Feeling a little more upbeat today. Just been playing oodles and oodles of Skyrim while I search for jobs. Apparently there's this job in R------a at a pet store and I just have to wait for Chris' brother in law to talk to the guy and see if he'd be interested in hiring me on. At this point I doubt I'll get the job as a farm keeper at W-----bank that I wanted. But ah well, better luck next time, right? At this point I'm going insane for want of a job and I'll take what I can get. Since the earthquakes there have been tons of jobs open, but they're all for builders, engineers, electricians. You know, the type of job that is needed when you have a half fallen down city that needs rebuilding. But fingers crossed I get this job. Today's recipe is one I made just last night and it's great for cheering you up when your down or just in general great if you love chocolate and peanut butter. Now I warn you this is very rich and if you're prone to tummy aches I recommend the use of four ounce ramekins, but if you can handle it Chris always uses the eight ounce ramekin. 1/2 Stick + 1 Tbs. Butter 2 Tbs. Powdered Sugar 1 Tbs. Cocoa Powder 1/4 Cup White Sugar 1/8 Cup plus + 1 Tbs. Flour 2 Eggs 6oz. baker's dark chocolate 1 Pinch Salt 3 Tbs. Peanut Butter 1. Preheat oven to 425F (220C). Brush ramekins with melted butter and dust with 1 Tbs. flour mixed with cocoa powder. Set ramekins on baking tray. 2. In saucepan melt butter with chocolate over low heat. 3. Take the leftover melted butter from brushing ramekins and add 3 Tbs. of peanut butter plus 2 Tbs. of powdered sugar, mix well. 4. Mix sugar, eggs, and salt in a medium bowl until well mixed. Fold in melted chocolate until no streaks remain. Fold in 1/8 cup flour. 5. Spoon 1/3 mixture into ramekins. Spoon peanut butter into center of ramekins then cover with remaining mixture. Bake for 10 minutes or until tops are cracked and centers jiggle slightly. Serve hot. I prefer eating my cake with a scoop of ice cream, Chris prefers his with hokey pokey sauce and chocolate sauce, and Charlotte just eats hers plain. So experiment and see what your preference is. The recipe above makes 4-5 servings in small ramekins (4 ounce) or can make two small ramekins plus one large (8 ounce). If you go the route with 4-5 ramekins you may need to play around with the peanut butter mixture to make sure you're getting enough peanut butter in each ramekin. You may want a lot of peanut butter, you may only want a little.
Lately I've just been feeling down. Not depressed, but a sort of happy with sad undertones. I left my entire life behind in America and I'm just now starting to feel the full effects. I could very possibly never see my best friends or any of my family members again. Mainly I think of my animals, they were the world to me. Especially my cat, Munchy, and my horse, Dolly. Chris (my fiance) is my only comfort now. He's the only one I really know over here and he's the reason I came here. I don't regret my decision by any means but I do wish I could have part of my old life back. Chris is thinking that soon we might be able to bring Munchy over, but since the family dog of ten years, Bandit, just had to be put down Monday due to a brain tumor we've put plans for Munchy on hold to mourn. I didn't know Bandit very long but I'm also mourning him. He really took a liking to me and often slept at the foot of our bed when I was home alone during the day. On another note I have mastered the ultimate cookie recipe. These chocolate chip cookies stay soft and gooey days and days afterward, I find them amazing. For those interested in baking here's the recipe: 1 Cup Butter (Softened) 3 Cups Flour 1 Cup Brown Sugar (Packed) 1 Tsp. Baking Soda 1 Cup White Sugar 2 Tsp. Hot Water 2 Eggs 1/2 Tsp. Salt 2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract 2 Cups Chocolate Chips 1. Preheat Oven to 350F (175C) 2. Cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water, add to batter with salt. Stir in flour and then chocolate chips. Spoon onto baking sheets. 3. Bake for 6-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. This recipe makes TONS of cookies. So if you don't want to be drowning in cookies you can cut the recipe in half and it will still make a decent amount of cookies. I found this recipe to be both very simple and very rewarding, we made one and a half batches in one week and they still didn't last through the week. Hope you enjoy!
