Welcome to 2013 my friends! There’s no better way to ring in the New Year, but with chocolate. Chocolate mousse or should I say “mousse au chocolat” is a rich French dessert with air bubbles that give it a light and airy texture. The darker the chocolate you use, the deeper and more intense your chocolate flavor will be. France is an amazing place that I would love to visit again, but until then I get my French fix with this chocolate mousse.

Chocolate mousse was my claim to fame in high school French club. Our teacher, Madame Hasler, gave me a photocopied recipe from some French cookbook and I ran with it and perfected the making of mousse. During French club meetings we always had a smorgasbordboard of French food and my classmates often requested I make the mousse because my mousse was “très riche et délicieuse”.

Of course I had to hunt down this cookbook and I eventually found it. FRENCH, delicious classic cuisine made easy by Carole Clements & Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen contains the chocolate mousse recipe that I hold near and dear to my foodie heart. I have, however, made a couple tweaks. Adding a layer of Oreo cookies at the bottom is typically “not very French,” but I like a little crunch with my mousse. Feel free to omit that ingredient if you want a more “true French chocolate mousse”. I highly recommend this cookbook because it has many other wonderful French recipes for any course.

I hope you enjoy this chocolaty recipe as much as I have the past 10 years. Add it to your dessert toolbox by using this printer friendly version. Bon Appetit and best wishes for 2013!

INGREDIENTS
• 8oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 4 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 4 eggs, separated
• 6 tablespoons heavy cream
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3 tablespoons superfine sugar
• 8oz Whipped Cream, for topping
• 1 Hersey’s Chocolate Bar, for chocolate curl decoration
• 16-20 Oreo cookies

DIRECTIONS
01. Place chocolate and water in a heavy saucepan or double boiler. Melt over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the brandy and butter.

02. With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks for 2-3 minutes until thick and creamy, then slowly beat into the melted chocolate until well blended. Set aside.

03. Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form and stir a spoonful into the chocolate mixer to lighten it. Fold in the remaining heavy cream.

04. In a clean grease free bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites slowly until frothy. Add the cream of tartar, increase the speed and continue beating until they form soft peaks. Gradually sprinkle the sugar over the egg white mixture and continue beating until the whites are stiff and glossy.

05. Using a rubber spatula or large metal spoon, stir a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whites, cutting down to the bottom along the sides and up to the top in a semicircular motion until they are just combined. Don’t worry about a few white streaks.

06. Crush Oreo cookies and place in the bottom of an 8-cup dish or divide between 8 individual dishes. I recommend using a food chopper to crush the Oreos but you can also place the cookies in a plastic Ziploc bag and crush them with a glass cup.

07. Gently spoon or pipe chocolate mousse over the crushed Oreo cookies. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours so the mousse can set and chill.

08. Spoon or pipe whipped cream over the mousse and decorate with chocolate curls before serving.

09. You can easily make chocolate curls with a Hersey Bar. Using a vegetable peeler, carefully draw it along the side of the candy bar. This works best if the chocolate is at room temperature. If the chocolate does not seem to be soft enough, you can place it in the microwave at 5-second intervals until it becomes soft enough to work with. The chocolate curls will be very delicate. I recommend using a toothpick to help place the curls without breaking them.

I don’t know about you, but holiday traditions are my favorite! Since I was little, the one thing I always look forward to on Christmas day is my mom’s breakfast quiche. You could probably even consider it more of a breakfast lasagna because it’s layered with all of your breakfast essentials. Plus, it’s easy to make and can be prepared the night before – Perfect for when you have lots of family and guests over! This recipe can be easily tweaked by adding just about anything you fancy. Bacon, onions, peppers, sausage, you name try adding it!

As I got a little older I came to discover that this breakfast favorite goes great with mimosas! I highly recommend Martini & Rossi Asti but you can use just about any champagne you prefer. Mix your choice of champagne with a little orange juice and you’re mimosa is all set.

This dish is sure to fill your house with the wonderful aromas of a home cooked breakfast, which is the best way to wake up on Christmas morning. Don’t forget you can download you printer friendly version of this recipe right here.

INGREDIENTS
• 14 pieces of crust-less bread
• 1.5 lbs of thinly sliced ham
• 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup chopped fresh portabella mushrooms
• 6 eggs
• 3 cups of milk
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 2 cups of Korn Flakes cereal
• 1/2 cup melted butter

DIRECTIONS
01. Place 7 pieces of the crust-less bread at the bottom of a 9×13 metal pan. The seventh piece will need to be cut in half in order for it to fit.

02. Layer the sliced ham on top of the bread.

03. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese & chopped mushrooms on top of the ham layer.

04. Layer the last 7 pieces of crust-less bread on top of the cheese and mushrooms.

05. In a medium bowl whisk together the milk and ground mustard. Add the eggs and continue to whisk until well blended.

06. Pour the milk, egg, and dry mustard mixture over your layered quiche. Be sure to moisten each area with this wet mixture.

07. Lightly mix the Korn Flakes with the melted butter. Scatter the buttered flakes over the top of the layered quiche. If you are preparing this the night before, skip this step and cover the pan with tin foil or plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Before baking in the morning prepare the Korn Flake mixture and spread over the top of the quiche just before placing it in the oven.

08. Bake at 350º for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes until the top is golden.

09. Let cool and set for 10 minutes before serving.

For the next 21 days I will be indulging myself in christmas movies, music, decorations, and of course food. Christmas is my favorite time of the year because the decorations are gorgeous, the music is jolly, the movies are classics, and the food is simply sweet and delicious. But, one day of Christmas just isn’t enough for me, so I celebrate all month long. In honor of this one month celebration, I’m starting out with one of my favorite Christmas cookies, vanilla almond crescents. These cute delicate little cookies are crumbly and melt in your mouth. I used to eat them plain, but then decided why not dip them in chocolate!? Chocolate goes with just about anything, especially these! I recommend white chocolate, but milk chocolate is just as tasty. I like to sprinkle them with crushed candy canes to add a small splash of color and hint of holiday peppermint. These cookies are perfect for a light after dinner dessert or mid-day snacking. You choose!

CRESCENTS
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup sweet butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar

CHOCOLATE COATING
• Chocolate melting disks (recommend white or milk chocolate)
• Vegetable shortening

DIRECTIONS
01 Preheat the oven to 350º and line A baking sheet with parchment paper.

02 Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

03 Grind you almonds with a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor you can also use a food chopper.

04 Stir the ground almonds, sugar and vanilla extract into the flour and butter mixture. I like to continue using the pastry blender to do so. Then work the mixture with your hands until it becomes a soft dough.

05 Squish and roll small pieces of the dough into 1/2” thick by 2” long pieces. Shape these pieces into crescents.

06 Bake cookies for 20 minutes until they are pale golden in color.

07 While crescents are cooling on a wire rack, melt the chocolate of your choice in a double boiler. Depending on how many cookies you want to dip, the amount of chocolate you need will vary. You should be safe with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of chocolate melting disks. Do not get a single drop of water in your chocolate or it will seize. If your chocolate is too thick, add a little bit of vegetable shortening to thin it out.

08 Dip crescents half-way in melted chocolate and set on a sheet of parchment paper to harden. Decorate with crushed candy canes before the chocolate has hardened.

09 Once the chocolate has completely hardened, lightly sift confectioners’ sugar over the top of each crescent.

10 You may also leave the crescents plain with no chocolate if you desire. In this case roll each plain crescent in confectioners’ sugar.

Enjoy! You can view the printer friendly version by clicking right here.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and in honor of this scrumptious holiday I’m going to share a sweet side dish with you. No, it’s not a dessert, but it could probably pass as one! Sweet potatoes are my all time favorite Thanksgiving food. As a child I could never figure out how a vegetable could taste so amazingly sweet and delicious. I’ve tried many sweet potato recipes and none have yet to beat my Mom’s family recipe. However, I had to add one key ingredient to her recipe that she does not use, marshmallows. Kudos to my dad for introducing me to sweet potatoes with toasted marshmallows! Imagine warm, brown sugar toasted pecans, walnuts and gooey marshmallows atop a bed of mashed sweet potatoes. Or better yet, don’t imagine it try it! This recipe is easy and if you are a planner it can be prepared the night before and baked the next day. So if you need a last minute recipe for your Turkey Day Dinner tomorrow this one is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Don’t forget to save paper and use this printer friendly version of the recipe.

If you love pumpkin but are bored with pumpkin pie each and every year, check out my very first post, Pumpkin Cupcakes, for an easy to serve Thanksgiving dessert. Are you in dire need of more tasty last minute Thanksgiving Day recipes? Don’t panic! Feel free to hit me up for ideas via email. I would love to help!

POTATO MIXTURE
• 2.5 lbs of sweet potatoes
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup margarine or butter softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs beaten

TOPPING
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup margarine or butter melted
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup mini marshmallows

DIRECTIONS
01. Begin by heating a large pan of water.

02. While water is heating to a boil, clean, skin and chop sweet potatoes into medium sized pieces.

03. Preheat oven to 350°.

04. Once water is boiling carefully place chopped potatoes into the pan with a large spoon and boil for 10 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.

05. Drain the water from the sweet potatoes and add the milk, margarine or butter, beaten eggs, and vanilla. Mash mixture with a potato masher until smooth.

06. Scrape sweet potato mixture into a casserole dish and bake uncovered for 25 minutes.

07. While the sweet potato mixture is baking, prepare the topping by mixing the brown sugar, flour, melted margarine or butter, walnuts and pecans. Set the mini marshmallows aside for later.

08. After 25 minutes remove the casserole dish from the oven and sprinkle the topping over the entire sweet potato mixture. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

09. After 20 minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle the mini marshmallows over the top. Bake uncovered for 5 minutes or until the marshmallows are puffy and slightly golden.

10. Enjoy and have a wonderful Turkey Day everyone!

Football season is just getting started, so I thought I would throw one of my tailgating favorites into your lineup! No tailgate party would be complete without chips and salsa. Texas caviar is a fun twist compared to your regular salsa and it’s extremely addicting!

SAUCE
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup apple vinegar
• ½ cup veggie oil

VEGGIES
• 2 cans shoe peg corn (11oz cans)
• 1 can black eyed peas
• 1 can black beans
• 1 green pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 hot pepper
• 1 cup green onions
• 1 cup celery
• ¼ cup cilantro (optional)

01. Whisk sugar, apple cider vinegar and veggie oil in a medium saucepan. Heat over low to medium heat, occasionally stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved. Set aside in the refrigerator to cool.

02. Strain the shoe peg corn, black-eyed peas and black beans in a colander. Lightly rinse the corn and beans in the colander and then place them in a large bowl.

03. Remove the stems and seeds from the green, yellow, red and hot peppers. Finely dice each pepper and place in the large bowl. Do not touch your eyes after handling the peppers!

04. Thinly slice the green onions and celery and place in the large bowl. You can use the white and green parts of the onions.

05. Chop cilantro and place in the large bowl (optional).

06. Stir all chopped vegetables together in the large bowl. Pour the cooled sauce over the vegetable mixture and stir until the vegetable mixture is coated with the sauce.

07. Chill for several hours before serving.

08. Enjoy with scoop tortilla chips or my absolute favorite scoop Fritos! If you prefer, your Texas Caviar can also be served solo as a chilled salad.

I recently realized it may be hard to print these recipes for those of you who want to try them out. To solve this problem, I will be including a PDF version in each post that will make printing easier. Also included in the PDF is a small section for you to make your own notes when baking or cooking. I love tweaking recipes based on my taste buds and I know a note section would come in handy for me, so I hope it comes in hand for you as well. Hopefully this Texas Caviar will add a nice kick to your next tailgating party and I have no doubt that it will sack any other salsa!