Chocolate Pots de Creme

Today is a day of rejoicing in our family.  Our little baby is two months old, and he is finally done with all his testing for jaundice.  I wanted to post about the journey this has been for me.  But it's hard for me to put into words the roller-coaster of fear that I have been on over this last year. 

I have found it true, as Sarah Young writes, that understanding (the world's way of gaining mastery) is not the goal. I find true peace when I seek His face.

So last night, as we awaited our baby's last jaundice test, we watched TV.  Between the Olympics and Master Chef, we developed a great hunger.  For chocolate.  Maybe because those gymnasts were working so hard, and the desserts that the contestants produced on Master Chef looked impossibly delicious.

I'm not baking much these days.  The credit here goes to my daughter.

Heat oven to 300.

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

6 Tbsp. brown sugar

4 oz. dark chocolate (I used 60 percent dark chocolate chips)

4 large egg yolks

2 tsp. vanilla

In medium saucepan, bring cream and  sugar to a simmer, stirring. 

Remove from heat; add chocolate chips. Let stand one minute, stir until chocolate is melted.

Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla till smooth.

Place a large strainer over a mixing bowl. 

Pour mixture through strainer.  

This will strain out any weird egg bits.

Ladle the chocolate mixture into 4-6 (depending on size) ramekins or custard cups.

Place ramekins in large baking pan.

Pour hot water into pan so it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake about 45 minutes. Check after 40 minutes.  Ours were deep, so they took almost an hour.

Serve warm, or refrigerate up to one day.

 We served them with whipped cream and berry sauce.  

These are so good that tonight we are making them again.  

It's track and field, so we're expecting we'll get pretty hungry.

Better is one day in your courts

than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in 

the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favor and honor;

no good thing does he withhold

from those whose walk is blameless.

(Psalm 84: 10, 11)

May you feel His peace today.

With a Little Help from My Friends

We have our beautiful new baby boy, and he is taking all my time!  He was a little chunk, 9 lbs. 1 oz., and feeding him is a job and a half.  He is an absolute joy.  I haven't had a baby boy in 20 years, and I forgot how they steal your heart.

This post is mostly to thank the many friends who have prayed for me, for him, for us, through this year and over the last several years.  It's as though people who cared for us were waiting for an opportunity to bless us, and having our baby was just that.  And my friends and family have blessed us so beautifully that when I start to thank them, all I can do is cry.

So for all of you who brought us meals, sent cards, made and gave gifts, and most of all, prayed, thank you.  I love you.

 

Mommy and Malachi (6 weeks old)

Our little elf, sleeping on the blanket from Carrie, wearing the hat that Lisa made.  When I called Lisa and basically demanded that she knit a hat for him, and that the photographer was coming the next day, she got it done.....but I think she got no sleep that night.  (Photo shoot by Bee's Knees Photography)

My nephew and his baby cousin on the beautiful blanket from my friend Liz.  The quilt has a wealth of meaning for me. When I use it, which is all the time, I thank God for her and I pray pure joy for her.  "Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you...Selah...." Ps. 84:4.

And who in their right mind turns on the oven when it's 95 degrees outside?  Well, Amanda, that's who.  This pie was amazing.  So was the rest of the meal.  In fact, so were all the meals we were given.  My 20-year-old son, who could hardly look me in the eye when we told him we were having another baby, decided that the meal gifts were a great idea and maybe we should have another baby next year.  Very funny.

I was going to upload more images from Jessica's photo shoot....but now guess who is crying and needs his mommy?  I am learning that I need to work faster than ever if I want to get anything done.  But when I rock him and hold him, I am in no hurry.  I know that babies grow up very fast.

Picnic Cookies

We brought these to my cousin's grad party a few weeks ago.  They are really oatmeal-peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies, but it's easier to just say Picnic Cookies.  We reduced the original amount of butter and sugar and used organic eggs and flour, so they're about as healthy as granola bars.  

Preheat oven to 350.

1 cup butter, softened

2 T. canola oil

1 cup natural peanut butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

In a very large mixing bowl, beat together above ingredients until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.

To the above, add:

2 cups flour, preferably organic

3 1/4 cups rolled oats

3 T. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

  

Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the butter mixture.  Blend in mixer, but do not over mix.

Stir in 2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces.

Drop dough onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.  I use a big cookie scoop.

Bake about 14 minutes, less for smaller cookies.

The Best Shower Curtain Ever

The new shower curtain against fresh green walls.

My daughter has finished painting her bathroom.  Oh, it is so much brighter now.  I thought, from the picture in House Beautiful, that "Rainforest Dew" was a rich cream.  My daughter kept saying how much she wanted green.  We went to Benjamin Moore and got the sample and it was......green.  The lightest, freshest green.  I spent my childhood in the rainforest, and I remember faint sunlight filtering through the tops of giant trees.  I don't remember this pale celery color, or much dew for that matter.  But it's a name I can remember.

This is my favorite new thing in the room.  I kept yammering about the ruffled shower curtains at Anthropologie, so we looked them up.  They are $118.  More for the long curtains. So my girl and I went to the fabric outlet store and found these linen fabrics.  Each ruffle took 1/2 yard of fabric, cut in half lengthwise, hemmed, and ruffled.  She did all the work.  (I am 9 months pregnant!  Of course she did all the work!)  It was her idea to make the ruffles deeper, and out of 3 different fabrics.  The top is a tiny stripe, the middle is solid white, and the bottom one is wide stripes.

The first ruffle, sewn onto our shower curtain, which is a cotton twin sheet 

with grommets pounded into the top.

This is the best way to get a really long curtain.

 

She sewed each ruffle so the seam was hidden.

 

This picture shows how long the curtain is, 

also the cool antique cabinet and old card catalog drawer.  

The cheapest thing in the room is this 25 cent IKEA clock.  

I love unusual vases, this one is hand-blown and filled with our first garden flowers.

Getting this little bathroom finished was the last thing on that to-do list from my last post.  As I write this, I have 3 half-days of work left.  My husband is upstairs, singing a love song he wrote for me.  My son is in the next room, studying for the MCAT.  My baby is kicking and squirming.  Life feels sort of simple, sort of complicated.  I try to remain in a place of gratitude. And because of my constant craving for beauty and order, I feel.....happy.....when a project like this is done.