Fall Desserts Part 1

The Tropical: Starting at the bottom; a coconut macaroon cake which I am told is delicious, then diced tropical fruit which includes papya, pineapple and strawberries. A passion glaze is then drizzled on top of the fruit. On the left of the cake is a scoop of coconut ice cream and to the right is a tropical chiboust (a meringue that has been folded into a thick custard and then set with gelatin.) To finish it off we have 2 pineapple chips as a garnish.

The Chocolate: Chocolate sauce is drawn onto the plate ancoring the hot chocolate tart. Hot fudge spills out of the tart as you dig in. On top of the tart we have a mint marshmellow which slightly melts by the time it gets to the guest, so that you have oowy, gooey goodness. And yes that is the proper technical term. A thin plaque of manjari chocolate (64% madagascarian chocolate) holds the mint ice cream and manjari ribbons garnish this dessert. This dessert is probably our most popular.

So this post was going to be one where I was going to vent and cry out my frustration and extreme disappointment, but after recent events it now has a different spin. But just so you know why:


Two weeks ago was a really rough week! One that I was hoping to have cause for celebration and excitement and then it turned as quickly as it could. Sometimes I feel like a jinx. It seems that if I get excited about something big that is going to happen to us I want to tell everyone but as soon as I open my mouth no matter how sure things were looking for us they change. This was no exception. My husband and I were getting ready (again...) to do in-vetro. The date had been set, the first week of December- that way I had time off work to lay down and do nothing but let nature (and modern medicine) take its course. The best part about this plan was that we would find out 2 days before Christmas if we were finally about to be parents. So we had begun the mounds of medication needed to make this work. I was on the 2nd of 4 that I would have to take, halfway there when my doctor had to run a test that could only be done at this point in time. It was a new test, at least for me. One that none of my other specialist had ever done before, maybe that's why we felt like this new doctor was the one for us. Anyway she discovered that I had a couple of polyps and a tear in my uterus. Come on! Are you kidding me?! Can't you give us even a little break?! So now instead of having in-vetro the first of December I get to have a surgery to remove the polyps and repair the tear. Of course I was a wreak after the news and I'm sure that the massive hormones I was on didn't help at all! All I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry. I couldn't help wondering if we needed to come to terms with living a child free life. Because after many fasts and prayers, even some more recent, we know that adoption is not the rout we are suppose to take.



I tend to listen to books on tape because with traffic and navigating the Vegas strip I commute about an hour a day. Well On Wednesday when I was heading back to work I was listening to April's General Conference. It was the priesthood session and Dieter F. Uchtdorf began to speak. I know that we aren't suppose to have favorites but he quickly became one of mine as soon as he was called and not just because he is German. :-) Anyway his talk was on patience, you can already see where I am going with this. So many things in his talk jumped out at me and it was exactly what I needed to hear. So even though we have been trying to have a family for 9 years I still need to be patient. If my heart had not been comforted enough I then began preparing my primary lesson for Sunday and wouldn't you know it was about Job. I was again comforted by what I was preparing and just to make sure I was ok and could make it through, Sunday's talks in Sacrament meeting were all about our trials, enduring through them and of course patience. I love how things like that happen, we hear just what we need to in order to have our prayers answered and hearts calmed. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Is it already November?!

For some reason my blog has been really acting up and it would not let me post anything forever! But don't worry you haven't missed much. I haven't been up to or done anything exciting in that time. As I reflect back on last month or two the only things I can think of doing are working and going up to Logan for the quickest trip ever for the sealing of my niece and nephew to my sister and brother-in-law. So to continue where I left off back in September..."Summer Desserts Part 2"

The Peach: Starting on the right; an almond peach bread pudding-cake that has been tossed in creme de peche (a peach liqueur) anglaise (a rich custard sauce, essentially melted down vanilla ice cream) and then baked. YUMM!! On top of the cake we have roasted peaches that will remind you of a world in a better place. In the middle of the plate, it's kind of hard to see but there is an almond milk foam that deflated by the time the professional photographer snapped the shot. Just know that it was really cool! On the left is a beautiful sugar lattice bracelet anchored by some sand that is really a brown sugar crumble and a scoop of sour cream ice cream. Which is heaven in and of it self. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this dessert, seriously one of my all time favorite!

The Cherry: As always starting at the bottom; a line of cherry port reduction was drawn onto the plate. Above that we have 2 thin sheets of Manjari (64% Madagascan dark chocolate) chocolate that sandwiches a log of white chocolate pistachio cream. On top of the sandwich is a pistachio sponge cake. Than there is a layer of neatly stacked cherries that have been sauteed in the cherry port reduction. To complete the tower we have a pistachio tuile. To the left; a square of flourless chocolate cake and a scoop of ever so smooth, melt in your mouth creamy pistachio ice cream. Oh ans to top it all off two chocolate curls to add height.