Scrumptious Frosting!

When I was younger, I loved when my mom would make brownies because it meant I could lick the beaters or scrape out the bowl. Thank goodness there were only three of us kids! One beater or the bowl for us. If there were four, who knows what kind of fights could have ensued… Mom’s brownie batter (and the baked brownies, too) are AMAZING!

Well, last week I found this new recipe for chocolate frosting and it tastes JUST LIKE Mom’s brownie batter! You’ve got to try it!

5 ½ cups powdered sugar
12 Tablespoons cocoa powder
12 Tablespoons butter flavored shortening
One can (5 oz) evaporated milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Sift together powdered sugar and cocoa and set aside. Cream the butter. Alternate adding the sugar/cocoa mix and evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Frost your cake or cupcakes (or just eat it on grahms...) & Enjoy!

Blessings

This past week, I participated in the Global Leadership Summit presented by Willow Creek Church. It was a fun, relaxing, yet energizing 2 days of thought-provoking discussion. I learned so much, but the first I want to share is an exercise by Jim Collins. He’s a “nationally acclaimed business thinker” and author of Good to Great and How the Mighty Fall. Jim gave us a to do list and number 2 was “count your blessings, literally”. So, I’ve decided to share my list. This is what I came up with in about 10 minutes this morning.

My blessings:
- A wonderful, loving & supportive husband
- A family that loves and supports me unconditionally
- Brothers that inspire me
- A beautiful, smart, vibrant God Daughter
- Four energetic Grandparents
- A stimulating job I enjoy
- Energetic co-workers who challenge me every day
- A new job -- new opportunities
- An upcoming move closer to family & friends - and that means thousands of nights of joy and laughter with those I love the most to look forward to!
- 52 pairs of fantastic shoes ;-)
- AOT with thousands of beautiful sisters -- and a special "sisterhood" with a few amazing women
- A love for learning
- My health
- A warm, comfy, dry place to sleep every night
- More than enough to eat
- The freedom to share my ideas without repercussion.
- The freedom to share my faith without fear
- A life filled with joy, hope, laughter and love

367 days of adventure

Ok, so I’m a couple days late with this post, but that’s how life is when it’s super adventurous! The latest Dani & Tanner adventure was our first anniversary!

Sunday we celebrated our anniversary by grilling steak kabobs, watching True Blood and, of course, eating the top tier of the wedding cake – all in the couple hours Tanner had before work. The kabobs were excellent and the cake was pretty good too – especially for being a year old. As for True Blood, Tanner & I were watching it for the first time. It’s enticing, but racy – guess we should have figured coming from HBO. We decided we’ll watch the next couple episodes when they come from Netflix.

Thanks to everyone who sent cards and posted wishes on Facebook. We really are blessed to have so many people who love us and support our love for each other. Thank you!

Otherwise, our lives are just slowing down. I’ve moved to the 10 p.m. producer position, so I’m getting used to the new schedule. We also just returned from a Wisconsin vacation with Tanner’s Mom, brother and sister. I’ll post about that soon.

Hope you also had a wonderful fourth!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

To celebrate today, we had a Fiesta at work. I made chicken enchiladas, Jenn brought Rotel & Cheese dip and Maria made margaritas – virgin of course (just mix 7up in the bucket instead of Tequila – it’s delish!) We were celebrating just for fun today. I don’t know that any of us in the newsroom are of Hispanic heritage. But, it got me thinking – what exactly are we celebrating?

Convenient enough, one of our reporters is doing just that story tonight!   :-)

Contrary to what many believe, it’s not a Mexican Fourth of July. It’s a David & Goliath celebration. On May 5, 1862 the Mexican army defeated the French forces at the Battle of Puebla. Cinco de Mayo isn’t celebrated nationwide in Mexico, but it’s observed in the U.S. as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

It's About Time!

I apologize. It’s been way to long. Unfortunately, it may be a while before I have a chance for another update.

Life with the Hatfields has been crazy lately. We were excited to get to spend 5 days at home for Easter. It was a busy trip, filled with family – just the way we like it! :-)

After Easter, we both got sick. I think it was too much love all at once for the holiday.

And to top it all off, we both have been and are working 12 or almost-12 hour days. I’m currently doing two shows at work – the 6:00 and the 10:00. Now, more than ever before, we are not taking for granted the time we have together!

Hmmmm… I feel like baking… hopefully this weekend I’ll have time to stir up a new creation to share! :-)

No Green Beer Needed

I love traditions -- keeping up with old or making new, I LOVE them! As long as I can remember, every year my family has celebrated St. Patrick's Day with the Stalder Family. In fact, I think the tradition may have started before I was even born. But, when is not important -- the fun we have together is. Every year Cindy makes corned beef and cabbage and we eat just about every green veggie imaginable along with mashed potatoes and gravy and green Kool-Aid. And ALWAYS have Grasshopper pie for dessert. yummmmm! In the past couple years, us kids have made celebrating more difficult by going to college and moving away.

So, this year I decided to try making my own corned beef and cabbage. How hard can it be? Well, the picture above is definitely not my end result. It was ok -- it tasted like corned beef, but it wasn't the perfect, fall apart, juicy staple Cindy makes. But it's not the food that matters, it's the celebration. I had fun celebrating my Irish heritage (all 1/16th of it!) and I hope you did as well! :-)

Pillow Talk

About a week ago my husband asked “why is it that girls need to have a side of the bed?”

It seems that whenever we have slept together I’ve always held the left side of the bed – when looking at the pillows from the bottom of the bed – no matter which side of the room the door is on or if the bed’s against the wall or not.

I couldn’t give him an answer. But, I’ve been thinking about his question ever since…

I did some online research. I didn’t find much of anything scientific, but a couple other blogs that were discussing this same topic. There weren’t many people that said they didn’t have a “side of the bed”. I found it interesting that many people are exactly the opposite from us – with the woman sleeping on the right side. For some, it depended on where the door in the room was. They said the man slept on the side closest to the door so that if someone broke in, they could defend their girlfriend/wife.

I found one really interesting piece of information, too, on ask.metafilter.com.

Someone wrote: “I know that there’s some kind of tradition regarding walking beside a woman on the sidewalk. Men were supposed to stand between the woman and the street so that if any mud was splashed up by a passing carriage, the man would bear the brunt of the mud.”

I LOVE this idea! I’m going to start making Tanner walk street-side. :-)

So how about you? Which side of the bed do you sleep on? I’m thinking about mixing it up… trying out the right side. But, it doesn’t really make a difference for us; for the majority of our sleep time isn’t together, so we both get the entire bed – and both of us choose to sleep in the middle. :-)

Brownies!

I made brownies over my lunch break today that were such a hit at work (as you can see...), that I had to share them!  I got the recipe from my friend Heather. 

Heather's Easy Brownies
1 box cake mix (any flavor)
1/2 cup oil
2 Tbsp. water
2 eggs
1 bag baking chips (any flavor)

Combine mix, oil, water and eggs.  Add chips.  Pour into greased 9x13 pan.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350.

Enjoy!  :-)

My heart belongs to Nebraska

There were many times in junior high and high school that I swore I’d go to college out of state to get away. Once college time came around, I realized Lincoln wasn’t such a bad place. And now that I am 5 hours from the Big Red state, I know that Nebraska will always be “The Good Life” for me.

Here are the reasons I love & miss Nebraska:
 my family – ALL of them!
 my friends
 Husker spirit – you only need one team for everyone to rally behind
 game day
 Spending time with my favorite God-daughter Taylor Mae
 Gambling with my silly aunts & uncles (well, I guess technically we go to Kansas, but it’s still with Nebraska people!)
 KD sisterhood
 Sunday lunch on the deck with my family
 Runza
 Valentino’s
 Amigos
 Ivana Cone
 High school football – and watching my brother(s) play
 Family birthday parties
 Nights on O street with my friends – yes, I would still go out if I was still living there!
 Random weekend time with my families
 Red – it’s the color of LOVE!
 sportsmanship
 All the trees – yay for Arbor Day!
 Fresh steaks from Den’s

However, Iowa hasn’t been THAT bad over the last 20 months… so to be fair, here are the things I’ve enjoyed.
 Getting to know & love my cousins -- Carrie, Mike, Sam & Lauren
 everyone’s very friendly
 meeting new people
 when it snows, everything stops
 Scrapbooking with Carrie, Heather & Pansy
 Falling in love with Photography (although I have many more opportunities to take pictures I love – people pictures – in Nebraska with family and friends)
 The Mississippi river
 My P.O.O.P adventure with Tammy (a Nebraska person!)

Saucy Chicken

I made the most delicious dinner last night… Taste of Home’s Saucy Chicken and Asparagus. We have had chicken breasts in our freezer for quite a while now, and I’m working to use what we have. I was intrigued by the asparagus – and rewarded. Here’s the recipe:

Saucy Chicken & Asparagus

1 pound asparagus spears, halved
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (I used 5…)
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Place the asparagus in a greased 9-in square baking dish.
In a skillet over medium heat, brown the chicken in oil on both sides. Season with salt & pepper.
Arrange chicken over asparagus.
In a bowl, mix soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry power; pour over chicken.
Cover and bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until the chicken is tender and juices run clear.
Sprinkle with cheese.
Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

bringing work stress home

So, lately I’ve been struggling with bringing work stress home at night. It’s something I’m resolving to quit doing – as soon as I can figure out how.

At a jewelry party last year, a couple of us were talking about the latest “drama” at work and a co-worker’s wife said she knew nothing about it. She said her husband won’t tell her anything about work. I couldn’t believe it. I feel Tanner probably knows more about the “drama” at work than some of my co-workers! Poor guy.

So, like I said, I’m resolving to compartmentalize my life – work at work and home at home. I came across an online article that I found helpful (and lots that were not). Here are some tips:
-- It’s ok to bring reminders of family to work, not ok to bring work to family. It’s also calming to have your desk in order and include pictures/drawings/etc. from or of your family.
-- Clock out on time. When you are constantly putting in extra hours, it becomes a habit rather than a requirement.
-- Talk about life. If you are going out with people from work, talk about life outside of work. Recently a couple co-workers and I have been having “Bachelor watch parties” each Monday night. It’s been really nice to learn more about my co-workers on a personal level. It’s like a real friendship! :-)
-- Show compassion. Remember the Golden Rule at work. When you take time to help others, it builds your self-esteem, makes you feel useful and resourceful.
-- Set aside time for yourself. Even if it’s something small – like taking a walk around the park during lunch – take time each day to get away from work and clear your mind. Come to think of it, I do feel like the day’s I go shopping over lunch are the days I feel less stressed! :-) Ok, maybe that’s not what the article meant, but hey, if it works… !

And, an idea I stole from a co-worker: get lost in your iPod. Ok, so I can’t “get lost” in the music, but when I don’t hear the ridiculous conversation of managers across the room, I can’t get angry or stressed. It’s kind of “ignorance is bliss”. For the most part, it’s been working for me. It really helped yesterday – check out my “Pick-Me-Up” entry.

Pick-Me-Up

So, today I needed a pick-me-up and sure enough, God sent me one. As I put my ear bud in my ear, my iPod shuffle started playing “Before It Was Said” by FFH.

Here are the lyrics: I hope they make your day, as they’ve made mine. :-)

Every day I sit and pray to God above
To watch over me and my family
But every day I seem to pray the same old thing
In the same old way, and I start to think

That maybe I should change
And find something better to say
But I’ve learned to believe
You always hear me when I pray

So I get down on my knees
‘Cause I’m stronger than these
Voices inside of my head
They try to deceive me
And make me believe
That I would be better instead
To take my requests and put them to rest
But You’re already one step ahead
You knew just what I would say
Before it was said

Every night I lie awake wondering
If You’re listening to every heartbeat
You’ve told me that You know the deepest part of me
And You’ll watch over me and my family

So I guess I shouldn’t change
‘Cause You hear every word that I say
And I knew You are here
When I come to You this way

So I guess I shouldn’t change
‘Cause You hear every word that I say
And I knew You were here
When I knelt down today

Party!

So, I'm a day late for those Super Bowl parties... but I've found the most delicious party mix! And the best part -- it's super easy!

Just mix a large container of honey roasted peanuts with a bag of M&Ms and a bag of Cherry Nibs.

The salt from the nuts coats the Nibs making them perfectly salty/sweet, and there's just enough chocolate. Just be careful -- it's addicting! :-)

Graffiti

Like most bathroom stalls in high schools, the stall at the speech meet I judged Saturday had graffiti scratched into it. But it was different than most. It said, "You're beautiful. Don’t forget it. Jesus (heart)s you." How uplifting! So much better than the usual bathroom graffiti...

I just wonder -- did someone get in trouble for this? It is defacing public property... but I hope hot. In this case, I say the end justified the means -- it made my day. :-)

Today and everyday -- you are beautiful & Jesus loves you!

Baking Blitz

So, after last weekend, Tanner asked me not to cook so much.  :-)  This weekend, I only managed to cook one leftover meal – tangy pulled pork and baked mac & cheese. Instead, I overdid it baking.

I made “Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies” and some very rich “Valentine Cupcakes”. The cookies are good, but the cupcakes are to die for! They’re a bit of work, but if you’re looking for “something special” or a treat to share at a Bake Sale/Cake Walk/etc. they're perfect.  Here are both recipes:

Valentine Cupcakes
From Taste of Home Magazine; makes 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 devil’s food cake mix
1 & 1/3 cups strong brewed coffee
3 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, coffee, eggs and oil. Mix well. Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Filling:
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp strong brewed coffee, divided
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 Tbsp. thawed orange juice concentrate
2 Tbsp. chocolate hazelnut spread
1 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream
1 & ½ cups whipped topping


In a double broiler or metal bowl over simmering water, constantly stir the chocolate, sugar and 3 Tbsp coffee until smooth. Remove from the heat (mixture will be thick). Stir a small amount of the hot mixture into the egg yolks; return all to the bowl, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 4-5 minutes or until the mixture reaches 160°.


Divide the mixture among three small bowls. Into one bowl, stir orange juice concentrate. Stir hazelnut spread and cream into another; stir remaining coffee into the third bowl. Fold 1/2 cup of whipped topping into each. Chill for 10 minutes


** I didn’t do the different flavors. I just added 4 Tablespoons of coffee to the entire filling mixture along with the entire 1 & 1/2 cups of CoolWhip.**


Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert a very small cake decorating tip. Fill with one filling flavor. Push the tip through the bottoms of the paper liners to fill eight cupcakes. Fill until the top of the cupcake starts to rise. Repeat with remaining fillings and cupcakes.


Ganache:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz white baking chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, divided
2 & 1/2 tsp. corn syrup, divided

Place chocolates in separate small bowls. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour 1/2 cup cream over bittersweet chocolate; pour remaining cream over white chocolate. Whisk chocolate mixtures until smooth. Stir 2 tsp. corn syrup into bittersweet ganache and 1/2 tsp corn syrup into white ganache. Cool, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.


Dip tops of cupcakes in bittersweet ganache. Tint the white ganache, if desired; pipe designs over tops.


Refrigerate until set. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.


Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies
From Quaker; makes 4 dozen

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups oatmeal (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes at 350 until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!