Individual Chocolate Trifle

Today I’m sharing a quick no-recipe recipe that’s pretty enough to. . .  well, eat.

You can also  make this in a large trifle dish instead of the individual dessert cups.

For 8 individual servings or 1 large trifle you’ll need:  

Your favorite brownie recipe (mix or scratch; I’ll leave that up to you)
Chocolate pudding (I use 2 small packages of the instant)
Milk (to make the pudding)
Whipped cream (frozen whipped topping thawed or whipping cream whipped; again, I’ll leave this up to you)
Chopped pecans
Chocolate syrup
Maraschino cherries (optional)

You want to start by making your brownies and letting them cool.  Because of time restraints (having lunch ready for 8 - 16 people by noon) I normally make the brownies the day before.

When I’m ready to put the trifle together I cut the brownies in small, bite-sized squares and make a layer in the bottom of my dish.  Next I add a layer of chocolate pudding, then a layer of whipped cream.  If you’re doing a large trifle just use 1/2 the brownies, 1/2 the chocolate pudding and 1/2 the whipped cream for each layer;  for individual servings you’ll need to use your own judgement to divide everything up.

Now make a 2nd layer of brownie, a 2nd layer of pudding and a 2nd layer of whipped cream.  Finish by topping it with chopped and toasted pecans and then drizzle the top with chocolate syrup.  Finish with a maraschino cherry on top (I forgot to get them at the market, oops).

Refrigerate for an hour or so before serving (it helps soften the brownie a little).  I hope you’ll make this, it’s easy, tasty and pretty too.

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Just dropping in to say “HI”, chat a bit and post a few pictures of this last snowstorm.  The storm slowly arrived on Thursday evening bringing in frigid temps, ice, sleet, snow and blistering winds.  I saw this morning on the news that there are still some areas of Oklahoma without electricity.

Yesterday was Groundhog Day and I’m hearing we should ready ourselves for 6 more weeks of winter.  I’m just hoping it isn’t like the last 6 weeks we’ve experienced.  I think, due to the 2 snowstorms (one beginning Christmas Eve and this last one), we’ve had snow on the ground for most of the 6 weeks.

We had our last night of bowling with our church bowling league on Monday night.  We came very close to winning the traveling trophy this year.  Trinity Full Gospel has won 3 more games than our First Christian, Disciples of Christ group did, so they took home the trophy this year.   Even though we ended up in 2nd place we can all agree that we sure have a wonderfully fun time out there every Monday evening.  It’s a chance for some of the local church people, regardless of which church we belong to or how we practice or show our faith, to come together, get to know each other and have a really good time.

In work news I had my regular Tuesday Rotary lunch and tomorrow will be doing a lunch for the Ozark Christian College group who is in town working with one of our local foundations.  I’ve also been trying to put together a menu, grocery list, etc. for a youth group fund-raising lunch they’ll be doing for Valentine’s Day at the church.  We would love for any of you locals to drop by (maybe in time for morning services) and have a bite of lunch with us.  Our entree will be Penne w/vodka cream sauce which will be followed with a chocolate trifle for dessert.

Drop by the photo gallery before you leave and check out some of our Winter of 2009/2010 photos.

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The picture is our sliding glass door in the sunroom.  Needless to say, we’re not heating the room so we’re not spending any time out there either.

The storm didn’t dump as much ice on this part of the state as they were predicting.  Other parts of our state are dealing with more ice and power outages however, so, although we are thankful our thoughts are with those in need this morning.

It is still snowing here and they are saying maybe 4 inches of the white stuff should fall and stick.  We will happily deal with some snow.

Back in December, before this winter storm was even on the radar,  J and I were at a store in Broken Arrow which was in the process of selling out their inventory and fixtures.  J thought the shelving units would be a great thing to use in the garage to better organize my collection of serving dishes, extra dishes, chafing equipment, tablecloths, table settings and decorations, etc., etc..   He bought 8 - 5 shelf units at $20 each.  I’ll be using 4 in the attached garage which will make it possible to move the cabinets down to the glass studio where I’ll probably add a shelving unit too.  I don’t know what he’ll do with the other 3 but I’m sure he’ll come up with something.

The store gives J a call yesterday afternoon (just as the rain was beginning to fall and the temperatures were beginning to drastically drop) informing him the shelves were being cleared off of their final inventory and we should come pick them up.  He called me and told me he was stopping to get the trailer and would be heading to Tulsa.  Of course I told him I would be going with him because I wasn’t going to sit here and worry about him out on the roads.

We left here about 3:30 and headed into the city which was already getting sleet.  As we drove down highway 169 to 91st Street I noticed the cars beside us had ice on them and the highway signs had 3 and 4 inch icicles hanging.

We finally arrived at the store and parked the trailer.  Entering the store we found a young man in charge of the shelves.  He said all the shelves had stickers with names on them.  We walked around and around not seeing anything with the DeLozier name.  With help, we finally found 4 of the shelves still full of candle holders.  The young man asked a few of the ladies working to start clearing them off so we could begin to take them apart.  Once those 4 shelves were dismantled and loaded on the trailer we looked for our remaining shelves.  Someone had forgotten to mark the other 4 shelves but the young man found 4 unmarked and told us to take those.

We finished about 6:30 and began our trek home in the dark iciness.  All I will say about the slippery drive home is there are some really crazy, or just plain stupid, people out there.

We arrived home cold, but safe, about a quarter after 8 (it’s usually a 45 minute drive into the city).  J backed the trailer under the carport, unhooked it and drove his vehicle into the dryness of the garage.  By the time he came indoors I had a nice hot cup of hot cocoa which I took to him while he warmed himself in front of the fire.

I’m staying close to the fire today and am thinking of a nice hot stew for supper.  My prayers are with all of you who have to be out on the roads today and those who do not have the comfort of heat and power.

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In the youth group yesterday we played a game, of sorts. This “game” has been on my heart and mind every since.  At dinner last night I shared the game with J.  It began a long conversation in which we both shared feelings and ideas in a different way than I think we had before.  It made both of us look and think about things in a way we normally wouldn’t.

I’d like to share this game with you.  You really need to do this without looking ahead.

On a piece of paper, write the people or things you love about your life (see picture).  Just write it all over the paper (no order).  You’ll see I have J, Kati, Cassie, Travis and Jade;  God, reading, flowers, candles, etc., etc..

Go ahead, write down everything that touches your heart in one way or another.  Take 10 minutes or so;  I’ll wait.

Now,  fold the paper in half.

Now tear the paper along your fold crease.

Take 1 half of the paper and throw it in the trash.

Look at the half you still have.  

I saw on this half of my paper (or my life) that I had left J, Kati and my home.  My eyes frantically scanned the page and I couldn’t find Cassie or Travis.  I actually lost my breath.  Cassie and Travis were gone from my life. Then I couldn’t find where I had written “parents” to collectively mean my mom and dad and J’s mom and dad.  They’re gone.

Then I’m thinking; in life where would I turn if a catastrophe took Cassie and Travis, my parents, J’s parents.  Then I realized God was not on my paper either.  Where is God?  It was as if God was gone from my life too.

So, I’m thinking how often this happens in real life.  A disaster (such as in Haiti) happens and people wonder “where is God?”, “How could God let this happen?”.  I’m also thinking, would I do this?  Would I lose my faith?

So I grab the other half of my life out of the trash and look at it:

Gone also are laughing, our cat Jade, family time, flowers, stained glass.  I’m thinking all the beauty, the art, the fun of “life” is gone.

All the beauty of life, 2 of my children, my parents, J’s parents;  they’re gone.  And God is gone.

I look back to the half of my life that was safe.  I noticed my church was still there, I noticed that helping others was still in the center of my life.  Candles (light) was still there and learning is still there. Would the love of J and Kati, my church family be enough to help restore my faith?  Would I still see His light and be of help to others?

One thing this whole game did bring to mind is:  No God; no hope, no peace, no comfort, no healing.  Or  Know God;  know hope, know peace, know comfort, know healing.

I will tell you, I taped my piece of paper back together because this “game” is still upon my heart, and I couldn’t stand to “look at my life” and not have Cassie, Travis, our parents, our Jade; and God in it.  One thing I do notice when my paper is taped back together, I wrote God bigger and almost in the center of my paper before I even knew how the game was played.  (Cooking looks bigger too, I guess that’s because it takes up so much of my life “hee hee”.)

What does this game bring to your mind?  To your heart?    I’d love to hear how this affects you or about the conversations it starts when you share it with your family.

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As promised, I’m finally posting the recipe for Asian Chicken Salad.  There isn’t a lot of chopping as in a lot of Asian style recipes, but if you like your veggies blanched that will take a bit of time.    It is a hit at our house, I hope you like it too.

What you’ll need:

1 16 oz bag cole slaw mix
1 lb cooked chicken, diced
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup fresh green beans
1 cup sugar snap peas
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin
1 cup chopped green onions
½ cup cashews

DRESSING:
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tblsp white vinegar
2 tblsp peanut butter
1 tblsp sugar or other sweetner
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
½ cup canola oil

PUTTING IT TOGETHER:

I like to blanch the broccoli and the green beans (J likes the pea pods blanched but I like them fresh).  To save time you can also use one of those pre-roasted chickens from the market, otherwise either grill or poach your chicken (I preferred grilled).

Toss the slaw mix, chicken, your blanched (or unblanched) vegetables, red bell pepper and green onions together in a bowl.

In a medium bowl (or; because J is the gadget king I used my Magic Bullet) mix all the dressing ingredients (whisking in the oil).  You can season with salt & pepper to taste but I find the soy sauce adds enough salt.

Toss the dressing with the salad ingredients and top with cashews.

I hope it’s a hit at your house too.

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Even though we’re in the 60’s today we’re not supposed to get used to it.  The weathermen are forecasting snow here again by the end of next week.  But for now, I have the front door wide open letting in the warmth and the light of the sun.

It’s been busy, busy around here lately.  My dad’s 77th birthday was on Saturday, so J, Kati and I went to dinner with him (Mom was sick and unable to go after we’d made reservations), my brother, sis-in-law and niece.  We had a good meal and a wonderful time.  Courtney loved being the center of attention and kept us all entertained throughout the meal.

We’ve made a few trips to Stillwater for that young college student of ours.  Last Sunday, after church, we drove over because Kati’s roommate had decided to get a bigger suite.  This left Kati alone in their part of their suite.  She decided she would like the beds in “bunk-fashion” which would free up floor space.  She and her daddy worked on that and moving desks while I cleaned the bathroom and vacuumed the whole suite (except for the other roommate’s bedroom).

We drove to Stillwater again on Tuesday afternoon so J could drop a bid off in the area.  We decided to stop in for a short visit with Kati before heading home.  This led to taking her and a friend to dinner before we headed back to Nowata.

Food seems to be the word of the week.  I’ve had 2 luncheons this week and am making preparations for a a few more in the coming weeks.  These preparations include coordinating schedules, menu ideas, prices and emails, emails, emails.  Once dates, menus, etc. are in place we’ll move to the next steps.

This week’s Rotary lunch included Asian Chicken Salad:    (I will post the recipe a bit later), egg rolls and chocolate cream bars for dessert (sorry, no picture).  I took the leftover chocolate cream bars to Kati when we visited her.  She was very appreciative.

Thursday was spent setting up, preparing and cleaning up lunch for the bank directors.  I set tables in the employee lounge with the bank’s good dinnerware, etc. so the board members can meet there for a lunch break in the middle of their meeting.  Yesterday’s lunch began with a spinach salad topped with bacon, tomato and bleu cheese.  The entree was maple-chipotle glazed pork loin chops with scallopped potatoes, green beans and a roll on the side.  Dessert was my Magnolia pie topped with hand whipped whipped cream.  It was hand whipped because while packing up my equipment I forgot the part of my whipper    that screws the charger (laughing gas) on.   Therefore, if I wanted whipped cream it was going to have to be hand whipped, which it was.  I received an email this morning saying how much the director’s raved about the lunch and was I’m sure I was charging enough.  There’s nothing like living in a small town where your loyal customer’s ask you to charge them more.(tee hee)

As there is no rest for the wicked (isn’t that what they say) we have a busy work weekend ahead of us too.  As for now, it’s back to menu planning.

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J had business in Oklahoma City yesterday so we threw our toothbrushes and a change of clothes in a bag and made an  overnight roadtrip out of it.  J reserved a room at the Comfort Inn for the night.  When we arrived and checked in they upgraded us to a king suite on the top floor.  The more you live and travel with J you find out these things just happen to him.  It happens everywhere we go, he gets the best parking place or he gets the biggest dessert.  Or,  he gets an upgrade on his hotel room.  It’s all fine with me because when I’m with him I benefit too.

We made dinner plans with friends, Jim and Linda.  Their grandson Josh was visiting so he joined the 4 of us at the Pepperoni Grill.  Josh has had dinner with us before, usually when Kati goes with us, so he texted Kati and informed her he was having dinner with “the Jims”.

This morning we woke up a little later than usual.  We couldn’t believe the time because there was hardly any light showing behind the curtains.  When we drew the curtains back we realized why.  Fog had settled in and it was thick.  It wasn’t any better at 9:30 when we took this picture: 

nor at noon when we took this picture: 

Last time we were in this area I had told J that I had heard of a stained glass place around Guthrie.  So, J being the sweet guy he is drove home through Guthrie.  For those of you not from Oklahoma, the state capital was originally in Guthrie so there is a lot of history there.  Me, being the history lover I am, was in Heaven.

Here are a few pictures from our morning sidetrip: This isn’t a picture of the original state capitol building.   It is actually the building The State Capital Publishing Company  was in.  The State Capital Publishing Company was one of the largest printing operations in the southwest and the 3 most widely circulated newspapers in Oklahoma.  It is now a museum that exhibits the history of the company.

As I’ve told you before, I love old buildings.  It seems as soon as I walk through the doors I feel the past envelop me.  As in this old saloon, I can envision Tom Mix behind the bar pouring drinks for the patrons.  I can hear him telling them how he dreams of going out west to make motion pictures.

We entered an art gallery that was originally an old hotel.  We walked through the downstairs looking at all the Made In Oklahoma food, drinks, and art.  The proprietor of the gallery invited us to go upstairs to see more art and have a drink in the tea room.  As soon as we walked up the stairs I felt my imagination transporting back to the 1880’s.  J knows how I am about historic places and buildings.  He laughs as I imagine who may have been there before me and the conversations they may have had.  I’ve always thought I would love to hear the stories these old buildings could tell me.

We left Guthrie and finally made it to the glass shop outside of Langston.   I spent a bit of time looking through all the sheets of glass and deciding I need to find a place close to home where I can learn the arts of fusing and slumping.  J decided he needs to start looking around for a glass kiln.  He seems to get more involved in my passions than I do (hee hee).

By lunchtime we were coming back through Sapulpa.  We decided for lunch we would find a place “out of the ordinary”.  I think we found it:    Fat Charlie greeted us at the door and asked if we’d like to sit at the bar, a table or a booth. We chose a booth by a window.    It was still a bit chilly and quite foggy outside so when I read “chili cheeseburger” on Fat Charlie’s menu it sounded very appetizing.  Let me tell you I’ve never seen a chili cheeseburger like the one that was set before me.     I have seen chili cheeseburgers with chili put over the burger and between the buns and you picked it up to eat it.  I’ve also seen open-faced chili cheeseburgers that you couldn’t pick up.  Well, there was no picking it up, so I dug into with fork and knife.  It was cheesy and yummy.

We finally made it home and had time enough to bring the suitcase in before Kati drove in behind us.  It seems that because Monday is MLK Jr. Day she doesn’t have classes and has decided to spend her 3 day weekend with us.  Yea!!!

Happy weekend to you!

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Yes, we are supposed to (hope, hope, hope) hit 50 degrees today.  This morning’s sunshine is spilling out of the kitchen window and flowing across the wooden floor in a river of light.  It brings daydreams of last summer’s flower garden.  I do so hope these beautiful, full blooms will return this year.

While the sun is shining through the windows I am burning a candle that fills the house with the scent of fresh balsam, which is only fitting as yesterday I was able to enjoy my last present from Christmas.  For Christmas, Cassie and Travis presented me with a coupon for a cooking class in Tulsa at The Stock Pot.  I’ve always wanted to attend one and now that I have I can tell you I will be attending more.  My kiddos pick out the best gifts.

Last night’s class was “Dinner South of the Border” presented by Bob Burkhart.  Bob is part of the creative team of Mazzio’s and their new restaurant Oliveto.  Bob and I talked a bit after the class and I am very excited about trying this new restaurant along with attending more of his classes.

Our evening’s cooking demonstration began with an appetizer Bob called “Corn Clouds”.  It was sort of like a corn pancake that (I’m not kidding you) was light enough to float on air.  The flavor was also very light so I think I might work with this recipe a bit on my own to add a little more flavor.

He topped the Corn Clouds with a squirt of Chipotle Cream Sauce.  I would have liked to have had more of this as I don’t think I was able to really capture the flavor with just the little squirt we received.  I will be trying it for myself.

Next we enjoyed bowls of guacamole (Cass & Kati, I still think mine is better) and Black Bean Salsa.  I am most certainly going to be making this salsa.  It was, as my son-in-law likes to say, tasty.

Next we were presented with Chicken Enchiladas.  Yum, yum, yum.  I am certainly going to be trying these.

Our last taste test was Chile Rellenos.  They were spicy and cheesy and yummy.

I was a little uneasy about attending this by myself, J offered to go with me but I knew he had other things to do so I let him off the hook (although I really do think he would have enjoyed it).  All I can say is I had a marvelously fun time.  I had a very pleasant tablemate and we had an enjoyable time getting to know each other.

Now I better get busy, I have a couple luncheons next week to prepare for plus an overnight trip with J before the weekend. See you soon!

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As you all know, I turned 50 last October and began a new chapter in my life.  I’ve really been enjoying this new chapter too.  However, the other day, while walking through Target with J, I had an epiphany.   It washed over me like a gigantic wave.  The realization sucking me deep within and underneath the wave for just a moment.  Follow me for just a moment:

J and I are walking down an aisle in Target, just chit-chatting about normal stuff.  As we walk across the opening of another aisle I happen to look down it and see a young couple looking at items on a shelf.  The young girl was very pregnant.

It crossed my mind at that moment how I enjoyed being pregnant.  I totally thought I was the most adorable woman on the face of this Earth.  I loved being able to touch my belly and feel a little foot pushed up against it.  At night I’d lay up against J’s back and let him feel the girls moving and rolling.

Then the wave hit me:  I would never be pregnant again.  Never.  Ever.  It’s isn’t that I want to be pregnant ever again, I am way (way, way) past ever wanting to have another child.  It’s just that now I know, even if I wanted to, I’m at that time in my life when I most likely can’t  on my own (other than J’s help) any longer.

Once I was able to grasp my breath I said to J,  “I can’t have children anymore”.  Of course he looked at me like I was crazy and said “what?”.  I repeated myself, “I can’t have children anymore.  We’re past the time in our lives where we can have children”.  He said, “Do you want more children?”.  To which I said, “No.  But even if I did, I just realized I can’t”.    J just smiled and put his arm around me as we continued to walk through Target.

Later, in the car, J said, “You know, we have 2 pretty fantastic daughters” to which I replied “Yeah, we do”.

Chapter 1:  Childhood

Chapter 2:  The Teen Years

Chapter 3:  Adulthood;  Building a Life

Chapter 4:  Raising a Family

And now, as I’m just beginning Chapter 5 and whatever it holds for me, I know I’m going to have great fun before moving on to Chapter 6 and 7 and . . .

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