Birthday treats

Beautiful roses from Darryl

Handmade bowl from Taylor - love it!

No birthday cake for me - we made

Creme Brulee with fresh raspberries - yum!

Recipe for creme brulee from

Barefoot Contessa.

Creme Brulee

1 extra-large egg

4 extra large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar, plus 1 Tbl. for ea.

3 cups heavy cream

1 tsp. pure vanilla

1 Tbl. grand marnier

Preheat over to 300 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted

with the paddle attachment, mix the egg,

egg yolks, and 1/2 cup sugar together on low

speed until just combined. Meanwhile, scald

the cream in a small saucepan until very hot to

touch, but not boiling. With the mixer on low

speed, slowly add the cream to the eggs. Add the

vanilla and grand marnier and pour into 6-8

ramekins until almost full.

Place the ramekins in a baking pan and carefully

pour boiling water into the pan to come halfway

up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 35-40 min.

until the custards are set when gently shaken.

Remove the custards from the water bath, cool

to room temperature, and refridge until firm.

To serve: Spread 1 Tbl. of sugar evenly on the top

of ea. ramekin and heat with a kitchen blowtorch

until the sugar caramelizes evenly. Allow to sit

at room temp. for a minute until the caramelized

sugar hardens. Top with fresh raspberries.

It's my birthday - whoot!

Happy Birthday to me.

26 years ago today - okay 46 years ago,

but who's counting anymore right? Earlier

this year Logan asked me how old I was?

Not really wanting to answer that question,

I asked "how old do you think I am?"

Scary question to ask a 5 year old, I was

afraid he would say 70 or something... but,

he said "25" - Yes! 25 it is, and has been ever

since. After all, I didn't want to scare him

with my real age, he thought 25 was old - yikes!

So, today I am 26 - hee hee.

o

Dinner last night

Delicious dinner last night - Chicken Curry.

Got the recipe from "Sam the Cooking Guy",

super easy and really tasty, with minimal

ingredients. Made with a rotisserie chicken

from the grocery store, so couldn't be easier.

I added the red bell pepper and peas

to get the kids to eat more veggies and

to make it a more complete meal.

Darryl said the house smelled like an

Indian palace - still does this morning,

but in a good way...

0

Easy Chicken Curry

2 Tbl. veg. oil

1 small onion diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbl. flour

2 Tbl. curry powder

1/2 tsp. cayanne*

*(it was pretty spicy, may cut this down a bit next time)
1 (14oz.) can coconut milk

(I use light coconut milk from Trader Joe's)
3 Cups shredded rotisserie chicken

2 Tbl. apricot jam

1 red bell pepper sliced

1 cup frozen peas

fresh cilantro, chopped

Serve over steamed jasmine rice

Saute onion in oil til translucent, add garlic and saute

for a few min. more. Add curry, cayenne and flour and let cook

for just a few min., mixture will be dry. Add coconut milk and

apricot jam, stir till smooth. Add red peppers, peas and

shredded chicken, stir till all heated through. Serve over rice

and top with a bit of chopped cilantro. Yum!

Just a few pics

Pomegranate Margaritas on the patio.

o

Chloe & cousin Aspen help make rolls.

Mom would be proud - the rolls turned

out great.

o

8

We also got a little thanksgiving treat,

we caught up with a pod of about 50 Dolphins

while we were on the Jet Ski's.

It was an awesome experience!

No pictures, just one great memory.

Sweets for the sweet

I got this box idea from a design

guest on the Today Show. (Can't remember

his name?) He used the boxes plain,

but I embellished mine a bit. Chloe helped

me put them together.

We plan to place them on each plate

at the Thanksgiving table. I think they

turned out so cute.

I have many things to be thankful for this

year, but most importantly is my family!

Love you all!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're off the the beach...

Si por favor

**

Pomegranate Margaritas

These sound perfect for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner

cocktail on the beach - no? Found the recipe here.

I think I have all the ingredients too.

Muy Bueno!

Spiced Nuts

Bagged up some spiced nuts this morning

and gave them to Mom & Mike.

We will be spending the holiday

at the beach with Darryl's family.

Today I'm making Mom's spiced peaches to take

with us. Will also be making a spinach salad

with dried cranberries, toasted pecans, mandarin

oranges, red onion and gorgonzola - yum!

The kids will be helping me make Mom's

homemade rolls too - yum yum!