Sunday, June 28, 2009

Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Bites


We made these at Melissa Lake's bridal shower and I have been craving them ever since! So we went to this really neat store in Walla Walla called Clickers and found these delicious looking raspberries and I could not resist. Jack thought I was crazy because I was so excited for them but when he tried them he understood why. They are really easy and oh so good! Thought I would share the recipe- enjoy!

Directions:

Brownie Crusts:

1 package/ 20 oz of brownie mix
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup of water
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Once you have the mix ready, butter and flour the pan. I used a mini muffin pan, the smaller size is good because they are rich, but you can make them bigger if you want. Do not over fill them, a little less batter is actually better, I overfilled mine.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 12-15 mins. or until done. Immediately take out the brownies and push down on the middle with a spoon, forming a cup shape brownie. Then put them in the fridge for 30 mins.

Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Filling:

3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
Use medium heat and bring just to a boil.

In a bowl put 8 oz of semi sweet chocolate chips

Pour the warmed cream over the chocolate chips to melt them.

Once the chocolate is completely melted
Add about 1 tablespoon (or to taste) of raspberry chambord (I used raspberry extract and it worked fine, you need this part though, it makes all the difference!)

Fill the brownies up with the chocolate raspberry ganache
Put a whole raspberry on the top
Before you serve them, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar

Sunday, June 14, 2009

LAKERS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!

Congrats to the best team in the world!  Wish we were in L.A. for a little parade action on Wed.  Just in case our blog readers have forgotten I did predict this very outcome back in October.  Just scroll down and hit "Older Posts" about 3 times to see for yourself.  

MVP!



This past weekend we went to our first ever demolition derby.  We had a good time at the local fairgrounds.  


A girl had a seizure while driving and they had to cut the whole top off the car to get her out. 

They just kept driving even with no wheels!!

Three car pile up! 

Cars were catchin' on fire- crazy people! 

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Babysitting, California, B-day and Walla Walla

It has been a few weeks since our last post so I just decided to combine everything we have been up to all into one. This last weekend we got to do a little babysitting for our cousins, Adam and Lauren, out in Olympia. Their kids, Ella and Anders, were a blast. We had so much fun watching them for a couple of days.






On our drive back from Olympia we passed through Yakima, WA and found their city sign funny. "The Palm Springs of Washington" - it doesn't quite remind me of home.
We still love seeing Mt. Rainier.
I went home a couple of weekends ago for my best friends wedding. Melissa looked so gorgeous! Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Wright!

It was so great to see family, even for just a few days!


Jack and I had a great time on my birthday. He took me to my favorite restaurant in town. Afterwards we watched a movie and opened presents. Jack uploaded every single picture we have ever taken together to this website http://www.designamosaic.com/ and created this awesome mosaic on canvas for me! Now we are just working on getting it framed. I love it!


No better way to kick off summer than by going to the Walla Walla hot air balloon festival! We had never seen these things so up close and personal before. There were approx. 35 balloons in the air at all times throughout the course of the weekend.




This is a shot from our apartment window.
Right next to our apartment is this great park. It was designed by the same guy who designed Central Park in NYC (just a little Walla Walla history).

That's all for now!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mothers Day!!

We are so grateful for our wonderful mothers, they are amazing! We love you and wish we could be there to spend the day with you. Thanks for all you do for us!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Portland

Jack and I had to spend last week in the Portland area for work.  We were able to do a little more exploring of the city.  We also got to meet up with our good friends, Jon and Dani.  We stayed in three different hotels so it is nice to finally be back at our apartment. 




The weather has been warming up here and everyday we drive past a really nice park near our home.  We decided that it was time to relive our Hawaii days and buy some cruisers to ride around the park.  We bought them in Oregon so no sales tax- love it!

On our way home from Portland we stopped at these amazing waterfalls.  They too reminded us of Hawaii.





Whirley POP

Gammy and Papa sent us this awesome popcorn machine that makes theater style popcorn. I came into the kitchen and saw Melissa trying to catch some in her mouth. She was doing pretty good so I got it on film for our blog viewers.


Preparing for the shot...
Nothing could break her concentration
It's up...
It's good!!!!!

Thanks Gammy and Papa! We love it!