A Crazy, "D"lish, Chocolatey, Mocha, Trifle!

Have you EVER craved a crazy, insanely, delicious, and delectable looking and heavenly tasting dessert?  A dessert you can proudly serve to company, OR just  have on hand for... one of those days?  Well, I assure you that I have just the recipe for you!  Be prepared to be swept away on waves of Chocolaty, 'Mochay' (my blog~my word lol) Crazy, Goodness.  This is a family and company favorite that will be sure to send shock waves of 'yumminess' right to the tips of your toes'!

You have to have a Lovely Trifle Dish, and decorating the trifle dish for the season is a must, as this dessert is a 'dessert for all Season's'!  I got a trifle dish on sale for $10.00. To decorate my dish for summer I used:

• Burlap
• Raffia
• A sunflower with a spray of berries

I cut my burlap in a circle to tie up around the bowl, and secured with the raffia.  I then tied a raffia bow, with the flower spray inserted in the center of the bow to be held in place.  And in a snap a crazy, cute trifle bowl, waiting for some yummy goodness.

This is a Recipe I got from Pampered Chef, but as usual, I have altered the ingredients to suit my taste buds! So here is my list of Secret Ingredients! 
You will need:

• Brownie mix (any brand will do ~ 19 ounces)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• Large package Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
• 3 cups milk
• 1 Tbsp. of Instant Coffee ~ any brand
• 1 Tbsp. hot water
• 1 Large container Cool Whip
• 1 bag toffee chips (I use Heath Chips found with Chocolate chips)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 13x9" pan.  Mix the brownies according to directions using the water, oil, and eggs.  Bake according to directions.  Allow to cool and then cut into 1" cubes

Make your chocolate pudding according to directions using the milk... set aside

Mix your 1 Tbsp. Instant Coffee with your 1 Tbsp. of hot water until crystals are dissolved, then add directly to your whip topping.  Mix well.

In the bottom of your Trifle dish, layer 1/2 of your brownie cubes.  Add 1/2 of your pudding mixture on top of brownies and spread out.  Add 1/2 of your whipped topping mixture and spread.  Sprinkle half of the toffee chips on top.  REPEAT LAYERS in same order.  SO PRETTY!

Cover and refrigerate at least four hours before serving.  And ~ refrigerate leftovers.  Pull your beautiful Trifle out of your fridge, plate it up on some pretty china and prepare yourself for the oooo's and ahhhhh's that will be coming your way.  The great thing about this dessert is, that it is sweet, but with the coffee addition, it keeps it from being 'overly' sweet.  Have no doubt that this is a Crazy, Decadent, Dessert, fit for the finest of company!  Or just to say to your family... 'You are Special'... or a perfect midnight snack... think I will go grab a spoon and have some right now!  = )

Enjoy making, creating.

 and then eating this fabulous dessert.

Living, Loving and Laughing with chocolate on my mouth...

Patti

Crazy Crawfish in My Crazy Beautiful Hometown!

Call them what you will: "crawdad, crawfish, ecrevisse, crayfish, crawdaddy, rock lobster, spiny lobster, langouste, sea crawfish "~  

I am NOW CRAZY IN LOVE WITH CRAWFISH!

I won tickets to the Pensacola Crawfish Festival, and being the social butterfly I am, I was thrilled at the prospect of mingling with the crowds, enjoying the festival atmosphere and trying this new "Crawfish Cuisine".  My Louisiana, Crawfish, Cajun Lovin' Son, was thrilled about the Crawfish, my husband was a little skeptical and leery.  He enjoys the tried and true, you know~ he is a meat and potatoes kinda guy!  And while he may not look thrilled, he really did have the joy, joy, joy, joy down in his heart, because he is a trooper! = )

We arrived at the festival, and were greeted with absolutely perfect weather, the aroma of cajun cookin' at its finest, the sound of Cajun music, and throngs of happy Pensacola Festival Attendees!  I immediately began snapping pictures to capture the memories I knew this day would surely bring!  

We saw signs announcing every type of 'fried fab foods' known to man! "OY"

BUT, I quickly found the sign announcing the very thing I had come for... CRAWFISH!

As we approached the Crawfish booth, there was some serious conversation going on between father and son as to whether or not the 'skeptical' father was going to eat 'bugs', as he so fondly refers to them.  He decided he would sample from what the son and I ordered!

So, with no hesitation, I ordered the small crawfish plate...

And even before tasting the first bite~ 

I was excited!

And the son ordered the 'Mother of ALL Crawfish Platters"!

We sat under the festival tent, which heralded the five flags of Pensacola.  We were serenaded with true Cajun Music... loved it!  My strapping 21 year old gave his momma a lesson in the finer points of crawfish eatin'!  And believe me, there is an art to eating the crawfish!

I will give the hubby kudos as he did 'try' the crawfish.  And when he said, 'well that was interesting', I ran off to buy him some shrimp and fries.  As for my son and I, there simpy just were not enough Crawfish.  I FELL IN LOVE with these Crazy, Crawfish, Crustaceans, as they so reminded me of my tremendous love of all things 'seafood', born from my Chesapeake bay upbringing!

After we were done, we decided to walk around the beautiful Pensacola Historic Downtown area.  We enjoyed the cool breeze, reveled in the time we had together, and I had a blast shooting some FANTASTIC PHOTOS of my beautiful hometown... but that is another blog for another time!

A good time was had by all and I have adopted a fabulous cajun phrase I would like to pass along to you.  But first... find yourself a huge plate of Crazy Cajun Crawfish, then say with me...

"I WILL EXPERIENCE~ 

"Joie de vivre" (zhwah duh viv-re)~ "The joy of living"

There is a lot to be said for trying something new! You NEVER know if you will like it~ you may end up loving it, and I must say that I have a new appreciation for all things Cajun, including my Crazy, Crawdad, Crustacean, Friends~ LOVE 'EM!

And before I heave on outta here, I will leave you with my favorite of all cajun sayings:

"LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!

Living, Laughing and Loving me some Crawfish!

Patti

A "CRAZY CUTE" "TWEET" Wreath!

Wanted to create a Crazy Cute wreath for my front door... I stumbled across this fab wreath:

http://hometowngirl.typepad.com/hometown_girl/2011/04/spring-wreath.html

made by Susan... and was SO inspired to create something like it but with my flair and touch!

So kudos to Susan for her beautiful wreath, and the inspiration I received after reading her blog... please go check it out!

SO, you can see what I came up with... my 'HOME TWEET HOME' wreath!  I wanted to spend 'little money', but come up with something adorable.  The wreath cost me $10.00 to make.  I found many of the items at a 2nd hand store, or on sale at a local craft store.  You have to hunt, but you will be amazed at the bargains you will find!

Now, onto the directions, and items you will need!

You will need:

*grapevine wreath- found mine at the mission for $2.00

*bird nest with eggs- again at the mission for $2.o0

*chalkboard- on sale for $.50

*Green wire edged ribbon on sale for $3.20

*Birds on sale for $1.99

*Green Moss

*Ribbon Scraps- to hand chalkboard

*White paint

*Matte acrylic sealer

* Hot glue gun

*Drill

Create your wreath hanger by taking a 24" piece of your ribbon you purchased and tie it around the top of the wreath.  Hot glue the loose pieces at the top of the ribbon to form the hanger.  Lay the rest of the ribbon behind the hanger to create your bow!

I make my ribbons just by tying one loop on top of another, and because it is wire rimmed it makes it easy to shape!

I cut the ribbon at an angle on the ends to give it a finished look!

Hot glue the moss onto the bottom left hand side of your wreath

Hot Glue the Bird nest onto the moss, then your birds onto your nest.

I hand sketched the words onto the slate, and then painted over top.  It took about 3 coats of paint to completely cover the slate.  Once the paint had dried, I sprayed a matte acrylic sealer on top to protect the paint!

I drilled two holes on either side of the chalkboard, and then using some scrap ribbon, I pushed the ribbon through one hole, knotted it and hot glued it to secure it.

I then ran the loose edge of the scrap ribbon, through the bottom of the ribbon 'hanger', and pushed the scrap ribbon through the other hole, knotted and hot glued to secure!

I then hung the CRAZY CUTE "TWEET" little wreath from my door... welcoming all family, friends, and new acquaintances who may enter.  This was a Fun, Fabulous, Fantastically inexpensive project for my front door. 

Hope you enjoyed the blog, and hope you will be inspired to create a crazy 'tweet' wreath to welcome sojourners who cross your doorstep!

Living, Laughing and Loving my 'Tweet' Life,

Patti