Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Paris Party


Wouldn't I have loved to have gone back to
Paris
for my anniversary again this year,
but alas, that wasn't to be, so I
created a bit of Paris in my back yard.


Just a little down the hill I can buy macarons
that almost make me feel like I am at a patisserie.
These were rose flavored.


Perfect to pair with all of the stunning red roses in my garden.


I have set a romantic table for two using my fun
Eiffel tower plates.


Everything is black and white with a punch of red.


My French garden is the perfect spot to place my 
romantic mirrored table.


The antique mirrored effect of the table is so
beautiful on the patio.


The table is filled with fresh roses from the garden.


These are some of the most beautiful roses.  The flowers are 
fabulous right now and I love to cut them and bring them in
and enjoy them.


Sparkling red napkins with a jeweled napkin ring
seem perfect for the placesetting.


Oh, the intensity of the red.





Under the Eiffel tower plates are plates featuring
 French estate homes.  I love how they capture the beauty
of the wonderful homes you see in France.




This wonderful romantic heart with wings is a treasure
I brought back from Cabo.  


Here is a view looking back over the roses.


The finishing touch of course is the addition of the rose flavored
macarons.  What a wonderful way to bring Paris to us.


Come join
Anita
at 
the most beautiful blog
for her Paris party

and feel like you have traveled there
June 8- June 15.

Posting with




Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Nothing As Precious As A Newborn Babe

Two little girls were so excited to 
welcome their new baby brother!


Everything at Purple Chocolat Home is so busy with two
graduations,
birthdays 
and
 two building projects and now a new
grandbaby and one more coming in a month.

I am so sorry that I haven't been able
to visit blogs much lately, but life is so full and 
wonderful (and yes, slightly crazy) and I just had to
  share him with you!


Of all of my experiences in life, there is nothing more
precious than the birth of a child!


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

S'Mores Mini Pies



I know
  S'mores everything 
is the craze right now and I am more
than willing to jump on the bandwagon!  

These luscious little pies are a fabulous dessert and I have
to admit that I like them a lot better than a real S'more!

The crust is a cookie type crust
and it really makes a delicious pie crust.  
My daughter saw this on Shelly's blog Cookies and Cups
and made a full pie like darling Shelly did. 

 I decided to try her recipe
out in mini jars because I am just smitten by 
small individual desserts. I have to admit that it was a lot easier 
to devour
 in the mini form because we didn't have to cut it into pieces, 
but that might have been because we couldn't wait to let it cool
when we had it in the whole pie form!!!
 Either way, it is a delicious pie and Shelly's is beautiful 
as a full pie.  Check it out on her blog.

I am sure you could make it into a bar cookie too.


The secret ingredient in the crust is crushed graham crackers.  
Cookies and Cups says she adapted it from Hershey's S'mores Blondie Pie.


The cookie crust is topped with ooey gooey marshmallow
cream and then a generous amount of Hershey's Milk
Chocolate Bars.


One of my favorite S'mores adaptations is a S'more with
peanut butter cups, so I tried some with mini peanut 
butter cups too.  We have experimented with all kinds
of candy bars in our S'mores and you could too.


Then a final layer of the crust is added.
Pop them in the oven for about 20 - 25 minutes or until the
cookie crust looks dry.


I decided to garnish mine with some cute ribbon I got
at Sur Le Table - wish I got kisses every time I cooked!


S'Mores Mini Pies

3/4 C. white sugar
1/2 C. soft butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 C. crushed graham cracker crumbs
1- 7 oz jar marshmallow cream
6 regular sized Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars
or other candy bars, broken into pieces

In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter together
until well blended, then add the egg and vanilla.  Mix in the
flour and baking powder and graham cracker crumbs.

Spray the bottom of your jars or 9 inch pie pan
with Pam.  Spread half the dough in the bottom of the 6 jars or
the pie pan.  Spoon the marshmallow cream in and then top with
the candy bar.  In the jars, I just used a dollop of the marshmallow
cream to cover the crust and then used only half a candy bar
per jar (which ends up only using 3 candy bars).  Top the
jars with another layer of crust by patting it into a circle in
your hands big enough to cover the filling.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes for the jars and20-25
 for a large pie or until the dough looks just dry.  Remember
it is like a cookie crust so it will continue to cook after
it comes out of the oven.

Let cool if possible - but if not - then enjoy right away
but don't let the hot marshmallow burn your little tongue!

Be Warned
The marshmallow might grow and lift your top right off
your mini pies - just push the crust back down while it is
still hot!



Nope, I didn't let it cool!

I will be posting this with



Monday, May 21, 2012

Yummy Crockpot Nachos


This is a staple at my daughter's home - especially if she is having
a large crowd over.  The chicken slowly cooks in the crockpot
and at the end salsa, corn, beans, cream cheese and cheese are
added to make a one pot meal.  


I made this when her 7 year old daughter was over and as I put it
together to take a photo she promptly told me I was doing it wrong -
that they just serve the chips on the side of the dip.  I told her
everyone could do it the way they wanted, so we set up a 
make your own nacho bar with chips, the chicken dip, salsa,
additional cheese, guacamole, ranch dressing, limes and cilantro
on the side.  Of course she just had the chips and dip - separately!


It may not look like much, but the flavor is great.

Crockpot Chicken Nachos

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (can be frozen)
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 can corn kernels, drained
1 can black or kidney beans, drained
2 C. salsa
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1 C. grated cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese

Place chicken and brown sugar in crockpot and
cook on high for 3-4 hours (if frozen) less if thawed
or until chicken shreds easily.  Add remaining ingredients
and heat through for 15-20 minutes making sure that
the cream cheese blends in.

SERVE AS DESIRED
(or as instructed by your resident expert!)

Set out desired ingredients and let everyone create
their own personalized nachos.





Posting with

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Showstopping Fruit Platter



Wow, now that is a fruit platter that makes your mouth water!


My youngest daughter will 
be graduating from 
Culinary Art School 
this week and I just had to feature
her final project.  She graduated last year with a one
year certificate and this year she will be finished with
her two year certificate.  She had to complete a 10 hour
project of her choosing and this huge culinary creation
is half of her project.  The other half will be putting on
a pizza party using our pizza oven for her classmates
where she does all of the prep and manages the fire
and of course the clean up.


I wanted to get photos as this project was so impressive
and I knew my readers would want to see it.  She was 
surprised to see me show up at school and said she could
have just taken photos with her phone!
Ha ha - I need better photos to post than that.


I love this part of the presentation - she has scooped out the bottom
of a pineapple and filled it with chocolate covered strawberries.
These were actually the first Bling Bling Berries we made
even though I posted the others first.
She dipped all of the berries herself.


She did all of it herself, including coming up with the idea.  I just love
the pineapple flowers with a grape center.


Everything sits in a large watermelon that she flattened the bottom of
and then took the top off.  The parsley comes from our garden and is
held in around the rim with floral picks or wide bobbie pins.
Then clusters of black and green grapes alternate around the rim of
the melon.  She filled the center with skewers of assorted fruit and
then placed more parsley around the bottom and tucked in additional
chocolate covered strawberries in assorted chocolates.


I caught up with her when she wasn't quite finished.  It was fun
to see her work and to see her classmates come over to 
compliment her on how beautifully it had turned out.




She started her first year in a much smaller kitchen but the school
built a wonderful new building with a
  3.1 million dollar kitchen.
What a wonderful place to learn and to cook.

It makes me want to go to Culinary Arts School!



Wouldn't this be wonderful for a wedding or a shower or other
special occasion?



Here she is with her teacher Tony inspecting her final project.
How fun to have been there to see her finish putting it together
and showing it off.



We are so proud of her accomplishments  -
now we just need to get her to cook for us more!!!!

Actually, doing this was what inspired her wonderful
fruit bouquet that she gave me for Mother's Day!



I want to show this off at


Sunday, May 13, 2012

Sweet Mother's Day


I hope all of you Mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!

I had to share this beautiful fruit bouquet that my daughter
Amanda made for me.  She surprised me with it and included
the lovely dish it is in.


I told you that my son was going to speak about his mother 
in church today.  He began his talk by saying I had taught him 
many things and that he wanted to to share those -
1st - Eat dessert first
2nd - Chocolate is a staple at our house
3rd - When other mothers in the neighborhood were
paying their kids not to eat sugar he had come home to see
if he could get a little money out of his mother like that and
I had said that I would pay him to eat sugar!

Of course he got a lot of laughs out of those, but he went
on to pay a beautiful tribute to motherhood.  It was a lovely
Mother's Day. 
(Guess I still owe him some $!!) 
What made your Mother's Day special?

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