Back from my "Vacation"! :)

Our day trip to Wilmington Beach..

This trip turned out great... and soooo relaxing :)
random ducks... hiding from the heat.
Are you lost sweetie?... Let me take you home! ;0)

The pier
Goofy faces!

The End..

More pictures to come..

I'm "IT"

WoooooHoooo! I've finally been tagged! Lori from "I Spend Most of My Life in the Kitchen" has tagged me!
This means that I have to tell 8 things about myself. .... AND tag 8 new people!~ :)
Here goes!-

*I'm addicted to Big Brother 8. I seriously rush home on lunch breaks to watch the tivo'ed episodes at my mother's house!..... and NOW, it's getting down to the nitty gritty in the house :)
*I love to run. It makes me feel SO good inside... It's such a release for stress and the adrenaline is amazing.
*I love trying new things-- food, music, sports, arts and crafts. I hate the "same ol' same ol' routines"...
*I come from a close family. We've all been through a lot more than most people so it's brought us together over the years.
*I got married in a court house at 20. (This past February)... We kinda. . . eloped? I love my Mike though! :0*
*I love culture -- it's what drives the world. I can never stop learning about what makes us all unique and beautiful.
*I am working on a major in radio/tv/film... It would be my *ultimate* dream to be an anchor or have my own television show. (dammit! I'll even be a weather girl if I have to! :)
*When I was younger I wanted to be a scientist or a singer.. I was always very into discovering new things or entertaining people.... guess I still am the curious artist?! :)

Me and a little boy in Colombia.. This picture def. sums me up--- I love children, helping people.. the arts and crafts .. making people smile.. and traveling.. (even though most would stray far from a place considered to have "high crime".
And.. the NEXT to be tagged!. . .
Hypatia's Story
All-Purpose Girl
New In The Kitchen
Chicken, Again?
A Taste of Tina
A Craving For Perfection
Bake Your Cake and Eat it Too
Carrie's Cooking Adventures

YOUR IT!
--Steeeeeena :)

Mmm. . . A new restaurant in town.

Norah's opened up recently and I've been eager to try it out.. Well~ Sunday I got the chance:)
It's supposed to be "international cuisine/healthy food".... But I was a little disappointed..
Not with the food, because, don't get me wrong, it was very *tasty*.... BUT not really healthy.... and there wasn't a big "international" selection.. the menu was actually pretty small.. and I think the most "international" item was Jerk chicken... not that exotic. :0/
As far as health goes.. here's an example- sure they had "spicy vegetables," but they were greasy veggies.. and yeah, they had "Calypso rice" but it was so thick and starchy.. :-/
Another downside... the wait.
The freshly grilled entrees are probably the reason for the long wait, ,,, but it was a little TOO long.. I def. think they need to work on a better system back in the kitchen.. or hire a few more staff. Some people were ready to leave by the time their food was brought out... Luckily me and mom were willing to stick it out!
The meat was grilled up deliciously though.. they get all the point for that.. mmm! Full of flavor and very light! :) Their tea was also very good.. nice and fruity.. and SUPER refreshing on a hot day!... But their coconut corn muffins are what will bring me back!

I'd give them 6 stars out of 10....
ALMOST, but not quite.

Mrs. E

I finally had time to make something~!!!

Mike was interested in some peanut butter chocolate pie... So it was my mission to figure out how the hell to make it!

I searched the Internet, but found nothing to suit my fancy.

THEN! I started searching through all of my mother's old cook books... I didn't find a recipe for "peanut butter" chocolate pie... BUT I did find a recipe for "Creamy Chocolate Pie"

So creamy chocolate pie it was!

I had everything already in my cabinet except whipping cream and a pie crust (I was too lazy to make my own pie crust and I had to work,,, so time was an issue)

Here is the simple and easy recipe:

Creamy Chocolate Pie

(Just thought I'd mention that this recipe book is from my birth year.. 1986...wonder if mom was craving desserts? lol)

Ingredients:

1 (9 in) baked pastry shell

3 (1 oz) semi-sweet chocolate squares

1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup hot water

1tsp vanilla extract

1 cup (1/2 pint) whipping cream (and some additional to top pie)

chocolate shavings

Directions-

In a heavy saucepan, over medium heat, melt chocolate with sweetened condensed milk and salt. Cook and stir until very thick and fudgy, 5 to 8 minutes. Add water; cook and stir until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat; Stir in vanilla. Cool 15 minutes. Chill thoroughly, 20 to 30 minutes; Stir. In large mixer bowl, beat 1 cup whipping cream until stiff; fold in cooled chocolate mixture. Pour into prepared pastry shell. Chill 3 hours or until set. Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. (as you can tell from my pictures I just garnished with chocolate shavings :)

** To make it "peanut butter-ish" I smoothed creamy peanut butter on the pie crust before I poured the chocolate mixture into the pie shell :)

From what I tasted in the mixing bowl, it was DELICIOUS.. but we'll find out when my Mike gets home today and trys it!

Let me know if you try it out and how it went... I'll probably add some mint to it next time...YuM!

Mrs. E