Mousse au chocolat

Compliments of Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat.

So, as we moved into our new apartment, I kept finding hidden treasures that I forgot I had. Under my stack of piano books I found French Women Don't Get Fat. Totally forgot I had this book. I bought it before I went to France, just for some research on the French. I started perusing through the book when I re-remembered (?) that there were recipes in it! I love French food and would enjoy about 90% of the recipes in this book; however, Brenan would

probably only enjoy about 15% of it...Thus I decided on mousse au chocolat. Can't go wrong

with a simple chocolate dessert (sidenote: if Brenan knew about all the raw eggs in this, he probably wouldn't have eaten it. It took me a few bites to forget about the eggs and enjoy it).

It was nearly as easy as it seemed for something that I had never made before. My trouble was with the chocolate...I don't have a double broiler, so I had to improvise. Secondary problem was that for some reason the sugar didn't fully dissolve into the chocolate, then w

hen the yolks were added it got stiff and cold. This proved somewhat difficult when you're trying to fold it in with the egg whites. All-in-all, it turned out and tasted great!

I put the mousse in champagne glasses to make it more fancy (and because my large mixing bowls are not here).

A well set mousse. We didn't refrigerate it over-night, but 4 hours seemed to be long enough.

Brenan enjoyed it so much, he decided to share it with his shirt.

Mousse au chocolat

serves 6 people (1/2 cup per person)

Ingredients

4 oz dark chocolate

1 Tablespoon sugar

3 egg yolks

5 egg whites

1. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double broiler set over a pan of simmering water on medium heat. I put my chocolate in a glass Pyrex measuring cup and set in in a half-full pot of boiling water. There are other ways to improvise not having a double broiler.
2. Remove the chocolate from the heat and add the sugar. Stir well and add the egg yolks, one at a time.
3. Beat the egg whites until stiff, glossy peaks are formed. Gently fold the whites into the chocolate mixture until well blended. Definitely need a hand blender or a Kitchenaid. There is NO way to hand beat it this stiff.
4. Pour the mousse into a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Birthday Season

In our family, we have 6 birthdays in 2 months. It all begins at the end of August with John, and ends in October with me (Rachel). This week we had two birthdays, my mom (17th) and Brenan (16th). Traditionally, we celebrate "birthday week" which means that something fun is done everyday during the week of your birthday. Here was our eventful week:

Monday: Spaghetti night mmmm.... We had the day off and relaxed at home. I ran to the library and got 2 books for Brenan and I to share : Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America's National Security and Jack and Jackie: Portrait of an American Marriage. For some reason we've been into political/history books lately. By the way, Bill Clinton is an idiot/skeeze.

Tuesday: Another day off from work. Brenan and I left early early to get to Park City by 9:30 for my interview at the St. Regis hotel. I got offered the job (on the spot) after a highly unorganized interview, but hey, who am I to complain?? Then, we drove to Salt Lake to spend the day there for Brenan's (early) b-day. We went and did a live session at the Salt Lake temple (my first time there), then we went to lunch at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. Brenan got the Turkey dinner (which was HUGE) and I got the tomato romano soup and a club sandwhich. The tomato soup was pure bliss. After a filling lunch, we walked over to Deseret Book and got Brenan a new CTR ring.

To end the day, we stopped in Park City and got Cold Stone ice cream (yum) and came home to our puppy :)

Wednesday: Brenan's actual birthday. We worked 1-8. It was slow so we came home early. My parents bought him a triple chocolate cake (which we promptly scarfed down) and some other treats. It was late, so we put in State of Play which was a way better movie than I thought it would be (I highly dislike Russell Crowe as a person). I actually stayed up and watched the entire thing. On a side note, this is the night our bedroom light broke. We have been in the dark since then. Literally, not metaphorically. The TV is our new light. Suck.

Thursday: My mom's birthday. She got a pedicure and we spent the day up in Park City shopping and having fun. I let her use my discount at Banana Republic and Old Navy, and we both got some cute clothes! Then, she took me to see Julie & Julia which I absolutely LOVED! I'm a sucker for anything French, plus I love to cook and blog, so this movie was made for me.

Winding up our events for the week brings us to today. At 9 a.m. sharp, we toured our new apartment, put down a deposit, and got all of our paperwork! We should be moving-in sometime next week. Our treat for the day was... CAFE RIO! If you have not eaten here, it is a fiesta in the mouth that words can barely describe. We got, as usual, a fire-grilled steak burrito, pinto beans, mild sauce- nothing extra or fancy. Except for the fact that the dude at the counter was a HUGE idiot and made it without asking us what we wanted. Lucky for him, he paid for his mistakes. Tonight we would have gone to the Wasatch High School game, but a) Brenan had to take a quiz before 8 (and we got off work at 7) and b) the beautiful rain and lightening storms was not something I wanted to sit through.

Until Thurday, I have been unable to find any of our batteries for our camera. We buy rechargeable batteries because they last longer and regular ones die in about 5 seconds-- hence the reason I wouldn't buy any replacements; however, while shopping with my mom I had had enough. I caved in and bought new batteries and have no excuse to not be taking pictures. Am I sad I missed taking birthday pics? Absolutely :( Sorry I have no real pictures to post for birthday week.

Scrapbooking

Hey everyone! I'm sending in an order this month for more scrapbooking/stamping stuff. You DO NOT have to live in Utah to order supplies- I can send them straight to your house no matter where you are :) Free shipping & 10% off first order!!! My blog has a link to the Catalog (Autumn/winter idea book)--- check it out!

The crazy life we live

Life has been crazy lately. First, Brenan and I both got jobs at Banana Republic Outlet! At first we were skeptical at working retail, but after hours of filling out applications, they hired us both on the spot. Cool. We actually like working there a lot more than we'd thought we would. The first week was crazy because of Labor Dabor, but we managed 8 days straight of work pretty well. Our managers (Jan, Jake, John, and Stacey) are all pretty cool. On nights that we close, we play trivia games with John over our headsets. Example: Lord of the Rings trivia, who said this line trivia, voice impersonations, etc... Also, the discount is FANTASTIC! 30% off full-price and sales, 10% off clearance (good at BR and Gap outlet). We get discounts at the regular retail places, including Old Navy, but we never go to the mall... So, this has been a hug plus in our lives. We like our jobs and we like money to pay our bills :)

Last Sunday we got called to be Primary teachers for CTR 6A (that's right, they have A/B classes because their primary is so HUGE). We're pretty psyched for this. Did I say psyched? I meant scared. But excited at the same time. I mean, they're only 6 year olds...right?

Now, here is my small tweek with life. First, I sell scrapbooking supplies. I must sell a certain amount to stay active in the business (required). The end of the month is my quarterly deadline, so I thought I should jump on the bandwagon. So, I spent 8 hours handmaking invitations to the ladies in our ward, handed them out, and put up a reminder on the RS blog. Did anyone come? NO. Not one person. However, my delivery of product for the open house was late, so maybe it was a blessing. It just sucked and was super frustrating to spend hours doing things to prepare and have no one show up. It's not even the sales requirement that scares me, it's just failure. But, we (and I say "we" because Brenan supports the cause) will not give up. I really think it would do great out here; I mean, it's Utah!! Doesn't everyone scrapbook?!

Last, we live with my parents. Before, it was no biggie because we had an entire basement to ourselves (2 bedroom, bathroom, living room, storage, personal entrance/exit). Now, we have a bedroom on the main floor and share the only bathroom on this floor with everyone. NO personal space. And, the insulation sucks so we can hear everything all the time! We love Walter, but it's hard to find cheap housing when you have pets. They want to charge you larger deposits and monthly pet fees. Give a man a chance!

The Lord has watched over us and blessed us and has treated us well, so I shouldn't have anything to complain about. I just have to keep telling myself that things have been looking up, and everything else is just a learning experience.

We need a vacation. Or even a staycation. Something.

John's birthday cake

I thought it would be fun to make a cool cake for the little stinker, so I experimented with marshmallow fondant. It turned out really well and was pretty easy to do. However, it was messy. I got my clothes covered in powdered sugar, and a good portion of the island covered in Crisco, Pam, and powdered sugar. The boys seemed to like it. They called it the "rubber cake" which I am choosing to take as a compliment.

"J" for John

I ♥ nerds

I love the language of nerds. Mostly because a large part of what they have to say is completely not interesting. Thus, they feel the need to spice things up to grab in their readers. Today's headline (case and point) : "Suicidal planet seems on death spiral into star." Really? Planets are suicidal? I had no idea!! Even if you have no interest whatsoever in astronomy, or self-loathing planets, read the article. It's short and very amusing! It's "tango of death" should be taken lightly, because like I said, nerds need the readers.

Football according to Rachel

I know football pretty well so this is not said in naivety.

New Rules:

1. If the stands are quiet (which you will know by the silence and lack of response to the cheerleaders) and I'm bored, then the stop clock will not be stopped. What did take 3 hours will now only take 1.


2. There will be less penalties called, i.e. the ones that don't matter: illegal man down field (big deal), offsides, late tackle, holding, personal fouls. This will result in some real football and the clock will run much quicker.


3. The coaches must run an equal running:passing plays. Don't keep kicking a dead donkey.


4. If the team is winning, has possession, and there is only 1 minute left in the game, put in your JV players. Give a man a chance.


5. Cheerleaders must smile or else I won't cheer back.


6. Cheerleaders will not do pushups everytime the team scores. C'mon girls...


7. It is decidedly so that concessions will not cost more than $1/item.

On an unrelated note, how cute is Alex? I mean, how manly is Alex?

Go Wasatch!