chocolate and whipped cream = awesomeness.

so, the past few days i've been wanting french silk pie like nothing else.
i was thinking about it one day, and suddenly i couldn't stop thinking about it.
one of my favorite uncles brings french silk pie from baker's square to every christmas and easter; that's how it's become my favorite, and even been introduced into my life.
ah.
:)
before today, i had never gotten around to making it.
but this afternoon . . . mhmmm, i decided; after i cooked up the sweet/buttery carrots and had a pesto-chicken-lettuce wrap for dinner [with dad, anna, caleb and rach; along with some epic, hilarious conversation about the future] . . .

i made this crust from betty crocker:

for pastry:

1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening / or butter

2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

i made the filling from this recipe, by jenna at eat, live, run but a side note –i doubled it, because she makes it halfway full…i prefer full pies:

for filling:

2 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 stick butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

my favorite part of making this? 

eh....making the crust dough flat and spread out by my floury hands was really fun because i couldn't for the life of me find our rolling pin. :P 

and....the final stage of whipping the filling. oh my, that part is beautiful to watch. :) 

rach insisted on taking pictures of me . . . the person so psyched to make the dessert she was telling everyone about as something that 'you know where that goes...' because of the calories. lol.

though...i may have whipped the whipping cream just a wee bit past the perfection mark....

i have a feeling it'll taste fine. ;) juuuust fine. :) :)

see? good but not perfect. :)

who else loves french silk pie?

if it's not in your top favorite desserts, what is your list made up of??

the day my sister put a hat on me:P

i make chilled peach tea with agave nectar in this thing. it's kind of addicting. and awesome.

 

we had fun.
i kinda love sisters. :P :)
it's been so long since rach and i did a webcam spree. :)

food, life, waiting, painting.

just speechless.

the hands i love. :)

life's been pretty good.
the weather's been whacky for this state. :P never has it been so warm and humid for so long. it's not normal for us....sheesh.
but we're learning to live with it, praying the drought will pass, and learning to be thankful in all things, for something.
i hardly ever blog anymore.
if you haven't noticed.
sometimes it's hard to have words when you're in a [obviously quiet] season of waiting and trusting.
it's hard work, but i'm ready to work hard for/with what lies ahead.

 oh! this.

i have been getting a random custom request once in a while, and just the other day i made and sold another one. :)
i love doing custom ones. people ask for all sorts of quotes. it's awesome. :)

hah...last night i made blueberry muffins for the second time in two weeks, because blueberries have been on sale and therefore not a pain in the butt to buy.
the batter was so freaking yummy. that's all i'll say..... ;) do you ever eat the batter of anything you make/bake?

hello again . . . marriage links, and life lately.

wow, wow, wow.
since when does blogger randomly just start working for me, one night at nearly 11pm?
shoot. i wanted to go to sleep early. ish.
but since it's working, i wanted to get a few words in before it goes funky and fails again, as technology and sites and complicated stuff like that tends to do. :P

i made some cream of mushroom soup today, completely from scratch [and it turned out freakin' yummy, if i do say so myself and quote the family members who devoured it. lol] . . . also, baking powder biscuits, and a 2 dozen batch of blueberry muffins.
oh my word, the last paragraph and the picture line up above makes me feel like my blogging a year ago....food, food, food. ;)
anyways, during that and afterwards, i was reading all over online about young people getting married.
here are a few favorite links i found...

a stunning post by the lovely erika [the life artist]:
12 years and why are we married again?

and this one, by david lapp:
did i get married too young?

the case for early marriage.
found in the magazine/webzine christianity today. [first mentioned to me by jen and craig, justin's awesome older sister and brother in law.]

and this really good one from boundless:
paddling after jake and myrtle.

and another really interesting one via boundless:
i got married young, but not young enough, part 1.

in other news: starting last thursday, rach and i got to spend 5 nights down with justin and his family, and then he drove us up here and he got to spend 5 nights with us. :)
needless to say, the past 10ish days were filled with laughing, fascinating and quirky family members, shopping, hanging out, swimming [hello terribly hot summer weather, anybody?], watching a couple movies, making food, singing, painting [yes!!! you read that right! ;) more on that later]....having interesting discussions face to face for once [mostly they happen over the phone, obviously]......let me just say, saturday when justin and i got to go to panera bread and have a scone and coffee --a chai tea latte for him-- it was so good to just spend one-on-one time talking about all the stuff under the sun that we puzzle over on the phone.

sunday morning with him as he left for home in southern illinois, saying see-you-later was the roughest time yet, but i can feel time speeding up just a bit more, closure coming, the next step drawing nearer and nearer...

so . . . that's been my last couple weeks.
maybe some more pictures and descriptions later.... :)

oh! also. i'm growing out my hair....just trying, right now, to even get to an even-length bob. heh.
kinda rough some days. but i'm getting there. i've had only the back trimmed straight for the past few months....i'm getting there. it's almost to the tuck-behind-the-ears-and-it-stays phase! so excited. hahah. at least i liked the short-short hair cut for nearly a complete, fully year. i'm pretty proud of that.

this was today. me and rach, sharing a dark chocolate coconut frappuccino at a cute little independent coffee/antique shop. :) no, i don't have instagram. rach does though. :P lol