We've been busy, as usual.
Thursday evening I hosted a season premiere watching party. Jess, Holly, Sara and Amy came over to watch The Office (JAM is so back!) and Grey's. For this event, we had cold spinach dip in a bread bowl (yum), wheat crackers, corn tortilla chips and salsa, ranch dip, m&m's and I made these delicious little numbers:
Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies
These are some of my favorite cookies. They are very close to being brownies, thick and gooey with tons of chocolate and finely ground espresso - delicious!
Here's the recipe, you should make them now!
Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1½ cups bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
4 eggs
2 Tablespoons ground espresso, Arabica beans
1¾ cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup pastry flour, sifted
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1½ cups Semi-sweet chocolate, chunks or chips
Procedure:
Measure out all ingredients. Grind espresso beans in a coffee grinder and set aside. Sift flour and baking powder into a medium bowl. Add salt to flour and set aside. Preheat oven to 350F.
Melt butter in a small saucepan and set aside. (Butter may also be melted in a microwave safe container for about 30 seconds on a standard high setting.) Put 1 cup unsweetened baking chocolate and 1 ½ cups bittersweet chocolate in the bowl of a double boiler or in a bowl set over a simmering hot water bath on the stove. Melt until chocolate is smooth and liquid without any lumps. Add butter and mix. Set aside.
In the bowl of a 5 quart mixer with the paddle attachment, beat eggs, sugar and espresso until light in color, about 2 minutes on high speed. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Pour melted chocolate/butter mixture into the bowl and mix until incorporated, about 20 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix until all the chocolate is incorporated, another 5 to 10 seconds.
Add dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and mix on low speed until all flour is incorporated, about 20 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix until all is well incorporated, about 5 to 10 seconds.
Add the last amount of chocolate chips to the mixer and mix well to combine.
Pour cookie dough into a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the top of the mix. Allow to stand at room temperature for ½ hour.
Scoop onto parchment paper and bake in the preheated 350F oven for 5 minutes of the center rack. After 5 minutes, rotate the pan and continue baking for another 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven and place on a cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.
I know, a lot of steps but definitely worth it!
I started baking cakes for Hannah's birthday party Friday morning. I had some cracking/uneven issues but we managed to salvage all of the cakes none the less.
Saturday we worked on the cookies for the party and I got the cakes iced. We had dinner that evening with Rodney's family for Ana's birthday at TGIFriday's. A little while later we dropped Rylee off at the grandparents house and headed towards downtown Dallas for our friend Megan's birthday celebration. We managed to take an hour long detour (thanks Texas State fair and Grambling game!) but finally ended up at the Monkey Bar. We really had a good time there. We sat on the patio and talked, there was a cool breeze and it was a nice change of pace for us. We needed the break badly. We've been so focused on the house we haven't spent any quality time together or with our friends.
Sunday morning we got up and I finished up the cakes for Hannah. We headed toward Jamie and Lisa's new house (they live so close to my parents now!) and tried to help get everything ready for the party.
I was pretty happy with the cake and I had a great time making it. I wish I was always making children's cakes! You can check it out here
The party was great! And Hannah must have had a good time eating cake and opening presents because she was in bed by 6! Rylee was pretty tired too. We left their house around 8 and she fell asleep on the way home. Those kids were pooped!
This week I'm on a mission to find Rylee a dress for, A: Her two year old pictures and B: Our Christmas Photo. Wish me luck!
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