Who Said Cutting Hair is Easy?

I have a serious problem. I am too cheap to get my bangs cut by professionals, so I do it myself. That's not the problem. The problem is I can't cut in a straight line and what makes it worse is that I have to take my glasses off to do it. So today I was absolutely going nuts because my bangs were in my eyes. I could not find the professional scissors from our barber kit, so I used the only scissors I could get my hands on. You know the ones with the short blades and they curve just slightly (I'm not even sure what they are really for). Anyway, so here I am, blind trying to cut my bangs with curved scissors. Amazingly it turned out not too bad, aside from the hair that fell into my eye, ouch. I really should just break down and go to the salon, but I probably won't until my next haircut.

Chocolate Mousse

I don't make dessert at home often, but this one is one of my favorites when I do!

8 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup water, divided
2 TBS butter (no substitutes)
3 eggs, separated
2 TBS sugar (I use Lakanto)
1 1/4 cups whipping cream, whipped

Heat chocolate, 1/4 cup water and butter until melted in a double boiler. Stir constantly so chocolate does not burn or stick to pan. Cool for 10min. In a small heavy saucepan, whisk egg yolks, sugar and remaining water. Cook and stir over low heat about 1-2 min. Remove and whisk into chocolate mixture. Set saucepan in ice and stir until cooled, about 5-10min. Whip cream and add it to the chocolate mixture. Beat egg whites until very stiff. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture. Spoon into dessert dishes. Refrigerate 4 hours to overnight. Serve.

Note: The first time I made this, it was too bitter for me. You can adjust the sweetness a couple of ways. Taste the chocolate sauce before you mix in whipped cream. If it is too bitter, you can add additional sugar to the whipped cream. Or, what I do is add a few drops of liquid stevia to the chocolate sauce. It won't make it too watery and I can control the sweetness w/o adding sugar.

Stow Away

A few months ago while I was driving I saw a huge fur ball run past on the passenger's side. I just about died! Anyway, since then we have been finding sunflower seeds and cushion pieces on the floor of our van. It seems we have a mouse (or something like it) living in it. We have set traps, but the little bugger is smart and avoids them. I don't know how many miles it has traveled with us, but probably quite a few.

Time For a Change

Well, you'll notice my blog template has changed. I was getting tired of looking at the same background all of the time. So here's something new!

Roasted Beet, Peach and Goat Cheese Salad

2 beets, scrubbed
leaf lettuce of your choice (iceberg will not work well for this)
2 fresh peaches-peeled, pitted and sliced
2 shallots, chopped (I used green onions and it was great)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 (4 ounce) package goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375F. Wrap each beet in two layers of foil and place onto a baking sheet. Bake until tender, about 1hour 2omin. Allow to cool and remove skins. Refrigerate until cold and then thinly slice them.

Place lettuce onto individual plates. Layer beets and peaches. Sprinkle with shallots, pine nuts and goat cheese. In a bowl, whisk olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper until emulsified. Pour over salad and serve.

This recipe makes 4 side salads.

Deputy Sheriffs

Todd has a friend at work who is a part time deputy sheriff. So he gave Todd some sticker badges for the boys. This morning Todd deputized both of them. He had them hold one hand on their heart and the other in the air and promise to serve and protect. Then each boy took his sticker and put it where he thought best. Andrew put his on the red toddler car and Gabriel put his on the potty chair. So we now have a police vehicle and an official toilet of law enforcement.