Chocolate Cloud

I made this dessert last week when my brother and his girlfriend came over for dinner. She is allergic to eggs so I had to find something without them. The crust was probably my favorite part!

Chocolate Cloud
Ingredients:
1c chopped pecans
1c flour
1 stick melted butter
8oz cream cheese (softened)
1c powdered sugar
8oz cool whip (partially thawed)
3oz instant chocolate pudding mix
3oz instant vanilla pudding mix
3c milk
Little reeces pieces cups (chopped)

Layer 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend together pecans, flour, and melted butter. Grease (or spray Pam) on the bottom of an 11 x 7 baking pan. Press pecan mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake @ 350 degrees for 25 mins. Set aside to cool.

Layer 2: Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 1 c cool whip. Blend together and spread over the 1st layer.

Layer 3: Mix chocolate and vanilla pudding mix with milk. Stir together and break up any lumps. Pour over layer 2.

Layer 4: Spread enough cool whip to cover layer 3. Sprinkle reeces cups on top or whatever chocolate pieces you like. Refrigerate. Best if chilled overnight.

Penne with creamy tomato sauce with italian sausage

This pasta was REALLY good! I am a pasta lover and could probably eat it every night so I love finding new sauce recipes. I would definitely make this again!

Penne with creamy tomato sauce with italian sausage
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (I just used a little in the pan)1/2 cup vodka
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 2 cups basic tomato sauce1/2 cup heavy cream1 pound pasta1 cup parm. cheese, grated, plus extra for on top1 package italian sausage

Directions
1. Cook pasta 1 minute less than according to pasta.
2. In large saute pan, brown sausage, then remove and keep warm.
3. Add oil to pan and cook onions until golden brown, about 6 minutes.
4. Add vodka and cook until liquid has reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
5. Add tomato sauce and cream and cook until sauce has reduced by a third, about 10 minutes.
6. Add sausage and drained pasta to pan and toss to coat. Stir in cheese and serve hot.

More Traveling!

Sunday afternoon, I left for my flight to Denver. I was visiting a customer in Golden, CO. What a beautiful city! The scenery was just unreal. Totally different than Pittsburgh, that's for sure! The customer visit went very well. I'm starting to get the hang of things.

I flew back on Wednesday night. I didn't get home until 1:30am. I ended up taking yesterday off since I had been traveling for the past 2 weeks. I slept until 11am the next morning. That felt good! It was great to finally be home and see Justin and the doggies!

Work Travel

So I finally got my passport in for me to be able to travel to Canada for work. I had to get my name changed on it. I had stupidly waiting almost 2 years before doing it. It would have been free if I had done it within 1 year of getting married. I had 4 flights in 3 days. Not fun!

I got back late on Friday night. The next morning, we woke up early to head to Cooks Forrest for the weekend. Every year around this time, my Mom's side of the family goes "camping". (It's not really camping because we stay in a cabin but for my family, this is their version of camping!)

This trip is in rememberance of my grandfather who passed away from Cancer. This was a very hard time in my life. He was the first person who was very close to me to die. Justin had also lost both of his grandparents at the same time. What made it even harder was that we were living in Virginia at the time. It was so hard to hear my Mom talk about my Pap over the phone. She would cry for hours. It was so hard knowing that I couldn't be there for her. I still remember the day that she called to say that he finally passed.

Every year, around the time of his death, we do things that he would have liked to do. We sit around a fire and tell stories about him and talk about all the crazy things he used to say. It's a great way to remember him.

Our Nephew Jacob!!!!!!!

Jay (Justin's Brother) and Julie (Jay's girlfriend) had their first baby on August 24th, 2008. It's our first nephew! He is so cute! Justin is a little weary of holding him still. We haven't been around too many newborns. I think he will come around once he gets a little bigger though! Here's some pictures I took while visiting them at the hospital.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This is another dip that is pretty popular with our family. Again, it's very easy to make and very good!


Buffalo Chicken Dip

INGREDIENTS:
2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained
1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch dressing
3/4 cup pepper sauce, such as Franks® Red Hot®
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Combine chicken, cream cheese, ranch and hot sauce in a bowl. Mix well. Transfer to oven safe dish. Cover with cheese and bake until cheese is melted.

Chili Dip

This dip is a staple in our family. Everytime we have a get together, this dip is there! You just cant help but eat it. It's so simple, but oh so good!

1 can of Hormel chili (we use beanless)
1 package of cream cheese
tons of cheddar cheese

Spread cream cheese in the bottom on pan or dish. Dump chili on top. Cover with cheddar cheese. Bake in the oven until cheese is melted. Eat with tortilla chips.

It doesn't get any easier than this people!