From Hunt Boots to Baked Goods

Blackwolf Steal Yo Thunda &I

And I'm back! For those of you that actually like to listen to my babbling...I'm sorry for the delay in another post. I was on vacation for the one big horse show I get to go to this year. It was a great vacation, an awesome horse show and an exhausting, but completely worth it, 6 days. Long story short, we took two horses. And by we, I mean myself and my little, 14 year old, sidekick, Jazzerjod, who leases my oldest gelding. We had a fantastic horse show! I rode my home bred gelding, Blackwolf Steal Yo Thunda and after a mishap in the first class, he came back with a bang. We won our first blue together and ended up Reserve in the AOTS Championship (which means he is Amateur owned/trained/shown). This is only our second year under saddle, and considering that I ride maybe 2 or 3 times a week, I am super proud of how we did. Next year we are going for Grand Champion! (AND winning the Jackpot!!)  :)
 Jazzerjod totally rocked her division of the show with a first, Grand Champion, second and Reserve Champion. I am super proud of her and Scooter! (And we ALL know that Scooter is "Naughty But Nice" as he well proved with my * lil' BryBee!)  Jazzerjod has worked so hard and has taken her goals very seriously. She has been extremely determined to become a better rider and it is the most rewarding experience to witness that.

 













* lil' BryBee used to show with me when I trained professionally. She has been out of the horse world for the past few years and after spending a couple days at the show just to hang out, decided to show Scooter in a class. It wasn't pretty since she had a naughty horse (who we later learned had to go potty)...but it sure was fun.

Me and my "lil" BryBee together again!

After a long and eventful week it's taken me a few days to catch up on sleep and have even an ounce of energy. (I remember the days when I was 16 and HATED the end of a show. Now I can't wait for bed!) And if that hadn't kept me busy enough, we are having EAA guests staying with us again this year. They arrived on Tuesday and left today. Wednesday night I decided to get back to a normal life and make something scrumptious for our guests to enjoy before they leave. Now don't be fooled, WE already taste tested them. But I sent a "care" package with our guests so they can snack on their flight home. We had to make sure they passed approval first...right???

Now I ALWAYS choose to make chocolate desserts. Chocolate is my one true love favorite. I could eat, sleep and breathe chocolate. Literally. If it were possible. Tony thinks I'm strange (tell me something I didn't already know) but I think it's just a woman thing. Tell me a guy who craves chocolate the way I do and I might look at him a little strangely. However...I'm getting off point here. Yesterday I decided it was time to try something new and totally unlike me. Ok, so there is a little chocolate involved, but it's mostly multitudes of sugar, sugar, sugar and butter. Nummmmmm.......what could possibly be bad about that? Now you're wondering, what the HECK did I make?! Well they're super easy and mm... mm...good....they're M&M Blondie Bars.

Samoa M&M Blondie Bars

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/3 table salt)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 (12 oz.) bag mini M&Ms (with a few reserved for the top)

 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray.
Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it browns and begins to smell nutty (watch it closely so it doesn’t burn). Allow the butter to cool slightly.


In a large mixing bowl, combine the browned butter and sugars.
Stir in eggs, vanilla and salt. 

(Sorry for the not so great photo's. I had to use my phone)

Add the flour and stir just until combined.

Add  the coconut and M&Ms

and stir to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Sprinkle a few additional M&Ms on top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
Serve and enjoy!!

 

Thanks to http://eatatallies.com/2010/08/samoa-m-blondies/ for the recipe inspiration. I came across her blog through Pinterest and she has lots of good looking desserts that I just might have to try. Now that my horse show season is done early (due to having a dream wedding to plan and afford) I will have more time to bake and start my DIY wedding plans. Now the goal is to bake WITHOUT putting weight on for the wedding!! I guess I'm just going to have to pass it on to family and let them deal with the consequences! :)

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

My Previous Baking Excursions

Banana Butterscotch Bread

Courtesy of www.allrecipes.com

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar (it calls for white but I used brown. I heard that it's better suited for breads)
• 1 large egg
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)  

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). The recipe says to use 2 9x5-inch loaf pans. I used my smaller pans, which are about 7x4.5 inch pans. (Make sure you don't forget to grease/spray them!) Set aside. 

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a bowl. Set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Beat in the egg, then stir in the mashed bananas. Pour in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. 

Fold in the butterscotch chips (and walnuts if you choose. I opted for no nuts); mixing just enough to evenly combine.

Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes (mine stayed in closer to 35 minutes). Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Wait until it's a little cooler before cutting or it wants to crumble. It is definitely worth the short wait. Have a piece that is still a little warm and you feel like you've died and gone to bread heaven. And NO butter is necessary.  

Banana Butterscotch Bread.

Excuse the not so great picture. Just make it and find out yourself how AMAZING this is!

S'more Brownie Bars

Inspired by a recipe on www.allrecipes.com 

• 1 package graham crackers
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 (19.8 ounce) package fudge brownie mix (and whatever you need to make brownie mix)
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup chopped peanuts

Crush one package of graham crackers and mix with 1/2 cup butter and 1 tsp vanilla. Once evenly coated put in greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Press with fork until the cracker covers the entire bottom of the pan.

Prepare the brownie batter according to package directions. 

Pour batter over graham cracker crust. This is a little tricky since the batter is sticky but just spread slowly.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with marshmallows, chocolate chips and peanuts. Bake 5 minutes longer or until marshmallows are slightly puffed and golden brown. Cool on a wire rack before cutting. 

These are super delish. They had BIG reviews. The only criticism I would make is that the marshmallows got a little chewy. I may try the marshmallow fluff next time I make these. Just some food for thought!  

A closer look at all the gooey goodness on the inside.

Picture Perfect???

By now everyone knows that I am engaged. My brain has been on wedding overload for the past few weeks, trying to get a head start on things so that I'm not stressing as it gets closer. But hold up...what about engagement photo's? That's probably something that I should be getting planned but it's been the furthest from my mind. In fact, anytime I start thinking about them, I get a splitting headache. I think I may have finally realized my dilemma.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO DO THEM OR WHAT I WANT!!!

Do I go with something woodsy???

I like the idea of something with nature. But will that get boring? It's something I'm willing to consider.

Furry family members?

I would really like to have our dog in the pictures. He's definitely a part of our family and he won't be able to come to our wedding. (He's a bit of a yapper and I don't think that's anything ANYONE wants to hear ALL day long, whenever a "STRANGER" walks by). Tony has already ixnayed the idea of trail riding the horses. I guess I can understand that. We can have someone take photo's of us riding anytime. I think it's fair to say he wants something that's a little more him and not all about me...I guess I can compromise on this one. :)

Soft and romantic

I love the idea of the soft and romantic look but it's becoming very common. I realize it should be about what we want and not what everyone else has but I really want something that makes us looks back and think "wow, wasn't that a great idea?!". And I guess a little bit of me wants the "wish we would have done this..." "wow, that's such a cool photo" from all of our friends. I have to admit, I do try and hold my own when it comes to creative ideas. I don't like being a copy cat...what can I say? I can't help it. I have that ridiculous, annoying, competitive gene.

So with that being said...I don't want to copy anyone's ideas but I would LOVE to hear what you did. Help me people! I need a spark of ingeniousness, a glimmer of inspiration, a flicker of uniqueness....

WHAT DID YOU DO AND HOW DID YOU DECIDE???

Happy Day-After 4th of July!

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! Tony and I did nothing but float on a lake for most of the day. We aren't used to this kind of humidity and heat here in Wisconsin. It was only 98 degrees then and hit a whopping 104 today!

Me with our nephew and "Nona".

It was too hot to bake anything so I  will just have to wait to make my next gooey piece of heaven for another day. I do have a good one...."Better Than Crack Bars". And let me tell you...the description of these babies sound divine.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday! Have a great weekend everyone!

A Baby Blurp...

I'll make this post short and sweet since I'm sure I will find something to write about the 4th of July which is only a day away! (Time flies when you're having fun!)

I just have to say how much fun I had with babies this weekend. I have always loved children. Hence, why I gave horse riding lessons for so many years. But I usually prefer "my" children ages 4 and up. That's when I consider them fun. They are talking and running and just being FUN! (And they are NEVER sassy to someone who's letting them ride a horse!) But babies...BABIES TERRIFY ME! Or they normally do. I never did much babysitting when I was young (with the exception of children that could take themselves to the bathroom) and I was an only child all my life. Now my step mom and father have 2 younger children but when they were babies I still wasn't around them all the time and I never lived with them. So with the little experience that I have with them, they seem a bit scary and intimidating.

Whatever do I mean???

Well they have wobbly little heads for the first few months, so picking them up is always awkward for me. I feel like I'm going to be the person that is responsible for head and neck trauma. They ALWAYS cry when I hold them and I feel like they hate me. AND they are also great for puking on ME. Now don't get me wrong. I want children. I just have always wanted to snap my fingers and have one appear at the ripe age of 2. No putting weight on...no morning sickness...no sleepless nights...no fearing I might break a baby...you get the idea.

But this weekend was an eye opener for me. We had some friends over that we haven't hung out with in a while. One couple has an 8 month old and another couple has a little girl that is 12 weeks. I'll admit, I was excited to see them but I was slightly concerned that having two babies over would result in a non-relaxing evening. But that wasn't the case at all. I had so much fun watching the 8 month old crawl EVERYWHERE and chasing Rudy the wiener dog, grabbing the dog toys and just looking to see what else she could get into. She had so much personality, it was like having free entertainment. And I LOVED holding and squeezing the little bitty one. She seemed to actually LIKE me. And she smelled like... baby. It was shocking to realize that I could do this. I could have one of these little tykes and be totally, 100% ok with that. Maybe I'm really growing up after all.

Now I'm not going to start scaring Tony with talk about babies and I'm not going to start planning when I want one. I'm happy with letting things land as they fall. I believe that everything happens for a reason and I'm content just looking forward to the married life. BUT in the mean time.....I'm all for friends bringing their little ones around and breaking me in gently. :)

............
And as a little sweet addition, I have to mention that when I have guests over, I always bake something. I made two successful, delectable desserts, that were both given rave reviews. Here is the recipe I used for my S'more Bars and this is for the Banana Butterscotch Chip Bread, courtesy of www.allrecipes.com. I want to hear your opinions if you try your hand at either of these satisfying sweets.