Do Not Be Anxious......

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus

Phillipians 4:6-7

Tiramisu Brownies

I love the way coffee and chocolate smell together.

So today I am baking and cooking for Sunday dinner.

My son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter are coming for

Sunday lunch after church.

We don't get together too much because of their

busy schedule.

We are having BBQ pork on buns and slaw.

I have just finished the pork roast that was

cooked in the crock pot.

Now just need to chop and shred for lunch.

Earlier I made slaw and it is chilling in the fridge.

And now for dessert.

I am making a recipe I found recently,

Tiramisu Brownies, with just a couple of adjustments.

It has lots of dark chocolate and espresso powder and

they smell sooooo good together.

Melting dark chocolate in microwave.

I love using my vintage jade Fire King mixing bowls
for everyday cooking.  Why let them set on the shelf.

Creamy filling of cream cheese, eggs, vanilla and sugar.

Batter of butter, eggs, melted chocolate, flour/expresso powder and eggs. 

Chocolate batter, layer of cream cheese filling, and another layer of chocolate batter.  Ready for the oven.

 

Empty batter bowl....the thing about cooking and baking with chocolate...it gets everywhere....but so worth it!!!!

Fresh out of the oven....now the hard part...waiting to cool.

Cooled, dusted with cocoa powder and cut into serving size.  Planning to serve with fresh strawberries. 

The recipe:  Tiramisu Brownies

12 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used dark chocolate chips)

1 c. butter, softened

1 1/3 c. plus 1/4 c. sugar, divided

8 eggs

1 c. cake flour

1/4 c. instant espresso powder

2 (8 oz.) cream cheese or Mascarpone cheese

2 tsp. vanilla

baking cocoa

Melt chocolate in microwave according to package directions.  Stir until smooth.  Cool slightly. 

Beat butter, gradually add the chocolate.  Add the 1 1/3c. sugar gradually.  Add six eggs one at a time and beating well after each one.  Combine the flour and espresso powder.  Add to chocolate mixture.  Mix until all combined at low speed. 

To make filling:  In small bowl, beat the cream cheese, two eggs, vanilla and remaining sugar. Mix well until smooth.

Smooth about 4 cups of chocolate batter in a greased 13 x 9 baking pan. Spread filling over batter evenly.  Top with the rest of the batter.  Cover the filling completely.

Bake in 350 degree pan for about 45 mins. or until center is almost set. 

Cool on a wire rack.  Dust with cocoa.  Cut into squares.  Store in the fridge. 

  

Easter Dress

 This is the pattern that I used to make my DGD her Easter Dress. 

 It is a cute and pretty easy pattern to use.  I made it pretty much to the pattern directions, but I think next time I use it, I will disregard the tulle attached to the lining.  It does help it to flare out, but for a silky fabric, I like the dress to not be so puffy.

I used a green cotton that minics a damask.  Then used hot pink for the machine embroidery monogram and the sash,  there is also a little embroidery edging on the lining like the one on the pattern.  It is a little hard to see on the dress I made.

I think I will also make the scrug, but will use a different pattern.  This pattern uses knit for the scrug and I have another short sleeve scrug pattern for woven fabrics.

Maddie Makes Cookies

When my little granddaughter comes for a visit,

we usually end up sewing or cooking something!

This day we are cooking!

Making cookies to be precise.

And since she is Type 1 diabetic,

we are trying some peanut butter cookies with Splenda.

She loves to help in the kitchen and of course tasting is part of cooking!

The recipe we used is below.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/4 c. margarine, softened

1 c. creamy style peanut butter

1/4 c. egg substitute

2 T. honey

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1 c. Splenda

1 1/2 c. all -purpose flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream margarine and peanut butter with mixer in large bowl.

Add egg sub., honey, and vanilla. Beat on med/high speed for approximately 1 min.

Add Splenda and beat on med. speed until well blended.

In small bowl, combine flour, soda and salt. Add slowly to peanut butter mixture.

Mixture will be a little crumbly.

Roll tsp. size dough into balls and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Using a floured fork, flatten each ball making a crisscross pattern.

Bake for 7-9 mins. Cool on wire rack.

2 cookies have 140 calories, 9 g. carbs, 3 g. protein, 1 g. dietary fiber, 110 g. sodium and 11g of fat.

Happy Birthday Michael!!

Today my oldest grandson turns 7 years old!

He is growing so fast and is so smart!

But I guess you would expect most grandmothers (Nonni in my case) to say that!!

This is the same grandson who almost a year ago while walking home from the bus stop, was attached and kicked in the head by a young adult moose.

Michael spent several days in the ICU.

I went to AK and spent several weeks during his recovery.

The picture below is while I was in Alaska and we went for ice cream!

Today you wouldn't know this had happened to him!

He is a busy, happy, active 7 yr.old.

I Love You to the moon and back,

Nonni!!!!

Valentine's Day Gifts

This week I made Valentine's Day gifts for my little

grandchildren!

Strawberry Shortcake for my 4 yr. old DGD,

Scooby-Do for my almost 7 yr.old DGS and

Cars for my 4 yr. old DGS.

I think they will have some fun with these.

Rescued Christening Gown and Slip

On Wednesday mornings, I meet with a group of talented

ladies who love to sew and quilt. It a very casual group. Sometimes we get work done and sometimes we just visit and talk.

Today, I was running a little late and when I got there, a row of vintage/antique

baby clothes were lying out to see.

It turns out that a family member had to get out of the house she was living in and she had multiple boxes of old vintage linens, glassware and more to get rid of and she was

going to throw them away!!!

But my friend rescued some. Well my heart just beat faster as I was looking at all these treasures of daygowns, shirts, aprons, and gowns and to think they would have been dumped.

As I was looking at an old but beautiful worn christening gown and slip,

my heart skipped a beat when she said I could have this one if I wanted it.....

Oh My Goodness!!!! Did I ever!!!!

My ears could not believe what I was hearing. I was so excited to get it home.

The gown measures 42" long and I think that is bobbin lace with row of pintucks.

It has some tears and holes in the christening slip and gown and I am not sure

what I will do about repairing it yet, but I wanted to share this treasure.