THE Torte.

I'm cleaning out my email boxes (I have lots of those) and I came across one recipe that I have been looking for EVERYWHERE. I made it for a baby shower (for a baby who's now 4) and I haven't been able to find it since. It was good...like most everyone at the shower asked for the recipe and it was gone within a few minutes. So I FINALLY found it and thought I'd blog it so I never have to loose it again. Of course it's filled with alllll healthy stuff ;)

Peanut Butter Torte
1 c. finely chopped salted peanuts
2 teaspoons sugar
∏ teaspoon instant espresso powder --I x'd this I don't do espresso
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2c. mini chocolate chips
24 Oreo cookies, finely crumbed or ground in a food processor or blender
 stick <4 tablespoons> unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Small pinch of salt
2  c. heavy cream
1  c confectioners sugar, sifted
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1  c salted peanut butter  crunchy or smooth
2 tablespoons whole milk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped

Getting ready: center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch Springform pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
Toss 1 cup of the chopped peanuts, the sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chips together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Put the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in another small bowl and stir with a fork just until crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the spring form pan . Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let it cool completely before filling.
Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, whip 2 cups of the cream until it holds medium peaks. Beat in 1 cup of the confectioners sugar and whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks. Scrape the cream into a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
Wipe out the bowl, fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment if you have one, or continue with the hand mixer, and beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup confectioners? sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth. Beat in the peanut butter, π cup of the chopped peanuts and the milk.
Using a large rubber spatula, gently stir in about one quarter of the whipped cream, just to lighten the mousse. Still working with the spatula, stir in the crunchy peanut mixture, then gingerly fold in the remaining whipped cream.
Scrape the mouse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight, cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.
To Finish The Torte: put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave the bowl over the water just until the chocolate softens and starts to melt, about 3 minutes, remove the bowl from the saucepan.
Bring the remaining ∏ cup cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and , working with a a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and glossy.
Pour the ganache over the torte, smoothing it with a metal icing spatula. Scatter the remaining ∏ cup peanuts over the top and chill to set the topping, about 20 minutes.
When the ganache is firm, remove the sides of the Springform pan, it?s easiest to warm the pan with a hairdryer, and then remove the sides, but you can also wrap a kitchen towel damped with hot water around the pan and leave it there for 10 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I promise it's delicious. These directions might not make sense but it gives you the general idea haha. I have to leave soon so I don't have time to fix it sorry.

Hey look at that, I found a picture of it online!! But my recipe is a bit different but it looks like this.

Yes We Can

 

I think we can do hard things. My favorite line out of my current favorite song says:

"Don't you dare look out your window, darlin' everything's on fire.

The war outside our door keeps raging on." T Swift, Safe & Sound

I feel like even though we might not literally have a war outside our doors, there are still really hard things to handle on so many other levels. If we continue to do what we know is right, it makes the hard things much easier.

That's all.

Just Things.

A little known (or well known) fact about me is, I blog very randomly about very random things when I get stressed out. It helps me to organize my thoughts and it lets my brain stop harboring on all the stuff that seems to always be going on. I pretty much have two full time jobs and a church calling that is at least the equivalent of a part time job so this is just for me. I get to write whatever I want to. I doubt many people read these posts but that's ok, it's for me mostly. 

Today I thought I'd post about a few things that have crossed my mind lately. They will all be artificial and shallow things but I'm okay with that. 

First is this movie:

I seriously LOVED this movie. It's such a neat concept. At first it was a little confusing but you catch on very quickly. It's futuristic like a lot of current/popular books/movies. It's about this guy (Justin Timberlake) who lives in the 'ghetto' district of this world. Everything is paid for with time. When everyone turns 25, their time starts (they all stay looking like they're 25). Everyone starts out with ONE year. They can work to earn more time but when your time is up, you die. The main character has had a really tough life, always scraping to get by and earn more time to stay alive. All of their goods are paid for with time. There is no money. It brings up the age old topic of would you want to know when you'll die? Of course they could have an accident but supposing they don't, the rich could potentially live forever. It's realllllly good. I don't know that's it's a great family movie. There weren't many 'bad' parts. There was one part that we fast forwarded but it literally lasted about 20 seconds. There are a few words that I don't appreciate (which would be taken out using ClearPlay). I'd recommend it. I loved the concept. Plus I really like the actors who played the main parts.

I just have to post about Downton Abbey one more time :). I just finished the 2nd season. I don't know why I love this so much but I do. I love the culture back in the 'day'. It makes it more interesting because it takes place around WW1 (the first episode is based on when the Titanic sunk). It's at the turning point of the old customs mixing with the new customs. The older generation clings desperately to the old way of life and the younger generation can't wait for things to change. My official favorite characters are Mr. Bates, Anna, Mr. Crowley, and Daisy. Of course everyone is great (except a select few). Season 3 is filming right now, I can hardly wait!!

I've been rereading the Hunger Games. I finished book one last week just in time for the movie to come out next Friday!! So super excited. Now I'm in the middle of book 2.

Last but not least. I've officially purchased my New York flight tickets. Flying by myself across the country doesn't sound appealing at all but once that part's over I think it will be great. I've only ever been to that side of the country once, to Florida about 6 months ago (Disney World). I have a list going in my mind of all the things I'd like to do/see. I have a suspicious feeling this will not be a cheap trip...it's already expensive just with the flight alone. I'm going next month for 4 days/3 nights. Staying at a hotel in Times Square. If you have any suggestions of things to do, places to see, I'd love to hear them!! Chances are we'll be so busy we won't get to everything but that's ok.

Oh boy, now I got to get ready to go back to work, be realllllly jealous. I shouldn't have eaten such a big (delicious) dinner, I want to just lay down in my own bed and sleep now. I shouldn't complain, I am lucky to have a job and wonderful bosses!!

Places.

 

Wow I really haven't been many places compared to most (of course lots of these places have been visited many times). See if you can guess what they are :). 

The last few listed, I haven't actually been to but it's very possible I'll be going there shortly. Well the very last two I'll be going to next month for a few days, after I finally bite the bullet and buy my tickets. 

It reminds me of that Dr. Seuss book, oh the place's you'll go.

 Where have you been?

Today

I liked today, a lot!!

I started off waking up at work around 5:30, managed to fall asleep again until about 6:30, then laid awake and read some Hunger Games until 7.

When I got home, I took a nap, because thanks to a very croaky frog right outside my work bedrooms window, I was up much later than I had planned to be.

After waking up from my 'nap' I got ready for the day, then took Shelley (with my dad and Sam) to see the Lorax. I get into movies for free when I'm with Shelley thanks to the law. It was pretty good...not my favorite Dr. Seuss book-turned-movie though, the Grinch will always win.

After that, I had a 30% off my total old Navy purchase coupon in my pocket so I made my way into the store. Miraculously I didn't find one thing in the store to buy, GO ME!! My brother bought me a rootbeer gumball and off we went to get lunch at Port of Subs.

Once we got home, I decided that since I was really good this week about doing chores and staying busy I would take the day off. I love those days. I alternated between reading the Hunger Games and watching episodes of my (embarrassing/guilty pleasure) show, Downton Abbey. Hey, don't knock it till you watch it!! The first time I heard about this show was in a magazine, it got rave reviews... silly show that NOBODY could possibly watch.  Well I should bite my tongue. I don't know why I like it so much, I just DO. I like that they show the "helps" point of view as well as the rich families. I like how nice the family is to their help. I really don't like Thomas or O'Brien, in fact if they were real people, I'd kick dirt on their shoes. I do really like Anna, Mr. Bates, Mr. Crawley, Violet Crawley, Lady Sybil, Mr. Carson, and Mrs. Hughes. I've just started the 2nd season today but took a break to make some dinner, and to blog...

I'll probably read another chapter of the Hunger Games while I eat dinner, then put on my sweats, and watch the rest of the episode I'm on. Then who knows, I might get crazy and read a little more...The world is my oyster.

Is it strange that I really prefer nights like this rather than being 'out'? I don't think so.

Sorry if you just read the most random post about Downton Abbey...I just want everyone to love it as much as me!! If you do watch it, don't get discouraged by the first episode...one part in it made me almost stop watching it, dumb Thomas...but I just ignore him when he's on screen now, he's maddening. Oh ya, Professor McGonagall is in it too...I liked her better at Hogwarts.

Pinterest Pancake #9

Ummm yes. Two Pinterest posts within a day of each other... Unheardof. But these pancakes deserved their own post.

Do you like crepes? I do.

Do you like regular pancakes? Sometimes I do, but not typically.

This pancake is more crepe like than pancake so that's probably why I like it so much.

Shoot, I just ate all mine before taking a picture...wooops. I'll link you to some pics in just a minute.

There are only THREE essential ingredients 4, if you like cinnamon.

Ingredients:

2 oz cream cheese
2 eggs
1 packet of sweetener or 1 teaspoon sugar (I'm sure agave or honey would work too)
1 t. cinnamon-or to taste

That's it!! Just blend it up in yo blender. Let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to eliminate some of the bubbles. While you're waiting, spray a pan with cooking spray and let it warm up a little bit.

Pour 1/4 of the mixture onto the warm pan, let it cook for 2 minutes, flip cook 1 minute.

Top with REAL butter and REAL maple syrup. YUM.

It makes four medium-ish sized pancakes.

To me these tasted just like crepes, they're not as pliable or quite as thin but they are pretty darn close. I thought I'd get an overwhelming cream cheese taste or egg taste but neither was the case it was just good.

Photo (& Recipe) Credit: I Breathe, I'm Hungry Blog

OK I'm using the original recipes picture. Hers looked more professional anyway. Mine were not always so perfectly golden :). Hint: use a smaller pan, that way you can swirl the batter all around and they come out as circles.

A link to my baking board I'm trying to use more gluten free recipes because gluten isn't really that great for us anyways. ENJOY!!

Pinterest #8

I'm officially eliminating the name Pinterest Crafting. Now it's just Pinterest. Because I hardly do Pinterest crafts but I do other Pinterest things. How many times can I say that word in two sentences? Geesh.

Today was going to be a post about our amazing Temple Time Capsule Mutual activity from last night but the SNOW had other ideas. Gah, I was seriously so upset last night. The roads were pretty clear but I guess the church parking lot was snowy which totally stinks. I had guest speakers coming and everything ready (spent 5 hrs prepping yesterday alone) only to have it shut down at 6. OH WELL it will happen in a couple weeks.

Onward!!

Today's first Pinteresting idea comes from my hair board. First is this hair bow. I found a video of it on Pinterest and repinned it to my "Do's" Board. I think I have too much hair for this though. I had to pull a lot of my hair through to hide the ends but then the side parts were kind of flimsy. I call it my Minnie Mouse meets Lady Gaga look....BTW I've never worn this in public. It was just a fun experiment because I can never do cute things to my gross hair.

 Here's the video if you're interested:

I wish I had hair like that!! Meaning hair that is shiny...

The next Pinteresting thing I'll post about is my nails that I did for Valentines day. This idea is a combination of several pinned nail ideas.

 Supplies:
Art Deco (long skinny brush) in Pink and White
Solid base color- mine is NYC grey something something
Top coat- mine is Revlon, it's about $3-4 a bottle but it lasts quite a long time (surprising for how often I paint my nails) It gives it a really nice shine plus it dries very quickly.

Start by painting your base nails with whatever color you choose. Let it dry well. Then very carefully paint white stripes horizontally across each nail (please ignore the shaky crooked lines). Once that's dry, use your fun accent color to paint a heart or paint over a few white stripes etc...whatever you'd like to do. Since doing this, I found a much easier way to do the hearts.

Once the layers are all dry top with the top coat.

Well that was fun. I have so much to do today (mostly involving cleaning up my messes and my room) but I might decide to procrastinate and start reading Hunger Games book 1 just one time before the MOVIE 21 DAYS!!!!!! I read part of an article from the author who just saw the movie. She said it was great and she loved that they were able to show other points of view (not just Katniss). She talked about seeing Snow in his rose garden, the capitol control room, etc....SO EXCITING. gosh it all comes back to Hunger Games doesn't it?

Those Birds are Angry!!

I thought I'd post about a fun (well, hopefully fun) combined mutual activity we are going to have next month. Have you heard of this game called Angry Birds? It's a worldwide phenomenon, who'd have thunk that launching birds at green pigs (?) would catch on so quickly and so completely? I remember Sam telling me about it when it first came out, so I downloaded the free version and played it for about 2 weeks...then decided that the better I got at that game, the worse I got at life {no judgement zone}.

A few weeks ago we had a lesson in church and the lady giving the lesson had some statistics for us. This game has been downloaded 500 MILLION times in less than 2 years...whaaaa?! That's a lot. But that's not the most staggering number. She had it all figured out according to online stats that in ONE hour, 24 YEARS of Angry Birds is played across the world. That means, in ONE DAY, 576 YEARS of this game is being played. Total it's the equivalent of 200,000 YEARS in just under 2 years has been played of this game. If that's not enough to make you delete the app....haha.

But for reals, it's ridiculous. If only that much time had been spent serving, or learning, or solving problems, etc...I can think of many other worthy causes that time could have been spent on, but I digress {again no judgement, it's a good distraction tool for kids and adults alike in situations like lines, flights, long drives, etc...}. The point is, it's pop culture. All the youth at church know what Angry Birds is (whether they play it or not). I found this fun idea online that combines this silly game with a scripture chase. Win win!! We get to play a fun game while learning a little more about the scriptures.

I'll let you read her blog for all the nitty gritty details. They have some downloads for the rules/directions and the scripture chase questions. My 15 yr old brother (who is in the YM's) is excited for it. We have our presidency collecting boxes to create the structures.

Just for a fun reminder and for the youth to invite their friends, I made up this invite:

It was actually really quick to put together and hopefully it will entice the youth to come and bring their friends :) If you feel so inclined, they offer the "angry birds" font, which is really called, 'Feast of Flesh' online for free....I know that's so exciting.

What's more time wasting than playing Angry Birds...? Blogging about Angry Birds....yep. I'll be done.

The Games {Pinterest #8}

Today is Pinterest day. Well I haven't really done many pinteresting things the last couple weeks, far too busy. So instead of a craft or recipe I thought I'd share my Hunger Games Mania!! I had to start an entire board just for HG stuff.....I promise I do have a life....somewhere. But when I see fun Hunger Games stuff, I have to pin it because I'm so super excited for the movie and they are some of my favorite books.

President Snow...

So far all the pictures I've seen from the movie set are pretty close to what I saw in my head while reading :) that makes me happpppy. The boy with the bread.

 SPOILER ALERT: If you have not read these books and like to be surprised, don't read the following photo. K?

 Spoiler Alert is OVER Phew.

 I LOVE this picture. Also, I totally don't mind that Lenny Kravitz is playing Cinna, that one preview before she shoots up out of the ground makes me so excited.

This soundtrack is going to be really good. I can't wait for it to get released. I already like half the songs on it so I'll be getting it for sure.

28 Days. EEEEKK.

Link to my Hunger Games board.

Maybe next week I'll actually post something productive. I'm getting stuff ready for a big YW activity for next week's mutual. Possibly I'll post about that. Last night we made sushi...HUGE hit. It was a fun skill to learn, tasty too :)

The Civil Wars

I love this band. I found them after listening to the Hunger Games soundtrack. They do that song with Taylor Swift. Well since the guy looks like Johnny Depp and I enjoyed that song I decided to look them up on Spotify. I LOVE THEM!! I don't typically like that countryish music but it's kind of it's own genre (kind of a mix between country, blue grass, roots, rock, etc). I've been listening to it on repeat for awhile now :). This is my most favorite song so far...really it's the one I keep replaying so I'm sure their other stuff is just as good.

In other news, I'm feeling very productive today. I got off work at 6, came home and slept a little longer just because I can. I woke up refreshed and excited for the day. A guy came and fixed our washing machine that hasn't worked for over a week...ya laundry times 5 people...yikes. While I waited for him, I got dinner in the crockpot and the potatoes boiled (BBQ pulled pork and potato salad). After he left I took a jaunt into town (where I'm happy to say I didn't mentally yell at all the Canadians, I think listening to Mindy Gledhill and other calming music has been helping my road rage ;)). Went to the Asian market to pick up sushi makings for our Mutual activity tonight. Made a few stops then came home. I put The Civil Wars on my Spotifiy and looked up recipes to make my own fortune cookies for tonight (might not happen). Now I'm blogging, I have to send off a few emails and start getting stuff ready for next week's Mutual activity. We are making Temple Time Capsules with the girls, with special guest speakers from our stake. It will be good. Today is good.