Wednesday, October 28, 2009

How Did I Miss This?!?

Did you know today is National Chocolate Day? I just found out but it's too late to celebrate properly. The only chocolate I've had today was a handful of peanut M&M's, and I know I could have done better than that!
I spent the evening at our ward Halloween party where there wasn't a brownie or chocolate cupcake in sight, and I saw no evidence of any chocolate candy. I was patting myself on the back for getting all the way through the evening eating only a couple of (teeny, tiny) sugar cookies.
But no worries, I'll make up for my ignorance tomorrow in a big way, and will never allow it to happen again.

Should I splurge on Belgian chocolates...




...edible chocolate shoes...

...or a perfect chocolate cheesecake?!?

Oh, the possibilities!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Amazing Grace

The first time I visited little Grandma Davis with our newborn son she taught me her methods for producing the best milk possible for his nourishment:

Step 1 ~ Sit in a comfortable chair in a quiet place. Grandma took me into her tiny sitting room, which could be divided from her living room with a curtain (and which she used for her bedroom at night) and had me sit in her big, soft rocking chair.

Step 2 ~ Listen to quiet, soothing, beautiful music. Grandma put on her favorite album of religious music. I think it was the first time I really listened to “Amazing Grace”. Another favorite of hers that was on the album was “How Great Thou Art", which at that time was not in the LDS hymnbook. (I remember she said she didn’t understand why it wasn’t, and it made me really happy when it did show up in the latest edition.)

Step 3 ~ Drink something, preferably milk. Grandma told me that to make milk I needed to drink lots of it, and she served me a delicious homemade chocolate shake in a tall glass. She encouraged me to relax and take my time, and then she left me alone to nurse my baby boy.


Soren was several months old by this time, and I hadn't had any problems with nursing, so at first I thought it was just sweet that she would take such an interest in us. And then I started to really like the idea of just enjoying nursing him in such a relaxed and soothing atmosphere. I decided I could really get used to this, especially having someone make me a chocolate shake everytime I fed him (which at that time was still about every 2 hours!). I guess I became very comfortable because when I reached to put the drink back on the stereo it slipped from my hand and tipped over, spilling most of the contents down onto the LP. I will never know if I ruined the album, let alone the stereo - Grandma was the kind of person who would never let you know and wouldn't want you to worry about it. Of course, she wouldn't even let me clean it up - she just made me another shake and told me to keep feeding the baby!

I always have and always will think of my little Grandma Davis as a woman full of amazing grace.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Kisses Sweeter Than Honey

So, maybe I need to take a break from eating chocolate ~ hurray for Stinky D's Chocolate Lip Whip ~ which smells divine! You can find more amazing things that Denise (aka Stinky D, YW camp nickname!) whips up in her kitchen at http://stinkyds.com/. She will even make YOUR favorite flavor of lip whip and lotion - and let you name it - as she did for Tanja & Brad's wedding favors in a tangerine flavor!

Today's Brownie Points go to:
• Ayrel & Ben for making sure I had my very own bag of dark chocolate M&Ms!
• Dee & Rhen for providing minature Hershey's chocolate bars on the drive home from the temple AND making a Mickey D's stop for hot fudge sundaes!
• Mom for the unopened bag of Harry & David truffles that she had tucked away for us to find!

Friday, October 16, 2009

My New Partner in Crime

One of the things I love about Kris is that he is always willing to try new things - especially when it comes to food. Today we had Pizza Hut's Hershey's Chocolate Dunkers for the first time - YUM!

We will keep you posted on future successes in our continuous quest for excellent chocolate experiences.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

To Market, To Market


....to buy these wonderful, rich cookies! I bought them to share, but it ended up that my husband only ate two and my daughter one. Whatever could have happened to the rest of them? I hope you have a World Market close enough to check them out for yourself.