Monogrammed Plates

Sam and I have a crazy busy life! Last Monday was our first days back to work, but it was a weird week since he had in-service training every day, so it wasn't "normal". Although I am not sure what normal will be still... but I digress.

Tonight we were able to come home from work and actually cook (he did) and eat together at the table for our first married meal that we cooked from scratch, at home(16 days after our wedding day).



We had cheddar bacon chicken (Kraft, freezer section - think Shake 'n Bake), green beans, and mashed potatoes. :) It was so good! And it was so good to spend time with each other tonight -- it's our only night together until Friday because I am going to Knoxville tomorrow-Thursday, then Thursday he has volunteer fire department.

Check out our AMAZING "every day china" -- we didn't eat off of it, but I just think it's really pretty. :) It's by Legado and only the salad plates are monogrammed. Which happen to be the only plates I bought. The dinner plates are really pretty, though, but very big.




And Zoe hung out on the couch like a good kitty. Or cat. She's huge now. And being good is a rarity for her these days.

She Cooks: Easy Chocolate Ganache Bites

For Mother's Day I made my Mother and Mother-in-Law two-layer chocolate cakes with strawberry filling between the layers, chocolate ganache icing and hand-dipped chocolate strawberries.

Okay, so it hit the side of the cake carrier on the way to my Mom's... but it was delicious!



Well, I had a TON of ganache leftover. So I used it to make these SUPER easy and SUPER yummy raspberry chocolate ganache bites:



Here's how I did it:

1. Make Chocolate Ganache - recipe below
2. Scoop into a ziploc bag, close bag and cut off the bottom corner of the bag
3. Squeeze ganache into mini fillo (phyllo dough) shells - you can find these in the freezer section
4. Place washed raspberry into middle of ganache
5. Store in freezer until one hour before serving time

WARNING: They are sooo yummy. You can't eat just one.

Ganache Recipe  

hands-on time: 5 minutes        total time: 5 hours, 10 minutes 

1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Nestle chocolate chips)
2 cups heavy cream
Pinch kosher salt 

1. Place chocolate in heatproof bowl 

2. In a medium saucepan, bring the cream to a bare simmer. **NOTE: by bare simmer, it means BARE SIMMER. Once you see baby bubbles, get it off the heat! It will scorch 

3. Pour bare simmering cream over chocolate, add salt, let stand for 2 minutes 

4. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth 

5. Let the frosting cool 4-5 hours, upon cooling, it will harden. 

....and don't you even think about sticking it in the fridge/freezer to speed this step up, it won't work ;) it will become lumpy

First Married Meal

Sam and I have a crazy busy life! Last Monday was our first days back to work, but it was a weird week since he had in-service training every day, so it wasn't "normal". Although I am not sure what normal will be still... but I digress.

Tonight we were able to come home from work and actually cook (he did) and eat together at the table for our first married meal that we cooked from scratch, at home(16 days after our wedding day).



We had cheddar bacon chicken (Kraft, freezer section - think Shake 'n Bake), green beans, and mashed potatoes. :) It was so good! And it was so good to spend time with each other tonight -- it's our only night together until Friday because I am going to Knoxville tomorrow-Thursday, then Thursday he has volunteer fire department.

Check out our AMAZING "every day china" -- we didn't eat off of it, but I just think it's really pretty. :) It's by Legado and only the salad plates are monogrammed. Which happen to be the only plates I bought. The dinner plates are really pretty, though, but very big.




And Zoe hung out on the couch like a good kitty. Or cat. She's huge now. And being good is a rarity for her these days.