Yep...its true

I GOT IN!!!!!

It's been a long time since I've blogged. Just been so so busy. Here is a re-cap

.Ethan's hair for "Crazy Hair Day" at school.

Tyler's robot costume at an early Halloween Party.

This is the photo that finally drove home the truth...I am a midget. I have always known I am short - but when I saw this photo I knew that I would have to wear heels forever and that if the Broadway ever needs a munckin for The Wizard Of Oz...well, then I will have a career.
Out to dinner in Mexico. We usually ate at Taco stands... this night we wanted to be fancy. Ummm, let's just say we should have stuck with the Taco Stands.

Mexico 2009 Trip

Martha Stewart's Caramel

This is my new favorite caramel. It is delicious, very easy and quick and delicious... did I already mention that? Well, just in case I haven't - this stuff is delicious.

Makes 2 cups

• 1 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat sugar over medium-high until melted and brown at edges, 3 minutes. With a heat-resistant spatula, pull melted sugar toward center until all sugar is melted and caramel is deep amber in color, 3 minutes more.
   
2. Immediately whisk in butter, coarse salt, and pure vanilla extract (take care as mixture is extremely hot and will bubble).
   
3. Whisk in heavy cream.
   
4. Pour into a heatproof container and let cool. (To store, refrigerate, up to 3 weeks.)
   

Gooey Pudding Cakes

Basically, this dessert was a dream. I loved them. They are rich...so probably better after eating a lighter dinner...instead of the smorgasbord of appetizers we girls ate during our "Girl's Night" that preceded this delicious dessert.
Really, this recipe is fool proof. It is super easy, makes you look like a gourmet chef and tastes like heaven. We served ours with homemade Carmel sauce( recipe to be posted shortly) and ice cream.

The only changes I made to the recipe...I doubled the recipe and served them in ramekins instead of unmolding them from the muffin tin. With the recipe doubled it makes 6 ramekin servings. Also, a trick I learned, instead of greasing the inside of the ramekins with butter and flour, butter them and then cover the insides with sugar. They unmold much easier if you want to unmold them and it adds a nice sweet crust on the outside.
Well here is the recipe. Enjoy!
GOOEY CHOCOLATE CAKE

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, (4 ounces coarsely chopped, and 1 ounce very finely chopped)
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons of sugar

• Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Butter (or spray – it’s easier) 6 cups of a regular-size muffin pan, preferably a disposable aluminum foil pan, dust the insides with flour (or cocoa) and tap out the excess. Put the muffin pan on a baking sheet.
• Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together.
• Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the coarsely chopped chocolate and the butter in the bowl and stir occasionally over the simmering water just until they are melted – you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.
• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk until homogeneous.
• Add the sugar and whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes.
• Add the dry ingredients and, still using the whisk, stir (don’t beat) them into the eggs. Little by little, and using a light hand, stir in the melted chocolate and butter. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle the finely chopped chocolate over the batter.
• Bake the cakes for 13 minutes. Transfer them, still on the baking sheet, to a rack to cool for 3 minutes. (There is no way to test that these cakes are properly baked, because the inside remains liquid.)
• Line a cutting board with a silicone baking mat or parchment or wax paper, and, after the 3-minute rest, unmold the cakes onto the board. Use a wide metal spatula to lift the cakes onto dessert plates.