Mormon Tiramisu

I'm going to be honest with all of you, I have a sever infatuation with all foods that might possibly break the word of wisdom. It's sad but true. Anything that might contain wine, coffee, or any form of alcohol intrigues me. I LOVE to cook and I just might be obsessed with the Food Network. So my new quest is to find what i'm going to call "Mormon" versions of the oh so sophisticated and elegant foods that one might see on the Food Network or in a fancy cook book by Julia Child. Everything that one might be leery of adding to a recipe (because of WoW issues) will have been omitted or substituted with something just as good.

My first challenge: Mormon Tiramisu

It was pretty good, it tasted really good with some fresh blueberries on top!

Here's the recipe I came up with:

1/2 pound mascarpone cheese

3 egg yolks

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 angel food cake loafs

4 tbs sugar

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 cup chocolate milk (extra chocolatey)

(I just added a little cocoa powder)

3 egg whites

cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Beat cheese, egg yolks, vanilla and 2 tbs sugar.

2. Beat egg whites until stiff and shiny. Whip cream.

3. Gently fold egg yolk mixture, egg whites and cream together. Mix up some extra chocolatey chocolate milk and add 2 tbs sugar.

4. Cut the angel food cake into 3/4 inch slices. Dip angel food cake into chocolate milk and line dish. Alternate layers of angel food cake and cream mixture; ending with cream.

5. Dust with cocoa powder and refrigerate.

What are some other recipes that I should tackle?

Vintage With Me, But Only For A Minute

The other day while I was feeling super down about life and a wee bit depressed I decided to take a "Me" day. I love going to second hand stores and looking for books, but on this "Me" day all I wanted was clothing. First I went to the local Hobby Lobby to purchase some super cutie fabric to make what's called a paper bag skirt. (It is oh so cute! Pictures to come) After the HobLob I went over to Savers to look around, not expecting to find anything worth my while. I tried on a bucket load of skirts, dresses and coats; I did find an awesome suede skirt and a shirt/ dress (with pockets!!!).

Now here comes the best part about the whole shopping trip. I popped into DI to see what I could find and to my astonishment there were tons of vintage dresses, I'm pretty sure I was in heaven! I went a little crazy and tried almost all of them on, I was good and limited myself to only getting four of them though.

I originally saw a dress very similar to this one on Busy Bee Lauren's blog and I basically fell in love with it! The skirt part in a pencil skirt and it fits me like a glove, but not the tight kind of glove, more like the perfect glove! I'm going to have to shorten the hem line because right now it makes me look a little on the short side and being 5'3'' I need all the height I can get. I will be pairing this awesome find with some shiny black faux-crock peep toes and a black beaded necklace. I will also be shortening the sleeves because right now they practically eat my arm.

Can I first tell you how much I adore this dress? I adore it more than... well a lot of things! When I put it on I feel kind of like a school girl, in a very modest not trashy or little girly sort of way. It has a thin blue belt that goes with it, but I'm thinking that it would look adorable with a yellow belt and heels. I'm going to shorten the sleeves a little bit and add some elastic to them for a more modern twist. The hem line also needs to be taken up a couple of inches.

Now here is my favorite part about the dress!

It has a jacket to go with it! I am in love with this jacket! Doesn't it make you think of a flight attendant? I feel like I should be telling people "In case of an emergency there are exits located at the front, middle and rear of the plane". Of course the jacket will need to be tailored, but at this point I'm totally diggin' on this dress, it's almost my all time favorite.

I bought two more dresses, but they are for another time. I might want to take one of them back... I don't think it matches my personality, it was more of an impulse buy.

Crepe-tactular, Crepe-tastic, Crepe-licious

While my parents were away in Seattle Jason and I decided we wanted to have crepes for breakfast. They were DELICIOUS.

I made a cream cheese mixture and topped it with fresh raspberries (from our raspberry "forest" in the back yard), blueberries and honey. Om,nom, nom, nom. I honestly don't think there is anything much better than homemade crepes for breakfast.

For any of you who'd like to attempt making my oh so delicious crepes here is the recipe. Just FYI I don't give this recipe out to anyone because i'm selfish and if everyone knows how to make crepes as delicious as I do then i'm good for nothing.

Sweet Crepes:

Combine in a blender until smooth:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup lukewarm water

2 large eggs

2 tbs unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of Salt

Cover and let stand for 30 minutes. (I know this sounds stupid but do it, for some reason the crepes just turn out better!)

Place a crepe pan on medium heat. Coat the pan with a little butter or cooking spray. Pour approx 2 tbs of batter into the pan, lifting the pan off the heat and tilting and rotating it so that the batter forms an even, very thin layer. Cook until the top is set and the underside is golden. Flip the crepe and cook until the second side is lightly browned. Remove the crepe and place on wax paper. Cook the rest of the crepes.

Use immediately or let cool, wrap airtight, and freeze for 1 month.

Creme cheese mixture:

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

1 block cream cheese

confectioners sugar

In a mixing bowl whisk the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks begin to form. While you are whisking soften the block of cream cheese with an electric mixer. Once the cream has peaked and the cream cheese is soft fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese. After you have successfully folded the whipped cream and cream cheese add confectioners sugar until it is as sweet as you like it. You can also add a little vanilla, but I forgot it this last time and I think I liked the flavor better without it.

Flower Power

I think it's safe to say that flowers are totally in right now... not that something that naturally occurs in nature can ever really go out of style. Anyway... I was looking at flower arrangements that people used for their weddings when I came across these two super cutie ideas.

I have absolutely no clue how someone made these flowers, but they are made out of a crepe paper type of material. I LOVE that they are scattered on a bed of grass, but I think that you could easily turn a bunch of them into an adorable spring wreath!

Those red flowers are in fact made out of yarn! I'm thinkin' they would be way cutie in my dorm/apartment up at USU, my roommates and I are in desperate need for some decorations! These flowers are Super simple, super cheap and super cutie! What if we made some with red yarn and some with aqua yarn? Yes? I think so!

True Aggie Girl Reviews a Book

The first book I conquered this summer was The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. I have to start by asking the question: Has Nicholas Sparks written anything that doesn't make you swoon for the male character? I don't think so!!! I love, love, loved this book! It's an easy read (took me about three days) and it's super romantical :) Could a college girl ask for anything better? NO!

Brief synopsis: Ronnie's parents got a divorce when she was little and it turned her life upside down. She's is kind of a punk rocker chick with a bad attitude. One day her mother, who she doesn't get along with, sends Ronnie and her younger brother to North Carolina to spend the summer with their father. Basically Ronnie doesn't want anything to do with the whole situation and decides to be a total brat! As the story progresses Ronnie meats hottie ma-tottie Will (swoon!). Their relationship progresses as they share their life stories with each other.

I would tell you more but you just have to read the book. Do not see the movie first!! Seeing movies before reading the book only ruin your ability to use your imagination :)

I especially loved that this book of his doesn't have a sex scene. The main characters are teenagers so I enjoyed that Sparks decided to keep this love story PG-13... Or maybe you would rate it as being PG because these days a PG-13 rating means it's pretty filthy. Anyway...

I haven't seen that movie and I don't know if I can handle the who Miley Cyrus being the female lead thing. I'll watch it and let you know what my feelings on the subject are.

What is your favorite Nicholas Sparks book? Some of mine include The Notebook, and Nights in Rodanthe. Both are very good and easy reads... beware that they do have sex scenes!

Forgotten Thoughts

It's been quite a long time since I have posted anything new to my blog (sad face), with school being out I am seriously lacking inspiration (again with the sad face). It's not that I don't have a lot going through my mind... because my mind is basically always going 100 miles an hour.

Update on what I've been doing and which rock I've been hiding under.

I've been doing a bucket load of reading this summer! Some people go to second hand stores looking for vintage finds, I do that as well, but lately I have been stopping at DI and Savers (because we don't have a Goodwill in Utah) once a week looking for books that are still in FANTASTIC condition. I think I am in love with second hand books! I love having lots of books! One day I WILL have a wall with beautiful built in shelving that is full of... you guessed it BOOKS!

Anyway...

This summer I've read:

The Last Song

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Sundays at Tiffany's

The Invisible Heart

Nobody Don't Love Nobody

and I'm currently reading...

Let Me Hear Your Voice

Visit soon because I will be reviewing these oh so wonderful and not so wonderful books!

What's your favorite book? Why do you love it? I want to hear from you :)