The weather was less than fabulous this past weekend – windy and cooler with off and on sprinkles. We were all wiped out from traveling last weekend and a busy work/school week. It was nice to stay home, get a few projects and some cleaning done and just hang out. Since outdoor play was less than favorable, we decided to set up Sophia’s tent in the living room. The kids plugged in their portable DVD player, grabbed some snacks and camped out in the living on Saturday afternoon.
Indoor Camping
Camped Out
Pets Allowed
Exhausted
Sophia and I did sneak outside between wind gusts and sprinkles to pick some spring flowers.
Violets
Daffodil Bouquet
We decided to go to the movies on Sunday and see How To Train Your Dragon. We all enjoyed the movie…and the buttery popcorn. Despite the windy weather in the afternoon, the boys headed out to the baseball field to practice pitching and batting. At home, Sophia convinced me to do some baking with her. A friend from work had passed along her child’s Easy Bake Oven. We made two batches of cookies. Sophia ate one batch and Sebastian ate the other. Mike was disappointed that there weren’t any left for him. I had to explain that each batch makes only ONE cookie. Not only does the oven only bake one cookie at a time, they take FOREVER! At least that’s what it seemed like when Sophia was waiting for her cookie to finish baking.
Cooling Off
White & Chocolate Cookie
Chocolate & White Cookie
After cookies, we went out to take a few pictures of the cherry blossoms. A pleasant way to finish the weekend.
Sophia had the day off from school yesterday. It was Kindergarten Round Up. All of the little 4 and 5 year old boys and girls were checking out the classrooms and meeting the teachers. This displaced the current Kindergarteners for the day – including Sophia. She didn’t mind though. We have been planning our “girls day out” for more than a month. Lucky for me, it’s not difficult to impress a 5 year old. We had a number of things on our list that we wanted to do. By the end of our day, we had completed them all.
Here’s a peek at our list – sleep in, color card for friend’s birthday party, take long bath, play with ponies, get hair cut, enjoy treat at McDonald’s, take vehicle to car wash (this was on my personal list but Sophia didn’t mind), walk Daphne, paint nails, watch “girl” movie, bake cookies or bars, take pictures and read books. We covered it all…and then some.
Here are some highlights from the day.
Just Waking Up
Ponies!
After a bath, pony play time and lunch, we headed to McDonald’s for a treat. Sophia opted for a hot fudge sundae. She was generous enough to share it with me. After a few bites of her portion, she was all done. When I suggested that we head home to complete some of our other plans for the day, she told me that she wanted to stay a bit longer. “Look at the view, Mom. You can see the whole lake from here.” She was so cute – enjoying the Lake Superior view from the McDonald’s on London Road. We stayed a bit longer to take in the view.
Here’s what we did when we got back home.
Painted Nails
We set up the tripod to take photos. Sophia loved pressing the shutter button and running over to pose for the pictures. She did it about 20 times. These are my favorites.
The Two Of UsSmile!One More Time
After walking Daphne and watching part of a movie, we headed down to the school to pick up Sebastian. Then we took some more photos.
Feeling The LoveGoofing Around
Sebastian offered Sophia a piggy-back ride…for $1. She took him up on the offer.
Piggy-Back
After all the fun and games, we made some yummy bars – Chocolate Crumb Bars. Everyone in the family gave them two thumbs up. The recipe is below. I found it on the Nestle website.
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
BEAT butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar and salt until crumbly. With floured fingers, press 2 cups crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan; reserve remaining mixture. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
COMBINE1 cup morsels and sweetened condensed milk in a small, heavy-duty saucepan. Warm over low heat, stirring until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Spread over hot crust.
STIR nuts and remaining morsels into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over chocolate filling. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool in pan on wire rack.
I made Chocolate Lava Cake for dessert on Valentine’s Day. I found the recipe on the Tasty Kitchen website earlier in the week. I told Mike and the kids that I had a fabulous dessert planned for our “family” Valentine’s dinner. It was going to be a surprise. I hyped this mystery dessert so much that I was afraid it might not be nearly as good as I had promised. No worries – it was beyond amazing. I did have to stop myself from thinking about the amount of calories and fat that we all consumed though. I probably should make this dessert only once a year…or maybe twice. 🙂
Chocolate Lava CakeDig In!
Just in case you feel the need for a rich chocolate dessert recipe, here it is…
Chocolate Lava Cake
Ingredients
4 pieces (squares) semi-sweet baking chocolate
½ cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
6 tablespoons flour
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 4 custard cups with Pam and place on cookie sheet. Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. Whisk until chocolate is also melted. Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour. Divide between cups. Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute. Combine sugar and heavy cream and whip until stiff. Invert cakes on dishes and top with whipped cream.
**I didn’t use the amount of whipping cream the recipe called for. It seemed like way too much. I used only about 1/2 cup and added a small amount of sugar and vanilla after I whipped it. I would serve the whipped cream off to the side next time so that it doesn’t melt from the heat of the lava cake. I used sliced fresh strawberries for garnish. The tartness of the berries along with the richness of the chocolate and delicate flavor of the whipped cream made for a perfect trio.
M. Sullivan Photography 