Can We Talk About This?

B and I have a horrible habit. Truly, it’s scary and it’s unhealthy. It’s one of those things that subtly goes unmentioned when people are talking about happily ever after. But, it’s there, so I’m talking about it. It goes something like this:

B: So, what do want to do today?

Me: I don’t know what do you want to do?

B: I asked you first so you pick.

Me: But, I don’t know, you should at least give me options.

B: Fine, your options are play video games, just chill, or watch something.

Me: But that’s everything. Fine. I want to just chill.

Or like this:

Me: What do you want to do for lunch? (normally said while we’re out on base running errands)

B: I don’t know…

Me: Well, I don’t want to eat at Chili’s or Popeyes. But, I’m open to the BX or BK.

B: I don’t know…

B: *drives to BK*

This habit sadly started on our very first date. We met up at the zoo in SA and wandered around looking at all the cute animals. We held hands, hugged, and I dropped back to back Harry Potter and Douglas Adams references to guarantee a second date. We spent close to three hours at the zoo from 1400-1700…and then we talked until 2100 that night. We even got in his car once and drove around for 30 minutes. But we didn’t eat dinner. Neither one of us wanted to make such a simple suggestion as grabbing dinner together. So instead? We hung out in the parking lot just talking. (Okay, and maybe making out.)

Recently though, I’ve started to realize just how un-good this habit is. Namely, while I don’t want to state a preference between the BX and BK for lunch, it drives me nuts if he just decides without talking to me. Or that while he won’t say he cares between reading and playing a video game with me…he’s sort of hoping that I’ll pick the video game.

Hence, our newest phrase – Can we talk about this? Also manifested as – Can we have a conversation about this? Now we both state our preferences and work to a mutual agreement on things. It’s so healthy and grown up and almost makes me want to gag. I kid. Mostly.

Last night’s dinner conversation went like this:

Me: So…what are you thinking about dinner. (note: we were supposed to cook Chinese food last night)

B: I don’t really want Chinese.

Me: Oh good, I didn’t really want to cook it now either.

B: What else is in the house?

Me: I’m not sure, not a lot.

B: So what do you want to do for dinner?

Me: I already asked you that, can we talk about it?

B: Sure, I don’t really have a preference to anything.

Me: I don’t want to cook, but I’d be happy eating at Quda, Chili’s, or Pizza Hut.

B: All of those sound good to me, but I don’t really want to drive to K-town tonight.

Me: Okay, so no Pizza Hut then.

B: Yeah, I think I’d like to grab a doner at Quda’s and just eat it here.

Me: Sweet, that sounds good to me.

The differences are subtle. I left off the part where I nixed all the fast food options on base because I’m just tired of them. But, instead of one of us trying to force the other into making the decision about what we eat or do…we’re working as a team to come up with it. Maybe this isn’t a big problem for most couples, but it’s definitely something we run into on a regular basis. Neither one of us wants to rock the boat and we both have a strong dislike of changing plans…even when we don’t want to do what is planned.

I’m very hopeful that this new conversation tactic will start making it easier for us to decide what to do with our time. I’m also on a personal mission to actually state my preferences and not force my husband to try and guess them.

~The Countess~

Not-So Wedded Bliss

I’ll be the first to tell you that there are many amazing things about being married. Having someone to cuddle with on a cold night. Being able to split washing the dishes, taking the trash, cleaning the house. The sex. Having someone to lean on without worry that anything you go through could possibly change your love for them or theirs for you.

Truly, for me, being married has been blissful. If you’ve read here long you know that our road hasn’t been the easiest, mostly due to moving across the world right after getting married. But, all in all, I know that I’ve never been happier. My soul found it’s counterpart in B and whirlwind and crazy though it’s been, it’s also been right.

I’ve heard tell though, about the less fun sides of marriage. And no, I don’t mean fights or anything like that. More, the moments of “oh wow, we’re married” turning from happy shock to the realization that you both went the whole weekend with barely a shower between you. Much less the make up, cologne, and effort that went into your dating phase. It’s in the taking out of the trash, or choosing to spend your Saturday doing chores rather than going on a date. I guess, it’s the mundane pace of life creeping in and stealing the exciting moments.

We haven’t really had those though. I like the “oh wow we’re married” moments. Like when we worked through a disagreement on the handling of our finances – it wasn’t us disagreeing with each other, so much as us working through a problem to find the solution together. I’ll be the first to admit that B is much better at this than I am.

Then there’s the other rumor that goes with marriage. The one that the weight that comes on with getting married is worse than the Freshman 15. We’ve always laughed that off too. Just like everything else. After all, even if we didn’t eat well, we made it to the gym 5-6 times a week and B works out at least twice a day. (No, you don’t get to congratulate him or be in awe, it’s his job so he’d better do it) Except that, I’d noticed that the random times I’d weigh myself at the gym…the weight was going the wrong way. I put it off to my having gained muscle weight or because I’d eaten just before, especially since my clothes still fit just fine. But, when I started the Beat the Heat Challenge, I figured I would lose 10 lbs just to start. So I went out and bought a scale.

Yikes.

I weighed in on Sunday 15 lbs heavier than when I was married. My 11 month anniversary is in 2 days. B weighed in 25-30 lbs heavier. Now, we’re both tall, and no one would dare call us fat (except that one random guy in Amsterdam, but he doesn’t count) and we’ve both put on muscle mass. But, this is not the way we’d meant to keep our promise of staying healthy together. So we cut the crap food. And wouldn’t you know three days later, we’re both seeing positive downward trends. This without any crazy crash dieting. We’re both eating til we’re full. We’re just eating better things. And at home.

It was a rude wake up call. But, it was good for us. As a couple. Because we just found the newest problem to tackle together and all of a sudden meal planning is fun as we come up with ways to have tasty food that isn’t overly fattening.

I guess it’s just another way I refuse to give in to any marital conventions. And yes, I’m still blissfully happy. Just not with the extra weight.

~The Countess~

Recipe Round-up: Nutella Cheesecake

One of my favorite parts about being in the blogosphere are all the recipes that are freely available. I love recipes. I love trying new things, tweaking them, and seeing what I can come up with in return. Until now though, I’ve mostly been a bad blogger by taking lots of recipes and not sharing the ones I like or tweak. I figure I should make amends for this and start sharing my favorite recipes. This week’s recipe is the Nutella Cheesecake that I mentioned trying in my Beat the Heat post.

I found the idea over at The Moonlight Baker where she made layer bars. I couldn’t get my parchment paper to nicely line an 8×8 pan, so I switched over to my 9 inch spring form pan and adapted the recipe accordingly. Also, she uses a chocolate graham cracker crust and wouldn’t you know that that’s the one style of graham cracker’s not carried by the commissaries over here, so I substituted in a oreo cookie crust. But, enough of me rambling, let’s get down to the cheesecake.

Take a 9 inch springform pan, place a sheet of parchment paper on the bottom section (easiest to take apart the pan and then have the paper sticking out around the edges), then spray the pan with Pam. Set aside. Presheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Crust

Approximately 1 1/2 cups of  Oreo Cookie Crumbs (I know you can buy these, or just by the cookies, put them in a ziploc bag, and smash them with a hammer)

1/2 stick of unsalted butter melted (you may need slightly more, the cookie crumbs should be moist)

Mix those together and press into the bottom of the pan, place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, remove and set aside to cool.

Cheesecake

3 8oz pkg Cream Cheese

3/4 cups Sugar

3 Eggs

1/4 c Heavy Cream

1 TBS vanilla

Blend all of this together until it is smooth. Spoon 1/2 to 2/3 of this mixture into the crust (it depends on how much of a Nutella section that you want). Take the remaining cheesecake and add 1 TBS Heavy Cream and at least 1/4 c Nutella and blend.(we added about a 1/2 cup – it depends on your preference for Nutella amount. Remember that the Nutella is only one layer of the cheesecake, which makes the flavoring more subtle).

Layer the Nutella mixture on the top. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour – until the center is set but jiggles slightly. When you remove it from the oven, run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake to loosen it from the pan and release the springform pan. Allow to cool completely, then refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

nutella, cheesecake, oreo crust - aka heaven

Make it for your next party. Your friends/family/coworkers will thank you. Trust me. We took the above to a dinner with 7 people there and came home with 1 1/2 slices left.

What recipes are you loving this summer? Do you have a favorite sure-fire dessert to take to a party with you?

~The Countess~

The Importance of a Night Out

We’ve all had those nights, you know the one’s. They come at the end of a long day or week. You meet up with friends, have a drink or three (or more, hey who’s counting?) and blow off the steam of whatever has been building up since your last trip out. You flirt with some random strangers, maybe with some friends, before you all make sure that everyone finally gets home safely.

A night out. Be they gender mixed or seperated, they’re important. In fact, the most dangerous thing you can do is underestimate their importance. They become even more important once you get married (or possibly just in to a serious relationship in the same area, I’ve never had one of those except in marriage, so I wouldn’t really know). Because, all of a sudden, all your dates out turn in to evenings in. And trust me, evenings in are nice, no one has to DD, everything is cheaper, and you can tailor it to suit your needs. Except for one. It doesn’t have the same releasing effects (at least for me) as a night out does.

But I want to focus on night’s out, not in. And I really want to look at gender based events. Namely guys’ nights and girls’ nights out.

Why is it that while we are so gung-ho for our version we so resent our SO for their’s? Seriously, why are girl’s so cool with shopping trip/movie/dinner excursions but get mad when their guy wants to go have beer and wings with the bro’s? Why do they insist that it’s a free world, so they can go eat at the same place at the same time?

It doesn’t make sense to me. Now, I get that sometimes those planned nights can just be about bad timing. Such as when I had just come home from a weekend away in Ireland, B had just spent the weekend with the guys getting totally smashed (they had a pregnant DD so they were all good), but he was still hungover when I got home. And then he went to a guy’s night the very next night. As it was the only night we had free all week, I was miffed.

But I didn’t keep him from going. I didn’t try and go to the same place. I just let him go. Because I know that he needs it. Not too long after that, we met another couple and all of a sudden, the guys nights disappeared. We did everything in a giant mixed group of couples and singles. But, it didn’t take long to start noticing that the singles were finding more and more excuses to not hang out.

Now, since B and I dated long distance and since we both had good married friends, we understand being friends with both spouses but also wanting just girl or just guy time. I think that may be what’s ailing our rapidly disappearing single friends. Actually, I know it is. Because a mixed night always has the couples kissing at least once, holding hands, ordering/sharing drinks, and just being cute together. Not to mention going home together. On a guys’ night – no one is kissing anyone, everyone is either out-eating or out-grossing someone, and they all go home alone.

But still, I don’t understand, what’s so hard about a guys’ night? Recently, a guys night for B and his friends fell apart because one of the fiancee’s wouldn’t let her man go. She tried to punish B for suggesting the idea but telling him that she was going to take me out and that we were going to get hit on and get free drinks and have a grand time without the guys. Which of course bothered him not one bit. Certainly no more than it bothers me when he goes out. I just don’t get not letting your partner have a night out with their friends.

We all need to be able to let off steam. And sometimes it’s easier to do in a gender specific group. The important thing is to remember that just as we need it, they do to.

~The Countess~

An Embarassing Revelation

B and I just realized today how much money we spend on eating out. It’s embarassing. We never really thought anything of it. In Minot, we got into the habit of eating out for one meal on any day that he had off. With his job’s propensity for going 7 days straight, this really wasn’t that much. It also served as our time to see the friends that also worked swing shifts for the military. When we moved to Germany, we spent the first month living in a hotel – so escaping to eat a meal not nuked in the tiny microwave was a relief. And then habit set in. We didn’t have a car so buying groceries was a bigger challenge than biking to a nearby restaurant. Before I even realized what had happened, we were eating out every day without even thinking about it.

Now, I’m going to be a bit crude and say that B and I make good money. I’ll leave it at that, but, the truth is that we aren’t hurting for spending. Enough so that we never even noticed that we were eating out once a day. Until I brought it up today. B was wondering what we should do for lunch and mentioned going out to get food. Then he commented that he wasn’t really interested in eating anything out. I felt the same, so we ate in. Fast forward to tonight and I don’t really want the chicken ceaser salad that is currently being prepped in my kitchen (by my amazing husband) and again B offered for us to go out. That’s when I pounced.

I asked if he was aware of how much we eat out. He acknowledged that it’s an everyday kind of affair. I asked if he was aware of how much that costs. We estimated 15 a day for weekdays and 25 a day for weekends. People, that’s 125 bucks a week. Or 6500 a year. I actually think it runs a bit higher than that – because on weekends we can be guilty of eating out twice a day. It just isn’t an every weekend kind of thing. We realized that if we just cut the week day eating to not eating out and limited the weekend eating to one meal out that we could save 3900 a year. Hello cruise, I’m eating in happily. (Oh yeah, we’re going to use the money we save on not eating out to finance our honeymoon)

If you’re in the habit of spending money on something regularly – multiply it out across the year and see if it still seems worth it.

~The Countess~

Open Letter: Waitress Edition

~This is the first in a series of rants that I’ve been collecting in my head. The setting for this letter was Friday night’s date night dinner with my husband. Our restaurant choices are limited and we tried a new one in hopes of expanding our routine. In spite of the free coupons we have to lure us back, I will never voluntarily step foot in this establishment again.~

Dear Waitress,

I get that you are new to the job. That much was evident in the first five minutes of being seated. When you come over to take orders, try making eye contact instead of staring at the ground. I want to know for sure that you’ve heard me. Also on this subject, when you take the drink orders please remember to go ahead and ask if we have any questions or if there’s anything else we need. That saves us from having to wave you down to ask you what the soup of the day is. Speaking of which, please don’t ever describe a gnocchi to me again as a “chicken noodle soup with ravioli” because I won’t order based on that description when I would have eaten it if you’d told me what it was called. (Quick lesson: know your menu)

A good rule of thumb to go by, is that if your customers have empty glasses, they’d probably like refills. A way to avoid having to stop by their table every ten minutes is to fill their glasses more than half full with liquid. Yes, I’m serious, go ahead and fill it up to the top, we aren’t children, we won’t spill it. Oh yeah, and I get that you had a booth of friends or family there, but if they’re that much of a distraction to you, please ask them to leave. Your tip is diminishing rapidly as we watch you continually check on them while no one else in our section can get your attention. (Quick lesson: your tip is based directly on the service rendered)

Really, all of that was probably just going to get you a bad tip. We try and be fair, but, service is service and I will not reward you for doing a poor job. Of course, then you went and let the catalyst happen. You paid so little attention to anyone but that one booth, that your manager had to serve our plates. And my ravioli was tepid at best. When you came by the table and I complained, you did a great job of saying you would take care of it for me. I’ll admit that by now I was doubtful, after all, I’d just had a 15 dollar plate served to me cold; but I was willing to hope for the best.

Five minutes later you return with my plate and warned me that it was exceedingly hot. You took off so fast that I couldn’t even tell you that I needed a new fork. After I snagged one from a nearby table, I looked down at my plate and was horrified. For there, on the plate, was the half eaten ravioli that you’d taken to the kitchen. I stared in shock, and a bit of horror, as I realized that my entire plate had just been reheated. The sauce was now congealed on the plate and the ravioli looked rubbery and burned. Again we called you to the table, I asked how it had been reheated and you told me you had just stuck it in the oven. I asked how that could possibly be safe or sanitary and you said it was company policy. I asked for your manager.

You took your sweet time (ten minutes) in talking to him and getting him to come to our table. When he did get there, he assured me that in no way was it the restaurant policy to reheat plates in the oven as it is unsanitary and overcooks the food. (Quick lesson: if you’re going to give excuses, at least make sure that they’re true) At this point in time, I was on the edge of tears and just wanted to go home. We thanked the manager, asked for my dish to be removed from the ticket and asked for our check. He brought it to us and then left you to process our receipt.

Again you were nowhere to be seen. One of your coworkers went after you twice for us as we sat for an extra fifteen minutes waiting for you to come around our table. (Quick lesson: if you’ve embarassed yourself by lying to a customer, don’t make it worse by prolonging the amount of time that they have to spend in your store) You finally came, left, and returned with nary a word.

We left your restaurant with a ruined meal and a ruined evening. By that time it was too late for us to go anywhere else to get food. We have coupons for your restaurant from your manager. I think I’ll give them to my worst enemies and tell them to ask for your section. Oh wait, I don’t hate anyone that much.

Sincerely,

~The Countess~

Ramstein Farmer’s Market

Yesterday was Ramstein’s regional Farmer’s Market. I’ll go ahead and say that I was the fool who didn’t take her camera. I thought this would be like the farmer’s market back in Houston, two or three rows of booths with over priced vegetables and fruit. Yeah, I was really wrong. Next German street festival we go to, I’ll definitely have my camera. Regardless, some of what they had there was just too amazing for me to not share.

The Market was held downtown in among all the shops in the shopping district. The road here is cobblestone and faded brick. Combine that with the old-world buildings and the atmosphere was perfect. The day was crisp, with bright sunshine and cool breezes – possibly the best of what an October day should be. Pretty much all of the shops were open with their sales spilling onto the sidewalk. There were food booths and tents, beer tents (the beer was served in glass mugs), fruit and vegetable stands, handcrafts, animals, you name it and it was there. From the tourist type knick-knacks to the everyday useful, they had it all at this little festival. People were milling around speaking a variety of languages. The cultural atmosphere was one to just soak in.

My highlights:

1. The Apfel Saft (Apple Cider)

In the middle of all the bustle stood a long stone trough with a stone wheel and a big, thick log as an axle sticking well out on both sides. It was filled with apples and then the men rolled it back and forth, crushing the apples into pulp. The pulp was gathered in buckets and transferred to an old, stone press where it was stacked with wood boards and then squished to yield fresh apple cider. Which they then sold to the awed crowd. That was the best apple anything that I have ever had. It was crisp, tart, and sweet all at once. B and I agreed that it was our favorite thing of the day.

2. Wild Boar Bratwurst

This was the food item that begged us the most to try it. We gave in like little children and happily asked for, “Zwei bratwurst mitt brochen, bitte,” and waited to be handed our long bratwurst with it’s miniature bun. That was our first complaint about it. The bread covered about a quarter of the sausage. And it had a tough crust. As far as the flavor of the sausage – it was leaner and drier, but otherwise not that different from regular bratwurst. Now, I’m sure that this is quite good for you, but, I like my bratwurst juicy. Still, the beer mustard that went with it and the flavor of the sausage itself was quite good.

3. Perhaps this is something that would awe only me, but, they had a booth set up selling handmade bobbin lace pieces. They had bracelets, earrings, necklaces and so much more. I was in complete awe. I have been making lace for some 13 years now and so I was enthralled. Unfortunately the craftswoman was away from the tent when we stopped by and didn’t have a website. I’ll definitely be looking for her at future festivals and hoping that she speaks English.

In all, the German’s know how to throw a good street festival. Even just a farmer’s market on a Sunday afternoon in October.

~The Countess~

Baja Chicken My Way

I think that Quizno’s Baja chicken sandwhich might be my favorite fast food entree right now. I mean, cheesy sub bread, chipotle mayo, BBQ sauce, chicken, bacon, and cheddar cheese all toasted to perfection. Just typing that made my mouth water. Quizno’s is always on top of my choices for places for B and I to grab a bite. (Not a lot of options for us here in town)

But, we’re trying to cut back the eating out, which isn’t going so well, but when we move to Germany it’ll happen by default. We’re both cheapskates (I mean that in a good way) and it’s way more expensive to eat out in Germany. Not to mention they don’t have a Quizno’s.

Which led us to last night’s experiment. B had put me in charge of picking dinner and I wanted us to eat in. We have a lot of food in the freezer and it needs to be gone by Friday. Because that’s when all our dishes, pots, and pans get shipped to Germany to hopefully meet us there.

We had frozen chicken breasts, bacon, cheesy rolls, and the condiments. And the verdict was that my version was yummier than theirs. And way cheaper. Between the two sandwhiches we used:
4 frozen chicken breast tenders (.15 each)
3 slices of bacon (.20 each)
4 slices of cheese (.15 each)
2 cheesy buns (.75 each)
Chipotle mayo
BBQ sauce

That’s 3.20 total. Or 1.60 a sandwhich. Same thing at Quizno’s is over 5 for the small. We’re thrilled because that’s more incentive to eat in. Which I need more of. I tend to eat out for comfort. But, the more reasons I can stack in the favor of staying in, the better.

Prep time for all of it was 15 minutes. We put the chicken frozen straight onto the George Foreman grill and set it for 12 minutes. While that was cooking we sliced the bacon up and fried it (bacon bits could be substituted here). Then we prepped the buns by slicing them lengthwise and placing cheese on both sides. I put my condiments on then, B waited until post toasting. Once the chicken is cooked, dice it and toss it on the buns with the bacon. Toast in a toaster oven until the cheese melts and enjoy. Truly an awesome sandwhich. Even better at home.

~The Countess~

Of Snickerdoodle Cookies

I just finished baking 5 dozen snickerdoodle cookies. They’re for B’s flight. He and his guys are having to work extra shifts this week and prolly next week too. I feel bad for him, and them, and to some degree me. My kitchen looks like a war zone and the cookies didn’t quite bake right – they taste fine, they just didn’t bake down like they normally do – but, I’m so thrilled to have these made. They’re for the guys morale. Help lift their spirits. They’re to say, hey I know it sucks that you have to work extra shifts, so, how about a cookie. They aren’t meant to make up for the extra shifts, there’s no way to do that. I’m not certified to do what they do, but, I can say that I appreciate what they’re doing.

See, they aren’t on the leading edge of the battle lines, so, very few people send them baked goods. Lots of people rally to send a soldier overseas care packages – and don’t get me wrong, they definitely need them. Those guys have their lives on the line and are away from their normal support groups, so they need extra care. The only thing is, that our soldiers back home need it too. They still work long hours, for some their lives are still on the line, they’re still protecting us and our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happyness. They still face hostility, only now it’s from those they’re protecting rather than those they’re fighting.

Any little thing I can do then, like make a batch of cookies, I will do. I feel like I’m part of a club now. As an officer’s significant other, I feel responsible for these men. They have asked for my cooking. I’m happy to oblige them. Because, as I boost their morale, I boost mine. I had a bit of a rough day on Tuesday. Felt down and useless because I’m still searching for a job (yes, I know I’ve only been here a week and a half) and because I spent the whole day with nothing to do. Making cookies for the troops, well, that gives me something to do. And, I don’t feel useless when I know that tomorrow they’ll all get a nice surprise.

They’re such a small thing, snickerdoodles are. Chewy, soft, coated in cinnamon and sugar. It’s not like I made a five course meal for these guys. Just a cookie. And yet, this little cookie made me feel better and will make them all smile. For being so small, they have a lot of power.

Never underestimate the power of a kind word or a cookie. Change some lives in small ways.

~The Countess~

Happiness is:

This

plus

This

combined with good friends!

Hook ‘em!

~The Countess~

Tis the Season: Chocolate Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce

I’m hoping to make the Tis the Season category a recipe category highlighting my favorite Holiday recipes. I’m going to kick it off with a new favorite.

Chocolate Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce

This is a recipe my Mom brought back from a cooking class in Cuero. It’s become an instant hit with family and friends. I’m trying it out tonight on my friends for the first time. I’ll let you know how they respond to it.

Ingredients

1 Loaf French Bread

1 1/2 cups Semi-sweet chocolate chips

6 eggs

1 qt. Half and Half

6 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa

1 Tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vanilla

4 Tbsp Unsalted butter

4 Tbsp Dark brown Sugar

Take your loaf of French Bread and tear it up into a pan that has been greased. Cover it with the chocolate chips.

Mix the eggs, half and half, and vanilla in one bowl. Combine the sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and last in another. Slowly combine the two, mixing well.Pour over the cake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven and dot with butter and top with the brown sugar. Put it back into the oven for five minutes, until the butter has melted and the brown sugar is saturated.

Remove and cool slightly before serving. Your cake is now done and awaits it’s hard sauce.

Ingredients

3 cups Sugar

1 stick melted butter (unsalted)

2 Eggs

12 oz can Evaporated Milk

2 Tsp Vanilla

Amaretto (or Kahlua)

Combine all ingredients except vanilla and Amaretto in a saucepan before it is placed on the heat and stir well.

Once it is well mixed, turn on the heat to medium-low and stir constantly. It will begin to boil and thicken. Remove from heat.

Add Vanilla and Amaretto. I use just slightly less than 1/2 cup of Amaretto in my sauce.

Pour into a bowl, cover, and place in the fridge to cool.

Serve the cake with the hard sauce over it. Enjoy!

~The Countess~

Recipe: Fudge

I’m going to a dessert party tonight and decided that sense lots of people would (should) be bringing desserts and drinks that I would take fudge. It’s easy to eat and hopefully the majority of it will get eaten. Anyways, I’m all about ease of making it. So I scoured the internet for this recipe that I threw together. It should be noted that the recipe I’m giving is a double recipe.

4 cups of some kind of chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

1 stick of butter

2 cans (14 oz) of condensed sweetened milk

A dash of salt

A capfull of vanilla extract

1 cup of nuts (I used walnuts because they are cheaper than pecans)

Melt the chocolate chips and butter together using whatever method you prefer. I used the microwave in one and two minute increments and stirring in between. Then I mixed in all the rest of the ingredients and spread them into a greased 9X13 baking pan and stuck them into the fridge to cool. Voila! You now have fudge.

~The Countess~

Apple Pie

I made an apple pie today. It’s for a cook-out I’m going to. I love making desserts. This is from my mom’s recipe collection. You take 6-8 apples, peel, core, and slice them and mix in a 3/4 c. of sugar, 2 tbs. of flour, 2 tsp. of cinnamon, and a dash of nutmeg. Mix all that together and put it into a pie crust in a pie plate. Then take a 1/2 c. of sugar, 3/4 c. of flour, a dash of cinnamon, and some chopped pecans and cut it into a stick of butter. Chop all of that in together and then pour it over the apples. Then bake it at 400 for 35-40 minutes until the pie is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.

I’m very excited to serve it tonight. And it has made my apartment smell amazing! There will probably be future postings of recipes as I start cooking more. Have a happy Friday and a great weekend!

~The Countess~