When it's cold and snowy outside I crave hot chocolate more than coffee, even first thing in the morning. I got in the habit of mixing hot cocoa and milk in with my coffee... so, really, just adding a dash of coffee to my hot cocoa. It just feels more seasonal, which may sound a little silly, but it works for me.

Then I got thinking, what could be better than hot chocolate brownies?


These brownies are a bit thin and crispy, which is how I like them. If you prefer gooey brownies, substitutes are listed throughout the recipe with *asterisks*.

Ingredients:

- 1/2 C semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
OR *1/2 C Unsweetened or Dark Cocoa Powder*

- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 C butter
- 1 C sugar

*2 Tbsp hot water*

- 1 egg
- 2/3 C all-purpose, unbleached flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 C dark chocolate morsels/chips

- 2 C mini marshmallows
- extra chocolate chips [optional], for sprinkling

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 350 and prepare an 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Over medium-low heat, melt your butter in a medium sized saucepan. When it's about halfway melted, add your sugar and 1/2 C semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips *OR Cocoa Powder*.
- Once well combined, pour your mixture into a medium-large mixing bowl. Whisk in your egg and vanilla.
- Gradually stir in your dry ingredients.
*If you are going for gooey brownies, add your 2 Tbsp hot water in the midst of the dry ingredients. So, add a little flour, then add some water, then add a little flour, then add the rest of your water.*
- Fold in your [remaining] dark chocolate chips/morsels.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Edges should be pulling away from the sides. If you see it ballooning up in the middle while it's baking, don't panic. It will settle down.

Add the Marshmallows

Before your brownies have cooled, sprinkle on top your marshmallows, followed by extra chocolate chips if desired (I would suggest using minis!). Put them back in the oven and let bake for another 3 to 7 minutes. Watch them! When they get a little golden on top, like a good s'more, that's when they're ready (or before, depending on your preference) to come out!

- Let cool for a good 5-10 minutes before attempting to cut. Be prepared. They are a mess to cut and all of them may not look that "pretty" (which is something that bugs me, honestly), but boy are they TASTY!

Note: It almost makes it easy if you let them cool completely, then pop them back in the oven for a few minutes (5 to 10 just to warm them, on 350), then commence to cut them. That way the marshmallows have completely set-in and it makes it easier to get them separated!


The brownie recipe was adapted from HERSHEY'S Kitchen.

The Great Smoky Railway in Bryson City, NC does multiple train tours. They range from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! to a tour including the history of the train itself.

At Christmas time it turns positively magestic and does The Polar Express.

As soon as we found that out, we knew we had to take Michael. A train and Santa Claus? And not just any train-- The Polar Express train (as Michael calls it).



When Michael found out we were riding the train, he was overwhelmed with wonder.



As the train ride continued, however, and he realized he had to sit still for an hour... not so wondrous.




Over all, I'd say he did an extraordinary job. The hot chocolate and cookies distracted him enough and then Christmas carols came into play, and then, of course, there was Santa Claus.


How is it that little kids just know who Santa is? Michael has watched the St. Nicholas Veggie Tales enough times, perhaps, but even in that he's not referred to as "Santa Claus".

Now whenever we go out he asks if we're going to see the Choo-Choo Train (as Clark called it), and then tells me all about how he rode The Polar Express and Santa sat with him and gave him a bell.

So, my friends, in the end... it was completely magical.

Michael's cardigan is from The Wishing Elephant. Not only does Carolyn make these, but tons of other creative looks for babes and toddlers. Make sure to check her out!

It's the end of the first week of December. That's a scary thought. I'm SO excited for this weekend, though, because my friend Nikki is coming to visit! You may know her as Mrs. Healthy Ever After. It was a bit impromptu. We've been hoping for weeks for a visit and it finally came down to the wire since, ya know, we're moving in THIRTEEN DAYS. I can't hide how THRILLED I am that she's coming to spend time with me and little man!



Dear Michael, The more you do, the bigger you get, the funnier things I catch you doing, the more trouble you find yourself in, the more I love you. This week Mama has been flying high on stress and you are my reminder to slow down. It's especially sweet when you start singing, "Jesus Loves Me" to cheer me up. I am especially grateful that you've been a good sleeper this week.

Dear Friends, If you want to see me (if you're local), please don't hesitate to send me an email or text or give me a call about getting together. My priority is my friends, even if it should be packing up our place. Boxes can wait for those I love the most! I know... big sacrifice, right ;)?

Dear Women's Bible Study, Words cannot express how I'm feeling. The fact that next week is our Christmas party and my last time with all of you is, well, depressing. I know God has a plan and that I will find another church home, but y'all are just so near and dear to my heart. Thank you so much for taking me in and helping me grow closer our Heavenly Father even more.

Things to look forward to!:


The Polar Express

Hot Chocolate Brownies

'Tis the Season #TBT: Germany

The holidays were really a time of tradition for my family, and still are. Christmas always involved the Advent Wreath, lots of singing, and lots of baking. One of my favorite memories is the picture above from 2006. It was the Christmas my sister and my now brother-in-law were first engaged, my great uncle was visiting, and was actually around the time Clark and I started dating.

This time of year I start to miss them all more and more. Living far from my family isn't easy at all. I'm thankful that in Phoenix we will be closer to my sister and her family, and my parents can come from the opposite direction and we can all sort of meet in the middle if we want to. But since we are moving over Christmas, we will be stopping at my parents' for the holiday and you can bet we will all be singing Christmas carols.

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

This is the first time I've made Biscuits & Gravy. I know. I don't know what my problem is. I guess I had this sort of premonition that if I made them, I'd eat way too much. But Clark really wanted so, so I finally gave in. Michael, much to our surprise [sarcasm sarcasm], wouldn't try it. He stuck to his eggs and bacon. The boy knows what he wants!

These are easy and not too time consuming, honestly. I always envisioned making biscuits was so difficult, but after investing in some rather cheap biscuit cutters, it wasn't hard at all.

Ingredients:

[BISCUITS]

makes 5 to 6 biscuits

- 1 heaping cup of all-purpose, unbleached flour; extra for dusting
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 C butter, softened
- 3/4 C buttermilk

optional: melted butter (for brushing the baked biscuits)

[SAUSAGE GRAVY]

- 1/4 pound sausage
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups milk

If you double your biscuit count, I would suggest doubling your gravy as well!

Directions:

[BISCUITS]

- Preheat the oven to 450F. Prepare your baking sheet with parchment paper or cooking spray.

- Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add in the butter, and using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the butter in until crumbly. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

- Remove from the fridge and add in the buttermilk slowly and stir just until combined. I did about 1/4 C buttermilk at a time, mixing after each addition.

- Turn the dough out onto a surface lightly dusted with flour. Knead the dough, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking. Roll/knead until it is no longer sticking to your hands or the surface you placed it on.

- Pat or roll the dough until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into circles with a biscuit cutter dipped in flour. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter.

[SAUSAGE GRAVY]

- Brown the sausage in a medium skillet over medium heat, breaking it up it's cooking.

- Stir the flour into the sausage and sausage grease. Add in the salt and pepper.

- Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour is slightly browned. Slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly with a whisk to prevent lumps.

- Lower the heat to low and cook, stirring until thickened.


Serve warm, together, as you like. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee.

Adapted from Taste and Tell Blog.

Happy December! You know what December means, don't you? Holiday recipes. A glorious multitude of gingerbread, peppermint, chocolate, and more. GET EXCITED!

I'm a little over-enthusiastic about this. Sorry.

I didn't roll these gingerbread cookies out and make them into shapes, but they definitely have the possibility for you to do that. They are moldable when baking and positively delicious once cooked.

Please note that this dough has to sit in the fridge for at least six hours, so it's best to make it the night before you want to make the cookies, or early in the morning if you're going to make them in the afternoon.


Ingredients:

- 1/2 C butter
- 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1/4 C molasses
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 C all-purpose, unbleached flour
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
Granulated or Raw sugar for rolling/topping

Directions:

- Melt butter over medium-low heat. Let the butter cook until it just starts to brown.
- Pour the butter into a bowl and whisk in your brown sugar and molasses, next add your egg and vanilla.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together your flour, cornstarch, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
- Stir the flour mix into your butter mix until well incorporated.

- Cover and put in your fridge for at least six hours.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350. Line your cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper. This recipe makes about 32 cookies, depending on if you're cutting them into shapes or not.
- Use 1 to 2 tablespoons (a medium cookie scoop) if you are rolling balls for cookies. Either completely roll them in sugar, or just top them off with it (which is what I did).
- If you want them to flatten more, use the bottom of a glass to press down gently on them before sticking them in the oven. Do this BEFORE putting the sugar on if you are just topping them with it.
- Bake for 7-9 minutes until the edges are just barely golden brown.
- Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.


Recipe adapted from ihearteating.com.

Here is our big announcement, folks.

We're MOVING!
Clark is moving up the food-chain with his current company to a promotion that will have him home more consistently and give him room to continue growing. But, of course, things like that don't come easy. The company has opened a new office out West in.... drum roll, please...


PHOENIX, AZ.
OK... I don't remember if Fievel actually ended up in AZ... but this movie is what I've been thinking of through this WHOLE process!

It is a place neither of us are really familiar with, and boy has it been a time trying to figure out just how we're going to go about this move! Has anyone moved across the country, with little assistance, with a dog and a two-year-old over Christmas? Anyone?

I wish you could see the face I've been making.

This has definitely been keeping on my heart that all we can do is trust God. I feel so not-prepared with this thing. I mean, Clark has been home at Thanksgiving and then the next time he's home is the time we have to spend packing up the house, loading up a trailer, and hitting the road!

I'm pulling my hair out, folks.

But, in the end, I AM excited. We have a couple connections in Phoenix thanks to friends, not to mention the wonderful Jacquie from Jacquie Here who sent me my first Cara box is in the Phoenix area! We actually get to meet, something we thought would never happen. Coincidence? I think not! And hubby is going to be home more. That's the big kicker. This promotion is going to give him a schedule that isn't super crazy. I mean, enduring seven weeks of him gone and one week of him home? No, thanks. This will fix that!

Don't get me wrong. I know there are worse situations out there than a seven-week stretch. Deployments, single parenting, and more. This job has definitely taught me some perspective... and my limits. More than anything, we want our family to be together more to grow and, well, prosper.

So, my friends, we are getting ready to head West. We're trying to build it up as a fun adventure for Michael, and I can promise you there will be a short little series of our adventurous Westward travels on the site.


Have any moving advice, or places on the way to see? Leave me a comment, please!