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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

Brownie Points

As a rule I believe that something made from scratch will always be better than something made with a mix, but I have not had much success when it comes to brownies. Even when I've tried recipes like "Mother's Perfect-Absolutely-Every-Single-Time Brownies" and "To-Die-For-There-Is-Something-Wrong-With-Your-Head-If-You-Can't-Get-These-Right Brownies", the results have been disappointing. But after eating a friend's brownies and realizing that they were exactly what I love about brownies - gooey but not too gooey and just the right crispiness on top - and they were perfect every time, I asked if she would share her recipe. She put me off the first time but when I asked again she told me her secret, and now it's my secret, and I'm sharing: Hurray for Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix! If you want to dress them up a little bit just sprinkle powdered sugar on top; if you really want to get fancy spread some chocolate chips on them when they come out of the oven and then spread like frosting after they've had a few minutes to melt. (Thanks Debbie D. ~ hope you won't hold this against me!)

I've decided to award Brownie Points when someone or something unexpected happens that involves chocolate!

Today's Brownie Points go to:

• Danica for the absolutely yummy chocolate cake she made for her sister's surprise birthday brunch ~
• Ron for bringing mi esposo TWO packages of alfajors from Argentina, and mi esposo for sharing ~
• Irma for giving me a huge candy bar just because I did a simple, menial task for her ~
• Nutella, which I try not to have in my house because I will eat the entire jar with a spoon in less than a week, but which I had to buy because it was cheaper to buy 2, and I had to give one to a friend who had never heard of it before ~
• My $5 roses that looked so beautiful today, and everyone knows that chocolate and roses are perfect together even if you buy yourself the chocolate and the roses!

Sampling of today's chocolate collection

Argentine Alfajor (extra Brownie Points for the beautiful packaging!)

A thing of beauty is a joy forever!

Those Lazy, Crazy, Hazy Days of Summer

Fry up the chicken, cut up the carrot sticks and wash the grapes, make up a batch or two of toffee bars, clean the boat and pack the beach towels ~ it's off to Pineview for a day (or two or three!) of waterskiing. Just don't forget the toffee bars, whatever you do! We had a pretty good routine and no one minded pitching in, especially if we could be ready to pull out before dawn and get the really good water before other boats started making waves. Mom would always get the first run - and then she would spend the rest of the day helping the newbies learn how to sit on the skis and balance, pulling them with a short rope close to the shore. Dad just about always drove the boat, and had such patience and was always so encouraging. I believe they had a 100% success rate with all the kids who wanted to learn how to ski over the years. Oh, those lovely days at Pineview! Who cared if there was sand in the chicken? If we weren't skiing or on the boat we were swimming in the cove or reading/sleeping on a blanket or eating. If the Thornblads were with us we would sail on their little red two-man sail boat in the late afternoons when the wind came up. Once in a while we would venture to other lakes: Bear Lake, where my dad taught me how to shore jump when I was 14; Coeur d'Alene, where we caravanned with Grandma Davis, aunts, uncles & cousins to visit Uncle Art and Aunt Ruth, pulling trailers and boats; Lake Mead, which I vaguely remember; and Lake Powell, which is way over-due for another visit!
The requisite treat for any trip to a lake always was and always will be toffee bars, but we will eat them on other occasions as well! I kinda think Keven fell in love with me right after I made them for him the first time.

Toffee Bars

Cream together:
1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Add:

3 cups flour

Mix well; stir in:

6 ounces chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts

(more if you are making them for Keven)

Pat into an ungreased 9x13-inch pan.

Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.

Cut into bars while warm.