Happy Pi Day! 3.141592653...

Happy Pi Day everyone! Today is an especially epic Pi day as it is March 14th of 2015!  Since Pi starts with 3.1415 this is the first time this has happened in 100 years and I am pretty excited about it!  For school, I brought in oreo pie and chocolate chip cookie pie for my students and a ton of my kiddos brought in their own circular treats to share.  It was pretty great!

It also happens to be the St. Patricks Day celebration in Chicago and my friend Lauren's bday celebration.  Can today get any more epic?

The answer is yes.  Here is an epically delicious pie for you all!  This is like a "better than sex" pie and it was truly AH-mazing.  I hope you all have a fantastic Pi/St. Pattys/Whatever day and enjoy your weekend!

The Epically AH-mazing Pi Day Pie

Crust:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter

1 tsp white vinegar

2-3 tbsp cold water

Filling:

Your favorite hot fudge

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

8 oz light cream cheese

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Your favorite caramel sauce (I recommend salted caramel)

2 cups cool whip topping

Mini PB cups, M&Ms...and whatever other toppings you want!

Directions:

1. Make the crust: place flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.  Cut cold butter into cubes and place in food processor with vinegar.  Pulse until you have a sand like combination.  Pour water in, 1 tbsp at a time, while pulsing, until your dough comes together.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.  Once chilled, heat oven to 400 degrees and roll out pie dough so that you have a large circle.  I usually try to go for a circle with a 12 inch diameter.  Then, place pie dough into a 9 inch pie pan and form crust to your liking.  Place in preheated oven and cook for 10-12 minutes or until dough starts to brown.  Cool

2. To make the filling, melt the dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl.  Once melted, whip with the cream cheese and heavy cream until you have a light and fluffy filling. 

3. To assemble the pie: spread hot fudge into your cooked pie crust so that it covers the bottom.  Then, spread the chocolate mixture on top.  Next, drizzle caramel sauce over the chocolate filling.  Finally, top with the whipped topping and sprinkle extra hot fudge/caramel/other toppings on top.  Place in fridge to chill until you are ready to serve.

Enjoy :)

Homemade Moose Tracks Ice Cream

So, I am sitting in the cafeteria because it is finals week and I am supposed to "supervise" aka babysit the children who do not have a first period final and do not want to go to the library to study.  It's times like these where I just love my job....

After this awful time of doing nothing, my finals actually begin and I have a geometry final and algebra final later today.  Although this morning time is pretty much the worst, I am excited to see how my students do on their finals today.

To pass the time, I am sitting with my English teacher friend and we are grading/chatting.  This is really not as bad as it could be.  I could be the person who has to walk around and ask students to settle down even though  it is a totally free time in the cafeteria...I mean, do we really expect them to study in here?

Of course, I am also sitting here thinking about food.  If I wasn't, I wouldn't be writing this blog post.  When I was thinking about what to write, I realized that on a cold day like today, it would be nice to think of something awesome like ice cream!  I can't put into words how much I miss summer and therefore how much I miss ice cream.  A while back, I decided that I wanted Moose Tracks because it is the best and so I made homemade Moose Tracks Ice Cream.  It was freaking amazing.  I spent a day eating it while watching a Sex and the City marathon on HBO and I truly don't have any regrets about it.  I forgot to share the recipe here, but I figured that its never too late or too cold to talk about ice cream.

Moose Tracks Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 egg
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 1/2 cups half and half
1/2 cup skim milk
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla
20 mini peanut butter cups, halved
1-2 cups fudge sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
6 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Make the fudge sauce: place the sugar, corn syrup, water and cocoa powder in a medium pot.  Heat until the mixture comes to a rolling boil while whisking constantly.  Cook while boiling for about 1 minute while continue to whisk.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.  Transfer to a container and let cool completely in the fridge.
2. In a large sauce pan, pour 1 1/2 cups of half and half and heat over medium until steamy and then remove from heat.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with the sugar, brown sugar, and sweetened condensed milk.  Pour in 1/2 cup of the warm half and half and beat until combined.  Pour the entire mixture back into the half and half saucepan.  Heat over medium, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and coats the back of your spoon. Don't let it boil.
4. Pour the mixture into a separate bowl and whisk in the rest of the half and half, skim milk, salt, and vanilla.  Cover and place in fridge to chill for at least 4 hours.  
5. Once your ice cream mixture is chilled, freeze in ice cream machine according to directions.  Once down, pour into a bowl and stir in the fudge sauce and peanut butter cups.  Place in freezer to harden.

Foodie Friends Friday: Picnic Party!

This week, Foodie Friends Friday is back!  This week is all about Picnics! Picnics during the spring and summer are so much fun! Just follow the rules and link up some recipes that are perfect for this party! Also, host favorites will be featured on Daily Dish!  This week I'm linking up Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownies, Chocolate Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Lemon Brown Butter Pasta Salad with Arugula, Tomatoes and Pine Nuts.

Most Clicks:

1. Rustic Christmas Candle

2. Homemade Christmas Ornaments

3. Old Fashioned Christmas Fudge

And Host Favorites!

Welcome to Foodie Friends Friday!

Please take a moment to read through the rules before getting started, Thank You!

*By linking up you agree that you read these rules and all photos/recipes are original and belong to you. You agree to allow Foodie Friends Friday and any of it's affiliated websites or publications (Social Girls Media, LLC) to use photos, links, and recipes for reprint and/or republishing and distribution without monetary compensation to you. If photos & recipes are used, proper link backs to you will be included.

Adding Links back to Foodie Friends Friday and our Button is our only form of advertising to bring in more people to see YOUR recipes.

Please remember to do this. It benefits you! To thank you, we will continue to feature those with links throughout the year on various outlets.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.foodiefriendsfridaydailydish.com/" title="Foodie Friends Friday" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/busyvegetarianmom/FFFDDButtonNEW150Darker_zpse238f637.jpg" alt="Foodie Friends Friday" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

Oreo Stuffed Brownies

Happy Sunday! I had a slight change of plans in regards to this weekend...

And by slight, I mean HUGE! I was supposed to hang with DTS on Friday night, run the Crazylegs Race Saturday morning, go to Spring Formal for DTS Saturday night and plan my lessons for the week today.

Instead, I got interviews! This is exciting, but it meant changing my life around quite a bit.  I had an interview Friday morning, and then I found out about two more interview on Monday and one on Tuesday! All of them are in the Chicago-area, so I decided to stay at home this weekend instead of driving back and forth a ton.  My Friday interview felt pretty good and then Friday afternoon, I left for Champaign with my parents to see my little bro run his first Half Marathon on Saturday! He totally killed it! Finished in 1 hour and 42 minutes! Thats fast! I'm hoping for a time around 2 hours! Then, we hung out in Champaign, had lunch and dinner, and even a little froyo for dessert! I've been keeping up on my runs by using the lovely work out facility at the hotel.  I'm also working through a few more applications and getting ready for my other three interviews tomorrow and Tuesday!

I also have a yummy recipe for you today.  And by yummy, I mean, insanely delicious.  I made brownies, but then I decided to put a layer of oreos in the middle.  It was a pretty darn good idea if I say so myself.  The brownies were amazing and the oreos provided an awesome little surprise in the middle.  This is my all time favorite brownie recipe and I love coming up with little ways to mix it up!

Oreo Stuffed Brownies

Ingredients:

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tbsp instant espresso powder

2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup flour

1 10 oz package dark chocolate chips
Oreos

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line the inside of a 13 by 9 inch baking pan with foil.  Let the foil hang over the ends of the pan.  Grease the foil.

2. In a large saucepan, over very low heat, melt the butter and bittersweet chocolate, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Once melted, stir in the sugar until well combined.  Next, stir in the eggs until well combined.  Then, mix in the espresso powder, vanilla, and salt.  Fold in the flour until just combined and then fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan.  Place oreos on top of the batter.  Pour the rest of the batter over the oreos and spread out to make it even.

4. Bake for about 40 minutes.  The sides will be set and the center will be just a little wet still.  Let cool for 15 minutes.  Using the ends of the foil, lift the brownies out of the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy :)

Cosmic Love Brownies

I recently checked off yet another thing on my bucket list for the end of my college career   I went to my first Men's Hockey Game! It was a super fun experience and they ended up winning the game! Following the game, I had a ladies night with some of my girlfriends and it was just a super fun time.  Until my phone was stolen.  Yep, that was a bit of a bummer.  I was able to track the phone and file a police report, but unfortunately the phone is in an apartment complex with at least 30 units and so it is pretty much gone unless it moves to a location where the police can pinpoint it.  Even though this was not the greatest thing to happen, I decided to focus on how awesome the rest of my night was and how grateful I am for the amazing friends I have to share all these senior year experiences with!

Valentine's Day is also coming up and so I made some Cosmic Love Brownies to share with my girlfriends.  You know? Those brownies with the colored candies on top?  Well, I made my own version! I started with my Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownies and made a topping to along with them!   This Valentine's Day, I will be enjoying heart-shaped pizza, wine, and dessert with these awesome girls while watching Grey's Anatomy.  I think it sounds like the perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day!

Cosmic Brownies

Ingredients:
8 oz unsweetened chocolate
10 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp espresso powder
2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup flour
10 oz dark chocolate chips
Topping:
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp skim milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
mini m&ms

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a 13 by 9 inch pan with foil.  Lightly grease the foil.
2. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the unsweetened chocolate, stirring constantly.  Once smooth, stir in the sugar until well combined.  Then, stir in the lightly beaten eggs.  Mixture should be smooth and glossy.  Stir in the espresso powder, vanilla, and salt.  Stir in the flour until just combined.  Stir in the dark chocolate chips.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes.
3.  While baking, make the topping.  In a small saucepan, place the butter, milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Stir until smooth.  Pour over the warm brownies and spread to coat the top.  Let cool for 20 minutes.  Then, spread the mini m&ms over the top and lightly press down.  Let cool for 10 minutes and then, using the foil, lift the brownies out of the pan and let cool completely.
To make the hearts, I used a cookie cutter and cut out hearts once the brownies were cool.

Enjoy :)

Healthier Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Fudge

Today was such a great day and so I've decided to share such a great recipe!

I had a really awesome day at middle school: In morning meeting, I have been teaching the Thriller Dance so that we can Flash Mob another homeroom for Halloween.  The kids look so great doing the dance and they are really getting into it.  We are having a fun time and I think it is awesome how they all work together and buy into the whole experience.  Plus, they get to see me doing something I love, dance! Also, we had some time to review the constructions we are working on in math and I got to see not one, not two, but three students who typically slack off or act out, try really hard and get a lot of good work done.  I felt like today was really positive and productive!

Next, I had work all afternoon for Visitor & Information Programs.  It was a pretty great work day as well.  I helped answer a bunch of e-mails and phone calls and I was able to get some good homework done and work on this blog a bit! I felt productive both to myself and the job!

Afterwards, I had Core Crunch at the SERF (workout center), which is always a blast because I get to hang with Margo.  The class is pretty tough and I love that I get a great work out in in 30 minutes.  Then it's time for dinner!

On Tuesdays after dinner, I always bake with Casey for DTS Study Night.  However, this night was different.  Instead, a bunch of my DTS sisters came over for some sisterly bonding and caramel apple making! We made great caramel apples to sell at a bake sale to help our organization as well as the Wisconsin Autism Society.  Caramel Apples for a Cause! Love it! It was a lovely evening and I can't wait to see how the sale is.  More details on making caramel apples to come :)

So, after all this fun stuff, I have a recipe! I saw a version of Healthier Fudge made by Chocolate & Carrots and I knew I just had to try it! Here is my version:

Healthier Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Fudge

Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp peanut butter, plus more for the swirl

Directions:
1. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper
2. Warm up the coconut oil in the microwave for 15 seconds to make sure it is in liquid form.  Stir in the honey.  Next, stir in the cocoa powder and peanut butter until well combined.  Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
3.  Drop a few spoonfuls of peanut butter on top of the fudge and, using a knife, swirl it into the fudge. Place in the freeze for 15-20 minutes.  Serve cold or re-freeze to store for a later time.

Enjoy :)



http://www.texanerin.com/2012/09/healthier-dark-m-fudge.html