Red Velvet + Cheesecake = Delicious!

The first step toward getting help is admitting you have a problem.  My name is Misty, and I'm an addict.  A Pinterest addict.  I held off from signing up for as long as I could because I could sense the evil lurking behind the links.  But then all my Facebook friends started linking to it. And then I started clicking those links which led to clicking other links which led to... well, you get the idea.  Now, when I'm the only one up at night and I'm bored, I think to myself "I'll just get on for a minute..."  Who am I kidding? It's like a time warp!  Before I know it, two hours have gone by!  I have boards for hair, nails, eyes, house projects, crafts, activities for my kids, recipes.... oh the recipes!

And that's what this post is about.  I found a picture of Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies.  I, myself, am not a red velvet fan.  I always think it looks lovely, but I also always feel disappointed with the flavor.  Then again, I've only had storebought versions.  Until now. 

My hubby is a red velvet lover.  Therefore, I thought it would be nice to make these for Valentine's Day to accompany my dinner of filet mignon.  Well, hubs came down with a virus, so his request changed from red meat to chicken noodle soup.  So, while my homemade soup simmered on the stove, I started on my brownies.

Homemade chicken noodle soup!  Recipe soon!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

1/2 c. butter
2 oz. dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 c. sugar
2 lg. eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. red food coloring
2/3 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt

8 oz. cream cheese, room temp.
1/3 c. sugar
1 lg. egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Now, a few notes.  In general, when it comes to chocolate, you get what you pay for.  I would normally choose a higher quality chocolate for baking.  However, hubby was at the grocery store and picked up Hershey's Dark chocolate.  It worked just fine.  When it comes to vanilla, never use imitation.  Spend the extra money on the real stuff.  I buy whatever generic brand is at the store I'm at when I need to pick it up.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease. (I did not do this.  I had confidence that my trusty Paula Deen pan would release just fine.  I was wrong.  It happens from time to time.  My brownies stuck a little bit, but were still delicious.)

In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together.  I did this in a few 10 second bursts.  Stir with a fork until very smooth. Make sure you scrape the bottom well.  Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, and 1 1/2 tsp. red food coloring.

It's almost glowing!

Add in the chocolte mixture and stir until smooth.

See how much darker it gets?

Batter should be red.  If you think your batter isn't rouge enough, add an additional 1/2 tsp. food coloring.  Guilty.  Add flour and salt and stir until everything is just combined.  You don't want to see any streaks of flour.

I learned an important lesson while making this recipe, and I'm going to share it with you.  If you don't measure all of your ingredients out before starting the recipe, DON'T talk on the phone while baking!  I was on the phone with my mom and instead of adding 2/3 cup of flour, I add a whole cup!  I forgot to take a picture, but needless to say, my batter was ruined and I had to start over.  I ended up having just enough sugar to finish the recipe, as you can see:

So, after I remade my batter, I poured it into my (un)prepared pan and spread it into an even layer.

Next, you need to prepare the cream cheese mixture.  In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, large egg, and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract until smooth.

Once the mixture is smooth (and, if you're me, you've taste-tested), drop in dollops on the brownie batter and swirl the two together with a knife.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until both the brownies and cheesecake are set and the edges are lightly browned.  Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick or knife into the center of the brownies.  If it comes out clean, you're good!  Next is the hardest part... waiting for them to cool!  When that finally happens (it will seem like hours, but it's really not), slice and serve!  These are yummy at room temperature (which hubby prefers) or chilled (which I prefer.  Go figure.)

These will keep for several days in the refrigerator, but I doubt they'll last that long!  I was pleasantly surprised by their flavor.  The brownies had a delicious chocolate taste, not that food coloring taste that I associate with store-bought versions.  The cream cheese was rich but not too sweet.  Confession:  I think I ate more that my hubby did! 

Try these!  They are so easy to make, and super delicious!

Better Late...

... than never, right?  Last weekend we celebrated my ladybug's 2nd birthday.  So, where's the "late" part come in?  Her birthday was December 18th.  Let's be honest here: Anytime in December is a terrible time to have a birthday.  Every store and mind is occupied by thoughts of Christmas... gifts, decorations, food, MONEY.  It's a joyous, but stressful time of the year.  Ladybug was due January 3rd, but since K arrived 3 weeks early, I just knew she wouldn't wait either.  I spent the weeks leading up to Christmas frantically shopping and decorating in fear that she'd come right at Christmas, and poor K would have nothing to open (and that I wouldn't be there to see it.  I can't tell you how many nights I was up late in tears convinced that I'd miss Christmas with my babe.)  My husband, my brother-in-law, my father, my nephew, and now my poor bug have all been cursed with December as their birth month.

Anway, back to the topic at hand.  We (and by we, I really mean, I) decided that I was not about to let my Bug's day be overshadowed by Christmas. So, we simply push her celebration back.  Last year we had it in the middle of January, but his year time got away from me, and before I knew it her party was planned for February 18th.  But, she's 2.  She doesn't care when her party is.  She just wants cake.  Preferably in her mouth.  So, we (and I still mean I) planned out a party to celebrate 2 years with our girl.

Photo from Birthday Express.

I found this theme at Birthday Express (some of you may know it as Celebrate Express).  Its aptly named Sweet Tweet.  Fitting, no? I generally buy my themed party products from them and have always been very happy with my experiences.  To save money, I buy only the theme products here and mix and match with solid plates, napkins, tablecloths, etc. from my local Wal-Mart or Dollar Tree.  My parties so far have stayed simple (a big factor in this is the fact that we have to rent a room for the parties), but I've been happy with them.  On to the celebration!

I used the paper plates as inspiration and stayed focused on the pink, green, and yellow colors.  I found inspiration in some pink Easter grass I came across on Oriental Trading and decided to use it to make a table runner on each of the tables.  I also bought some bulk plastic easter eggs to use in addition to the theme centerpieces, but at the last minute found some gorgeous glitter eggs at my local Dollar Store.  I probably could have made them myself if I had thought ahead, but of course, I didn't. :)

I think that next to diamonds (Okay, and chocolate), glitter might be a girl's best

friend.  At least, it might be if you're a girl who's just barely 2.

Close-up of the centerpieces.  So darling!  I've never spent this much

on premade centerpieces before, but I just couldn't help myself!



My sweet girl checking everything out.

I tend to stay simple with the food as well.  Because we have our parties from 1-4 pm, I feel it's necessary to offer a meal in addition to the snacks.  Our go-to has become meatball subs.  I buy premade meatballs and sauce and simmer them in our crock-pot til hot.  We've been very happy with Wal-Mart's italian meatballs, and I cannot tell you how much I LOVE their Great Value Brand Italian Garden Pasta sauce.  Seriously.  We used to be Newman's Own devotees, but I'll never buy another pasta sauce again.  The meatballs are small, so we use hot dog buns with them.  Set out some mozzarella cheese to top them with and voila! Instant lunch.  I "round out" the food with chips (Middlesworth, of course) and Goldfish for the kids.  I always offer fruit as well; generally red and green grapes and oranges.  This time I threw in some gummy worms to go with the birds. 

Buckets and tablecloth from Wal-Mart.  Don't be surprised if the buckets magically

reappear later.  Easter is coming soon!

Favors were placed on a side table.  I ordered yellow gable boxes from Oriental Trading and just folded the tops down inside.  I added some green easter grass and then placed 2 of my bulk Easter eggs in each.  One egg contained Hershey's Kisses. The other has Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  I was so excited to include the latter since our Ladybug has tested out of her nut allergy!  She is officially a "Seese's tup" addict.

As of now, my parties themselves are fairly unorganized.  We let everyone socialize and eat as their leisure.  The kids play together in their own made up games.  I feel like they're pretty young to be doing organized activities, so I just let them enjoy their time together.  When we get about half-way through the party, it's present time!  Ladybug was very excited to open her "pesents" this year!

Can you find the Bug?  Pardon the dirty socks! :\

We follow the gifts with my Ladybug's favorite part of parties: Cake!  Or, as she calls it, "tuppycakes.  In my mouf."  My friend Jeran makes my tuppycakes, and they are always super cute and delicious!  Exhibit A:

Seriously gorg.  Love her work! 



Tell me these aren't cute!

 And of course, the bug was super appreciative of all the hard work that went into them, as evidenced here...

Cupcake success!

The rest of the party consisted of the kids playing together. Ladybug discovered she could sit in the window, resulting in some seriously sweet photos:

Overall, it was a great day celebrating 2 years of life with my ladybug!  We stayed late after the party with my best friend and her family, and finished off the night with pizza!

The slices were bigger than his head!

In only two weeks, we'll be celebrating my little man's birthday!  Wow!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!  Like so many of us, I dream of being a "domestic goddess" someday.  I also tend to fail at this quite often.  I fantasize about a perfectly clean house: my childrens' books lined up perfectly on gorgeous bookcases, laundry folded and put away in exquisite chests, beautiful works of art hanging gallery-style in my living room and hallway.  Instead, I live in an overcrowded trailer and battle clutter on a daily basis (losing more often than winning).  However, I try to make the best of it.  While I've learned to live with the clutter that comes with a home that has no areas for storage, I am constantly searching for new ways to contain the belongings of my children (okay, and my husband's clutter too.  OKAY, I may have some too. Maybe.)  I also love finding shortcuts to cleaning and organizing as well as eco-friendly yet affordable ways to accomplish these necessary parts of life.

I also love to cook.  This is probably because I love to eat.  Either way, cooking (and consequently, eating) is a large part of my family's life.  I'll be sharing my recipes on here.  Well, they're not really recipes so much. Unless I'm trying someone else's recipe for the first time, I don't really follow recipes.  I just scan my cupboards and then my process goes something like this: Well, I throw a little of this in, and a little of that.... that might be good too.  Surprisingly, I generally have meals that come out tasty.

For those of you who have children, you know that keeping them occupied is essential to avoiding complete chaos in the home.  I have a bad habit of saving all kinds of activities that I think would be super fun with full intentions of actually using them without ever actually using them.  I'm hoping this blog will help force me to follow through with my plans.  We also spend a lot of time reading in our home, and I'd like to share some of my favorite children's books with you.

This is a new journey for me.  I have a lot of learning to do in the process.  Bear with me, and hopefully we can help each other to not just deal with the mundane parts of home life, but to embrace and *gasp* enjoy them!