Chocolate Tiramisu - Chocolate With Francois

The past couple of CWF recipes have been "easy" in comparison with most of our CWF recipes. While I wouldn't say this month's recipe was particularly difficult, it did have the typical CWF characteristics. The recipe was made up of lots of steps and an equally large amount of bowls and utensils. I made it over two nights, not sure how long it took but let's just say this isn't a quick dessert to put together!

Tiramisu is one of my favorite desserts. It's one of the ways I judge an Italian restaurant, great Tiramisu is a sign of a good Italian restaurant. Now I am not sure I've ever had Chocolate Tiramisu, so I guess I would consider myself a Tiramisu purist. Traditional Tiramisu is made with lady fingers and doesn't have any chocolate. I was curious if chocolate could make one of my favorite desserts even better.

Knowing it was very rich and having read some of the other CWF baker's comments about how delicious it was, I made a fourth of the recipe. The cake requires both egg whites and egg yolks. My egg whites never quite reached the stiff peak stage. I even tossed in a pinch of cream of tartar but still no stiff peaks. I decided to go for it and luckily my cake turned out fine. The ganache called for chopped chocolate. I think it should have said finely chopped chocolate. My chocolate wasn't melting when I combined it with the cream. I put it in the microwave for about 20 seconds and the chocolate melted perfectly. Once you have the cake, ganache and marscapone mixtures made, it's a relatively easy dessert to assemble.



Payard says the dessert gets better after sitting overnight, which makes sense as this gives the flavors a chance to meld. I tried it the night I made it. I thought it was good, not great. Of course the ganache was amazing but isn't it always!!! Thanks to Sandy of Seattle Pastry Girl for choosing this month's recipe. You can find the recipe on her blog! You can check out the other CWF baker's Tiramisu here!!

Nana's Chocolate Cake - Revisited

As we approach Mother's Day, I am going to feature a couple of recipes from some of the great Mom's who have touched my life. Today's recipe, Nana's Chocolate Cake, is from my best friend's mother and my son's grandmother.

You can find the recipe and the original post here!

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Slow Cooker Apple Crisp

I use my slow cooker all the time for main dishes and every once in a while for side dishes but I've never made a dessert in it. Recently I've seen several recipes for cobblers or crisps made in the slow cooker. Curious, I decided to give it a try.

I cooked this on low for about four hours. I removed the lid and placed a towel underneath to help remove the moisture and increase the "crispness". The addition of the butterscotch pudding gives this a wonderful caramel flavor. While this doesn't have quite the same crunch and as one baked in the oven, it makes a delicious dessert and you can't beat the smell of the apples cooking in the kitchen.



Slow Cooker Apple Crisp
Recipe courtesy of CD Kitchen

5 large sliced peeled tart apples
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 package (3-1/2-ounce size) cook-and-serve butterscotch pudding mix
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine
Vanilla ice cream or Whipping Cream -- optional


PREPARATION:

Place apples in a 3-qt. slow cooker.

In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, oats, pudding mix and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the apples.

Cover and cook on low for 5 hours or until apples are tender. Serve with ice cream or whipping cream, if desired.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday, Tuesday's at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tuesday Night Supper Club.

Versatile Blogger Award

Last week, Susan at Life, Kids and Genealogy awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award. Thanks, Susan!!

As a winner of this award you're to pass this award on to 15 bloggers. I'd like to award this to all of you!! You're all such fabulous bloggers and I so appreciate your comments on my blog. In addition, the winners of this award are to share 10 things about themselves. Since there's no Meet Me on Monday today, I thought this would be a great day for this post.

1. Until 5 years ago, I'd lived all of my life in Kansas City. On the Kansas side, primarily in Overland Park.
2. I am afraid of heights. Not sure where this fear came from. I am one of those annoying people who take a big pause before stepping on an escalator.
3. I love purses and shoes. Although, the older I get the more I am about comfort in stead of style in those shoes.
4. I'd like to own a Bed and Breakfast or a small cafe/bakery that only serves breakfast and lunch.
   
5. I DVR the fourth hour of The Today Show every day. I love the banter between Kathie Lee and Hoda.
6. I am a NASCAR fan. Jimmie Johnson is my guy! (And yes, I was a Jimmie fan before he won the chase five seasons in a row.)
7. My favorite cocktail is a glass of white wine.
8. I am hooked on Angry Birds and Words With Friends. Although I am much better at Angry Birds than Words With Friends, less thought required for Angry Birds!!!
9. Tops on my bucket list is a trip to Italy.
   
10. My natural hair color is a medium brown or at least it I think it was. My hair hasn't been it's natural color since I was a teenager. Unfortunately, now I think the natural color would be grey?
    

Anything you'd like to share about yourself?

Pink Saturday - Signs of Spring

I've been a little lax in posting Pink Saturday the past couple of weeks. Seems I haven't had much pink to share. I wish I could say these beautiful pink tulips were from my garden but I can't. They're from Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's always has the most beautiful flowers and the most reasonable prices.

Happy Easter and Pink Saturday everyone!!!

Nacho Cheese Chicken Chowder

If you read my blog, you know I use my slow cooker a lot. The slow cooker is perfect for soups! I am always looking for new soup recipes to try. I found this great soup recipe over at My Kind of Cooking. Linda has the best recipes!!

I only had one can of Rotel tomatoes on hand, so I used regular diced tomatoes for the second can. Am I glad I made this change! I can't handle really spicy recipes. If I had used two cans of Rotel, this would have been too spicy for me. The cheese thickens the soup and adds a delicious flavor dimension. This one's a keeper, we'll be having it again soon!

Nacho Cheese Chicken Chowder

Recipe Courtesy of Linda at My Kind of Cooking

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 (14.5 ounce) cans Mexican style tomatoes, undrained

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can nacho cheese soup

1 (10 ounce) package frozen whole kernel corn

Shredded Mexican style or cheddar cheese

In slow cooker, combine chicken, tomatoes, soup, and corn. Mix well. Cover. Cook on low 4 to 5 hours or high 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Sprinkle each serving with cheese. makes 6 servings.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

In My Garden

On Thursday's last summer, I attempted to feature something growing in my yard. As the snow started to fly and the wind started to blow, I changed my Thursday posts to From The Good Life. Although, we're not getting a lot of warmer Spring weather, signs of Spring are starting to appear.



Tim built a raised bed last year and for the first time I planted oregano and sage. After the first frost, we covered the sage and oregano with straw. Our winter this year was pretty darn cold and I was concerned, especially in a raised bed, my herbs wouldn't come back this Spring. Just a week or so ago, Tim uncovered them and said to take a look because they were starting to show signs of life. Excited they survived, I googled to see when or if I should cut them back. Yes, you should trim them but only after they start to show a lot of new growth. This past Sunday, I went out to trim them back and as it turns out there wasn't much old growth to get rid of. If you've ever wanted to grow sage or oregano and wondered if they would come back, give them a try. I bet they will come back for you!!