Palm Springs Getaway...

My friend Cassea was getting married in Palm Springs the weekend right before Valentine's Day, so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make it a little vacay!

Phil, being the perfect hubby he is thought ahead and had this beautiful bracelet ready and waiting for me:)

 The room was super cute...I've never stayed in the Homewood Suites before, but I would totally recommend the one in Palm Springs...

 It had a cute little kitchenette and everything.

 This is a horrible quality picture of Cassea and I...she looked absolutely breath-taking in her dress! 

Congrats Cassea and Henry!

Triple Fudge Crunch Cake

So it's no secret that I LOVE chocolate and any excuse to bake something really:)  I decided since it was Sunday and we were all in the mood to snack that I'd try out a new cake recipe.  When Phil saw the ingredients he cringed and said, "I'm out"...so I warned him not to judge a recipe by the ingredients:) 

I think it's safe to say...he ate his words...literally!  The cake is super yummy and is definitely a crowd pleaser!

Here's what you need...

1/3 Cup Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 bag Milk Chocolate Chips

1 package Fudge or Milk Chocolate Cake Mix, I use Betty Crocker

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

1 Cup Applesauce

2 Eggs

1 Cup Chopped Pecans

To Start:  Heat your oven to 350.  Grease the bottom only of a 13X9 pan.

Next, Microwave the condensed milk and half a cup of the chocolate chips in a small microwaveable bowl uncovered on Medium (50%) in 30 second intervals until the chocolate is softened; stir until smooth and set aside.

Now for the cake part:  Beat cake mix and oil together with a mixer or your kitchenaide, just until it turns crumbly; scoop out 1 cup of that mixture and set it aside...Now add the applesauce and eggs into the remaining cake mixture, the mixture will seem thick and grainy, just continue to beat for about 2 minutes or so then spread it into your pan.

Drop melted chocolate mixture in tablespoons onto the cake batter. 

Grab that cup full of crumbly cake bits and add it to another 1/2 cups of chocolate chips and the pecans.  Just mix with your hands until it's "topping" worthy:)  Crumble the mixture all over the cake batter, then bake it for 45-50 minutes or until the center is set.

Cool completely or serve hot with ice cream...it's super yummy!

Sorry my photos aren't better...I only had my phone camera handy:)

Las Vegas With the Ladies!!

My good friend Sandy moved to Colorado last year and we've missed hanging out:(  We finally found a weekend that worked for everyone and decided to meet in Las Vegas!

My trip kicked off around 4:30pm on Saturday when Phil dropped me off at good ol Sky Harbor...only to find out 30 minutes later that I'd be grounded an extra hour and a half due to missing flight attendants?!?!?!  I was the last one to arrive, so we kicked off dinner at P.F. Changs...YUMMMM!  It's been years since I've eaten there and I'm always leery of trying new restaurants...you know me and my vegetarian + bacon lifestyle;)  I have to say the Tofu Rice meal was EXCELLENT...and I'm not even a fan of Tofu!

As you can tell...we had lots of fun taking pictures!

After dinner we headed to Planet Hollywood to catch a hypnotist.  While we were waiting I caught sight of these GARGANTUAN hand prints and had to take a pic:) 

While we were waiting for the earlier show to get out, we were stuck in the bar area and I noticed these "sweet" little rooms!  Ha Ha! I had to take a pic and show Phil...of course you'll all be very glad to know there was no dancing on my trip:)

After a very eventful night...literally a fight broke out next door in the middle of the night and we thought the people fighting were going to crash through our door any minute...somehow we all did manage to fall asleep, and then we awoke to this beautiful view!  Breakfast at IHOP...

Shopping at H&M...I must have missed the memo about NOT smiling...;)

Kim, Sandy, and I.

Trying on horrible shades...

I'm actually thinking when you guys are like 60...you guys could totally rock these!!!! 

We had soo much fun and adventures to match! 

Sandy was a doll and taught us all how to play Roulette!  I am now a huge fan, it was incredibly fun! Oh the weekend literally flew by!  I flew home on Monday afternoon to a happy husband and 6 kids!  I can't wait to go out on a Ladies Getaway again!  Maybe we can go someplace tropical next!!!!

Girls Night Out!

It's been a while since the "ladies" have all gotten together:(  We had like 5 out of the 7 of us having a birthday within the month, so we decided it was an EXCELLENT excuse to get together again!  We've missed Maylene living close and are glad when new friends get to join in on the fun too.  Sorry to all the others that couldn't make it, we will definitely plan another!

We went to the "fan favorite" of the group...Oreganos!  It was a little warm, and we only had to wait about  an hour for a table...and it flew by!  Note: Always go to a packed restaruant when you're meeting up with friends you haven't seen in a while!  It's sooo good to catch up without shoving food in your mouths at the same time, which we also do, but it's still nice to get some convo in first;) 

We always tend to get a little silly and have THE BEST conversations, definitely a well needed break!

My flash on my phone for some reason flashes twice...so it tricks you!  You see the first flash...assume it's done, and go back to your usual pose when BAM it catches you for real this time!  I haven't been on the receiving end of it yet...(notice no self portraits as my FB profile) so that will explain some of these really hottt shots!  Ha Ha!  The first couple were so funny, we decided we were going to keep taking crazy shots.

Cynthia

Maylene

Amy

Melanie

Shavonne

Charilla

Thanks Ladies it was sooooo much fun!!!!!!!  Can't you tell by my scary expression?????  Bet you all would be scared to run into me after watching Eclipse,  I give a whole new meaning to "pale face"...hahaha!

Chocolate Lava Cups

I was really in the mood for some "Lava Cups"...atleast that's what I call them.  I couldn't find a recipe off at hand, so I decided to start with my favorite 3 ingredients...Chocolate Cake Mix, Chocolate Jello, and Chocolate!  How can you go wrong, right? 

I mixed the pudding in with the cake mix and baked the cake like the directions called for...then I made up the "ganache" type filling for the middle.  I melted 1 box of the Baker's Semi Sweet squares over medium heat with 1/4-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream until it all melted together and became creamy.  Then I poured it into a bowl and stuck it into the fridge for a half hour or so.

When the chocolate was hard enough, I scooped it out with a tablespoon and dropped it in the middle of my little cupcakes...(I used a mini cheesecake tin).

I baked them at 350 for the lenght it said on the box...which I think was about 20-22 minutes.  Then I took them out of the pans to cool for just a few minutes, while I heated up the remaining chocolate in the microwave.  (Make sure you heat it slowly...otherwise it will scorch)  After it was all melted, I placed a Lavacup and a scoop of ice cream on everyone's plate...then topped with melted chocolate!  I see I was overly excited to eat it...so I guess I left out the shot of the ice cream.  I guess if you want to see what it looks like, you'll have to try it out for yourself!  What a bummer;)

So if you're in the mood for something chocolatey...this definitely does the trick!

Creamy Dreamy Blueberry Muffins

I've recently been getting some requests to post this recipe...so here you go!

Okay, so everyone that knows me, knows I'm a sucker for "Starbucks Tuesday"...declared by Phil a few years ago, when he started bringing me home a Grande Hot Chocolate and Blueberry muffin EVERY Tuesday morning from Starbucks, before leaving for work! It's one of a few "cheesy" things we do around here to let eachother know we still "like" eachother:) ANYHOO...It's the best...or WAS until our Starbucks started skimping on the quality of their muffins! Seriously! They changed their recipe and now I'm just a fan of their cocoa:( So I decided to make my own Blueberry Muffins!

Phil is used to these random "cooking missions" I seem to embark upon, even if dinner was placed on the "back burner"...so we could enjoy some great blueberry muffins for dessert! It makes about a dozen regular sized muffins and FYI...only about 6 of the king sized ones:) **WARNING** These muffins are EXTREMELY ADDICTIVE, and NOT a compliment to ANY diet...unless it's the "SEE FOOD" diet:)


1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 stick softened butter
8 oz softened cream cheese
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
1 3/4 Cups all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 Package Instant Vanilla Pudding (small)
2 Tablespoons Sugar
12-16 oz Fresh Blueberries
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar


CRUMB TOPPING:

1/3 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. flour

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then place your berries in a bowl and coat with the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Stir to make sure that the berries are coated in sugar. Set aside.

2. In a stand or electric mixer cream the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, salt and sugar, until well combined. Then slowly add the remaining ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, salt, eggs, flour, and ending with the pudding mix. After everything is combined, the mixture will seem dry.

3. Slowly begin adding approximately 1/3-1/2 cups Heavy Cream to the batter, until it is the consistancy of thick pancake batter.**Depending on how you like your berries, you can either choose to mix them in now or wait and press them into the tops of the muffins next...

4. Fill 6 King Sized muffin tins or 24 regular size tins with muffin batter, about ¾ full, that has been greased or sprayed with cooking spray. If you haven't already added them, press 5-6 berries into tops of each unbaked muffin.
Bake for 23-28 minutes or until golden brown on top and cooked through. Remove and let cool.


5. Using the same bowl that the berries were in, place the powdered sugar and a few tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. Hand whisk the cream and sugar until the consistency of syrup, if too dry add more whipping cream, if too "liquidy" add more sugar. Whisk until smooth and RUNNY consistency; Pour over the top of muffins, while they are still warm.


6. Using another bowl...combine the butter, sugar, and flour for the CRUMB topping using an electric mixer, until ingredients look uniformly like crumbs! Sprinkle this mixture on top of the whipped cream drizzle! Simply delicious!!!!

Home for the Holidays...Racing

The guys were going to go "racing"...but when my dad started calling us girls, "hazards"...we couldn't just allow that to happen! (I'm sure he did it on purpose!) Sarah of course couldn't go being pregnant, but the rest of us decided to go and show our stuff!

We first decided that the winner of the girls race could then race against the guys...which we all thought would be a cinch, BTW!

Here's us in our "cute" get up! Ha! We first try to look tough...then decide that we don't really look that tough...so we'll look sweet instead:)

Helmets are so clastrophic! Ugh! Don't we look hotttt?! Ha!

As soon as the race starts, my "high performance kart" dies...classic! So the guy starts it up, but it starts to jam by itself and being the considerate girl I am...I stop so the guy doesn't think I'm being a jerk! Well the kart dies again, and then I get told you can't ever take your foot off the gas or it will die again:( Rudy!!! They did this whole speech about how you can't press the gas and brake at the same time...so I decided I just wouldn't use the brake and Shavonne apparently decided to use the statement as a suggestion and ignore it all together! I think she got called into the "Sin Bin" first...which is like a time out for the drivers so they can tell you what you did wrong. Then I get pulled in and the guy is like super mad at me, telling me if I hit the side one more time I'll get ejected:( I decided it wasn't very fun anymore...because it's like impossible to get around turns without people bumping into you! (Later I find out that I evidently ignored the first "flag" into the "sin bin" so the guy was EXTRA happy to see me when I came around again:) Ooops! Anyhoo, I was 2nd on the board and Shavonne was 1st before we got called in...then I dropped to second to last because I afraid to touch anything. Sky played it smart! She kept it nice and slow the entire time and somehow Adrienne (even with a million spin outs) pulled off being the fastest! Oh well...I say "Pass" from now on! Shavonne and I are just going to say, we were SOOO good, they didn't want to be shown up...so they put us on time out:P

The guys had fun, Phil still beat my time by like 2 seconds...maybe we'll have a rematch some day:) Tyler and my dad practice like all the time...so they of course had the fastest time...whoo hoo!

The other kids had fun "pretending to race"!

Steele, Sarah's son, is obsessed with "Cars" and Lightning McQueen right now, so it was super cute to see his reaction. Shavonne has a picture of him sitting in one of the cars! Super Cute!

Home for the Holidays...Games

This is Sarah's oldest son, Cooper (5)and my little Madison (3)...doesn't she look thrilled to be posing for a picture!?

Tyler getting some air on the left during their first "jumpshot"...
Every year around Christmas, Turlock Stake has an annual basketball tournament. It's usually over a couple of nights, but this year it took place all on a Saturday:) Elena was in Patterson visiting her family too, so she came along to enjoy some of the "classicness" we had going on! "Our guys" have all gained a few pounds since their youth, but they still had it on the court! It was Tyler, Blake, Justin (Sarah's husband), Phil, Greg (Shavonne's husband), and my dad:)They won their first 2 games, but lost on the third:( I think they were pretty proud of their performance and I think they all vowed to be atleast 20 pounds lighter for the next tournament! I miss my "Nena" so it was super fun to hang out with her again:) We've been great friends since 7th grade...ugh that makes me feel OLD!

Later, we went home and played some Nertz! It's a classic card game that is tradition at the Pittson household! I think Greg won...but we ALL had a blast:)

Greg, Dad, and Tyler
Phil, Elena, Greg, Dad, and Tyler

Adrienne (Tyler's Wife), Shavonne, Me, and Sky
The whole table...my brother Blake is at the top:)

Sarah, Justin, and my mom are NOT game people...so we eventually joined them to watch Dumb and Dumber to finish off the night:) It reminds me of a "New Year's Eve" night when I was little. It was so much fun!