All in birthday

Happy Birthday, Sister

Sarah
birthday, dessert

Happy birthday, sister. I made you some buttercream. I smeared it on a pound cake.

It's chocolate. It's definitely not a low-fat food. But you wouldn't want it to be, and all the better, because there's no such thing as low-fat buttercream anyway.

Thank goodness for that.

I know it looks like I sprinkled dirt on the top there, but I didn't, I swear. I took a few squares of Toblerone chocolate, a ziploc bag and a hammer. I know it's your favorite snack, and we didn't have any sprinkles, so there you go.

The flowers are not edible. By the way.

I hope you're enjoying your week home. I also hope you can't wait to go back to school. Because if you didn't, I would worry. College can be a very lonely place if you let it get to you.

You've started saying home when you refer to school, and that's okay. It's a good thing actually. Someday you really will call someplace other than here your home, so you might as well start practicing.

Anyhow, happy 19th birthday, and if you ever feel like making some chocolate buttercream in your dorm room, here's how to do it.

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Deep Chocolate Buttercream // frosts 1 cake

Quick, easy, rich and mousse-like. Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 cup powdered sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 Tablespoons milk Directions: -Sift sugar and cocoa into a medium bowl. -In a large bowl, whip the butter with a hand-held electric mixer for about 30 seconds. Add half the sugar/cocoa mixture and whip until incorporated. Add vanilla, milk and the rest of the sugar/cocoa and whip to thoroughly combine. -Frost your cake & refrigerate until ready to eat. *Variation: You can add some chocolate liqueur to take things up a notch.

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Monster Detox

Sarah
birthday, detox, green monster, wine
Yesterday was my dad's birthday, which always means a fun-filled and delicious evening is in store. I started off with a few sips of champagne, then a delicious red wine once we got to the restaurant. I am in LOVE with Sangiovese, which is both spicy and smooth with subtle fruit flavors, so the bartender gave me a rather yummy Spanish blend whose name I can't remember for the life of me. But according to its description on the menu, flavors included blackberries, raspberries, and currants. It was lovely.
We ate our tapas (which were incredible) enthusiastically and then returned home for CAKE. I'd tried a new recipe for plain yellow cake and used the Sprinkles recipe for dark chocolate frosting. Because I wasn't sure it would be successful, Suzanne made her fool-proof lemon curd cake. Can you say eggs? Butter? Sugar? My cake alone called for 3 eggs, 2 sticks of butter, and ONE POUND of butter for the frosting (disclaimer: I used barely half of the recipe to cover the cake). Hers had a total of 8 eggs. Although the slices were small, both cakes were incredibly rich and filling. But of course ignorance is bliss on an occasion such as my dad's birthday, and I licked my plate clean!

Needless to say, I was feeling less than stellar this morning. To try and detox, I went for an hour-long run/hike but I still felt clogged up. So I sipped some green tea and waited for my stomach to tell me it was ready to be fed. At which point, I made...

My first official Green Monster! It was so delicious, and a monster detox in every way. I can't believe I haven't been drinking these all my life. For any disbeliever out there, let me just say that you are WRONG. Green Monsters rule, end of story. Here's my recipe:

Mean Green Detox
1/2 cup chopped frozen spinach
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 of an apple, cubed
1/2 banana
a few fresh strawberries
fresh mint leaves
1/2 Tbsp chia seeds
1 Tbsp almond butter
hemp protein powder
wheat grass powder
nutmeg
maple syrup
3/4 cup coconut water

Combine everything and blend like you mean it.
This smoothie is hydrating, refreshing, detoxifying, nutritious, and delicious.

I apologize for the lack of picture, but I promise it was green!