12 New Things ~ Jogging

We're at the end of October so I thought I would share my October 12 New Things results with you!  My new thing for October was...jogging.  I am obviously disturbed to decide to do such a thing when I am so out of shape - LOL!

Not a surprise that I let more than half the month slip away before I even attempted one jog!  My son decided to try jogging with me as he wants to get in better shape too.  Love that kid!  So - a couple weeks ago we went on our first jog.

1st jog:
Pros...actually did some jogging, went about a mile and a half, drank some water.
Cons...over 90 degrees out, did more walking than jogging, felt very out of breath.

That first one was really hard and had me wondering what I had gotten myself into.  I do think the hot temp had a lot to do with it though.  The second one a couple days later was much better!  We went about two and a half miles and I jogged more than half of the time.  I felt better, but it was still hot out at that time.  My son decided he was very bored too - LOL!

I only got one more jog in this week and went on my own in the morning.  The weather was much cooler and I did better!  I walked a quarter mile to warm up, jogged about 2 miles with just a couple brief rests (walks), and walked the last quarter mile.  I felt really good about how I did!  Now you must know that my jog is s.l.o.w. but I hope to speed it up later.  I like this better than walking because I can tell it's more cardio and burning more calories.  If I keep it up, it will definitely help me drop a few pounds.

I do want to keep going with the jogging, trying for three times a week.  I'm glad I decided to do this as one of my 12 new things because otherwise I wouldn't have attempted it any time soon!

I did finish reading my book for October - Organizing Magic.  No, my house is not magically organized now, but I did get some good ideas from the book and am trying to use them and improve!  My October project to finish was organizing our big file cabinet.  File cabinet?  What file cabinet?  Oh - THAT file cabinet.  Well.  I did help hubs organize the garage and go through a bunch of boxes - does that count?  I ended up with even more things to file away in that cabinet - sigh.  I will get it done.  I'm at a point where I could get it done in a day - not bad!

Do you have a 12 New Things list?  How did you do for October?  Thanks to Sarah Mae at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee for starting me on this journey!  Up next - making homemade pie crust for November!

Have a great weekend friends!

CHOCOLATE Friday ~ Caramel-Brownie Cheesecake

Welcome to the end of the week!  Let's celebrate with a bit of chocolate!  You deserve it - I'm certain!  :)  On Fridays, I like to share something chocolatey and you get to link up your chocolate posts - the more the merrier!

Today I'll share the dessert I made for my wedding anniversary.  I gave my hubs a couple of choices and he picked this cheesecake.  Since the recipe included caramel and brownies, I thought I would go all out and make the brownies and the caramel from scratch!  I used the brownies I shared last week and the caramel sauce I posted on Tuesday - yum!!

This cheesecake is super rich as you can imagine and I'm really glad that we gave most of it away so we didn't consume all those extra calories.  It was yummy though!  We enjoyed it!  Give it a try for a special occasion!  I found the recipe in my cute little Cafe Nervosa (from the show Frasier) cookbook.

Mix crushed vanilla wafers and butter.

 

The crust is ready!

Pour the delicious homemade caramel sauce on the bottom.

Crumble up the homemade brownies and cover the caramel.

Pour in the batter - ready to bake.

Just out of the oven!

Warm up some caramel sauce, drizzle, and drool!

Caramel-Brownie Cheesecake

1 3/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 batch homemade Caramel Sauce*
2 1/2 cups coarsely crumbled Basic Fudge Brownies**
3 (8-oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 (8-oz) carton sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine vanilla wafer crumbs and butter; firmly press into bottom and 1-2 inches up sides of lightly greased 9-in. springform pan.  Bake at 350  for 5 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.

Make caramel sauce; reserving a small amount to drizzle later.  Pour caramel sauce over crust.  Sprinkle crumbled brownies over caramel.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes or til fluffy.  Gradually add brown sugar, mixing well.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each egg just until blended.  Stir in sour cream and vanilla.  Pour batter over brownies.  Bake at 350 for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until almost set.  Remove from oven; cool on wire rack.  Cover and chill at least 4 hours.  Remove sides of pan.

*Instead of homemade caramel sauce, can use 1 (14-oz) pkg caramels and 1 (5-oz) can evaporated milk.  Combine in small saucepan; cook over low, stirring often, until caramels melt.

**Can use any brownie recipe, mix, or purchase unfrosted brownies.

Cheesecake tips:
 ~ Wrap the bottom of the pan in foil.  If the crust is very buttery, drips of butter will fall onto the bottom of the oven and start smoking.  I forgot about that and it happened to me again this time!
 ~ Be careful not to over-mix.  I did a bit and ended up with a bubble on top of my cheesecake.
 ~ When you take the cheesecake out of the oven, run a knife carefully around the edge so it won't crack as it cools.

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What do you think?  Does it sound good to you?  Are you going to give it a try?  Do you have a yummy dessert that you make for special occasions?

Do you have a chocolate post to link up?  It can be new or old and doesn't even have to be a recipe, just family-friendly and something to do with chocolate!  I hope you'll find something to link up today so we can all share the chocolatey goodness!  If you don't have a blog, share your favorite chocolate recipe or link in the comments!

Have a chocolatey day friends!

Retro Runway ~ 80's Hair

Melissa from Frugal Creativity is having a Retro Runway blog party today!!  Post some fun retro pics or memories and go link up!

I already showed you some of my 80's hairstyles last week.  And I even told you the story of THIS hairstyle!

But then how does one go from that (above) to this (below)?  And in about a year and a half too!

This was my Senior picture that went in the yearbook.  It was taken the Summer before my Senior year.  I had a professional session and everything!  That hair took some time every day, especially since I have very fine, very straight hair!  I remember blow drying, using the curling iron A LOT, teasing it some, using a ton of Aqua Net hairspray and then sometimes having to start all over because I wasn't happy with it.  That meant I would go rinse it out and start fresh.  LOL!  It was all about the hair I tell you!!

Then fast forward less than a year later, after graduation - now what's happened to my hair?  I had to cut it short during the year - long story short - got mono, had high fevers, 3 months later started losing some hair, cut it short while new hair growth happened.  It was already growing out by the time the pic below was taken.  So what did I do??

I asked the hair stylist to give me a bob, but to make it unique.  This is what we came up with - cut the sides like a bob, cut it short & spiky on top, leaving a few long pieces for bangs.  Er, because that makes perfect sense, right?!  :)

This was at a family reunion and here's a pic of me, my Dad, and my sis - just so you can get the full 80's outfit feel!

Mini skirt - check.  Large LA Gear shirt with shoulder pads - check.  Big earrings - check.  Swatch watch - check.  Unusual hairstyle - check.  Dad who wears black dress socks with shorts - check.  Ah, good times.

So there's your little dose of the 80's and a bit about how often I would change my hairstyles!  Hope you enjoyed it!

Go check out Retro Runway for more fun looks into the past!!

Have like a totally awesome day friends!  :)

Tasty Tuesday ~ Caramel Sauce

I had thought about making my own caramel sauce for the last couple of years, but I was always too intimidated to try it.  I was making a dessert for my wedding anniversary last week and it called for caramel.  The recipe said to melt a bag of caramels and mix with evaporated milk to make a caramel sauce.  I decided this was my chance to attempt homemade caramel sauce!  I can be crazy like that.

I looked at several recipes and then ended up with my own measurements.  This makes a little thicker sauce, close to the consistency of melted caramels.

Simple ingredients!

The sugar turns to crystals and then starts to melt.

Carmelized sugar.

All mixed together!

The finished product!

I need to *confess* that I burnt the first batch!  And I almost ruined the second batch!  I'll give you the recipe and then some helpful tips.

Caramel Sauce

1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put sugar in large (2-3 quart because it will foam up) saucepan with a heavy bottom.  Over medium-high heat, stir sugar with wooden spoon or whisk until it begins to clump in crystals, then stir constantly.  Keep stirring until sugar melts completely and has a *caramel* color.  Add butter (some foaming will occur) and stir constantly with whisk until butter melts.  Remove pan from heat.  Pour cream slowly in pan while stirring briskly with whisk - mixture will foam up.  Keep stirring until caramel is smooth.  Add vanilla extract and stir.  Pour caramel in glass jar to cool.  After cooling, refrigerate.  Can be kept in refrigerator 2 weeks and heated up to use as necessary.

Tips:
~ Have all ingredients measured out and ready to go - no time for leaving the stove!
~ Wear hot pads!  When the mixture foams up, it's very hot and you should protect your hands/arms.
~ If your carmelized sugar mixture smells burnt or like strong molasses, don't add your butter & cream 'cause you already burnt the sugar and nothing will fix it.  Ask me how I know.  :)
~ Don't let the melting sugar get too dark - it changes from carmelized to burnt really fast!
~ Practice with a half batch to get the hang of it.
~ Don't use a skimpy pan or the bottom will get too hot and your sugar will be more likely to burn.
~ If the mixture clumps when adding cream, put it back on heat and keep stirring until smooth.
~ If you want a less thick caramel sauce, you can try increasing the butter and/or cream.

Is that helpful?  Or too confusing?  Once you try it a couple of times, you start to get a feel for it.  Here are a couple of helpful links with more info on making caramel sauce:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/caramel_sauce/
http://video.about.com/americanfood/Easy-Caramel-Sauce.htm 

Have you made your own caramel sauce?  Let me know if you give it a try!  It's soooo delicious!  You'll have to stop back here for CHOCOLATE Friday to see what I used this caramel sauce for!

I linked up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam today!  Stop by for all sorts of yummy recipes!

Have a tasty day friends!  :)

Happy Anniversary To My Best Friend

Our anniversary is actually tomorrow, but we're celebrating it this evening!  We've been married 18 years!!

My husband truly is my best friend.  Don't get me wrong - I love my girl friends, but I love spending time with my husband (and son too) more.  We do occasionally have differences of opinion, but in general we get along so well that I think that's part of the reason that 18 years have flown by.  That wedding pic seems like it could have been just 5 years ago...um, except for our completely different hairstyles!  And except for the fact that we have an 11-year old son - LOL!

My husband is a godly man and a good head of our household.  He's a wonderful father too!  He is one of the handiest men I know around the house - fixing things, working on cars, landscaping, installing appliances, and much more!  He treats me like a princess sometimes even though I don't deserve it (even lets me spend a few dollars on frivolous fancy coffee drinks).  Thank you honey!!  He works hard and works a lot of hours to support our family and allow me to be a stay-at-home mom.  That has been a great blessing!

I love you dear!  Here's to another 18 years of a blessed marriage...and 18 more after that...and 18 more after that...  :)

CHOCOLATE Friday ~ Basic Fudge Brownies

It's Friday again!  Let's have a little chocolate to celebrate, OK?  OK.  Don't forget to go grab a chocolate post (or comment with a link to your fave chocolate recipe if you're not a blogger) and come here to link it up at the bottom!  Chocolate is meant to be shared, especially with me.  :)

I needed to make some brownies to use in another recipe I'll be making and realized that I did not have a *basic* brownie recipe listed here.  Now the Sand Art Brownies are my favorite, but sometimes you need a plain, no-nonsense brownie.  These brownies are simple, chocolatey, and perfect for frosting or using in another recipe.  They are still yummy plain of course, just not to the level of decadence that I have grown to love in an unfrosted brownie.  I found the recipe in a BHG potluck edition from 2003 and I'll even give you one of the frosting recipes though I did not use it.

You know it'll be good when it starts with melted butter and chocolate!

A nice smooth top - perfect for adding your favorite frosting!

Chocolatey goodness.

Basic Fudge Brownies

1/2 cup butter (used organic)
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, cut up
1 cup granulated sugar (used organic~evaporated cane juice)
2 eggs, slightly beaten (used free-range)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (used unbleached)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease an 8x8 baking pan and set aside.  In medium pan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring often.  Remove from heat.

Transfer melted chocolate/butter to medium mixing bowl.  Stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Using wooden spoon, lightly beat until combined.  Stir in flour.  Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack.  If desired, frost when cool and cut into squares.

Peanut Butter Frosting
In medium bowl, beat 1/4 cup peanut butter with electric mixer on low until fluffy.  Gradually add 1 cup powdered sugar, beating well.  beat in 1/4 cup milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Gradually beat in additional 1/2 cup powdered sugar until it reaches spreading consistency.  Optional: sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

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Are you wondering yet what I'm using these brownies for since I didn't frost them?  Well, these lovely brownies will be an important ingredient in a special dessert I'm making for our wedding anniversary!  I'll post it next Friday.  What's your favorite brownie recipe?

Now go find some chocolate and bring it back here (I'm so bossy)!  You can link up a new or old chocolate post and non-bloggers can leave some chocolate recipes or links in the comments!  Let's feed the blogosphere a little chocolate!

Have a chocolatey day friends!

The Story Of The Styles, Part 1

Did you enjoy checking out my 80's hairstyles yesterday?  I thought you might enjoy some of the explanations, but I'll break it up into parts and share over the next week or so.

Ah yes, this first pic is my school pic for Sophmore year.  Not the best angle to appreciate the hairstyle, but I was enjoying the shorter hair and side part (new to me)!  I also had just had a friend help me with highlighting my hair (you can hardly tell - LOL).  Remember the plastic cap with holes and the hook you used to pull little pieces of hair through to highlight?  Ouch!  I love this pic because of the double collars standing up and all the color coordination - hee,hee!  Sooooo 80's.

This pic is about 6 months later - so what happened??  LOL!  This does have a story!

Well, my friends and I heard about a hair show and went to sign up for it.  It was a show for hair stylists to see the new styles and ways to cut hair.  The "models" had no say in what kind of haircut they would get.  I think there were at least 15-20 of us "models."  The stylists were going to cut some of the hair backstage and then show it off on the runway, but they chose me to cut on stage during the show.  They asked me if I was willing to go *shorter* and I said yes as I was excited about a new stylish cut!

They told us to come back the day of the show wearing men's clothing (since that was a cool look at the time) and they helped us with our makeup backstage.  My friends got their haircuts and looked cute (though they weren't necessarily happy with them at the time).  Then it was my turn!

Out on stage I went and sat in the chair with stage lights on me!  I bent my head down and then I heard a noise...clippers!!!  Oh yes!!!  They started buzzing the hair off the back of my head and the sides too.  Wow - wonder what my facial expression was - LOL!  Then they used scissors on the top and cut longer pieces for a sort of "new wave" look.  Then I had to get up and walk the runway to show everybody and I had NO IDEA what my hair looked like!!!

I was quite shocked but I actually did like it!  It was cool and I liked the attention at school.  And my philosophy always was "Hair grows back."  The pic above was taken by my Dad after I came home from the show!  Can you imagine what he was thinking?  His semi-normal daughter left for a hair show and came back with no hair - LOL!!  And that blazer, shirt and tie all came out of my Dad's closet - a bit of leftover wardrobe from the 60's-70's I guess!  In case you were wondering, that was my "serious model look."  I would have done a hair toss if I had any left.  :)

Such fun memories!  I'll cover Part 2 next week, 'cause you're fascinated, I know.

Don't forget: tomorrow is CHOCOLATE Friday!!  Write up a chocolate post or find an old one and bring it here to link up!

Have a great day friends!

Wordless Wednesday: It Was All About The Hair

I finally found some pics that I knew I had put *somewhere safe* (and then couldn't find for a couple years)!  I just knew you were wanting to see the good old 80's hair days and how many different hairstyles I had - LOL!  I decided not to explain any of the pics today.  I'll give you some of the stories behind the pics tomorrow!  Raise your hand if you had one of these styles...

That's me in the mustard yellow jacket!

For more fun pics, stop by Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes For Mom!

Have a wonderful day friends!

Do You Talk To The Traffic?

I'm sure you ALL talk (or speak in a slightly *raised voice*...ahem) to the traffic, like I do - right?  Right???

Who is this helping?  Of course the traffic cannot hear you!  Is it all for the benefit of the other people in the car that can hear you?  Maybe it helps them truly experience the driving you are doing - heh,heh.  But what about when you are all alone and still talking to the traffic? (Oh please tell me it's not just me!)

I couldn't help giggling about it all last night when I actually heard myself talking aloud to the cars around me - and nobody was in the car with me.  LOL!  I was behind a very s-l-o-w car and heard myself say, "Oh that's not gonna work for me."  I made myself actually LOL at that one!  Here are a few things I've heard myself say:

~ Go, go, go, go GO!
~ Nice turn signal buddy. {sarcasm}
~ C'mon mister.
~ Dude!
~ Thank you!
~ Now we're talkin'.
~ You can do it!
~ Go ahead.
~ UNbelievable!

I'm sure I've said more!  It's rare for me to use full sentences though. 

What have you said out loud to the traffic lately?  (Please leave out the profanities as this is a family blog!!)

CHOCOLATE Friday ~ German Chocolate Cookies

We made it to Friday!  Let's celebrate with a bit of chocolate!  I am ready for the weekend (did you see my Fail?), how about you?

I found this recipe in an issue of BHG magazine last year and saved it.  Just ran across it recently and HAD to try it!  These cookies are delicious and somewhat healthy too - love it when that happens!  And oh - the delightful scent wafting up after stirring the warm toasted pecans into the chocolate and coconut - mmm...mmm...mmm.

German Chocolate Cookies

1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (I used unbleached)
2/3 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned)
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 oz. dark or sweet baking chocolate chopped (sweet will give a German chocolate flavor, but dark is healthier - I used dark chocolate chips 'cause I was too lazy to chop up chocolate)
1/3 cup flaked coconut (I used unsweetened organic coconut)
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Optional garnish: flaked coconut and chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In large mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Add in the brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Beat until well combined.  Use spatula to scrape sides of bowl if necessary.  Add egg and vanilla.  Beat until combined.  Add flour and beat in.  Stir in rolled oats, flax seed meal, and the cocoa powder.  Then stir in chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips), coconut, and toasted pecans.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.  You can sprinkle tops with more chopped pecans and flaked coconut if you like.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges start to firm and tops are set.  Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 1 minute.  Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.  Should make about 35 cookies (I got 32).  Can keep 2 days at room temp or freeze for 3 months.

Per cookie:  84 cal, 4 g fat, 1 g fiber, about 2 WW pts

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Don't those sound yummy?  Trust me - they are!

I know you've got yummy chocolate recipes too!  If you have a blog, you can do a new chocolate post or go find one in your archives and come back here to link it up!  If you don't have a blog, feel free to leave chocolatey thoughts, recipe links, and more in the comments!  Please share the chocolate - we love it so!!  :)

Stop back again later to check out the delicious posts that get linked up!  Please do pay them a visit (it is chocolate after all) and leave them some comment love!  Thank you!  Did you see the drool-worthy posts linked up last Friday?

This post linked to Fabulous Friday Food at Life on the Wild Side!  Also linked to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Have a chocolatey day my friends and a fabulous weekend!

Friday Fails ~ Pound Cake

The lovely Myra at My Blessed Life always hosts Friday Fails.  I love a woman that can publicly admit her fails!  I KNOW you know I have fails...regularly.  I just don't always think about blogging them (and I host CHOCOLATE Fridays so my mind is usually on that - I have priorities you know)!

This one was just too good to pass up and I even thought to take a pic.  I was making some desserts that a friend had requested and decided to add a pound cake for her as a surprise.  Of course I should have baked it the night before since I had a hair appointment scheduled in the morning and the pound cake takes an hour and a half to bake.  But I didn't.  So I got up early - not early enough of course - and hurried to get the cake in the oven to finish before my appointment.

It finished up and I took it out of the oven.  I was now running late for my hair appointment as I took too long making the cake!  I was going to be gone quite a while so I wanted to get the cake out of the pan before I left.  It started coming out...and then...disaster!

The cake broke into 4 - yes FOUR pieces, some tumbling onto the table and some burning my arm.  And I had to leave - right then.  *sigh*  I put the pieces onto the rack and left.  Here they are:

Didn't exactly fit my vision of presenting my friend with a nice big pound cake!  Well, I needed a little consolation for this fail:

That helped - LOL!!  I did rescue the fail by slicing off the damaged ends and cutting several slices which I took to my friend!  My family actually liked my fail as it left several pound cake scraps for us to eat and I even froze a chunk to be a nice little bit of dessert some other time.

So I guess it doesn't pay to do things last-minute or to rush.  Maybe I'll grow up someday and learn that.  :)

Doesn't that make you feel better?  If you like to hear other fails (so you know you're not alone - LOL), then stop by My Blessed Life for Friday Fails!

Have a fail-free day friends!