Project Life- Week 7

Week 7 (Feb. 12- Feb. 18)- We wrapped up our visit to Boulder by picking up bread at Great Harvest (we ended up having to get the cinnamon swirl bread in Albuquerque). We spent our last few days in Albuquerque eating yummy food (Olympia Cafe, huevos rancheros at a restaurant that I can't remember the name of, red chili burgers at Little Red Hamburger Hut, Rudy's BBQ), playing with the dogs, and running errands around town. Before we flew out, we made sure to get a photo of Adam with Mickie...too cute! When we got to California, Jennifer so kindly picked us up and took us to Wholesome Choice for some gyros! Thursday and Friday was car hunting and running errands for our camping trip- but we were able to meet up with Betty & Carlos in Long Beach for some Tom Kha soup!

Project Life- Week 6

Wow, I can't believe how fast time is flying! Yikes! Adam and I have been busy! The past few weeks we were painting the kitchen and preparing for our garage sale! I am just getting around to posting the Project Life Week 6-11 so that you can see some of the photos of what we've been up to!

First up, Week 6! We were still in Albuquerque- watching over the dogs, hanging out, etc. Adam's parents got back from Taiwan, so we were able to head out to Boulder, CO to visit the CU Boulder campus. And check out those gas prices in Boulder- at the time, that was super high! Can't believe in a few weeks' time the prices shot up so quickly.

Project Life- Week Five

Unbelievably, we are already into Week Ten of 2011! Shocking how fast time is flying! Adam and I are back in Ridgecrest doing more work around the house and awaiting news from the grad schools Adam applied to! I've been playing catch up on scrapbook pages, and Project Life is totally helping me get my act together! Printing lots of photos and trying to remember to also take photos too!

Two page spread of PL Week Five- January 29-February 4

Left hand page that I already posted

Because this week was filled with us visiting different car dealerships and test driving tons of cars, I wanted to include that as an inserted page (on the other side is a brochure of one of the cars we looked at, the Scion XB)

Right hand side- freezing cold temperatures in Albuquerque, taking the doggies out to the park before getting freezed out, Chinese New Year, and the cupcakes I made (recipe here)

Updates

We just got back from Albuquerque a few weeks ago and headed to Death Valley for a camping trip. It was my first trip to Death Valley, even though Adam and I grew up only 2 hours outside of the national park! Adam's been a handful of times and when Jennifer said she was open to going to Death Valley, it was a done deal. We had a great time- the views were stunning (Jennifer said she was expecting blah desert and instead it was like being on another planet with the surreal landscapes!) and we had a lot of laughs on the trip. From the ordeal of getting the rental car to putting up our tent in what must have been 50mph winds, we have lots of memories from the trip. It was absolutely gorgeous and if you haven't been, you should check it out!!

Yes, we did see a roadrunner!!

After a stopover in Ridgecrest, we headed back to Irvine with Jennifer so that Adam and I could continue our car hunt. Last week we finally decided on a car. We had been looking at used car options but ended up getting a new one. We are now proud owners, once again, of a Toyota Matrix.

In sad news, last week we found out that Adam's dog, Mickie (who is 16 yrs old), had a large growth in her head and today it was confirmed that she has cancer. It's been really hard on Adam because he's worried about her- he was really sad because he doesn't want to think about her hurting or suffering.  And of course, I cried because she is just such a sweet dog and we had just gotten back from spending a month with her and Cuba. We are going to try to make it back out to Albuquerque again (right now Adam's parents said she is acting like herself and seems to be doing ok). I'm hoping that even though she has cancer, that she doesn't have to be put to sleep and that she won't suffer at all during her last months. 

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting! Yum!!

Mmmm, moist chocolate cupcakes with a yummy peanut butter frosting! I tried out the Cook's Illustrated recipe for the chocolate cupcakes (they call for a chocolate ganache filling but I did without) after searching forever for a recipe on the internet that called for ingredients that Adam's mom has in her kitchen. I then found a recipe for the peanut butter frosting from the blog A Dash of Sash. The cupcake was dense, chocolately and supermoist, just the way I like it!! And the PB frosting was super yummy too (Adam's compliment was that it was like he was eating Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch, lol). I would definitely use this recipe again, and I think you should try it out too!

Chocolate Cupcakes (Cook's Illustrated May/June 2010)

• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
• 1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
• 3/4 cup hot, strong-brewed coffee
• 3/4 cup (4 1/8 ounces) bread flour
• 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar (I didn't find any on hand, so I used 2 tsp lemon juice instead)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Place chocolate and cocoa in a medium bowl, and pour hot coffee over the mixture.  Whisk until smooth, and transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely, 20-30 minutes.

Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Whisk oil, eggs, vanilla, and vinegar into the cooled chocolate mixture until smooth.  Add flour mixture and whisk until batter is smooth.

Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until cupcakes are set and firm to the touch, 17-19 minutes.  Allow to cool in pans 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.


Peanut Butter Frosting (A Dash of Sash July 2009)

• 10 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (room temperature)
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• ~4 cups confectioner's sugar

Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until thoroughly combined.  Beat until the mixture becomes light, fluffy and smooth.
Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time.  After adding 3 or 4 cups, check for the proper amount of sweetness.  Continue adding sugar to taste.  

After adding the sugar, beat until the frosting is a consistent texture, light and fluffy.  Add the peanut butter and mix until completely combined.