Sunday, June 29, 2008

Boys

6am Saturday Morn- Drew must drink his milk on the floor beside cousin Matthew. Zachary monitors 'the babies.'
You can rock a scarf, hat, and fingerless gloves during a heat wave if you're cool enough, baby.

Drew sports these out of season goodies from Disney Outlet- each piece was .99 so I stocked up for winter.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Mommy Cakes

Ever want to curl up on the couch with a sinfully delicious, molten center chocolate cake at the end of a long day?

We relax with this delicious little dish at least once a week. This is our family’s favorite chocolate dessert and it comes from Cooking Light Magazine. We call them Mommy cakes. Before finding this recipe, I searched for a molten center cake recipe for years. They all seemed way complicated- including this one, at first glance. After breaking it down, I found it was easy, affordable, and hits the spot like nothing else I’ve ever made.

The recipe is below, but here’s a breakdown of what you need:

You probably already have these staples on hand: sugar, milk, butter, flour, salt, vanilla extract, eggs, cooking spray.

Add these items to your list of staples and you’ll be ready to make these cakes anytime the craving hits: Unsweetened Cocoa, Unsweetened chocolate squares, semisweet chocolate chips. I use Hershey’s cocoa, Semi-sweet Baker’s chocolate squares, and Publix generic brand chocolate chips.

You will also need four 2-ounce ramekins. As an alternative, you can use a regular-sized muffin pan.

Recipe:
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup 2% reduced-fat milk (I use fat free milk)
2 T plus 2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa

1 ½ T butter
½ ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped

(almost) ½ cup flour
Splash vanilla extract (1/2 tsp)
Shake of salt (1/8 tsp)
1 egg white

4 easy handfuls semisweet chocolate chips
A few sprinkles of sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Slice butter a bit and set aside with your chopped chocolate.
3. Combine sugar, milk, cocoa in small saucepan on medium heat, stirring well with whisk. Cook until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly (a couple of minutes). Remove from heat and immediately stir in butter and chocolate from step #2.
4. Cool mixture 10 minutes. Use this time to lightly coat ramekins w/ cooking spray. Sprinkle a bit of sugar in each ramekin, shaking and turning to coat. Place ramekins on a cookie sheet for baking.
5. After the 10 minute cool down, add flour, vanilla, salt and egg white to chocolate mixture, stirring with a whisk just until blended.
6. Spoon 2 T chocolate mixture in each ramekin. Top each ramekin with a handful of chocolate chips. Divide remaining chocolate mixture evenly among ramekins, spreading to cover the chocolate chips.
7. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes (I bake at 14 minutes in my convection oven).
8. Serve warm.
9. Refrigerate any remaining cakes. You can pop them in the microwave for 20 minutes the next night for another molten center treat!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Happy Father's Day, Daddy-O!

This video opens with scenes from Father's Day 2003- Blaine's birthday fell on Father's Day that year, and it falls on Father's Day again this year. How well he could say "I going up stairs" and "Happy Father's Day" on his second birthday!...All other recorded scenes are of Drew and Blaine from this week. Although Drew's not quite as far along verbally at age two, catch him getting his groove on with lyrics to 'Intergalactic Planetary' at the end.

We love Daddy very much and hope you enjoy this little tribute to our Daddy-O.

My, My Mr. Sprintz Looks Comfy!

My, My Mr. Sprintz looks comfortable! Check out the article in yesterday's Tennessean on the Habitat Homestore- thank you Ms. Cheap! http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806120301

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Blaine & (Headless) Janey Debut in Brentwood Journal Today


You can find a full color shot of Blaine on page four of today's Brentwood Journal. This shot was made at his school on business day- I blogged about it earlier this year. He's busy selling surprise bags along side Elizabeth and Ellie. It's my first 'headless' debut as well and all I can say is thank heaven for all of the waistline work in Zumba class and the placement of Ellie Seckman's cutie pie little head. For those Winchester types who look closely, you'll notice Blaine's circa 1979vintage Jenning Jeweler's t-shirt from the Tommy Warmbrod Attic Collection.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Iron Sharpens Iron at My Latest Remote Office...

This week, Blaine is in sports camp at D1....I have set up a remote office of sorts in the bleachers- check out my remote D1 office here. D1 has a complimentary hotspot for hybrid moms like me and the random techie athlete. Armed with my laptop and cell phone, I can do just about anything my business demands with some modifications-I take client calls outside the building and I have yet to attempt a gotoassist from the stands. Being ever so resourceful, I took over an outlet near the water fountain to juice up when the old batteries get weak. Surprising how much more productive I am with the music pumping through the speakers and with athletic types timing 40s and pumping iron around me.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Habitat Nashville Timberwood Development Comes to Life!



Sixteen houses in Timberwood, the second All-Habitat-Nashville Neighborhood, were dedicated earlier this year. I absolutely love the new bungalow designs, and wanted to share these beautiful shots on my blog. Congratulations to all of the new homeowners!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Friends at the Blue Bird

JAY CLARK, JIMMY DAVIS, JED ZIMMERMAN, and CRUZ CONTRERAS
Bluebird Cafe
Tuesday, June 10
Doors open at 5:30pm
Showtime at 6pm
Visit www.bluebirdcafe.com for reservations

Friend Jay Clark put this round together. He will be in the round with Memphis songwriters Jimmy Davis and Jed Zimmerman and his friend Cruz Contreras.