Rustic Fudge Brawnies

Ok, I'm definitely not the biggest fan of brownies. Usually brownies are the equivalent of a dry chocolate cake that skips the best part (the frosting.)

But when researching optional recipes to make for my visiting parents (in 4 days :0) from today!!), I happened upon a few brownie recipes that sounded interesting...

Not your typical brownie recipes of packaged-chocolate-flour mix + eggs + water = brownies. Instead, these recipes omitted all flours, eggs, and sugar. The no-bake concept intrigued me and seemed simple enough as one recipe had just 5 ingredients.


So, for my version of no-bake brownies, aka Double Dekker's Rustic Fudge bRAWnies: I used walnuts, dates, pecans, cacao (cocoa) powder, salt, honey, and as one recipe recommends I pressed raw cacao nibs on top. These are extremely healthy!
During the brownie making process, my "test" tasting along the way created a deficit of brownie batter so there wasn't enough to cover the bottom of my 9X3 pan. (The original recipes called for a 8x8 pan but I decided to go for extra thick brownies... which didn't happen even after I made another half batch of brownie mix to compensate for the batter in my tummy.)

I must say I don't really remember what a regular brownie is supposed to taste like in flavor or texture as I haven't had one in ages. But these are pretty tasty. Here are some photos of my bRAWnies.






After scarfing down two large brownies, Jeff said, "If this is what it is like to eat raw, I could go raw everyday!" :0)

5 years ago today

Five years ago today, 2/12/2006, we walked around campus... together, not yet hand in hand. (We had been close friends for over a year and a half at this point. I was a junior and you were in your second year. We had kept in touch over the phone during the summer and the semester you weren't in Michigan.) Much to my delight, you had returned to school a few days earlier. It was 1:00am and I was supposed to be studying for a Statistics test. There was just so much on my mind; you could tell there was a secret I wanted to share. You encouraged me to tell you but I was fearful of rejection so I hesitated. I silently questioned my poor timing and how you would respond to my secret. But most of all I wondered what was to become of us if you didn't like what I would tell you. I questioned aloud if our friendship would change. You assured me it wouldn't. I even asked you if you had any idea what I was going to say. You told me much later, that you had an inkling but didn't want to say anything if you weren't right.

It was the most beautiful night, magical even. The moon was aglow with an encompassing frosty halo. Sparkling snow blanketed the field behind the gymnasium as we sloshed through it, headed no where in particular. I realized that you weren't going to let me not tell you that night... I figured we'd been walking and talking for about 5 hours... you deserved to know the truth. Shaking from the icy air and in fear of losing my best friend, I stopped walking, allowing you to walk ahead as I didn't want to look rejection in the face. I took a deep breath and shyly whispered "Jeff, I really like you." You turned and walked towards me and gave me a hug. At the time, I wasn't sure if it was a pity hug- or an I really like you too hug. It seemed like forever until you said something. But when you said, "Sarah, I really like you too." I knew this was the beginning of something beautiful.

We were both in shock. Here we were such great friends and we each had secretly been in love with the other for who knows how long. Remember how elated we were to discover this mutual desire to be more than just friends? I don't think I stopped smiling for at least a week. I still get butterflies when I see you and a smile comes across my face when I think of you. I am thankful that the courage to tell you how I felt came upon me that fateful February morning. It is truly bliss to be alive with you and share this home in each other.
I love you Jeffrey Dekker.
Love,
Your wife

Roses are... frosting?

While working at Marble Slab Creamery, as their cake creator/ brownie baker/ and cookie dough maker, I discovered my passion for decorating cakes. It was working there that I also discovered the deliciousness that is buttercream frosting... (For our per shift free treat I sometimes used a tiny helping of buttercream as my ice cream mix in) soooo delicious.

However, I had never attempted homemade buttercream frosting... nor had I tried making a rose from frosting before. Lets just say making a frosting rose is one of the most very challenging kitchen crafting projects I've ever attempted. Part of what made it difficult was that I could not find the proper tool: a rose pin. So, I used a meat thermometer instead because it was similar in shape (but not size) as the tools used in the frosting rose making demonstrations I had seen on youtube. I was proud of my craftiness until it didn't work so well. The raised rim around the circular thermometer platform made it impossible to lift off to place on the cake with ease. After many failed attempts and many globs of frosting in my tummy later, I finally got one good one (after about 10 tries) which ended up not so centered on Jeff's birthday cake... Oops.


Happy Birthday Jeff! :0)

Homemade Pomegranate Cheesecake

Yesterday I made my first cheesecake.... Here is the catch... There is no cream cheese, no confectioners, brown or white sugars, no honey, no butter, no eggs, no cream, and no baking involved! And there are only 7 ingredients! It's a raw vegan cheesecake! Jeff and I have been attempting to eat more "raw" foods lately. Raw meaning: not cooked, and not highly processed. So more green smoothies, more vegetables and fruits in their natural state, less meat, less sugar, less bread & pasta, and apparently more cheesecake. I downloaded this particular cheesecake recipe from therawchef.com. This cheesecake tastes like and looks as close to the real thing as we can tell, although we've never actually eaten real 'pomegranate flavored' cheesecake before, but it definitely tastes like a cheesecake.

So, what is in it? The filling is made out of Cashews, coconut oil, lemon juice, agave nectar, vanilla, salt, and pomegranate juice. What about the crust? Well, take the first 6 ingredients I listed and vary their measurements and you have the crust. Next time I might try almonds or pecans for the crust and I'm sure it would be equally tasty. It was almost too easy to make which means I'll be whipping it up again in the future with (or without) visitor's requests... Any excuse I have to make this... I will take advantage of! Jeff and I both had some for breakfast!

Here are some more photos of this fun kitchen crafting adventure:

The Crust...


The Filling is set...


Ta Da...

Kitchen projects of the new year.

In this new year Jeff and I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen.
Mostly for gifts...

Jar of Hazelnut Butter:


Spicy Cheese Ball:


Baby loaf of Rustic Rosemary Greek-Olive Bread:



For ourselves, we experimented with Apple Cinnamon Jam, a Tabbouleh salad, Garlic and Jalapeño Quinoa, and a few others.

End of December Review

I don't miss my hair as it was weighing me down at over 18 inches long!! No, I didn't donate what was cut because it was not "quality" hair- But, I would have loved to. My new do will hopefully be more convenient for working freight crew. I'm happy to have virgin hair and glad that its basically back to my natural color. Here is a photo of my new hair cut!



I burned my thumb pretty badly on christmas day making Peanut Brittle from scratch for Jeff's dad. The brittle turned out great and my thumb is healing. (I will spare your eyes and not post photos of the thumb.)

Peanut Brittle

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 cup peanuts
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside.
In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in peanuts. Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet. With 2 forks, lift and pull peanut mixture into rectangle about 14x12 inches; cool. Snap candy into pieces.



Baker's Notes:
We conveniently decided we were going to make the brittle on Christmas Eve at approx. 6:30pm. Problem is most of the stores were closed already for the holiday so we bought 10: 1 5/8 oz. bags of salted and honey roasted peanuts from a liquor store because that was all they had. We thus omitted the salt from the recipe because the nuts were salty in themselves. I was thankful Jeff's mom had a candy thermometer because I can't imagine doing this project without one. This must be the first recipe I followed every step to the letter... and I'm glad I did because it turned out beautifully and Jeff's dad seemed impressed! :0)

When our friend Rob was visiting from Eugene he gave us the brilliant idea to compile a CD of songs about trains for Jeff's dad and thankfully provided us with the majority of the music! Here are the album covers Jeff and I designed:

Front cover of CD case: Designed and colored by Sarah Dekker.

Back of CD case: Designed and colored by Jeff Dekker

Wintery Cinnamon

It seems as if we skipped over autumn entirely. I've heard this could be due to Global Warming but it could just be me and my lack of observation as I slept while other people may have witnessed the vibrant leaves turn and blow away. I must say I missed fall this year. I want Winter to grow on me... so I try and convince myself- "Winter is growing on me," but I'm never sure if it is.

We've decided not to decorate for the holidays this year so I'm going to have to get in the Christmas spirit some other way. Although this year our apartment is sans decoration, our apartment is beginning to feel and smell wintery.

The air is frigid- we try not to turn on our heater too often (to save both money and electricity) so instead we bundle up in long sleeve shirts with hoodies and cozy pajama pants and snuggle together under our fluffy covers when Jeff gets home from work. Often times I fall asleep until late in the evening. This afternoon nap ritual is a favorite of mine.

The scent of the gingerbread coffee I brewed yesterday lingers with hints of freshly baked apple crisp radiating from our oven.
Baking so lifts my spirits. I felt overwhelmed with sadness earlier about not being able to see my family this holiday season and so I decided bake. And now, I have a smile in my soul and on my face... It also helps that the apple crisp will be done right as Jeff gets home from work... I'm surprising him with this treat. If it turns out horribly, at least the apartment smells cinnamony and delicious.



Apple Crisp Recipe

Makes six servings

6 apples cored and sliced
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
5 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup water

3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Place the sliced apples in a glass pan.
Mix the white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
Combine the oats, 3/4 cups flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together.
Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
Bake at 325 degrees F for about 45 minutes.

The Case for End Year Resolutions!

At the beginning of each new year I set out to accomplish major feats. Exercise 3x a week by going to the gym after work, keep our home clean (...how about just the kitchen?), stop biting my nails, put money into savings, volunteer my time, etc. Thinking up these resolutions through a process of thoughtful self-reflection and writing them down are major accomplishments in themselves. Every year I fail to meet my expectations of success. By early February I've given up hope and by the end of March I've forgotten what my resolutions were in the first place. The other day I was searching for our marriage license and instead came upon my new years resolutions list that I made at the beginning of 2010 tucked away at the bottom of my night stand. I am annoyed at myself for how much I didn't accomplish. I had a whole year to work on improving myself and some how it just didn't happen. The fact is, New Years Resolutions are a lost cause, for me at least. I become so overwhelmed with negative self-talk, i.e. "you'll never be able to keep this up for a whole year," that my new years resolution to think and talk positively is automatically defeated. So instead, I've decided to try something new. 'End of the Year Resolutions'. Starting in early (mid-December in this case), I have 15-30 days to accomplish as much as I can manage. A month is perfect because 1.) It is just enough time to kick a bad habit or get into a good habit, and 2.) because its only a month, this set time frame seems doable- less daunting than a whole year. 3.) The lateness in the year factor allows me to feel like I accomplished something this year and 4.) therefore I can leave the year on a more positive note. 5.) If I am successful at sticking out my resolution, I can then decide if I want to continue this newly formed habit of self improvement through the new year which 6.) will most likely make keeping these resolutions in the new year easier because I'll already have practiced and know I can succeed.

For this End of the Year here are my 5 Resolutions:
1.) Find a better balance between work, resting, making time for friends, and family time
2.) Be more intentional about hanging out with Jeff's family
3.) Put belongings back in their proper places to keep apartment organized
4.) Shed the unnecessary- focus on what I truly value.
5.) Eat more Fruits and Vegetables daily and limit my intake of processed foods

New Opportunities... Thankfully Thursdays

A few days before thanksgiving my husband came home from work and excitedly told me about this night position that had opened up in the variety department... I listened to everything he told me and said, "it sounds like you are really excited about this, you should go for it!" And he was like, "No silly, not for me... for you!" See I thought he had been talking about himself switching departments so we would both be working nights, but he was actually suggesting that I apply for this position. After figuring that out, I was a little hesitant because I'm not loving working at night. But after he reminded me that there would be other people around, and I would not just be sitting at a desk the whole night, I quickly got on board. So, I turned in my application not really knowing what to expect. I interviewed for the position and was offered the job. I am thankful to have a fresh start and learn some new skills. :0) Jeff is super enthusiastic about me working at the same company and store as him, which I think is really sweet. His excitement has rubbed off on me a little too. So, I have 3 more nights at the hotel and then I start sometime this next week at WinCo. I am thankful for this new opportunity to learn new things, meet new people, and grow as a person!

End of November Review

November was kind of a blah month for us. We were both ill for the majority of November. Yeah, there were a few days when we felt better... being sick is exhausting. It is fine when one of us is sick as the well person can take care of the sick one, but we learned we can manage to take care of each other even though neither of us felt great. I remember thinking how I was thankful that we are usually pretty healthy and I was happy that we would both feel much better in a few days. But the few days turned into a few weeks... the sickness continued without reprieve. Our 1 year anniversary was low-key because of this. It was just nice to relax together. We finally got Jeff in to see the doctor on the 30th because he was so sick and has some lumps on his neck. The doctor thinks he probably has swollen lymph nodes from a sinus infection so he is on antibiotics for the next week or so. :0( Here's to hoping they work!

Our apartment looks as ill as we do. Thats all I'm going to say about that.

Our dear friend Hope visited us mid-November! This was a huge highlight for us as we really enjoy her company. It was just like the old days at Calvin- our sophomore year, the three of us hung out all the time. :0)

Thanksgiving was nice. We spent it with Jeff's family, had a nice traditional turkey dinner, and I fell asleep on their couch after the meal.

I started reading the book Hot Flat and Crowded. It is interesting so far and I'm on page 300 out of like 400.

On Our budget: We did really well this month and saved 1/3 of our income again this month. This of course doesn't reflect the fact that we paid off ALL our loans: for school and my car. But these special transactions came out of savings so they were not pulled from our monthly income. Jeff's and my anniversary gift to each other is being Debt Free!! We saved up our money and decided we would start our second year of marriage off right! We are both relieved not to have to take these moneys out each month and more importantly, now we can continue to save up our money for a house, and kids, and exciting endeavors like that! :0)

I finally mailed my sister's birthday gift on the 30th of Nov...... a month and a 1/2 late. I'm such a bad sister. We hope they like them though.