a conversation-starter and will challenge your own belief system.

Do yourself a favor and read them all.  Immediately.

What are you reading now?  Have you read any of the books I listed?  If so, what did you think?

-Mads

White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting: Sweets for Your Sweetiepie Week!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to another themed week of goodies: Sweets for Your Sweetiepie Week!!!

Our lovely team of rock star bloggers have put their heads together to ensure that you have a recipe to make for your loved ones this Valentines Day!

If you’ve been tuning in for a while, you know that I get amped up over any holiday and V-Day is no exception. I love an excuse to give out hugs, tell people I care about them, and most importantly to binge on chocolate and wine. This year I am in class all night, so my celebration will have to wait until the weekend. Luckily, my class is Human Sexuality, which is the most exciting class you could have on Valentines Day. I’m hoping we talk about something upbeat like fetishes or swinger parties, and not erectile dysfunction or supernumerary nipples.  Ok wait, both of those topics are great too.  I guess I’m super excited for class!  Maybe I’ll become a sex therapist?!

Anyway, I made these treats so we could enjoy ourselves all week long!

Jonathan is not a huge dessert fan, usually because he claims they are too “sweet”. But his favorite sweet to indulge in is white chocolate. We were recently at a party with a make-your-own-cupcake bar (GENIUS) and I spotted Jonathan helping himself to a few different varieties, which inspired these White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting.

Can you think of a better combo than white chocolate and raspberry? I cannot.

For the cupcakes you will need:

• 1 stick butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 oz. white chocolate bar
• 8 oz. white chocolate chips (a smidge more than 1/2 bag)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a cupcake pan or use these adorable cupcake wrappers for V-day!

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add the vanilla and eggs until smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the 4 oz. white chocolate bar and milk.  White chocolate has a funny way of melting, which is to say it doesn’t melt well.  It gets kind of runny and chunky, but pay that no attention.

Ghirardelli FTW!

Slowly combine the flour mixture with the butter and sugar mixture until smooth.  Try not to whip the crap out of your batter because it will harden your cupcakes.  Nobody wants a cement cupcake.  Be GENTLE!

Slowly add the melted chocolate mixture to the batter until creamy.  Then add your 8 oz. of chocolate chips.

The extra white chocolate chips tossed in at the end really give this recipe an extra oompf of creamy white chocolate flavor!

Double white chocolate intensity

Pour the batter into the greased cupcake pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 16-18 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool completely before moving to the frosting stage.

For the frosting you will need:

• 1 1/2 stick butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
• pinch of salt
• 3 Tbsp raspberry jam

Whip together butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, whipping cream, and pinch of salt until it looks like frosting (about 30 seconds on high).

Then add the raspberry jam and mix it into the frosting with a rubber scraper.  If you are lucky, your friend Jeanne from Inside NanaBread’s Head will send you a giant jar of delicious homemade raspberry, cranberry, and cherry jam for you to use in this recipe. If you aren’t lucky, you will walk with your head hung in shame to the grocery store to get sub par jam.

Thank you, Jeanne!

If raspberries are in season, it might be fun to make a raspberry compote to use in the frosting instead of jarred jam. I didn’t do this because raspberries were $4 when I created this recipe.

Spread the frosting evenly over the cupcakes and top with fresh raspberries or sprinkles.  These cupcakes were divine and got the stamp of approval from the hubby and my coworkers!  Num!

White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

What are you making for Valentine’s Day this year?  What are your plans this holiday?

-Mads

Please check out the rest of the sweets on other blogs throughout the week! These bloggers are fearless bakers and make me drool on a daily basis. I hope you find something you want to make for your sweetheart!

Sunday:

• Inside NanaBread’s Head–Retro Raspberry Divinity (& GIVEAWAY)
• Comfortably Domestic–Red Velvet Vanilla Marble Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Buttercream

Monday:

• Kvetchin’ Kitchen–Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies
• The Hill Country Cook–Mini Meringue Strawberry Pie

Tuesday:

• Munching in the Mitten–Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti
• Bakeaholic Mama–Samoa Crack Dip

Wednesday:

• Climbing Grier Mountain–Avocado Peppermint Chocolate Mousse
• Country Cleaver–Cherry Garcia Chocolate Bark

Thursday:

• My post above–White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
• Tenaciously Yours–S’more on a Stick

Friday:

• Decadent Philistines Save the World–Lemon Marshmallows
• Comfortably Domestic–Mini Chocolate Mousse Pies

Saturday:

• From My Sweet Heart–Berry Smoothie Ice Cream

Honeymoon in Belize: Part 2

Hey,

This post is the 2nd in a series documenting our honeymoon trip to Belize. Enjoy!
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Caye Caulker is a beautiful island in Belize, where the motto is “Go Slow” and they mean it! After several days of beach-lounging and strolling up and down the coast, we decided it was time for some adventure. Naturally, we signed up for snorkeling in Shark Ray Alley with the sting rays and nurse sharks.

The first stop in the snorkel adventure was a coral reef, which proved to be a little daunting for Jonathan and myself. Jonathan is a first-time snorkeler, so getting him comfortable in the water with a mask on, while trying not to drown myself in the process was slightly anxiety-provoking. We eventually decided that we were holding the group back and to sit this round out. After all, we had two more snorkel stops throughout the day.

The next stop was Shark Ray Alley! Basically, guides stop by several times a day, throw some chum out, and let tourists swim amongst the sting rays and nurse sharks that come to feed. Now, I’ve gone snorkeling with sting rays before, but the addition of nurse sharks (they are about my size) was terrifying. Right before I was about to hop in, I asked the guide if he’s ever been bitten. He proceeded to point out the scars on his fingers stating it was “no big deal”.

The Lazy Lizard–Where Ben and Emily had an awkward date in the sand on The Bachelor

My thought process ver batem: Right. Ok. Deep breath. I can do this. Count to three. One. Two. Nope. Not doing it. Come on! You’re in Belize and will never be able to do this again. Nope. I like my fingers. Jonathan’s already in the water and he still has all his extremities. One. Two. THE HELL WITH IT–THREE!

It was incredible. I could actually hear the sharks choping through the chum and swishing their fins around. Then the guide picked one up like it aint no thang (no wonder he has mauled fingers) and we got to pet the shark. Amazing. I highly recommend doing really dumb and dangerous things from time to time.

When we got back to the island, we decided it was too early for dinner, so we had cocktails instead. I do not recommend mixing booze with sunburn, swimming, heat, and empty tummies.
Luckily, we found huge bottles of water and pizza with habenero sauce to save us from heat stroke. It was touch and go there for a moment.

The next morning we took our water taxi back to Belize City to pick up our rental car. Something about driving on the open road in a foreign country totally makes you feel like Indiana Jones. We were humming the theme song throughout the entire trip.

Our next stop was San Ignacio!
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Have you ever gone on any outdoor adventures that make you question your own sanity?  What did you do?

More to come…