Chocolate Eclair

For Daring Bakers this month we made these yummy Chocolate Eclairs by Pierre Hermes. They were really good. The Pate a Choux was a little too eggy for me though. Also,when they came out of the oven they kind of collapsed a bit. Not as big and puffy compared to some of the other Pate a Choux's that I have made. All in all, they were still pretty good and I had fun making them. Instead of the chocolate pastry cream, I opted to a plain vanilla pastry cream which was really good. Sorry I don't have too many pictures of these bad boys...I'm still practicing and trying to figure out the perfect lighting to take pictures of food! Does anybody have any tips??? Kellie?? Mitzi? Jenny?

If you want the recipe, you can go to Meeta's or Tony's blog for the recipe. It's a really long recipe with lots and lots of crazy steps that could probably have been left out...

Houston Reception

Here are a few pictures of the Houston Reception for my brother Curt and his wife, Whitney. My Mom and I had so much fun with all the details and getting it all put together. I am patiently waiting to get the other pictures. My camera of course died after I took 3 pictures. So this is all I have! This is the candy buffet. When I found out Curt got engaged, this was the first thing that was decided. I thought it was so fun! The candy is Strawberry Whoppers, Cookies and Cream Kisses, Hershy Nuggets (which were wrapped in cute paper with their monogram), White Chocolate Covered Pretzels and Midnight Blue and Aqua Jelly Bellies.
This was the center piece. Real simple.
This is just a close up of the flowers.

I'll be posting the other pictures....hopefully tomorrow! Hope everyone has a great Labor Day!

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies

I have been reading this really fun book series by JoAnne Fluke. These books are a murder mystery about a girl who owns a cookie shop and she keeps finding people dead and tries to solve their murder. Anyway, the author talks about all these yummy cookies and includes them in her books! I tried these, and they were so YUMMY! There are corn flakes in them to give and extra crunch. One of my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies now! Hope you enjoy them as well as the book series. The first book is called "The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder."

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies

1 c. butter, melted
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
2 beaten eggs (just whip with a fork)
2 1/2 c. flour
2 c. crushed corn flakes (just crush with your hands)
2 c. chocolate chips

Melt butter, add the sugars and stir. Add soda, salt, vanilla and beaten eggs. Mix well. Then add flour and stir in. Add crushed corn flakes and chocolate chips and mix it all thoroughly.

Form dough into walnut-sized balls with your fingers and place on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a sheet. Press them down with a floured or greased fork in a crisscross pattern (can't say I did this!).

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack until completely cool. (The rack is important, it makes them crisp!)

Welcome to Texas!

***UPDATE: I totally forgot to add where the tins idea came from: Dannie's Designs and you can buy the tins here!

My brothers new in-laws were coming to Texas for the Houston Reception and we wanted to give them a little welcome bag...we put some fun Texas stuff in there, lots of snacks, chocolate, as well as a list of hot spots in Houston that they could visit and eat. Here are the tins I made.
They are just Hershey Nuggets wrapped in cute paper.
Also we wrapped matching paper on the water bottles and added a little "to go" Crystal Light flavoring.
Here is the final product. We got this idea from my sister-in-law, Ainsley. When her and Josh got married, we had a bag waiting in our hotel room. We loved it and thought it was so nice to have. We had maps to get us everywhere...loved it. Thanks for the inspiration Ainsley!

First Day of Kindergarten!

Yesterday (Aug. 25) was Caden's first day of Kindergarten! I can't believe that he is old enough to go! I can't believe I'm old enough to have a kindergartner! He was pretty excited to go...I think he had mixed emotions. But he did it! He went and he had a great day!
Here he is in his class...looks a little nervous uh? I was so proud of him! Just so you know...I didn't cry...just teared up a bit. But hey...it's only from 8am-11am. Yes...3 hours. So I will be fine!

The Seattle Reception

The reception was the following day, after the wedding. It was at Whitney's parents home. It was beautiful! Couldn't ask for better weather! This is a cute picture of Ben and I.
My niece Taylor...I think she looks like a little fairy princess. Isn't she adorable?
I think this backdrop they had was amazing. Very clever. Loved all the lanterns.
A better picture of everything. Their colors were midnight blue and a turquoise green/blue color. The colors were so stunning together.
The cake.
The candy buffet.
Taylor and I.

Curt and Whitney.
My Dad, Mom and Eric.
Myself and Nana (my mom's mom)
Grandma, Summer and Grandpa (my Dad's parents)
Ben and I.
Eating the Cake! They totally behaved themselves...no smearing cake in the others face or anything. I was impressed!

Ben and Curt...acting, well...like themselves:)

Curt and Whitney Gillis...It's Official!

My younger brother Curt got married on August 15 at the Seattle, WA temple. We are so excited! His new wife is Whitney...check out her dress...isn't it AMAZING?? It was a wonderful ceremony.

I thought this was such a sweet picture. This is my niece, Taylor, hugging Curt.

This is my nephew, Brent...causing trouble. He decided to get into all the bushes, I think he was even trying to strip down...not sure though!Ben and I at the temple. It was a beautiful temple, lots of flowers and "foliage" (did I get that right Mom??). Isn't Ben handsome? He is one of the groomsman.
The Girl Cousins...minus one. Summer, Leah, Jennie, and Sharlyn. What's nice about a Gillis wedding is that everyone comes! It's a great family reunion!


This is a Gillis famiy picture...Ben, Summer, Whitney, Curt (brother), Mom, Dad, Katie and Eric (brother).
The Groomsman...Ben, Brandon (Whitney's brother), Whitney, Curt and Eric
Most of the cousins...Eric, Katie, Jennie, Ben, Summer, Leah, Austin, Sharlyn and JustinAfter the wedding we all went to Maggiano's...an Italian restaurant. It was some amazing food. After the dinner, all the guests lined the hall and sent them off with some bubbles. The funniest part was that they couldn't leave b/c my dad had the car keys! We had to track him down to give the keys to them. Talk about a smooth get away!

Congrats to you both! Were excited for you!

Sleepless in Seattle

This last week we were in Seattle, WA for my brother, Curt's wedding. We got there on Wednesday and came home on Sunday night. It was so fun! On Thursday we went to Pikes Place (or Market??) and did a little tour. We started with the throwing fish. We didn't see too much throwing though. Still, it is quite a site! The above picture is Curt, Eric and Ben.
Here is all the fish...I don't think I will ever forget the smell there...
Look how beautiful these flowers are! They had so many flowers there! And talk about cheap! These flowers were only $7. I would have flowers in my house everyday! The smell was amazing...

I love photographs like this...this place is basically a farmers market, so everything was so fresh! We ate all sorts of fruit, tried some smoked salmon (sooo good), bought some chocolate fettuccine (I can not wait to try this! It really tastes like chocolate...you top it with ice cream, whipping cream and chocolate sauce. No worries it will totally be on the blog).
I don't know why, but it totally bugged me that they use Washingtons face...you can't even tell it is his face until it is too late, it looks like a big tree. Why not use the regular interstate sign? I'm not an analytical thinker...this one had me thinking and it is such a stupid thing to get all thoughtful about....I'm just wierd I guess.
They had beautiful flowers EVERYWHERE. I loved them! Washington makes Dallas look really bad! Everything is so green, tons of trees and flowers!
Ben, Curt, Taylor, Katie, and Eric.
Myself and Ben...
On Saturday I was able to see one of my best friends from High School (there was three of us...Heather, Laurel and I), this is Laurel. She happens to live in Seattle and we were able to hang out for a few hours. This is at Pikes Market
Laurel and I on the roof of her condo...what a view! It was beautiful there! Thanks Laurel for such a fun time! It was so good to see you and Andy!

This is me, Ben, Andy (Laurel's husband) and Laurel by the Convention Center.

Paper Bag Scrapbooks

Just wanted to share a fun idea with you! I'm sure you have all seen these and probably made one...but, I was excited with how cute this turned out! We were making these for YW and I needed a sample for them so they could whip them out quickly (because with out a sample, it would take forever!!). So, this is what I came up with!
I used lots of rub-ons...those are great! My new favorite thing!
I must say that it is all about the ribbons! Lots and lots of ribbons, and buttons, and crystal brads.
On the right you can see a little tab...you just pull it out of the paper bag opening and you can journal on that.
Just as an FYI and you are going to make one: make sure that when you are putting the bags together, lay them going alternate ends. (Opening on the left and then on the right). A good resource is here.