Angel Food Cake with Hot Fudge Sauce

For our wedding we received the most awesome cook book ever - America's Test Kitchen. We love to cook. I love to bake. We aren't novices in the kitchen and even though this cook book is mostly basics, it's already become a favorite. There are techniques for everything from frying an egg to flipping a crepe. There are reviews on hundreds of products. So, if you're looking for the perfect gift for someone who loves to cook or is new to the kitchen - this is it!

This weekend was a big in the kitchen weekend for us. We were having both of our parents over for a fancy dinner and the pressure was on! I had decided to make an Angel Food cake because it's Justin's dad's favorite. I found several recipes online that looked pretty darn good and was all set to make this one from Joy the Baker when the America's cookbook arrived. I scrapped my previous plan and went with their instructions for both the cake and the fudge sauce. (If you can't get the cookbook though, give Joy's recipe a try. It's very similar to the one I followed and her recipes have never let me down).

Next, mix together 3/4 c sugar, 1 tsp cream of tarter, and 1/4 tsp salt. Turn your mixer speed up a couple notches and beat this in 1 tbsp at a time until the eggs form shiny, soft peaks.

While my cake was cooling I whipped up my fudge sauce which took no time at all and I don't think I will ever purchase it again.

Bring 1 c heavy cream, 1 stick butter, and 1/3 c light karo syrup to a boil in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat and stir in chopped chocolate. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Is your belly full? Mine is. Full and happy. Last year was the first year I came to Oklahoma with my then-boyfriend-now-husband's family. It was great, but I made the mistake of thinking I should look all put-together all weekend long.

This year, with the ring securely on my finger, I am wearing sweat pants. The cutest ones I own, which isn't saying much, but sweat pants none-the-less. I only brought jeans for when we are tempted to leave the house to go to Topeca Coffee, Taco Bueno, or Jamba Juice.

I love Thanksgiving. I hope yours is wonderful!

Day 6: Childhood memory

My Grandma & Grandpa Mueller's house as it is today.

So much of my life is wrapped up in a single St. Louis neighborhood - Dogtown. My dad grew up here. All of his stories are on these streets and in the houses and church that line them. Every Christmas Eve from the year I was born until I was in fifth grade was spent in my grandma Hester's tiny little house on West Park Avenue and falling asleep next to her in a pew at St. James' the Greater midnight mass. We hunted for Easter eggs in the back yard. My cousin, Meghan, and I played office in the dugout basement. We wrestled with Grandpa in the backyard.

My brother & I with Grandma Hessbabes on Easter
 in front of the same house. She always kept the front
porch painted green in honor of our Irish heritage.

Now, I'm thirty years old and my life in coming into a full circle. My husband-to-be lives in Dogtown and I'm moving into the house in just 14 days. We'll have our first home here and maybe our kids will tell stories that revolve around the same neighborhood landmark that my dad's do. Wouldn't that be amazing?

Me & Grandma

Me riding my "big-girl" bike in the backyard.
That's Grandpa in the back and you can
catch a glimpse of their dog Pepper at the bottom.

Three. Oh.

My younger brother has been sending me thirtieth birthday cards for the last four years - ever since my 26th birthday. He figured he might as well round up. Well, that was until he turned 26 last year and I returned the favor. Then he reconsidered - perhaps being in your late twenties really is a thing - he finally decided.

Today I really turn thirty. It's a big day. I feel like somehow, magically, today I should be a grown up. I remember my mom's thirtieth birthday - she taught me to ride my big kid, two wheel bike in the school parking lot. I can't believe that I'm as old now as my mom was then. I can only hope that I am as kind and generous as she was, too.

My twenties turned out to be pretty great. Here's looking forward to the beginning of a fabulous new decade!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Justin's birthday!! This weekend we had some friends over for scotch and cigars to toast Justin on being another year older and wiser.  The party was a grand success! I heard Justin say more than once this weekend that he has the best friends, ever.

Joyeux anniversaire à l'homme de mes rêves! Que cette année soit pleine de joie.

Flag Day

Every kid has a favorite song. My brother's was Frosty the Snowman. My mother sang it almost every night for about seven years.

When I was a little my favorite nighttime, daytime, really, anytime song was.... You're A Grand Old Flag. That's right. I loved it. My mother is basically a saint. Year round, rain or shine, winter or summer, Fourth of July, Flag Day or Christmas she sang Frosty the Snowman and You're A Grand Old Flag nightly.

Today is Flag Day. I love Flag Day because it gives my grown up self a decent excuse to sing my favorite song.

You're a grand old flag
You're a high flying flag
and forever in peace may you wave...

Also....it's the one-year anniversary of the day I officially started dating the love of my life. Today is a doubly good day.

Sunshine and Happiness

Last week was fabulous. Vacation is the best. Every year my family goes on vacation together. It's always nice but, you know, that's a lot of family time. This year I had a fiancé with me though. This is the best development in family vacation EVER.

Justin experienced his first non-rev day of air travel. He escaped unscathed with a few first class voyages under his belt.

We went to mass at the Cathedral de San Juan Bautista. It was cool and very long. We had not even had coffee yet. Do not be fooled it you are going to San Juan. If there are cool cafés there they were all hiding from me.

We drank fabulous Mojitos made by my favorite and most-handsome bartender.

We sat on our balcony and looked at the lovely ocean view.

We explored some cool forts. I know this picture isn't very fort-like, but the cool walls and benches were just beautiful and a welcome spot to rest in the shade.

We were serenaded by a mariachi band. Look at this guy. Isn't he awesome? In this case, the picture says a thousand words. Classic.

Mostly we just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company and escaped into books when we didn't. Yes, that is my mom's thumb in the corner of our beach picture. Also classic.

All in all, I highly recommend a beach vacation finding it's way onto your calendar soon. I'm already looking forward to our next trip to the sea.

Hess Babes

My paternal grandma was something else. Hester Addie Dover - everyone called her Hess-Babes - was an Irish lady who literally painted her front door green. She lived in Dogtown (a typically Irish St. Louis neighborhood) and salted her potato chips. She burned grilled cheese and fried almost everything in bacon grease. Cauliflower has forever been ruined for me because of her classic cauliflower and cheese whiz dish.

I'm not sure what any of these qualities has to do with being Irish, but for me they are all wrapped up into one and when I picture her in my head she's wearing her green sweat pants, white sweatshirt and a giant leprechaun broach. I like to think that I get my love of all things salty and the color green from her. She'd be so pleased that I'm marrying an Irishman. Today is her holiday. St. Patrick's Day. I'll be eating some Salt & Vinegar chips and wearing green in her honor.

Yes, it will be nice!

We're getting married! It's basically the very best news, EVER.

I could not be more thrilled to be Justin's wife, to share our life together, to worship God together, to have a family and cultivate a home.

St. Nicholas Day

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

I love traditions. Sadly over the years, many of the traditions of my childhood have come and gone. We don't pretend that Santa sneaks in with presents while we are gone at Midnight Mass. We don't cram the entire Mueller family into a three room (that's room, not bedroom) house and eat Grandma's burnt turkey and cauliflower with cheese sauce. I was ok with seeing that one go, but I'm glad to say that St. Nicholas Day lives on.

Every year we'd put out our shoes and, every December 6th, we'd wake up to shoes stuffed with Minty Bells and a new ornament. St. Nick, as he was known in our house, didn't leave anything extravagant, but those Minty Bells were the best, and I loved hearing the story of the true Santa Claus. Even after I was mostly a grown-up, out of college and on my own, my mom would find a way into my apartment and stuff my shoes full of yummy surprises or mail off a little box marked "DO NOT OPEN until St. Nicholas Day."

This year, I wanted to share the St. Nicholas tradition with my fella. And, since I don't have easy access to his regular shoes, I went back to my roots and crafted it up. I found this easy tutorial for paper shoes on doodlesandnoodles and set to work. I think it's a win.

So much Thanksgiving. So little stomach.

I think I'm still full.

Yea...we're cute.

Wine. Handsome guy stoking the fire. Smile.

Thanksgiving day with my family. Boyfriend meet the crazies. All in all it was quite tame. I shouldn't have been worried. Aunts remained sober. Embarrassing childhood photos were kept at a minimum. We came. We ate. We were on the road before the tryptophan could put us down.

A beautiful drive set to the smooth sounds of Jon Yerby.

Oklahoma bound! Three days that could arguably demand that this post be re-titled "How much can we eat in 72 hours?" Turns out the answer is - a lot. A whole lot. Chocolate cookies. Banana pudding. Oyster stuffing. Garden eggs. Lasagna. Blueberry french toast. More garden eggs. Turkey sandwiches. And that was just the first stop.

Cow babies!

Then it was off to Tulsa. More family. More food magic. Taco Bueno (which is, in fact, bueno), duck, ribs from Jameel's, pecan pie with whiskey sauce (yes - whiskey sauce!!). We also managed to fit in two trips to Jamba Juice and a quick pop-in at Topeca Café in honor of Momma West. I almost forgot the biscuits and bacon gravy (mmm....I hope Nanny is willing to do that every year). Oh and Schlotzsky's. Ah geez. Thinking about all this food again makes me want to take a nap.

Wish you were there, momma! 

All in all, a really great trip. Meeting the extended families part one concluded and, I think, a big win. This girl is excited about part two coming in two weeks. Watch out Peoria. Here we come. We're on a roll.

The Other Hand

Holidays are quickly approaching. Actually, that's an understatement. They are headed straight for us like a train with no brakes. On one hand, I can't wait. On the other, I feel like I'm tied to the tracks.

The One Hand (Things I can't wait for):

1. Cookies. They are just better at Christmas. It's like there's extra love in there. And people go all out with the sprinkles and careful packaging. A plate of Christmas cookies says I'm so glad to have you around and I love you enough to spend hours mixing butter and sugar and rolling out dough in my kitchen to make you this plate of goodness. Enjoy! It's time to dust off the cookie tins and break out grandma's recipe book. Let's bake.

2. Snow. That's right, snow. I know, you just spent four hours on Saturday, hair dryer in hand, weather proofing your leaky windows (so did I). It's cold out there. It's cold in here. Oh, but still, I love snow. I love the way it makes everything look clean and bright. I love to sit inside on my couch with hot tea and a fuzzy blanket and watch it fall through the light from the street lamps. With good company, it's even worth the chill to venture out, take a walk, hold hands and come home to mugs of hot chocolate.

3. Advent. It might just be my favorite season. I love the tradition, the candles, the prayers. The past few years I've been able to gather with various friends and ponder the season. We pray and talk and wonder at the fact that God sent His Son to us. Advent is the time when I most experience awe in my relationship with God and I love it.

The Other Hand (Things that keep me up at night):

Note: Um. I'm taking my boyfriend home for the holidays. I'm not sure how much more I need to line out here, but hellllllooooo weird, wonderful, stressful. It will be strange because I've never done that before - brought a man around. Which is almost exactly what makes it wonderful. I'm so excited to share it with him. I won't have to explain what it's like when Aunt (name removed to protect the guilty) has "just one more glass" or what exactly creamed onions are and why on God's green earth my mother still makes them. He's going to smell those for himself. 


1. What will my father say when he meets my boyfriend? Can you tell me? I'd like to be prepared.

2. Do I buy presents for his parents? Siblings?  I think the answer to this is a definitive yes. The real question is what to buy. Something homemade (see cookies with extra love above)? Some sort of classy ensemble of smoked salmon and wine? Blerg. I'm not so great at buying gifts. I mean, every once in a while I have a lightbulb moment, but if inspiration doesn't strike it doesn't go so well (just ask my 10 year old brother about the Make Your Own Soda kit he got from me last year).

3. What are all the expectations? What are all the questions? What will happen exactly and how will he feel about it all?

What? You can't answer all these questions for me? No predicting the future? That takes all the fun and adventure out of life you say? Hmpf. Score one for you.

Welcome to the Family

This weekend I gained a sister! She's the best and we are so glad to have her officially be part of our family. I couldn't have asked for a better woman for my brother and it was a joy to celebrate with them.

They reserved a gorgeous Bed & Breakfast in Sainte Genevieve, MO. The weather was perfect and autumn was in full swing. Beautiful. 

The town was also celebrating their Heritage Days on Saturday. They went big style with a tractor parade and live music. 

Next time you're there, don't miss Nana's Kitchen. It doesn't look like much but Nana knows what she's doing. Biscuits and gravy. Yum. 

Perfect weekend.