Chocolate Trifle Recipe

This is one of those summer posts that I meant to post weeks ago, but better late than never! (Plus, now you get it just in time for the weekend!)

My hubby happens to be the only member of his family who has a birthday in a month other than June. This year, by weird coincidence, the sum of the ages of his parents and brothers equaled exactly 200 years.

So of course, they threw a bi-centennial birthday party!

Even though my husband's 33 years threw off the number, they let him celebrate too. Quite nice of them, don'cha think? :)

Dozens of family members and old friends showed up at the TX coast to sit under the spindly legs of his family's pink beach home. We ate tacos, compared patriotic pedicures, and spit watermelon seeds while the nieces and nephews spent their Popsicle-induced sugar highs in the surf.

In honor of the occasion, I tried out a new Chocolate Trifle recipe I'd begged from a co-worker after she made it for an office potluck. (Thanks, Allison!) I loved it because it was decadent and chocolate-y enough for my chocolate loving self, but not overly heavy thanks to the whipped topping she used. And with only five ingredients, it was super easy!

Chocolate Trifle

Ingredients

• 1 box brownie mix (I used a gluten free mix so that hubby could have some too)
• 1 3.9oz box instant chocolate pudding
• 1 12-oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 c. water
• 2 containers of whipped cream topping (one 8-oz, the other 12-oz)
• candy of your choice (I used Heath Bar)

Directions

• Prep brownies by box directions. Let cool, and then cut into small squares. Divide the brownies in half.
• Line the bottom of a large bowl with 1/2 the brownie pieces.
• In a separate bowl, combine chocolate pudding, 1/2 c water, and 12 oz sweetened condensed milk. Graduate fold in the 8 oz container of whipped cream topping.
• Layer the pudding and whipped cream mix over the brownie layer in the bowl (reserving at least half of the mix for later).
• On top of the brownies and pudding, make a layer of whipped topping (use about 1/2 of the 12 oz container).
• Sprinkle half of the candy over the whipped topping.
• Place another layer of brownies in the bowl. (Are you catching the pattern? LAYERS.)
• Use remaining pudding over the new brownie layer.
• Use the remaining whipped cream over the new pudding layer.
• Top with the rest of the candy.
• Chill until ready to serve!

The Best Fruit Tart in the World!

Soon after I got married to a husband who can't tolerate gluten in his diet, my family decided--independently of our influence--to try life without gluten. After finding that they had more energy, less allergies, and less digestive problems, they made the switch permanent. I certainly don't mind; it makes it easy for us when we visit!

The last time we visited, Mom made this mouth-watering fruit tart for my birthday that is quickly becoming my favorite dessert of all time. I asked her for the recipe, and then realized....hey! My bloggy friends might enjoy this too!

So here you go: I'm sharing the love. 

INGREDIENTS:

• Gluten free cookie mix. (We used the Betty Crocker GF chocolate chip cookie found at WalMart in the regular cake section)
• 2/3 c. sifted powdered sugar
• 12 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1/2 c. whipping cream
• 1 T. orange juice
• Various fruits--whatever is pretty and in season
• Glaze:
• 2 T. apricot preserves
• 1/2 T. orange juice

Make the crust using GF cookie mix. Form it on a pizza pan with parchment paper under it. Bake according to box instructions.

Whip together cream cheese, powdered sugar, whipping cream and 1 T. orange juice for the filling.  Spoon onto cooled crust and chill 1-4 hours.

Arrange fruit on top such as kiwis, raspberries, strawberries, papaya.....

Heat topping ingredients until liquid.  Drizzle over fruit. Enjoy!

NOTE: for those who are not gluten intolerant, you can of course use a normal cookie mix for the crust. :)

Impressions: Spider Bite edition

It's been about a week now since this nasty little welt appeared on my thumb. Methinks I have a spider enemy.

But you can be sure I forgot completely about spiders when I saw this sweet love note on our fridge. I officially have the most wonderful guy EVER.
*Intentionally faded so that you must scwunch your eyes REALLY HARD to read the mushiness.*

Remember the gluten free cake with the strange ingredient that I made for hubby's birthday? Yep, here it is! We only got one hastily taken picture before the double-decker hunk of chocolate goodness was gobbled by our homegroup. Mmmmmmmm!

Because his actual birthday fell on a day already overflowing with obligations, we continued the celebrations on Saturday by throwing a build-your-own-sundae party for some friends. Toppings included: bananas, strawberries, Oreo Cookies, Hershey syrup, Gummi Bears, and caramel sauce. *sigh* Every bite was delicious!

Early last week I had the honor of babysitting this little punk for a couple hours! She looks like a babysitting nightmare, but she is honestly one of the sweetest babies in the world. :)

Were you aware that you could buy an ENTIRE rack of ribs for dinner at BJ's? Maybe I'm just a typical girl who orders grilled chicken, but my mind was blown. 

The reality that graduation really is happening hit home to me this weekend while I was designing the announcements to send to friends and family. 

I know that the next three weeks will slip through my fingers like sand, and I'm trying to savor the moments before they're gone. 

Single gal for three days

Even in the velvety dark of midnight, my house makes constant, rhythmic sounds like a sleeping child.

The air conditioner hums like a persistent exhale, my computer’s fan whirs, and the dishwasher gurgles and clanks softly.

Today has been messy, beautiful, full. 

It’s feels strange to sit here alone while my sweetheart is asleep somewhere thousands of miles away. I know many wives who deal with work-related separation on a regular basis, and I really don’t know how they do it! I must be spoiled, because it’s only been three days, and I still miss him. And I know he will be back here, eating his birthday cake, in less than 24 hours. 

Yes, today is his birthday! (Happy birthday, sweetheart! I know you’ll read this tomorrow—er, I mean today!—at  some point in your travels. I have lots of fun surprises for you when you get home!)

Cooking and baking for a man with a gluten allergy has often been challenging, but tonight I think I found a winner! This flourless cake is chocolaty, dense, and tastes positively sinful, but is incredibly high in protein thanks to the many eggs and a surprise ingredient: 

No really. It’s delicious.

While I have missed my man these three days, I feel so refreshed from the many special girl talks I’ve been able to have!

One was on the phone, with one of those rare heart-sisters whose friendship remains constant no matter how long it’s been or how far away we live.

One was on freshly vacuumed carpet, the three of us alternately sharing our struggles and laughing at the puppies and the toddler-who-thought-she-was-a-puppy as they crawled and shrieked around us. Then we sat and prayed for each other and drove home, refreshed in deep places.

One was a spontaneous late-night visit across the lawn, shoes off, laughing in the beautiful blend of our personalities until the mosquitoes forced us inside.

One was seven hours long, and still felt short! We ate and laughed and gave back rubs and talked theology and sweethearts, and slept and then talked some more. 

Maybe later I'll process some of the content of those talks here, but for now I'm just treasuring them in my heart. 

I'm slowly learning that girl friends really are crucial for the health of my heart. I never want to let the busy-ness of life, or the tendency to compare myself, or any number of other hangups rob me of life-giving relationships with other girls. 

Coolness

What does a resourceful husband do when his food is too hot and he is in a rush? He uses his wife's hair dryer--on the cool setting--to blow on his food.

May I please call your attention to the fact that very few men know about the cool setting. Yes, my man is awesome.

A long post about a long Valentine's Day

Valentines Day was a glorious mix of the horrible and the absolutely wonderful. In the end, the blend of the two left me exhausted, but so thankful for the love of God, my friends, and my wonderful husband.

It started badly, long before daylight.  I was writing a paper, and somehow a 3-page assignment morphed into an 8-page monstrocity of over-achievement. (Mom, I know you're reading this and thinking "oh, no, not again...")

Three AM found me finally stumbling into bed, only to jerk awake to my 6:30 alarm so I could finish preparing for a presentation. Blech. It was one of those unfortunate circumstances where too many assignments fell on a too-busy weekend (which can be fatal when paired with my tendency to be too-conscientious.) 

Then the day got sweeter. I came out to the kitchen and found JC (aka Hubby) peeking around a mini-forest of long-stemmed red roses that towered over his bowl of cereal and some chocolate-covered strawberries. Awww!

(Just in case you were wondering if I did anything Valentine-y for him, a friend of ours delivered a "singing valentine", along with some chocolate and a letter, at his work during the afternoon.)

Classes also went well.  I'm one of those weird people whom God has blessed with an over-abundance of adrenaline in the morning hours, so until the inevitable afternoon crash, I was pretty energetic.

During my English presentation I discovered--once again--that I love teaching things to people. Where on earth did this come from? It was a group presentation about a really thought-provoking play called A Raisin in The Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry.  (Here is a link to the trailer for the 2008 movie version)

Before class, I still hadn't heard back from my two presentation teammates, but thankfully both showed up early to class. I was relieved, but my heart flopped over when one of my teammates pulled me aside and asked "What am I supposed to say again?" Oh no....  During the presentation, it was obvious that not only did he have stage fright, he also had next to nothing prepared. When he looked desperate after about a minute, the other guy and I stepped in to lead the discussion.  I know he felt really bad, but who could he blame but himself? 

The evening was my favorite part of the day. JC was at an equipping class at church until 10, so I had the whole evening to make our house romantic.

But then, my wonderful friend, Macie, came over for a surprise visit!!  Isn't her sweet little girl just precious? (see pic) We talked while I folded laundry, and by the time she left, I felt so encouraged. 

When Jordan got home, I surprised him with a candle-lit house, music playing, and a yummy treat: gluten-free crepes served with Nutella and banana slices!  I was almost falling asleep by that time, but it was awesome nonetheless.

Valentine's Day could have been awful on so many levels.  Days after a sleepless night are usually emotional swamps of disaster.

 It could have, but it wasn't, mainly because of the absolutely wonderful love of God shown to me through Jordan and sweet friends like Macie, Kelsey, and Marianne. I feel so thankful and loved.