New Chocolate and falafel

Last week we took a road trip to Canada and I have so many pictures to show, but I will start with the most recent thing that is still fresh on my mind: Terra Nostra organic Ricemilk chocolate bar with almonds.

We stopped in Michigan to spend a few hours with the grandparents which was so much fun for Kai and Bella (plus we got to rest while Grandma Mack played with Kai- Thanks Mom!).

Well, as you know we always stop into Joe's Produce when we are in town for their huge grapes and butter pretzels! I noticed a new chocolate bar while I was waiting to check out; I debated for a bit because Jimmy was just at the Callebaut Chocolate Academy for class and brought home four boxes of chocolates for us. I reasoned that 1) It is non-dairy 2) gluten free, 3) organic and 4) it was made with rice milk! All of which is not common and something that Jimmy does not make so it would be good for research and I'm really the ultimate consumer!

I am not a fan of milk chocolate, but I could have finished the whole bar myself if I didn't have to share it with my hubby (who also enjoyed it by the way)! Yes, it really is that good! Jimmy says that he can taste the rice milk, but me the not-so-chocolate-expert-as-Jimmy didn't notice; besides if you normally drink milk alternatives then you wouldn't notice. I now want to try their other varieties. I have some friends who would love this because they have dairy and gluten allergies. They make regular chocolate too. I was just pleasantly surprised and wanted to share my new discovery.

We also stopped in Ann Arbor for falafel sandwiches at Jerusalem Gardens. Jimmy frequented this restaurant when he lived there and has made me a huge fan. I have to say that they make the BEST baklava and falafel! Well, they make the best Middle Eastern food! Everything that I've had is the best, I think that I have dined at enough Middle Eastern restaurants to say that. Back to the baklava, it is the crispiest, butteriest, tastiest ever! It's not too sweet and if you are like us and buy a dozen at a time, you will find that even three days later they are still crispy!
If you are in Ann Arbor, you have to give this place a try, and the best part it is very affordable!

Chocolate Pudding

I can't believe I never tried to make chocolate pudding before. It is incredibly easy! Sure I've made the kind you pour out of a box and add milk, but not the measure your own ingredients from your pantry pudding! Kai had fun stirring the pot waiting for the mixture to thicken. We haven't been to the store lately due to the rain so I'm out of butter and can't bake without it, so we made pudding! Delicious yummy chocolate pudding made with Amedei 70% and nut brown chocolate....(those are the new Italian chocolates we just got.) I can't stop eating the chocolate! The pudding came out dark and rich. It was suppose to be the filling for our cupcakes, but it was just too good.

Jimmy is finally off tomorrow. Hopefully it's not snowing too bad that he and Kai can't get their hair cut. Both my guys are starting to get shaggy, especially Kai! Twelve more days until Kai's birthday and everyday he asks Jimmy where his train cake is! What a clever little guy, we can't even say T.T (short for Thomas the train) because he knows! Last night he said he wanted five train cakes and started to name all the different trains....good thing his daddy is a pastry chef!

I can't wait for the train phase to pass, I can only read Thomas books twice a day. They are just soo boring to me! I tried to get him interested in dinosaurs by buying him a few dinosaur figures and coloring book, but he just scribbled through the book and occasionally plays with the figures. Not like his daily fix of Thomas the Train shows, games, toys, and stories! I wonder what little Cassia will like.

We are set for his party at Build-A-Bear next Sunday. He and a couple of his little friends are going to build their own bears! We are celebrating it a few days earlier because we have a trip coming up at the end of the month and everyone will be too busy. Plus their is a major food show in town, too bad I won't get to go! That's two years in a row that I'll miss it. Oh, well there's always next year, and maybe the kids will be in daycare so I can go. (they don't allow children at trade shows).

Tomorrow is my nephew's birthday; so Happy birthday to you Lawrence!! He is turning five! My how the time flies.

For the love of chocolate!

O.k. so much has happened over the weekend, but I will start with the chocolate event that we went to over the weekend. It's called 'For the love of chocolate'. It raises money for scholarships for the students of the French Pastry School. So cool and for a great cause. I took tons of pictures of the fashion show and have them posted but because I did not get model permission to post their pictures you can only see their dresses.


This was my favorite of the evening!



Loved the chocolate bling for the red dress!


Very Audrey!


Totally loved the purse.

chocolate and 'buddy'

It has started to snow here. It's always so beautiful before people start to walk in it, then it gets dirty and ugly and makes you wish it would all melt and go away.

I've been busy making chocolate treats everyday, it's so much fun. I can't believe I didn't ever try making candy before. Jimmy taught me a few basics and I haven't stopped making chocolate things since he showed me how.

Kai has been sneaking chocolate from the advent calendar his grandparents sent him. I told him he could open one a day and he replied with 'my chocolate, two mommy'. We've raised a chocoholic! Ever since, I let him watch Open Season that is all he wants to watch. It's 'Buddy mommy, watch buddy", all day long! It's a good movie so I don't mind watching it everyday, I think we will have to buy it for him when they take it off of our cable's on demand menu. Now to figure out how to get the song "teddy bear pic-nick" out of my head.

Cassia had her 4 month check up on Monday and everything is good, except the shots that she got gave her a little fever. I hope it goes away soon. I'm not used to my babies getting sick from shots. Kai didn't ever get sick from any of his shots, I guess every kid is different.

On Jimmy's day off we finished our shopping. I will be baking like a mad woman this weekend to get the packages out on Monday. Last year we sent them out really late, so this year we want to send them early.
I tested out a new sugar cookie recipe that uses buttermilk and it's pretty good. Very buttery and does not have that eggy taste I dislike with most sugar cookies. Here it is(of course I made a few changes as always):

Simple Sugar Cookie

4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
11/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 sticks cold butter, cut into 1/4 cubes
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.Combine the dry ingredients and pour into a food processor. Add cold butter cubes and pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal.

2.In a small bowl, combine vanilla extract, eggs,and buttermilk. Pour into the dry ingredients and pulse until a dough ball forms.
The dough will be very sticky. Divide dough into two equal portions and wrap each portion with plastic wrap and flatten into a thick disk. Chill for four hours or overnight.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a floured surface to desired thickness (thicker the dough softer the cookie, thinner dough crispier cookie) and cut out desired shapes with your cookie cutters. If dough becomes too sticky put it back in the refrigerator. Bake on lined cookie sheet for 10 minutes.
Let cool before trying to remove from pan.

Shortbread cookies

While the babies are still sleeping, I made chocolate chip shortbread. It's the traditional recipe plus the addition of chocolate chips. Of course this might be old news to some of you, but I am exploring the flavor possibilities. I've tried ginger, pandan, green tea, chocolate, dried fruits, lemon, almond, lavender and even black pepper. Chocolate chip was tasty, but the chocolate I used might not be to everyone's taste. It was 53.8% Callebaut chocolate. Not at all milky or bittersweet. Close to semi-sweet but has a deeper chocolate taste and a fruity finish. I was skeptical at first out of the oven, but seeing as how I can't stop eating them...it works for this family. The classic is still the best so I will share the recipe. I don't know who originally wrote the recipe down but this one was handed down to me by my in laws.

Scottish Shortbread

1 pound of butter, soften
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of rice flour
4 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract*
pinch of salt *

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Cream together the butter and sugar. Add vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the salt and gradually add the flours to the butter. The finished dough will resemble crumbs. Pour mixture into a 15 x 10 glass baking pan and press cookie dough into the pan. Poke the dough in several places with a fork and bake for an hour or until the shortbread is a nice golden color. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting it into squares.
(* the vanilla extract and salt are my recent additions)


Have fun testing out the recipe. If you can't find rice flour, corn starch can be substituted.