Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving! Not only is it the best eating holiday, but it's also a day that really makes you reflect on what you are thankful for. We're thankful for our animal babies--Annabel, Duke and Jinx. There's nothing better than having a bad day at work and being attacked with kisses by your pets (well, purrs from Jinx). We're thankful for our jobs. Even though we might not like them some days, we have jobs which means we have money which means we can do the things we enjoy--something many Americans can't say this year. We're thankful for our family and friends who are always there for us! So this Thanksgiving, really think about what you're thankful for. Have a wonderful day....and don't eat too much! :)

Fall has arrived!

Fall is my absolute favorite season and it has finally arrived here in the Carolinas. Actually, this morning it was borderline fall moving into winter (it was only 37 degrees this morning), but I love it! I changed all my wallflowers to fall scents, put my Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Scentportable in my car and have the fall candles burning in the house. The Halloween decorations are out and I bought apple cider at Trader Joe's today. The only thing that is missing is the pumpkin to carve. We didn't carve one last year, but I'm determined to do one this year. I'll probably go out later this week to get one...especially if it's going to stay chilly out, it will actually last. All the small trees in our neighborhood have changed colors. It's kind of funny because all the houses have the same trees, but they are all different colors now that they've changed. I can't wait until the beginning of November when David and I can take a day to go up to the mountains and really see the trees in all their beauty!

Salted Caramel Brownies

Yes, yes I know I haven't posted on here in FOREVER. I'm going to try to get better, though. I've been so busy with work and community stuff, this just fell to the wayside.

Anyway...for those of you that don't live in Charlotte, there is a bakery here called Amelie's French Bakery. It's in an area of town called NoDa (it's on North Davidson street). It is by far, one of THE best bakeries in the area. They have true to form french bakery that is just delectable. Their number one seller is the Salted Caramel Brownie. When I went in the bakery the one day I overheard the owner telling a customer a story behind it. Apparently, Amelie's is the only place in the world that currently makes this brownie (I googled it and found nothing) and the assistant chef just came up with the recipe one day after experimenting with a salted caramel hot chocolate. To make a long story short, I guess so many people were asking how to make them, Amelie's published a recipe similar to the real thing in Charlotte Magazine's Home and Garden publication. I tried to make them last night and I'm posting the recipe below because they were SO good. Not exactly the real thing, but pretty darn close. A few things to remember, though:

1. Everything is from scratch. Don't think you can open a box of brownie mix and be done. It takes some time (and patience) to make them.
2. It says to cook the brownies for 30 minutes. The brownies at the store almost taste like raw brownie dough. I'd shorten the time to 25 minutes or a tad longer than that.
3. The caramel turned out VERY gooey. I had to put the brownie pan in the fridge overnight for it to harden up enough that it didn't stretch all the way across the kitchen (ok, slight exaggeration, but it was awfully gooey). The best way to cut them is with a wet knife. They do need to stay in the fridge, though. Even the brownies from the bakery need to stay refrigerated.
4. The recipe calls for 1 3/4 cup of the caramel. My guess is the caramel glaze recipe makes more than that (I didn't measure it out, I just poured the whole pan over the brownies). That might make it less gooey, too, but I imagine it would be pretty messy to measure out the glaze when it's already sticky in the pan.

And with all that in mind.....here is the recipe!

Yields 24 brownies

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

3/4 c unsalted butter, cubed

2 c granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 c unbleached all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cup salted caramel glaze (see below; prepare glaze when brownies are cool)

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan with butter or cooking spray.

In the top of a double boiler over medium heat, melt chocolate and butter, being sure the water in the bottom of the double boiler doesn't touch the top pan. Stir chocolate and butter until completely melted. Then stir in sugar. Blend well. Remove from heat.

In a separate bowl, lightly whisk eggs. Stir eggs into chocolate mixture. Then add flour, stirring until completely blended. Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.

Completely cool brownies in pan. Pour caramel glaze over brownies and cool until caramel sets. Slice into bars, about 2 inches square.

Salted Caramel Glaze

1/2 c heavy cream

2 c granulated sugar

1/2 c water

1/4 c unsalted butter, cubed

2 tsp fine sea salt

2 tbsp powdered gelatin, combined with 1/4 c cold water

In a small sauce pan over low heat, warm heavy cream until hot, but not boiling. In a separate tall saucepan, combine sugar and water. Place over medium-high heat. Do not stir as sugar dissolves and mixture reaches a dark amber stage. Add cream, butter, and salt (make sure you're using a tall pan because it splatters and it's HOT). Stir gently until mixture is smooth and well combined. Remove from heat and add gelatin, stirring to combine. Use immediately.

ENJOY!!!! Let me know if you try the recipe and how it turns out for you!

The fence

Well, we finally broke down and got a fence for the backyard. Having two dogs now, it was getting too hard to take them both out on a leash and they really need to have some room to run around. Both sides are up and we're just waiting for the fence guy to come out tomorrow to finish it up! Surprisingly, we have more yard fenced in than I thought we would. Once it's all done, I'll post some pictures!

Our newest addition

I'm sure when some of you read this you thought we were going to announce that we're pregnant. While we're not having a baby, we have just gotten a new puppy, Duke! He's a boxer and is getting used to his new "siblings." Annabel can't quite figure out what to make of him and Jinx actually came up to Duke to introduce himself. Our guess is that Jinx and Duke are going to team up against Annabel since she has been beating up on Jinx lately, but we will see. Our first night home was pretty good. He's getting adjusted to his crate (not liking it much at all) and he's loving this warm weather spell we're having right now. I'm sure we'll have more updates as he gets older. He's about 3 months old and already about 15 pounds...he's going to be a big boy!

It's snowing!

I've lived in Charlotte for 4 years now and it's only snowed here really good once in February. When I woke up that morning, snow was on the ground but I really didn't get to see too much of it falling. Well, tonight I got to see the snow falling and drive in it with all the whack-a-doodles (as my sister would say). This makes up for me not getting to see a good snow when I went to Parma for Christmas! Here's to wishing for a snow day tomorrow!!

Our first Valentine's Day as a married couple...

This year's Valentine's Day was great! David surprised me with a dozen yellow roses (my favorite) the day before Valentine's. He actually picked them up while at work and had to drive the beer truck to the house to drop them off so they'd be there when I got home. I'm sure the neighbors are now thinking that we're a bunch of drunks if the beer truck actually has to come to our house! haha On Valentine's Day we went to dinner at Maggiano's. We ate with all the old people and families because we could only get an early reservation, but it was still really, really good. We then went to Cheesecake Factory to get some dessert to enjoy at home. Once we got home we watched our wedding ceremony and laughed at ourselves quite a bit! All in all it was a great day!

Vote for Annabel!

 

Vote for Annabel!

 

Happy 30th Birthday, David!

Today is David's 30th  birthday.  I'm glad that he has finally joined me in the 3rd decade.  At least I know that the "I'm in my twenties and you're in your thirties" jokes will stop now. lol  Even though David didn't want a party or anything, we went bowling with some of his friends last night and ended the evening at the Galway Hooker for some Irish Car Bombs (David did those, not me).  I surprised him this morning with tickets to the UFC fight in Columbus in March.  This should be a pretty interesting experience....

And we're back!

When I was doing all my fun name change stuff, I did away with my jacki.kenny gmail account.  I really didn't think anything of it when I deleted it that it would also delete anything associated with that email account...including our old blog.  So, the Home Sweet Summey blog has been deleted, but somehow the blog title is just swimming in cyberspace because I can't use it again.  This is why I've created this new blog.  It's kind of a blessing in disguise because I don't think I had written anything on the old blog since last October.  :)  

2009 started off with a bang (for me at least).  I went on The Rock Boat for the 5th time and just got back on Thursday (the 22nd).  I had such a great time hanging out with all of my friends in the middle of the ocean listening to fabulous music, enjoying (way too much) great food and drinking some yummy drinks.  David stayed at home, but I'm sure he enjoyed having a "bachelor" pad for the week.  So now 2009 officially begins.  I always say that the year actually starts after The Rock Boat because that's when reality sets in.

Hopefully I'll be better about keeping up with this blog than I was with the last one!