Lions, Tigers, and HARPS oh my!

I'll cut to the chase - I bought a harp this weekend!!!! Yahoo! Yippe! Hurray! I've been setting money aside for a while in my harp fund, which received many generous donations from family and loose change from friends. I'm quite pleased with my purchase:

When I was in college, my harp professor would let me take home a harp like this for the summer. That harp was older, black, and had metal levers. This harp is mahogany (which is my favorite wood!!!) and just beautiful! I never thought I'd have a mahogany harp, so I'm just thrilled! The levers are also very nice and move easily to change notes.

In case you were wondering, this is The Folk Harp from Lyon & Healy out of Chicago. This is a very well known harp maker and they are known for their exceptional quality. I'm told this harp is ten years old, but it looks brand new!

This harp has some Irish inspired detailing on the soundboard, which isn't something I was looking for, but I don't mind it. I do want to find out what it is suppose to be on there. Anyone know? I'd hate to have a client ask me what is on there and have to tell them that I don't know!

I got a very good deal on this harp and am very pleased with my purchase. The woman selling it lives ten minutes from us, which was nice so I didn't have to drive halfway across the state just to see it. Ed and I looked at it at 11 Sunday morning and called her back an hour later telling her we'd take it! I would have been kicking myself if I had turned down this beautiful instrument. She also let me have three Irish/Keltic harp books (two of which are from Sylvia Woods) for free!

The other nice thing about this harp is easy to transport. You simply take off the feet, place it in it's cary bag, and away you go. It is able to fit in the trunk of my little Honda without putting the back seat down. Perfect for the music therapist on the go - harp in the trunk, drums and instruments in the back seat.

Thanks for listening to me gush about my new harp! I'm so very excited!!!!!!

~Rachel

Cappuccino Brownies

Here's the recipe for Cappuccino Brownies, which I made for my birthday treat. They are from Better Homes and Garden's Anyone Can Bake book.

Ingredients: 

2/3  C Flour

1/4  tsp baking soda

1/2  C butter

3     oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped*

1     C granulated sugar

2     eggs

1     tsp vanilla

1     tsp instant coffee crystals

1     T heavy whipping cream (you may need a little more) 

1     C powdered sugar

2     T butter, softened 

1     recipe Chocolate Frosting - found at end of recipe 

*If I don't have squares of chocolate on hand, I use baking cocoa (the powder from Hershey's). Follow directions on package for it's equlivency to chocolate squares - I think for this recipe you would use 1/2 C + 1T and add 3T vegetable oil) 

To Make:  

Preheat oven to 350. Grease or foil an 8x8-inch baking pan; set aside. 

In a medium saucepan heat and stir the 1/2 cup butter and the unsweetened chocolate over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Stir in granulated sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating with a wooden spoon just until combined. Stir in vanilla. Add flower and baking soda; stir until just combined. Spread batter evenly in pan. 

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack. 

In a bowl stir together coffee crystals and cream until crystals dissolve. Stir in powdered sugar and 2T butter until creamy. Note: I used more whipping cream than called for until the mixture was spreadable. Spread coffee mixture over the warm brownies. Cool completely. 

Spread Chocolate Frosting over cooled brownies (recipe below). Chill brownies about 1 hour or until frosting is set. Makes 16 brownies. 

Chocolate Frosting: In a small saucepan combine 1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces and 1/3 cup whipping cream. Heat and stir over low heat until smooth and mixture begins to thicken. 

Per brownie: 264 cal., 16g total fat (10 g sat. fat), 54 mg chol., 84 mg sodium, 32 g carbo., 2 g fiber, 2 g pro. - Healthy, right? 

I'm Golden - Literally

For the first time in my life, when asked how I was, I could reply, "I'm GOLDEN!" Why is this you ask? Well, yesterday was my GOLDEN birthday. I turned 23 years old on the 23rd - pretty simple, right?

I had just a great birthday yesterday! I lounged in my fuzzy pants all day, got birthday phone calls from a bunch of people (but happened to miss every call from my in-laws, not on purpose though), and worked on my quilt (which is a topic for another day).

OOH! And thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes!!!

Ed took me out for mexican at the place up the road from us. It's called La Fuente, or something like that. I have no idea how to spell it. Lucky me - we sat at table right in front of their fireplace. Actually, I asked if we could sit there because I'm terminally cold.

I just had to have a margarita - they're my favorite and a recent birthday tradition! It really makes me miss birthdays in Eau Claire with my music therapy ladies...

This was the first time Ed and I were able to go out together on my birthday. My birthday has fallen during the work week these past two years, so it would have been near impossible for Ed to drive up to Eau Claire during work, have dinner with me, and head back to Milwaukee all in on night - plus, it's very impractical.

When we got home after dinner, I was just stuffed on chips and salsa, enchiladas, rice, and beans. I just couldn't resist getting into my comfies! Either could Ed! In the words of George Costanze of Seinfeld, I was "ensconced in [fleece]." I just love wearing my fleece - fleece plants and a fleece top, and sometimes my bathrobe on top of all that! According to George, it would be pretty awesome to drape myself in fleece. If you're completely confused and have no idea what I'm talking about, please take a moment to watch this Seinfeld chip: 

To me, fleece is like velvet - I just love it! 

For dessert I made birthday brownies - Cappuccino Brownies to be exact. They are from my favorite baking book, Anyone Can Bake. I believe I've raved about this before on my blog, but I simply love this book! Now, I already know how to bake (it's in my blood - my grandparents were bakers), but it's nice to have a handy book that shows you all sorts of techniques with easy to follow and foolproof recipes. These were great!

Ed has fallen for the brownies in that baking book. They are very fudgy and yummy! Now, normally I think that brownies out of the box are the best, especially the ones from Ghirardelli - the turtle ones in particular. But these brownies take the cake!  In this recipe, the fudgy brownie is on the bottom, with a tan Cappuccino layer on top, with a fudgy chocolate glaze/frosting on the very top. I thought the neon candles added a nice touch as well. Too bad the wax started dripping after one minute of being lit! That's what I get for buying the $1 candles...

Ed made us drinks too! It's his own version of a White Russian, which is one of my favorites ; -) We used these fun drink glasses that my friend J. got us for a wedding gift. 

I had such a great birthday with Ed this year! I hope that my 23rd year brings with it lots of memories and fun times. 

~Rachel 

Won't You Be Mine?

Normally I don't get that into Valentine's day, but this year was a completely different story. I woke up yesterday morning softly singing, "Won't You Be Mine? Won't You Be Mine?" Ed, who is getting ready for work, turns to me and days, "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood?" "Yep!" It's funny how songs just pop into your head!

This little tidbit has nothing to do with anything, but I just thought that Ed has excellent song recall - perhaps he should be the music therapist.....

As many of you already know, I just passed my music therapy board exam last week - whoot! I'm officially an unemployed music therapist (although I am looking!) But while I'm looking for a real job, I'm enjoying my job at home - taking care of my Ed. I often call Ed "My Ed" to differentiate between him and his dad, mostly when the family is together. We have "Bev's Ed" and we have "My Ed" or "Rachel's Ed" depending on who is doing the talking. Ok, back to what I was talking about. I've been at home now for two months since I finished my internship and have been doing a combination of the following: studying, cooking, crafting, sleeping, reading, and watching every single episode of Law and Order SVU. It's great! I feel like Suzy Homemaker. I'm embracing my inner woman - I cook, I clean, I do laundry, and so on. I enjoy it!

Now, back to Valentine's Day. I spend a lot of time at home thinking about things, especially things that I have to plan for. I love planning! So, I thought, why not plan a fun Valentine's Day dinner. I do have to give some credit to Ed for this idea as well. Not only did I/we want to cook a good meal, but I also wanted everything to look nice. I figured this is probably the only year I will do something special for Valentine's day. After all, shouldn't you express your love for each other year round?

When Ed got home from work last night he had the LAST bouquet that Pick 'n Save had in store - yellow alstroemerias. Now, he had no idea what kind of flowers these were. He just knew that he couldn't come home without some flower in hand. I just loved those flowers! I had a lot of them in my wedding bouquet. To me, they have so much more meaning than roses.

Anyway, here's our evening in pictures:

Ed and I in our little kitchen with our aprons on ready to cook. 

Ed wearing his apron and chef's hat that I made him for a gift. 

This is a great pattern to use if you want to make a chef's hat. The pattern is in PDF format, so all you have to do is print it out and start sewing! Click here for the link.

A table set for two.  

I made tissue paper roses for napkin rings curtsey of Martha Stewart. 

Ed's sock monkey wine cosy is a home next to a small tea light and my orchid. 

I added paper roses to my potted orchid. This plant isn't in bloom right now - actually, you can't see any of it. I leave the support posts in the pot so I don't loose them. I was glad to spice them up with the roses. I think I'll even keep them there!

We started with a salad. 

I'm trying to take more "dramatic" shots....

Followed by the main course. 

Thanks to the Milwaukee Journal sentinel for our main course. We enjoyed tenderloin steaks, which we cooked using a cast iron skillet, but on the cooktop and in the oven, rosemary red potatoes, and sauteed vegetables. It was sure good. Here is the recipe if you'd like it.

Cheers! 

Time for desert! 

To end the meal, we just had to have something chocolate! Now, I'm not usually one for cake, but when I saw a recipe for Molten Lava Chocolate Cakes, I knew I just had to have them! Plus, we got a boatload of ramekins for our wedding and I wanted to put them to good use.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes with Strawberries and Cream

 I was trying to imitate the desert you use to be able to get from Olive Garden. They served this exact same thing, although I think that the cream sauce turned our a little different than the restaurant, but OH was it GOOD! Death by chocolate... I want to make these again so bad! And, the recipe makes four cakes, so we enjoyed this dessert again tonight!

Now this is the one Ed ate. As you can see, the chocolate is spilling out! Yummy!

Overall, Ed and I had a great night. After dinner, we ate our cakes while watching Up, an animated movie. It's such a cute movie about an elderly man who looses his wife and goes on an adventure. If you haven't seen it, you should really watch it with someone special. It's a sweet movie ; -)

That's all I've got for tonight. It feel good to be back at my blog. Who knows, maybe I'll do a little bit of backtracking, considering I haven't put anything up here since we were married!