Shark Diving in South Africa – Dream #1 Complete!
It has always been a dream of mine, or crazy adventurous desire if you’d like, to shark dive and see those beautiful great whites in action. Well, this June I packed up my bags for dreary winter weather and ventured down to South Africa with my mom. We waited three miserable days to finally get out and see those beautiful creatures and it was fantastic!!
Add comment July 8, 2009
Office Treat Telegram #5: Chocolate Cherry Brownie Cupcakes
Chocolate Cherry Cupcake Bites
POINTS: 1
INSTRUCTIONS
1 spray(s) cooking spray
18 1/4 oz unprepared packaged devil’s food cake, or similar chocolate cake mix
2 tbsp apple butter
2 tbsp water
2 tsp almond extract
16 oz canned sweet cherries, packed in light syrup, drained (dark, pitted cherries)
1/3 cup(s) apple butter
1/2 cup(s) fat-free egg substitute
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat two 24-hole mini muffin pans with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, make the frosting: Mix together 1 cup of cake mix, 2 tablespoons of apple butter, water and 1 teaspoon of almond extract until smooth; set aside.
Place drained cherries on a paper towel. Pat cherries dry, place on cutting board and coarsely chop; set aside.
In a mixer on slow speed, combine remaining cake mix, remaining apple butter, remaining almond extract and egg substitute for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix until smooth, about 2 minutes more; stir in cherries.
Fill muffin pans 3/4 full with cherry mixture. Bake until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, about 15 to 17 minutes. Allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely. Frost each cupcake with 1 teaspoon reserved frosting. Yields 1 cupcake per serving.
Add comment May 15, 2009
Office Treat Telegram #4: Rhubarb Upside Down Cake
Recipe is Weight Watchers but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste good. It’s amazing!
Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
POINTS: 5
INSTRUCTIONS
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 cup(s) unpacked light brown sugar
1 1/3 cup(s) rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
18 1/4 oz unprepared yellow cake mix
2 tsp orange zest
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup(s) orange juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 cup(s) fat-free creamer
1/3 cup(s) vegetable oil
3/4 cup(s) fat-free egg substitute
2 tbsp powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place butter in a 9- X 13-inch nonstick baking pan; put in oven to melt. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter; spread rhubarb evenly over sugar.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cake mix, zest, ginger and cinnamon; add juice, creamer, oil and egg substitute. Beat on low speed of an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Increase mixer to medium and beat for 2 minutes more.
Pour batter over rhubarb; carefully smooth top with the back of a wooden spoon. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour.
Loosen cake by running a knife around pan edges. Turn pan upside down onto a cooling rack (set over a sheet pan to catch any drippings). Cool to room temperature, sprinkle with powered sugar and slice into 18 pieces. Yields 1 piece per serving.
1 comment May 8, 2009
Office Treat Telegram #3: Chocolate Caramel Crack(ers)
Let me tell you, these are as good as the recipe says they are. Think–toffee like bites that taste like caramel, salty, chocolate heaven!
Add comment April 29, 2009
Office Treat Telegram #2: Lemon Cheesecake Squares
Lemon Cheesecake Squares:
These were a BIG hit at the office, even among non-lemon loving folks.
Treat Telegram #1: Vegan Cheesecake
I substituted an Africa dream liquor for the Rum however. It ended up tasting like a Chocolate mousse pie instead of cheesecake but it was a big hit.
Add comment April 8, 2009
How Does it Feel?
Last night I lay awake around 1am tossing and turning. I tried to breathe in deeply and relax myself to sleep only to be interrupted by allergy sneezes every 3 or so breaths. I decided to forgo deep breaths and searched for my iPhone to acoustically rock myself to sleep. I came across the song “How Does it Feel” by Avril Lavigne. Not a huge fan of hers but the lyrics in this particular song caught the attention of my meandering mind.
One line in particular…
“Suddenly – how does it feel – to be – different from me – are we the same …”
The main celebration of begin human is free will and utilizing that gift to make our decisions in life makes us who we are. That also means that no two people are ever the same. We are always different. I suddenly realized that no matter who loves me or how many “me to” moments I share with another person I will never be understood completely by one person outside myself. Even then we’re stretching it a bit.
At first that was a bit of a sobering moment of realization. I thought about how being so unique is why we crave love. Love is not understanding someone though. Love is accepting someone for who they are. Pledging to them that no matter what you will always accept and love them, even if you don’t understand. To know that no one will ever really understand me is a weird thing to realize.
What I love about this realization, however, is the excitement of constant learning and exploring that comes with it. Knowing that I will never completely understand another human being means a world of endless conversations and new ideas to explore. I’ve always been a celebrator of differences. I know a lot of people don’t enjoy conflicting views, “abnormal” situations, etc because it makes them uncomfortable. I look at them as if they were a small piece of unlabeled candy. I can’t wait to unwrap them and see what I taste, even if it makes me throw up or pucker my nose.
After all, life is defined by our experiences so go out and live. Celebrate your differences and those of others. You may not understand them but that doesn’t mean they are wrong. As Keri Smith says,”There is no correct way of understanding something.” I think that the world you see is tainted by the lens you see it through.
Add comment March 29, 2009
What I’ll Do for V-Day Next Year
I am a big romantic so when I saw this online I couldn’t help but feel all mushy and excited to spark my own creativity for V-day next year. http://www.swiss-miss.com/2009/02/you-should-be-here.html
I love being inspired!
Add comment February 25, 2009
