this is our happily ever after

Marscarpone Chocolate Toffee Bars

This is a recipe I made a couple of weeks ago and it's been on my mind to share.  If you love chocolate you have to make these...they are well worth it..Thankfully I made them and took them to small group so I wouldn't be tempted to eat all of them...so make them and brighten a fellow chocolate lovers day by taking them a few too!!  (You might be thinking that it's fancy because it has marscarpone cheese in it...well think of marscarpone as italian cream cheese.  It's a lot like cream cheese, but less tangy.  I found it at my local grocery store...but I'm pretty sure that even Super Wal Mart carries it these days.)

Marscarpone Chocolate Toffee Bars
from Giada De Laurentiis

• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 pound refrigerated sugar cookie dough (recommended: Pillsbury)
• 2 (1.4-ounces) chocolate-toffee candy bars, coarsely chopped, divided (recommended: Skor)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (recommended: Ghirardelli)
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted * see Cook's Note

Directions

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 7 by 10 3/4-inch nonstick baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Lay a 6 by 18-inch piece of parchment paper in the pan, allowing the excess paper to overhang the sides. Spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the cookie dough, 1/2 of the chopped chocolate-toffee candy pieces and vanilla extract. Using damp fingers, gently press the dough into the prepared pan. Using the tines of a fork, prick the dough all over. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the crust is lightly browned. Cool for 15 minutes.

Place the chocolate chips and vegetable oil in a medium bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until the chocolate has melted. Cool the chocolate mixture for 10 minutes. Whisk in the mascarpone cheese until the mixture is smooth. Using a spatula, spread the chocolate mixture over the cooled crust. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate-toffee candy pieces and sliced almonds over the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until the chocolate layer is firm.

Peel off the parchment paper and cut into 1 1/2 by 2-inch bars. Serve at room temperature.

*Cook's Note: To toast almonds, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned.

lemon parmesan tilapia

I made this delicious fish recipe last night.  Although the original recipe came from Southern Living I changed it up enough to call it my own now ;)  For those of you who live in the south where there are Luby's restaurants this fish reminds me a bit of the fish almondine they serve....but in my opinion this is SO MUCH better!!!  I used tilapia, but you could certainly use orange roughy, flounder, red snapper, or cod. I buy frozen tilapia at Costco, so I always have it when I'm in the mood for fish. I love that they have each fillet vacuum sealed.  I only used 3 fillets last night, but used the same amount of topping.  The following recipe would serve 4. I served it with wild rice and roasted asparagus that was topped with some parmesan.  I thought I'd be able to find a photo of it online, but I didn't so just use your imagination on how tasty it looked.

Lemon Parmesan Tilapia

By Angela Moore

 

2 lbs of tilapia fillets (orange roughy, flounder, or red snapper would also work well)

Zest of one lemon

Juice of two lemons (divided)

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

3 tbsp softened butter

3 tbsp mayonnaise

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Dash of cayenne pepper

Lemon wedges

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

 

Place fish fillets on greased pan.  Brush fillets with the juice of one lemon.  Let fish stand at room temperature for ten minutes. 

 

Combine lemon zest, juice of one lemon, parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper; set aside. 

 

Bake fish for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and spread parmesan mixture over fillets.  Place back in oven and bake for 10 more minutes or until fish flakes with a fork. 

 

Serve with lemon wedges.

 

a few favorite photos

from my weekend in Nashville, TN.  I hope to document the entire weekend this weekend, but I only have a few minutes right now to blog before I begin tutoring. 

LIFE....it's good

Lately I've been relishing in how incredible my life is right now.

** I finished up my tutoring job at the elementary school, but the day I left I found out two super awesome things 1. That the school made exemplary due to the wonderful achievement of the students on the TAKS test.  100% of the 4th graders I tutored passed the Math test and over 95% of the 3rd graders I tutored passed the test.  I was elated...I was wondering if I "still had it" when I began tutoring and this confirmed that I am still a great teacher.  2. I'm the top pick for a new hire at the school once they figure out exactly what positions are available for next year. Whether I decide to return to the classroom is an entirely different blog post.  I have another possible opportunity next fall that I'm also weighing.  I know that when I need to make a decision God will make it clear to me...until then I just move forward and enjoy my summer.

**Brian and I enjoyed attending the 5 Love Languages class at our church on Sunday night. We figured out that my top two love languages are receiving (and giving) gifts and quality time.  Brian's are physical touch and quality time.  He has been SO sweet to me this week.  Monday he brought me a bottle of polka dot reisling wine and tied a polka dot ribbon on it and gave me a darling card that was just too perfect...and today after he had his weekly breakfast with his friend he drove all the way back home to bring me 2 bagels from Panera.  How sweet is that!  We've been spending the past two eveings watching 24 and Idol and I've been making a point to curl up next to him instead of on the other end of the couch.  I highly recommend that you and your spouse read this book and work on showing love towards your spouse in their love language. 

**our front garden is looking spectacular (thanks to Brian's hard work each weekend)  I had to share a photo (or two)...I captured the awesome water/sunshine photo yesterday evening....

**We finally got the rojo cabinet that I've been wanting for quite a while.  We both love it...in fact Brian liked it so much that he ordered the small rojo cabinet to put the tv on...I couldn't complain.  I love that it's looks like something you would find in a farm house.  when contemporary meets rustic...that's what we're going for in our house. 

ok...I have more to write about...but I've been here at Panera for 2 hours and I have a lot to do.  I'm leaving tomorrow for a Girls weekend in Nashville, TN with my 3 best friends from college.  I will of course take loads of photos and post them here sometime next week....Have a very happy, long weekend! A

i miss you too.....

We're getting close to the 30 day mark when we can make an appointment to have at&t come repair our phone lines both inside and outside.  About once a day I think "this would make a good blog post", but alas the inspiration leaves me before I get to panera to blog. 

Life has been good.  Work has slowed way down, which I don't mind.  It gives me more time to scrapbook, cook, bake (yes I've been baking a teeny bit), organize, clean, garden, read, spend time with friends, etc.  Getting the house settled has been lots of fun.  We ordered the remaining furniture last weekend and should have it in 30 days.  We ordered 2 living room chairs, a large area rug for the living area, and 6 dining room chairs to go with our existing dining table.  My scrapbook room is just about finished.  I spent some time hanging my A's, I'm getting a good little collection going which delights me everytime I see them on the wall. 

Here are a few photos from the house....

my antique loveseat was refurbished and recovered and sits in our bedroom.  I love it!  You can see a glimpse of the antique dresser I had repainted in white (it used to be in the guest bedroom as was red)
the wall color is Eddie Bauer for Lowes color Mercer Blue

the living room still has furniture coming, but I thought you would like to see it now.  The colors are Eddie Bauer Bungalow Gold with brick red accents.  Yes, it's very yellow...if we have the opportunity to repaint in the future I would go a little lighter, but I still like this alot.  Those our the new leather couches we ordered back in March and just got.  They are from Basset Furniture.  The coffee table, end tables and sofa table are the original ones we had.  We just had them restored and stained darker.  I LOVE the hardwood floors!!!!!  Even though I sweep them every day because they show everything!  The boxes behind the loveseat are full of books.  The rojo cabinet is being delivered this weekend and will hold the books.  I've wanted this cabinet forever so I'm super excited about it!!!!  Brian and I were laughing last night about how we better enjoy our "grown up" living room now because someday it will be littered with kid stuff!.