A Chocolate Lover's Heaven

 I love Fall, and yeah, yeah..everyone says that, but I truly do. I feel anew, and since I've never seen or experienced a real Fall (Hey! I'm from South Carolina, it's warm almost all year!) the Fall I've seen here in Germany has taken my breath away. It's beautiful, the hills with colors bouncing from greens to reds and yellows...I feel like I haven't known what I've been missing.

Another thing I love about Fall? The typical, Halloween, apple cider, pumpkins, all the desserts and dinner ideas to come up with, bonfires, also last but not least hot chocolate. I still have yet to post the picture about our 2 trips to Heidelberg, the amazing castle and the things to do there but that will be another story, for another time. (Too many pictures, too much to do, my eyes are melting...JK! Haha, I'll do them soon, promise.) We traveled into town after viewing the castle and walking the yard, admiring the views and my heart came alive. I was like a kid in a candy store. I found it! I found chocolate heaven or something much, much better.

The Chocolate Company of Heidelberg (order here: chocolate heaven)that was what I found and I could not have been more ecstatic. It was an extremely cute store, where when you ordered they gave you your hotchocospoon and warm milk. They, of course had delicious chocolate cake and pastries. I must say, I was impatient to say the least but when I finally got to taste it, my taste buds were bursting.

One, having unique hot chocolate flavors is genius and two, the way that they paired them with dark, milk or white was beyond perfect. The different chocolates went so well with different things.

After leaving, I copied their website and went home. My husband and I decided to order some for Fall and well, who doesn't love hot chocolate and an excuse to indulge in lots of marshmallows?! Let me tell you what, you can order as well! They ship worldwide and they have MORE than just hotchocospoons - my chocolate lovers, they have chocolate bars with unique flavors, hotchoco fondue, hotchoco spreads, etc. The list keeps going, and my mouth keeps watering every single time I think about it.

This is not even my collection but it's a few that I truly love, the ones not pictured that we've recently ordered more of are: Brownie Walnut Vanilla, Caramel Vanilla Bourbon, and Cookie Coconut. I highly recommend checking them out when you can take a trip to Heidelberg, or to order online for those of you in The States who can't make it. No reason why you must miss out on all the fun!

This is how I spend my Fall days, with my daughter, reading her a book and sipping hot chocolate OR drinking hot chocolate cuddled up with my husband as our daughter sleeps right between us. It's the little things that count and it doesn't hurt to have a little hot chocolate to bring the evening together.

Now, to wait until my Hotchoco fondue gets here and I'll share. Maybe. Whether you're looking for a gift to a loved one,friend or just a treat for yourself, this stuff hits the spot.

What are your favorite things about Fall? Any Fall treats that are your must haves?

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall" -F. Scott Fitzgerald

Sweet potato, Apple, Bacon Sage Brown Butter Risotto

That was a mouth full, and believe me, it's just as good as it sounds. I apologize that the pictures for this aren't my usual but without natural light food photos do not look as good as they could be. My 2 month old was also tired of me cooking so that is what you get pictures wise. Pictures are still good to show an example.

Today was crazy, full of coding the new look for the blog, and seriously enjoying the name!

I've made a Lobster white truffle oil quinoa risotto almost a year ago in the Fall, and it seems to be a trend with me. I love a nice risotto, one that goes with my fall obsession is even better. Who doesn't love warm apples, sweet potatoes and bacon? Lets get started and hopefully this will be as much of a hit in your home as it was mine.

Don't skip on the water towards the end as if you add too much stock, you will end up with very salty risotto because remember, you're adding bacon as well!

Ingredients: 

1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
yellow onion (amount of your choosing)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cup brown rice
1 1/3 cup dry white wine (cooking wine if that's all you have)
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
water as needed to the rice

Brown butter: 

3 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 pink lady apples, sliced and chopped well
pinch of cinnamon and cardamom to taste
1/4 tablespoon sage
1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 C), cut sweet potato into large slices, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, pepper, nutmeg and whatever other seasonings you would like to it and toss well. Place on foiled baking sheet and cook for about 30 minutes or until soft. Remove from oven and mash until almost pureed.

(You could cook the bacon in the oven or on the stove top now. Place bacon in food processor and once in fine pieces set aside)

Heat a saucepan and on medium-low heat add vegetable stock and heat until hot. If it boils turn it down.

In another saucepan, add olive oil, and butter (not the brown butter) then add onions, and cook until soft, then add minced garlic and cook for a few seconds. Increase heat slightly and add rice, stirring to combine. Cook for about 4 minutes, continuing to stir as the rice begins to toast. Reduce heat to medium-low and add in wine. Stir until most of the wine is absorbed into rice. Add in 1/3 cup of the warm vegetable stock and repeat the process and stir until the stock is absorbed and the rice is fully cooked. Towards the end, you will add water to cover the brown rice and cook until desired consistency. My rice took about 50 minutes total as normal for brown rice to cook. Add more liquid if needed.

Once the rice is cooked, reduce heat to low and stir in the mashed sweet potato. Really stir so that it is well combined. Now, add butter to a small pan, along with the sage and cook until the butter is beginning to brown - cook on low and add apples until soft, combine this to the risotto.

Finally, add bacon and serve while warm!

We had this dish with pan seared pork chops and it was delicious! What is your favorite fall meal? If you made this, what would you add or change?

Pumpkin Lasagna

I slacked on the plating of the this, because I was terribly tired after cooking and I was hungry from the aroma. This turned out far better than I had expected, I thought of this because I was missing Fall weather. I had two cans of pumpkin in the house and I said, eh what the heck. I didn't measure much of anything while I was going through, so make sure to taste as you go. Honestly, the more flavor you add the better. Here is everything you'll need:

Lasagna noddles
Ground beef, turkey, or pork.
Ricotta Cheese
2 cans Pumpkin
Nutmeg
Pumpkin
2 Garlic Cloves
1 Yellow Onion
Honey
Sage
Cinnamon
White Wine
Salt
Pepper
5 cheese Italian shredded
Mozzarella shredded
Milk
Flour
Grated Parmesan
Cardamom
Lemon (optional)

You're going to preheat your oven to 350. Once you've done that bring the water for the lasagna to a rapid boil, add a bit of salt to ensure the noddles won't stick together. Add lasagna noddles 2-3 at a time and stir frequently.

While that is cooking, add olive oil to a non-stick pan and place on medium heat. Chop onion and break garlic clove out of skin - chop this as well. Add to the pan until tender, but not brown, add a little white cooking wine and let reduce for about 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

Now, brown the meat of your choice.

Take the can of pumpkin and add nutmeg, sage, cinnamon, cardamom, and honey. Add until the taste is right for you. Place aside. Now to make the cheese sauce I made for in-between the layers of lasagna. Heat up butter in a pot, add flour, and milk until creamy. Finally add grated parmesan. I use this same recipe to make a homemade alfredo sauce! Add the chopped onions and garlic to the sauce.

Layer the lasagna noddles to the bottom of the pan once they are done. Layer pumpkin, then ricotta, meat and add cheese sauce. Layer again with noddles, but this time, only add the rest of the pumpkin, ricotta and last bit of the cheese sauce. Cover in cheese and let cook for 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is lightly brown.

Serve and enjoy - I added a bit of lemon zest to the top of ours. It was a nice twist to the dish.

The only thing I would have probably changed is not adding something to the lasagna. It's a nice creamy and delicious meal but it lacked texture. Next time I'd add cinnamon sugar pecans possibly or sweet corn. I hope you all enjoyed my thrown to together meal. My husband wants this again in the near future.

Tomorrow stay tuned for apple caramel, shortbread tart recipe to appear on the blog.

Apple rings? Yes, you heard right.

This recipe was a hit. My husband almost ate all of them from me. A very good source of fun, sweet, a little tang kick mixed with it just being perfect for Fall. I'm apple obsessed, no matter what season it is but this, I will definitely be fitting in again. I found this recipe on pinterest linked me to her: Recipe -- I adjusted this recipe just a bit for my own tastes.

Here is everything you'll need for these easy Fall treats.

For the rings:

• 1 large egg
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 pink lady apples (can use any)
• vegetable oil for frying
• cinnamon and sugar

For the icing:

• tbsp melted butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 1/4 cup powder sugar
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice

You'll need to heat up the oil, in a skillet or a cast iron skillet, while it's heating preheat oven to 400. I have a cast iron for meats and everything else, and then I have one for baking. I used my cast iron that is strictly for baking and heated the oil on medium. Whisk the egg white together until it starts to foam, then whisk in water and vanilla, once well mixed, you can then mix in the flour and salt. This will be the batter. You will need to core the apple and cut them from the side so they turn out like a circle, OR you can do what I did and use a apple peeler and corer that cuts the apples into spirals and peels them. I broke them off to create a circle with a very small line so when fried, they did not look separate.

Place apples in batter and place into hot oil. You will definitely need to turn these quite a bit before they are golden brown. You want them only to be golden and not a dark brown. Do not overload what you used to fry it because they will begin to stick together in a bad way.  Once golden brown, transfer to paper towel and sprinkle with just a little cinnamon and sugar. Place on a cooling rack or place on greased foil on cookie pan to be placed into the oven. Place in oven for 5-10 mins until crisp. Make icing by just putting everything together. Take the apple rings out of the oven and glaze with icing. Serve warm.

I hope this is just as much a hit for you, your family, or friends, as it was for me. Enjoy!

Be on the lookout for my upcoming apple salsa with cinnamon tortilla chips, peppermint bark cookies and a mud worms for kids this Halloween. 

I don't gamble but if I did, I would bet on us.

This week has been terribly busy, and I apologize for not blogging like I should have been. I'll be back on my game this week with a possible give-away, more food recipes, and of course outfit of the days. Very hard to balance a blog and your best friend once he's back from a 6 month deployment.

I won't sugar coat anything, it's been hard adjusting to each other again. Luckily, no real fights, just attitudes -- on my part anyway. I'm no longer use to having someone help me with everything, so handing back over the reins to someone who wants to lessen my load has me very anxious and frustrated. On the upside, that hasn't been happening as often and to have someone there who understands and doesn't try to push too hard helps. It's been a mixture of emotions but I wouldn't have it any other way, honestly. It's almost like rock wall climbing, it's hard but once you get to the top, you're filled with joy that you made it.

Marriage isn't all sunshine and rainbows, but it shouldn't be mostly cloudy either. I'm no expert, I'm learning like everyone else. I've met someone though, that I truly believe is my soulmate. That person who completes your sentences or is thinking the same thing you are. That person that wants to solve any problem that appears. That person that you wake up every morning and share a laugh over your crazy hair with, or just simply a person that values the small moments just as much as you. I'm definitely not saying we're anything alike, but in the most important ways we are, and in the best ways we're different.

The ways we've been working through our readjustment is working out together, cooking together, playing video games together, random outings -- just things that help us get back into the grove of being together again. It's not easy, but we've been managing and I'd say we've been doing amazingly.

We've gone rock wall climbing quite a bit since he's been home, and I love it, it's been years since I've done it, and it was his first time. We've been trying to stay as adventurous and be more of an outdoors/active couple. This means we have plenty plans to go on hikes, camping trips, traveling out of the country, kayaking, and much more this year and next year.

Also, we've been running every morning to an iPhone app called Zombies, Run! -- if you need a motivator to help you work out, this is it. It has zombie chases, and in-between it plays whatever music is on your phone. It's creepy, yet so fun and exciting.

If you have anything you want to do with your significant other, make plans to do them! It took him being gone to realize all the fun things we haven't done and the places we've never seen. Make goals together, achieve them and constantly work on your marriage or relationship. Brush off the petty disagreements, smile often, share a laugh, cook together, make plans, be silly, be more active, communicate when you aren't angry, and most of all enjoy the little moments. I can't say it will work for everyone, but it's made my marriage fun, exciting and lets us have more time to enjoy the world than dwell on what we don't see eye to eye on.

Hope this helps someone somewhere. Hope everyone is having an awesome sauce week! What activities have you done lately?

 This is from Jerod's Welcome Home Party! It was a success. Everyone loved the s'mores bar, along with the Lobster Mac and Cheese. It was a very nice get together, full of friends, cards against humanity, and food. I'll be posting the recipe this week. First, I've got a lot of new things to bring to this blog, so be very, very excited.

Halloween themed hand pies.

*I'll be adding more photos later. Busy day ahead for Jerod's Welcome Home Party prep.

Since it is the month of October, I figured it was time to get more into the season. I love Halloween, my tattoos greatly reflect my love for the month, the love of everything scary, and very fun. These hand pies are extremely easy. It'd be kind of hard to mess them up! Get your favorite cookie cutters and have a field day. I followed a bit of her recipe, not much. Herriott Grace  -- I love her blog so much.

Pie dough:
2 cups flour
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 salt
2 ounces ice cold water

Filling (I used):
2 gala apples
nutmeg
cinnamon
honey or sugar
4 tbsp lemon juice

Egg Wash:
1 egg
1 tbsp heavy cream

Add flour and salt together, make sure butter is cold and add to the flour, there will be clumps, so don't worry about it. Add ice cold water, gradually until flour becomes pie dough. It can be a bit crumbly, which is okay. Wrap the dough in clear wrap and chill for about 1 hour to 4 hours.

For the filling, I cut gala apples into tiny pieces, adding lemon juice, cinammon, nutmeg, and honey to my mixture. Set this to the side

Roll out dough and use any size cookie cutter you'd like. You need two pieces of dough for each pie. Fill the pie with whatever filling you decided to use and seal the ends shut. Add egg wash. Place finished pies onto greased foil and bake for 10-15 minutes. Cooking times vary, so take them out once they are golden brown.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! I got my cookie cutters from Walmart. I used a scared cat, ghosts, a coffin, and pumpkin. It also came with a bat and vampire teeth.

Lemon Lavender Cookies.

This is how I spent my first day of Fall/Autumn, and I couldn't have been happier. I've made Lemon Lavender cookies before, but I made a small batch to make sure I liked the taste and completely forgot to blog it. You can easily find dried lavender. I thought, "Using a flower in food?! No way." and I was terrible wrong. It's delicious, its light and it adds a hint of flavor that is so hard to describe, but the buttery taste combined with a slight hint of sweetness, just brings it all together.

You'll be surprised that lemon is sweet in this and not bitter and super tangy.
Here is all the things you'll need:

2 Teaspoons Lavender
2 Whole Lemons
A Zester
2 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Butter (Two Sticks)
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 Teaspoons Lemon Juice (optional)

I suggest having a food processor to make the dough, or you'll have to do it by hand and it will be tedious, yet worth it. I had to do it by hand, and I was just fine. Took a bit longer, but a little work out doesn't hurt. Haha, combine all of the ingredients and once done, place into plastic wrap and chill for at least 4-5 hours. I chilled mine for a whole 2 days. It let the dough soak up the flavor of everything much better in my opinion, but it needs to be used within 2 days. Heat the oven to 375 degrees and cook for 10-15 mins, depending on the size of the cookies. I cut mine into Fall leaves, and pumpkin mini shapes and mine only took 10 mins. They will not be golden on top, but will be toward the bottom, do not overcook them so they can still have a softer center. Cookie times vary of course, depending on size.

By the way, a zester is just a small grater. Not one you'd grate cheese with. When you zest the lemon, you are only getting the yellow part of the outside, if you grate the white you'll have very bitter cookies. You wouldn't want that.

This is honestly, the perfect light, Fall cookie that'd go great with all your teas and coffees you'll be devoring this time of year! You can use this same recipe with rosemary as well, even dried fruit if you want instead of lemons. I hope you all enjoy!

*Taken with iPhone. Working on getting photoshop back again so I can use my Nikon again. Maybe next month.

Apple Chipotle Salmon and Pumpkin puree.

*I use all organic ingredients for all who have wondered. I try to have the freshest ingredients possible.

This recipe is just in time for Fall. I looked and looked to see if I could find a recipe like this on google, and I didn't not. So, this was me playing Mad Scientist in the kitchen. It didn't come out as I expected....it came out beyond my expectations, and was simply delicious. Proud to say, this was a pair made in kitchen heaven by me.

Everyone else is making recipes for desserts and simple things to go with pumpkin, but here is a real dish for dinner, that you can really enjoy and put your pumpkin to use. Here is what you'll need:

Wild caught salmon
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Garlic
Cinnamon & Nutmeg
1/2 Tbsp Pepper
White Cooking Wine (optional)"
Marinade of your choosing

Your flavors will vary from mine, which is fine! Have fun with it, and season everything to your personal taste. I made my own fresh apple, honey chipotle sauce to marinade my salmon in. I'll have a tutorial soon for all of you!

Marinade your salmon in anything you please. Season it well, and let it sit for about an hour. I found that my salmon doubled in size and flavor when it let it sit within my marinade, that I made for 24hrs - hence, my friend telling me it looked like a chicken leg, haha. You can make pumpkin puree yourself or just buy it in a can. I bought organic pumpkin puree from Whole Foods. When I was ready, I heated the pumpkin and added a bit of raw honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin spice and milk to make it creamier.

Heat up your skillet on medium high, coat the bottom of the pan in olive oil. Pan sear salmon for 4-5 minutes on each side. It should be a hue of orange instead of red on the outside when fully done. You do not want to over cook a salmon, it is done when it easily flakes with a fork. It's better to undercook salmon, than to overcook it. Just before it is done, pour the white cooking wine and let it reduce and you're all set for dinner.

Once everything is done, serve it with sweet corn, or broccoli. Honestly, anything goes with this! Think of Fall when cooking this, have fun, just experiment. The greatest things are made by accident.

This recipe is easy enough, for those who aren't so confident in the kitchen to enjoy!

-- Be on the look out for homemade Lemon Lavender cookies for your Fall teas, and coffee.  

Apple Freakin' Pie Cupcakes.

 Now, I can't take credit for this recipe. I can say that I did change a lot around from the original and that is where my own creativity, and experimentation comes into play. Her original recipe: Original Recipes .

Here is what you'll need for the cinnamon cupcakes:

1 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

Using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat eggs and sugar until thick ribbons form, about 5 minutes. Add flour mixture and beat on low just until incorporated. Add milk mixture and vanilla, and beat until blended.

Divide evenly among baking tins. Bake at 350°F for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

I did not follow everything that she did. I used pure sugar cane. Added one more egg for it to be more cake like, and moist. I added as much cinnamon as I wanted -- I'm a total rebel. Haha, and I also added as much vanilla extract as I saw fit.
Now, I did make my own apples. I think canned apple filling just doesn't add the feel that you'd need for something like this. I sliced gala apples up, and soaked them for 2 minutes, in apple cider vinegar. Lemons to me are too bitter. I, then chopped them and put them into a pan on my stove top. I added honey, a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg, and let it cook until soft. Stir occasionally.

No caramel in my recipe. Of course, you can add to this however you wish. I like the keep things simple. Very easy, very simple and just in time for Fall.

Hope you enjoy my pictures of mine that I included. I got lazy with the frosting.