Science Fair

We Almost Made It

Bailey made it to our regional science fair and we had the competition yesterday and while he didn't make a place in regionals I was so proud of him. We have never done a fair that was bigger than the school sponsored fair. He did well. He had fun. Just wanted to brag on him because he never lets me down. I have been having some issues with our current school system and I am debating (pretty much decided) that homeschooling might be the way our family needs to go. I want them to be involved in everything they can and as we sat in this fair I realized that even kids who are home schooled can do these things with the schools because we still pay taxes and they have to be allowed the same opportunities. Who knows, If anyone has advice... send it my way. I can take as many opinions as I can get. I know every mom out there wants their kids to thrive and do the best ... I just want to make sure they are getting the best. All in all... wanted to brag and put some pics of one handsome boy up. He deserves it!

Truffle Tarts with Raspberries and Whipped Cream

Tyler Florence Friday's ! 

This is my first official week with the TFF's; I'm excited about being a part of another group. The only thing is that my classes are getting busy and Lexi's has been sick so it seems like time is running from me but I am working on it. I am hoping to keep up well with Tyler's Fridays..you can check the blogroll here and I got the recipe from foodnetwork here. 

The Truffles were delicious but I will warn you as they are very rich! If you are a chocolate lover, you will be in heaven. Enjoy!

Chocolate Truffle Tarts with Raspberries and Whipped Cream

Dark Chocolate Truffles

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped ( I think semi sweet or milk chocolate would make it better next time)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup cocoa powder, for dusting ( I used the whipped cream instead)

In saucepan bring cream to a simmer over low heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate in a bowl and let stand 10 min to melt the chocolate. And vanilla and stir smooth. Set aside and allow to cool about an hour. Then beat chocolate on medium speed until thick and lightly colored. Spread over the bottom of a baking dish and smooth the top. Refigerate about 2 hours or until firm. 

Truffle Crust and Assembly

1 1/2 Cups Oreo cookie crumbs

6 Tbsp melted butter

Dark Chocolate Truffles (recipe above)

Raspberries and Whipped Cream

Mix Oreos and butter, spray 6 muffin tin with Pam and then line with parchment. Press the cookie mixture in to the cups about 1 1/2 inches up the sides. Place a raspberry in the center and then fill the tarts with the truffle mixture. Smooth the tops and refrigerate until set (about 2 hours, I froze mine)

Wordless Wednesday

Chocolate Armagnac Cake - Adapted

Chocolate Snickers Cake (Brownie)

The selection this week for the Tuesdays with Dorie group was Chocolate Armagnac Cake on pg 279 chosen by Lyb of And Then I do the Dishes. The entire ORIGINAL recipe can be found on her site. 

The story behind the cake is cute and being a girl who was fired for being spectacular I have a great big smile because getting fired isn't always a horrible thing. Although the cake sounded good I am not a fan of prunes or the fact that I had no idea what Armagnac was I decided to adapt the recipe to fit us. So I came up with hopes of a dense chocolatey snickers cake. I surprised myself and they turned out pretty good. Still dense and moist but more of a brownie flavor and sweetness, which made me decide to not put any additional diabetes on these babies and leave them naked. I used the mini snickers combo bag with dark, regular, and almond snickers, cut them into small pieces and used them as a mix in in the end. I also used all AP flour and not ground pecans, added 4 more Tbsp of butter and used cocoa powder not chopped chocolate. Whew!!! it is adjusted and turned out great. Dense.... not an descriptive word usually thought of well but it is this time. 

Nutty Granola

Nutty Granola

I have been craving granola for a while now. It is a great topper to most anything sweet. Lexi has been on a yogurt kick and I thought homemade would be a better option so I found this one from Ellie Krieger. It uses maple syrup versus sugar and not many ingredients either. When it was baking it made my house smell spectacular. You could almost taste it, like a strong oatmeal cookie. It was awesome! This is a super easy recipe, I decided to omit the raisins because no one in my house will eat it, I was nervous about the pecans and walnuts too but you know they can't always get what they want huh. Enjoy!

Nutty Granola

3 cups old-fashioned oats 

1/2 cup chopped, raw, unsalted walnuts

1/2 cup chopped, unsalted almonds

1/2 cup chopped, unsalted pecans

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins, optional

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.  In a medium bowl combine the oats, nuts, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon and the raisins (if using). Spread the mixture onto the baking sheet and bake until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Transfer the sheet to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Store in refrigerator. 

Wordless Wednesday, On Thursday!

TWD: Carmel Crunch Bars

Carmel Crunch Bars

This weeks Tuesday post is from Whitney of What's on the table. You can get the entire recipe on her site here. 

These Bars were easy. If you want simple quick bars these are it. First you make the shortbread layer, bake it, and then top with chocolate of your choice. The options were semi or milk chocolate and I choose milk chocolate because I think it complements the toffee well. Chris doesn't like toffee so I did half with toffee and the other half with mini M&M's. The M&M's are semi sweet so they weren't overpowering. 

First day Chris liked them a lot but after they rested overnight he could taste the espresso and he doesn't like coffee so they became give away bars. The kids still enjoyed them so don't be shy on day two if you don't like coffee ( he is tender about that flavor ). 

I will make these again, I think next time I will use semi sweet chocolate in the batter and white chocolate and almonds on top. Wow! getting hungry already.