Dark Chocolate Bark

I knew that last week was going to be crazy. As much as I love a good holiday weekend, I came back knowing that I had tons to do and little hours to do it. By Wednesday I was feeling entirely overwhelmed and my to-do list was running off the page. I hit my breaking point (imagine me at my desk at work, shoving Hershey Kisses in my mouth, crying) Wednesday afternoon and finally had to accept that I wasn't going to be able to do everything I had on my plate for that day. I had to call in reinforcements and have a good friend and mentor cover for me at my other job. She absolutely saved the day and to repay her I couldn't think of anything better than some Gwyneth Paltrow Dark Chocolate Crack... I mean bark. 

Dark Chocolate Bark with Coconut, Almonds + Sea Salt 

7 ounces good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons sliced almonds

2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes

1 teaspoon sea salt

Line a sheet pan with a piece of parchment paper and set it aside. 

Bring a small pot of water to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Put the chocolate in a glass or stainless steel bowl and set it over the pot of water. Stir the chocolate until it's completely melted and immediately pour it onto the prepared pan. Evenly sprinkle the almonds, coconut, and salt over the chocolate. Put the pan in the freezer until the chocolate sets, about 15 minutes. Break the chocolate in to pieces and eat immediately, or store at room temperature in an airtight container if your house is cool, or in the refrigerator if it's summer! 

**Gwyneth (and I) suggest mixing up the toppings each time you make this, because once will never be enough. Try adding different nuts, dried fruit, or spices to create a different taste each time!**

True friends always come to your rescue in times of need.

I always come right back with chocolate. 

Recipes for Every Occasion

I feel like I have been pretty busy recently (too busy to blog sometimes), yet I have had lots of opportunities to cook and bake some wonderful things. 

It started on Super Bowl Sunday when I went home to my parent's house. I love their kitchen and I can never pass up the chance to make something in it. For a pre-game snack and after-dinner dessert,  I made a salted butterscotch and pecan oatmeal cookie from Midwest Living Magazine. I had wanted to follow the original recipe and use caramel but couldn't find the caramel baking bits at the grocery store- I was so anxious to start baking that I didn't even try looking around at other stores. 

I ended up splitting the dough in thirds, making them with butterscotch chips, chocolate chunks, and some with a mixture of both! I, of course, liked the combo of flavors that made a Salted Butterscotch Chocolate Pecan Oatmeal Cookie!

For dinner while watching the Super Bowl, my parents and I passed over the traditional buffalo wings, pizza, and queso dip for a homemade jambalaya. This recipe came from Ina Garten's Foolproof Cookbook (which I am dying to have for myself) and it was a great success, like every Ina Garten recipe I have ever made. 

This recipe was not the easiest to make, rather it was a multi-step, multi-hand job. Thank goodness I had my mom's help when it came to chopping, dicing, and mincing the multiple vegetables. As wonderful as this jambalaya was, it also was not cheap. With the chicken, sausage, shrimp, rice, and all the vegetables the price of ingredients was more than I would ever spend on any of my recipes, but when your parents are paying then you have to take full advantage! Ina Garten's cookbook said this jambalaya would serve 8 people, but I think she meant 8 small families! After serving ourselves large portions to eat while watching the game, we hadn't even made a dent in the pot. Even after I had portioned out my leftovers the pot was still over half-full! It was absolutely wonderful and I didn't mind eating it the next three nights. 

I was sitting at home on Fat Tuesday watching unending episodes of Downton Abbey (I can't stop and I have no shame) and realized that I had to do something to celebrate Mardi Gras. I can't let a single holiday go by without baking something to go along with the special day! My best friends and I were also celebrating a special birthday and I had volunteered to make cupcakes. 

 I made a simple vanilla cupcake from Martha Stewart and divided the batter in half for a white cupcake with a  basic vanilla buttercream for the birthday party and used the rest of the batter to make a King Cake Cupcake in honor of the day. Both turned out great and obviously were shared and eaten so quickly that I have no pictures of the final product to share.

I wish that I would have had a little, plastic baby to add to my cupcakes! I did add purple frosting to all my cupcakes, mostly because it is the birthday girl's favorite color.

The lucky girl got birthday cupcakes and a personalized cake and I was lucky to spend the evening celebrating with my best friends!

Off to the kitchen to prepare for Valentine's Day!

Analyze This

I think one of the hardest things is visiting somewhere new, falling in love with that place and its people, and then having to come back to real life with work and school and alarm clocks.

This is how I feel right now and especially how I felt when my alarm went off at 7:00 this morning (which is 6:00 mountain time.)

I spent this past weekend in Boulder with my oldest friends and spent the entire plane ride home discussing how much fun we had and how we never wanted to leave. The only thing I was willing to leave behind was the cold temperatures that seem to never phase the locals who love to walk everywhere. 

We spent the majority of the weekend sampling the great cuisine of Colorado and it has left me craving all the foods we tried. Mediterranean food at the Med, the most intense brunch at The Buff, some of the best sandwiches, and girl scout cookies that were bought on a whim and provided us with hours of memories of our own days as Girl Scouts. It sounds like a lot of food, but don't worry, we worked it all off walking around Pearl Street, dancing at night, and a little game called Broomball.

The Pearl Street Mall was the perfect way to spend our last afternoon. Full of some of my favorite shops, new and old, and a few street performers I will not miss. 

One of these new favorite stores was Goldmine Vintage, where I started off the day in true fashion by shattering a pair of sunglasses as I walked in. Luckily the store employees didn't make me buy them but I definitely felt obligated to spend some money there after that embarrassment. The store is a mix of old and new and if I ever found a need for a tea-length mint green sequined dress I would fly back out just to purchase the one I saw there.

Speaking of mint green- the Boulder fire hydrants are one of my favorite things I saw all weekend. Major color crush and they are on every street corner. Slightly swooning. 

I was slightly confused this morning when I didn't wake up with the mountains outside my window.