This is a dessert platter

We're about to head over to our friends' house, and I would like to present, my dessert platter.

Everything on here was made by me except for the pretzels. Those were from a tin we got, but I thought I'd throw them on here anyway. My main goal was not to put together the most chocolatey, delicious-o dessert platter ever, but it was to clean out all the goodies that are at my house.

There are magic cookie bars, chocolate cookies, oatmeal scotches, pretzel turtles,and the aforementioned, chocolate-covered pretzels. You do not see the chocolate chip cookies on there because they are my Hubs favorites, and he would not be happy if I gave them away.

So farewell, my sweet friends. I hope you all get eaten so I don't have to bring you back.

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Baking up a storm but also working out - gotta work on my fitness

We're one day away from Christmas, and I baked up a storm in preparation. I made yummy caramel corn, delicious chocolate chip cookies, tasty oatmeal scotches, sweet and salty turtle bites (left) and then there are the chocolate cookies that were supposed to be dipped in chocolate. I say supposed to be because that didn't quite happen. The white chocolate I tried to melt in my microwave just didn't turn out right. I think I heat it too much and it just turned into this hard crumbly mess. So no dipping for me. Oh well, the Hubs says the cookies are still good.

Why all this baking? Well, first off I love to bake. I think it's the sound of the mixer and the smell of the yummy goodies in the oven. I also have a bit of a sweet tooth. My sweet tooth has not been my friend over the years as I gained more and more weight, which I am now trying to lose.

If you have followed me for awhile, you might remember that I've lost 50 pounds this year. Lately, I haven't been too strict on my diet, but I'm still working out. So maintenance is my goal during the holiday season, and so far I'm doing good. I haven't gained any of the weight back, and I think that's because I've upped my workouts by signing up for a personal trainer and doing more running. That's right, I'm running. I don't plan on running a marathon or anything, but my goal is to do a few 5Ks next year. So far I'm doing good, but I know that it will be different running outside than on the treadmill. I've been stuck on the treadmill because it's been pretty chilly in the morning.

Now the personal trainer thing is new for me. I did that boot camp that wrapped up a couple months ago, and that was the first time that I did organized workouts with someone telling me what to do. It wasn't too bad. Then my instructor sent me an email saying she was moving gyms and offering personal training sessons. The gym is really close to work, so I go in the morning, shower then just walk over to work. Let me just say that she has found muscles I never knew I had. What seem like small little moves with weights make my arms feel like jello, and if I don't get a good booty soon, then I will just think I am doomed to always have a flapjack. She has me do so many lunges and squats that it is sometimes hard for me to walk down the stairs the next morning. It's not that painful though. It's a good burn. I'll continue going to her in the New Year, and my goal is to lose another 50 in 2010.

So here's to a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers. I hope to close out with a year-end kind of post later, but in closing here are some pics of my yummy treats. Like how I do that? Tease with treats, sandwich in some workout updates and close it out with more delicious bites. It all balances out, right?

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French Toast - Slow Cooker Style

Every year we have a "12 Days of Gluttony" at work. Today was my day, and I decided to go with a breakfast dish. The problem was that I didn't have a lot of time last night to make something extravagant, and I didn't want to get up super early to make something to take warm to work. So I looked to my handy slow cooker, otherwise known as a crock pot. But what breakfast dish can be made in a slow cooker? French toast of course!

I had to do some searching online for a recipe, and I came across the blog A Year of Slow Cooking. There was a post for a slow cooker french toast, and it looked perfect to take to work. I was a little leary about bread and liquid cooking all night, but it turned out really well. The best part is that it was super easy, and I didn't have to slave over a hot stove.

French Toast in a Slow Cooker
Ingredients:
1.5 loaves of french bread
1 dozen eggs
2 t vanilla
4 cups of milk (I used 1 cup of heavy cream and 3 cups of regular 1% milk)
1/4 t salt
2 t cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup walnuts, or other desired nuts (optional)
Syrup

I must warn you that I don't actually measure things very well, so those measurements are what the recipe says. Unless, I'm doing actual baking like cookies or cake, I tend to just add however much I think works. So the cinnamon, brown sugar and vanilla were just dumped in.

Back to the recipe...I greased the sides of the crock pot with Pam, but you could use butter or Crisco. Then, I sliced the bread and layered it all in the crock pot. It actually was a lot of bread and barely fit in there. Next I whisked the remainder of the ingredients, except the syrup, together and poured it on top. I didn't use the walnuts because there are some co-workers with nut allergies. I turned the crockpot on low for 6 hours and went to bed.

When I woke up the entire house smelled like french toast. I packed up the crock pot and the syrup and headed to work. The bread was almost overflowing the crock pot last night, but it shrank down to about half the size and was a lovely golden brown color. The edges that had sat up against the side were a little crunchy and the middle was soft. After helping me get everything up to the office, I had one of the carpoolers be my taste tester. After pouring some syrup, he dug in. I think it passed.

Sorry, I didn't take pictures of the final product.

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Getting ready for our adventure north

Thanksgiving is just two days away, and the desserts are baked or baking. The Hubs and I will be heading out in the morning for our adventure to the great North known as Michigan. This is the first year we're swapping out Thanksgiving and Christmas with the families. Before this year, we didn't travel at Thanksgiving, and we would switch off who we spent Christmas Day with. Not anymore.

Last Christmas our normal nine hour drive turned into almost 15 hours with an overnight stop because of an ice storm. The Hubs was already tired of having to be gone from our home at Christmas, and he came up with the idea of switching the holidays. So this year we're heading to visit his family at Thanksgiving, and next year we'll go at Christmas.

I'm not really sure how this is going to go. The reality that we won't be there at all at any time around Christmas might not have hit his mother yet, I don't think. She hasn't really said much about it as far as I know, and we'll see how this visit goes. The Hubs keeps telling me that he's setting the precedent now so when we have kids it's already routine. I'm not arguing. Personally, I'm not a fan of Michigan. Yes, Michigan - the entire state. I lived there for four years, and it's where I met the Hubs. The truth is that I'm a Southern Girl. Luckily, I was able to get the Hubs to move down here with me.

So in preparation for our trip north, I baked three desserts tonight, all of which came from The Pioneer Woman. We'll be dining on the Pioneer Woman's Pecan Pie, Apple Dumplings and Caramel Pumpkin Gingersnap Cheesecake. Whoa...say that last one three times fast. It's a mouthful. I haven't made any of these before, so I'm a little nervous.

I get a bit stressed out cooking for the Hubs family. They are all good cooks with recipes that are handed down. They are also a little critical. The comments might not be said right to your face, but later you might hear snippets of things people have said about what you served. The Hubs told me to make something I know and have done before, but I couldn't decide on any of my usual recipes. There was either the chocolate swirl cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, and all my other boring recipes. I just wasn't excited to cook any of those, and I'd been reading The Pioneer Woman for awhile now. Her recipes always sound so good, and her pictures just make your mouth water. I decided to take the plunge and make three of her recipes at once.

Well, actually four, but the dinner rolls already look like they are going to be a disaster. I believe I got the first part of the recipe too hot, and I put the yeast in too early. Because of the temperature, I believe I killed the yeast because that bread is not rising. Oh well, I was prepared. I had bought two things of rolls just in case. I know I can make a mean dessert, but the only breads I'd ever made before were things like zucchini bread or banana bread. Things that don't go through the whole yeast rising thing. Obviously, I need to work on that more.

The next few days will probably be my hardest in the 30 Posts in 30 Days challenge. I'll have my laptop with me as well as my phone, but finding the time to blog might be tough. I plan on succeeding though even if it's just a sentence or two. I mean, I have to keep my readers up to date on the adventures. There are sure to be good ones. My friends at work always enjoy my post-Michigan visit with the in-laws stories, especially when they include things about socks and bathrooms and shag carpet.

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