Addiction

I think it's probably pretty obvious by now that I have a serious addiction to chocolate. I mean, it's bad. You know something's not right when you'll willingly eat celery all day just because you know that means you can have a milkshake later. And out of the HUNDREDS of recipes I have on my computer, it's safe to say that over half are chocolate. What can I say? I'm in love.

Well, friends, even if you don't share my affinity for all things cocoa, I'm here to share with you a recipe that will make you addicted, too. Believe me. When I say this stuff is good, I ain't lyin'. You'll just keep going back for more. And the best part? So. Easy. I've had this at bridal showers, at home, and even my lovely future mother-in-law made it for our girl's night for Camp! Even then, I found girls who were originally hesitant hovering over the bowl waiting for seconds.

And I know that you'll see the recipe and think to yourself, "Self: why on earth is she posting a recipe with ice cream in it? Doesn't she know it's November?" Yes, yes I do. But you have to trust me on this one. We're friends, right? Answer: yes.

So here it is, y'all. Enjoy! This is a perfect recipe for dessert-time during the holidays!

Cappuccino Punch

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup instant coffee granules
  
• ½ cup sugar
  
• 1 cup boiling water
  
• 2 quarts milk (and for the love of Pete, don't use skim! You'll be fine. Promise.)
  
• 1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened
  
• 1 quart chocolate ice cream, softened

In a small bowl, combine the coffee granules and the sugar. Stir in the boiling water until the coffee mixture is dissolved. Then cover and refrigerate until chilled. No, seriously. You have to let it cool down. I know it’s hard, trust me, but it’ll be worth it.

Just before it’s go-time, pour the COOLED coffee mixture into a 1-quart punch bowl and stir in the milk. Then, add scoops of your ice cream and stir until melted.

Serve to family, friends, or yourself on the back porch while reading a good book. Be prepared to be bombarded with pleas for the recipe!

Saying "Yes! Well, maybe. What do you think? You're right, this is it! Isn't it?" to the dress

The wedding dress, I would venture to say, is the part of the wedding that little girls dream about the most, and the part that newly engaged women look forward to.

I am not that girl. This is the part that I am dreading. It's not because I'm worried about how I will look or how expensive the dress is going to be, although those are important factors. I'm worried because I don't think I'll be able to pick just one. What if I find "the one" and then later decide it's not? What if I find one and think it's the one, only to find a more "the one" one later? WHAT IF I DON'T FIND ONE AT ALL?

Welcome to the mind of the most indecisive girl on earth. I can't even make up my mind when I go to Chick Fil A (it's all chicken, Kayla. How hard is that?), so needless to say the dress experience is making me a little bit anxious. I thought I knew what I wanted, but everyone said that when you try on what you want you'll hate it. So then I started looking at gowns that I didn't like, but that doesn't even make sense, does it?

And then comes the style question: do I want trendy? classy? sassy? ivory? white? strapless? a-line? mermaid? all of the above?

Maybe I'm nervous because the wedding dress is at times more the focal point than the bride herself; this one component can single-handedly make or break whether or not the bride looks....well, like a bride. The dress is supposed to reflect the bride's personality as well. So that would mean mine would be....awkward. Really, really awkward. And indecisive. Which means it will have all kinds of crazy elements in all the wrong spots.

Not exactly my idea of a pretty gown.

But, regardless of my anxiety, I must go at some point. And when I do, I know that eventually, somewhere out there, there will be a dress for me. And it will be pretty. And I will love it and [hopefully] never look back.

I also know that there will be chocolate involved in the celebration of finding the dress or in the post-defeat shopping trips.

So, I guess this is actually a win-win situation, right? Well then. Maybe I'll go shopping sooner than I thought.

Homemade Hot Chocolate...mmm!

Listening to: "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Leon Redbone & Zooey Deschanel

Ok, ok...I know the music's a little cliche for this time of year, but it just seems right! Judge.

Speaking of judging...you might feel like doing just that after this recipe...but you have to trust me. It's good. Realllll good.

So I was just sittin' in my apartment thinking about how much I wanted chocolate [as usual] and how I wanted a tasty drink, something of the Starbucks variety...THEN I remembered that I'm broke, and it doesn't make sense to go to Starbucks for a hot chocolate.

So I did what I always do...consult Pioneer Woman. Duh. I remembered seeing this recipe and thought, why not?

Instead of saving the chocolate goodness for later like she does, I just dove straight in. I'm a risk-taker, what can I say. And it. Was. Perfection. Really rich, but so great.

Make this for your next wintry day, and you won't be disappointed.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

(adapted from Pioneer Woman)

Makes enough for one if you like really rich hot chocolate. It could make two if you're a weirdy.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream (just trust me)
• 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate (I just used Hershey's chocolate chips, but you can use the nice stuff if you so desire and just chop it up)

Heat cream in a sauce pan until it bubbles a little bit but isn't completely boiling. Remove it from heat and stir in the chocolate. Here's where you can get creative! Add some mint extract for a nice little peppermint treat, a little bit of vanilla extract to add a little somethin' somethin', or a dash of cinnamon to spice stuff up. Whatever frosts your cake, sweetheart.

Whisk the chocolate and cream together for a while. You want to make sure that they don't separate later. I'm all about unity.

Then, heat up some milk in a mug. The chocolate mixture is pretty rich, so just kind of guesstimate how much you'll want to add to your milk. Stir in your chocolate mixture and ta-da! Homemade chocolate milk. Finish with whipped cream, marshmallows, or whatever you want.

See? Not hard at all. And DEFINITELY not as expensive as Starbucks. Just lookin' out for you.

Enjoy!

Beginnings and Indoor S'mores!

Listening to: "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap

Hello, all! So here it is...I caved and made a food blog! You'll have to bear with me on the times when I don't post pictures. I just have a point-and-shoot camera that doesn't produce the high quality pictures that I would like, so for now it might just be recipes sans pictures! You'll live. Promise.

My first recipe is a childhood favorite of mine. I would always bring it to elementary school on my birthday. I found it about a month ago and have made it a couple of times and it's always a hit! Give it a shot. You won't regret it.

[Picture from Not So Secret Family Recipes]

Indoor S'mores

Ingredients:

• 8 cups (13 oz box) Golden Grahams cereal
• 6 cups (10 oz bag) miniature marshmallows, divided: set one cup aside for later!
• 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 5 tablespoons butter or margarine (make sure to cut it up! It will melt better)
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat the 5 cups of marshmallows, chocolate chips (If you get the smaller, 8 oz I think, bags feel free to dump the whole thing in...a little more chocolate never hurt anyone!), butter, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over low heat. Keep stirrin' until it's all smooth and melty. Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla extract.

2. Refrain from eating chocolate mixture with a spoon.

3. Refrain from eating chocolate mixture with your finger. Just speakin' from experience, here.

4. Pour the cereal into a large bowl. Make sure it's big enough that you can really stir it around.

5. Pour marshmallow mixture over cereal; stir until well coated. Stir in remaining marshmallows. You have two options for serving this tasty delight (I know, right? I'm just so generous). If you want to go traditional, press the mixture into greased 9x13 pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm then cut it into bars. If you want to get fancy, cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and just dollop out some of the mixture into individual servings. Refrigerate until you can't stand it anymore and have to try one.

So there it is! Make it for your next event, pot luck, or rainy day and you're sure to be a celeb in no time.