Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Cake: Thanksgiving dessert

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already over. Everything is cleaned up, put away and the Christmas lights are now up however we are still enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers which includes this   4 layer mousse cake { 5 if you include the chocolate ganache on top }.

This dessert was on my menu early on however I ran into some snags and actually and was not sure it was going to happen. It also required approximately 4 hours to make which made scheduling difficult.

However, I finally carved out some time at 3:30pm on Thanksgiving Eve. Not the ideal time to begin such a big project with unknown results but I pushed forward. I was determined to try it especially since I had invested in all the ingredients. { another reason I hoped it wasn't a flop } So I set in and began the baking. 

This tall cake required a cake collar which I did not have. In fact, I actually started to make this recipe earlier in the week when I realized that I had missed this very important item in the instructions. I made the first layer, which is a chocolate cake, and while it was in the oven I discovered the recipe required the cake collar. There was no time that evening to run out and find one so we ended up eating that cake. Over the next few days it occurred to me that I had some plastic that I might be able to make my own. It worked perfectly! I was ready to try again.  

Several hours into the process of making this cake I ran into another snag. The caramel mousse, which is the forth layer, requires thick salted caramel sauce which I completely overlooked. It was about 8:30pm on Thanksgiving Eve and the cake was so close to being finished I couldn't quit however it was really too late to go to the store and there was a chance they might not even have it. That meant my only option was to make my own salted caramel sauce, which I did. Since I have made it before I knew it would take approximately 30 more minutes but so worth it.  Once it was finished it was too warm to use so I put it in the freezer to speed up the cooling process which did help. Once it was room temperature I was ready to pick up where I left off. To top it off I set another one of my Chocolate Turkeys in a cloud of whipped cream.

Pumpkin Pies are a must so I made two of those as well, however, the Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Cake was a hit.

It does take a long time to make this recipe and there are a lot of ingredients however I would definitely make it again. 

Happy Saturday!

Thanksgiving Invitations & Raffle Tickets

Thanksgiving is almost here and we are busy getting ready. This year I decided to send invitations because I wanted to invite everyone to participate in our new

Count Your Blessings Raffle!

It is always fun to get something special in the mailbox so I made an invitation with the detachable raffle ticket at the bottom which they can bring and enter in our drawing. Since we are counting our blessings, which in my opinion are many, I made extra tickets that can be filled out on Thanksgiving Day and entered as well.

My hope is the container will be overflowing with blessings. Our drawing will be held during dessert and, of course, there is a story behind the surprise we are giving away which I will share soon. 

As you can see it has been all about tickets the past couple weeks.

Now I need to turn my attention to the kitchen so that everything is ready and on schedule Thanksgiving Day. 

Happy Tuesday!

Garlic Cheese Bread

This bread is so easy to make because it is all done in my food processor. 

The mixing and kneading is finished in just a matter of minutes.

I love to knead bread however there are days when time is short and I could use the extra minutes to check something else off my list. 

Not only does this loaf of bread look beautiful but it tastes amazing too.

Melted cheese, garlic and fresh parsley from our garden all rolled up in the middle. What could be better than that? And it was perfect with our Lasagna and Copycat Olive Garden Salad. 

Apparently, I was so distracted by the wonderful bread that I forgot to take a picture of the lasagna. That's okay...

...because it is all about the bread anyway!

YUM.

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Nothing Bundt Desserts

Bundt cakes are my go~to dessert when I am short on time and that is how it was this week.

Since this Cranberry Bundt Cake is covered in an orange glaze it really does not need any type of frosting so instead I made a small tissue paper rosette and put this cute little chocolate Turkey in the middle. A quick and easy way to decorate the top.

These Pumpkin Bundtlettes were to take to a week night Appetizers & Dessert get together with the S. moms. A fast and dependable dessert which is what I needed with such a limited amount of time to prepare.

Next week it is on to turkey, potatoes and pies...oh my!

Happy Friday!

the BIYEARLY DEEP CLEAN ~ { and painting??}

Twice a year I do a thorough cleaning throughout the house which includes decluttering, organizing and doing the tedious, time consuming, hard to get to jobs that do not get done on a regular basis. My routine for the "deep clean" is spring and fall and usually around Easter and Thanksgiving. It takes several weeks to accomplish but feels great when it is done. I make to~do lists and schedules which are constantly being changed and updated because life happens. In fact, it appears my schedule is changing again because apparently the hubs has a to~do list too. And wouldn't ya know, he has decided to paint!

The dining room no less. 

And, as fate would have it, that was the next room on my schedule. 

That is okay though because it needed to be done. 

He also works very fast so it should be ready for me to tackle in no time. 

In a less than two weeks this room will be cleaned up and set for the Holidays. 

And that's how we roll!

Go BEAVS!!

What to make with leftover Egg Nog?

That was the question this week and the answer was dessert.

Our Egg Nog was approaching the expiration date and the half that remained needed to be used so I decided to make a no~bake Egg Nog Cheesecake. 

It was very easy and only took and hour to make from start to finish.

The cheesecake was light and delicious however the crust was not as firm as I would have liked. Next time I would add more butter to the crushed graham crackers and sugar so I will need tweak the recipe a little bit but, with that being said, I would definitely make it again. However, I did discover one other small issue.

Mr. Wonderful does not like cream~cheese or, needless to say, cheesecake so this was much too much dessert for me to eat by myself. 

So, the next day I decided to deconstruct my cheesecake and make individual

Cheesecake Mousse Parfaits!

It worked perfectly. To start, I separated the cheesecake and graham cracker crust which was easier than I expected. Next, I layered the cheesecake and crust in little glasses and also in some slightly larger Kerr canning jars. These made really nice individual servings. 

One delicious dessert served 2 different ways!

Happy Friday!

Thankful for Fall

Enjoying: Mothers quilt and fall roses.

Listening to: Spotify 

Also enjoying: Autumn leaves from our parents trees. 

Counting my Blessings!

from my list of one thousand gifts:

fog :: falling leaves :: family weekend :: interviews :: safe travels :: holidays :: birthdays :: rain :: baking :: organizing ::  

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Thanksgiving Party Favors

This little Pilgrim French Fry Box is the cutest little party favor and was really easy to make. It could be filled with so many different treats and would be such fun to give away on Thanksgiving.  

Family Spoil Alert....it is on my to~do list!

However, the list is long so only time will tell whether they will all get finished but I could not resist sharing the first one.

Happy Saturday!

CHANEL Birthday Card: Twist & Pop card

Celebrating a 25th Birthday requires an extra special card so I decided to make one.

And this is when my series of twist & pop cards began.

In my search for the perfect card, which I could not find in a store, I discovered this new type of pop~up card and had to try it. Once I figured it out the mechanics, or as I like to call it...engineering,  I was hooked.

This card took the most time, since it was the first, and went through a lot of changes before it finally came together. There were so many fun things that could be done with this theme it was hard to narrow it down but after many trials and errors it came together. 

The shoes, handbag and nail polish bottle were designed and hand cut to fit the space since I did not think I would find stamps or cutouts in the shapes, sizes or colors I needed. The handbag has a 3 fold bottom which gives it a little extra dimension and interest. I used stamps and embossing powder for "HAPPY and XO" to give those letters a bit more pop and added tiny rhinestones for some sparkle.

The rhinestone strap slides on and off and gives this card a more finished look. These cards are so much fun to make that there are more to be shared.

To see all the Twist & Pop cards go here.

Happy Monday!