Five Things

My friend Sarah, who writes at The Sadder But Wiser Girl tagged me in this “Five Things” game that’s chasing bloggers around the playground. So I’m “it” and before I can tag someone else, I have to come up with 5 responses in each of 7 categories. I think there should only be five categories, but you’ll notice nobody asked me.

Before I proceed, let’s just get the legalities out of the way:

I’m obliged to advise you of the risk involved in accepting the veracity of the intellectual property divulged herein. All due diligence was exercised in the investigation of the facts as put forth. Previous to publication, confirmation protocol was expeditiously executed not just to the normal standard of care but with every reasonable precaution. Although in its entirety the document is accepted as factually accurate, the author assumes no responsibility for the individual components.

Five things I have a passion for:
*Baking. But not the cleaning up afterwards part. If anyone knows how to reconcile this issue, please let me know. It’s possible that a reward will be offered.
*The Red Sox. Unconditional love. I got this from my Grandpa and grew up waiting for my turn at his Box Seats.
*Ballet. I love(d) to do it (poorly) and I love to watch it, which I do quite well. My Mom nurtured this love so I’ve personally seen on the stage: the Bolshoi, Nureyev, and Baryshnikov.
*My kids. Yes, I complain about them. OK, a lot. But just like any other Mom I adore them, plain and simple.
*Music. In the car. Loud. Bet you thought I was gonna say “writing”.
. . . and the ocean, and skiing, and lobster and cocktail hour and Sudoku and reading and Secret Subject Swaps and . . . that’s about 5, right?

Five things I’d like to do before I die:
*Sleep. And I mean like all night long. Until the morning.
*Eat a dessert without someone sticking their fork onto my plate.

Mint Mousse Brownie Cups

*Finish an entire sentence BEFORE they start texting again.

*See my blog be successful.

*See my sons as happy adults. Successful and happy, but happy first and foremost.

Five things I say a lot:

*Don’t eat that until I’ve taken  a picture of it.

*Is it time for school yet?

*Stop that.

*I need a drink.

*Love you like crazy.

Five books I’ve read lately:

I love my Kindly. And I read a lot. I mostly read to be entertained so my choices tend to be light reading. I especially love mysteries and do have favorite authors whose books I devour as soon as I can get my hands on them.

Being such a voracious reader, I download Kindle books from the library. But my library card just expired. No warning, nothing. Just went to get a book online and “that card has expired”. And you can’t renew online or over the phone. I have to drive down there. So in answer to what books I’ve read lately? None. Thank you very much Public Library. If it wasn’t for the blogs I read I’d probably be shaking and jonesing by now.

Five favorite movies:

*Dirty Dancing. I love dance. Especially ballet, but all dance. And, of course, “nobody puts Baby in a corner”.

*Wizard of Oz. Because I’m often feeling like “we’re not in Kansas anymore”.

*Rain Man. I can’t remember anything. He remembers everything. A match made in heaven.

*The video of my older son’s birth. Because seeing it is so much better than feeling it.

*I’d like to say the video of my younger son’s birth, but SOMEONE taped over it. And it wasn’t me.

Five places I’d love to travel:

I’ve traveled quite a bit, in the US and internationally so I have no regrets, but here’s my list:

*The Greek Isles. I bet it’s just spectacular.

*The Pyramids. The history is fascinating.

*I’ve already been to Hong Kong but that was when it was under British rule. Now that it’s Chinese, I’d like to see how it’s different (or the same).

*I’ve also been to Israel. But it’s a work in progress, probably more than most countries so I’d love to go back.

* Back in time to when I knew everything . . . something . . . anything.

Five blogs I’ll tag:
Searching for Sanity
The Momisodes 
The Insomniac's Dream
Black Sheep Mom  

Stacy Sews and Schools

I have my own rules for tagging: play along if you like but being tagged is a compliment not an obligation.

Anyone who’s not tagged here who wants to give this a try, please do and say I tagged you, I won’t say any different.

 

Mint Mousse Brownie Cups

                                         ©www.BakingInATornado.com

                                                                       

Printable Recipe

Ingredients, Brownie Cups:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 stick margarine
1 stick butter
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup flour

Ingredients, Mint Mousse:
1 cups plus 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mint chocolate chips
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 TBSP sugar
1/4 tsp mint extract
green food coloring

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 24 muffin tins.
*In a microwave, melt together the unsweetened chocolate, margarine and butter for one minute, stir, then continue in 10 second intervals until completely smooth.
*Stir in the vanilla. Once incorporated, stir in the sugar, then the eggs and last the flour.
*Pour into the muffin tins and bake for 10 to 13 minutes. The outside should be set. The center won't be fully set but should not be wet. 
*Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes.
*Gently tamp down and up sides to form cups with the bottom of a wooden spoon. If any of the center is still runny, scoop it out. Run knife carefully around edges. NOTE: If you do this step too soon the bottom will be too wet.
*Cool completely then remove from muffin tins.
*In a microwave safe bowl, mix 1/2 cup cream and both chocolate chips. Microwave for 45 seconds, stir and continue in 10 second intervals until it's smooth. Cool to room temperature.
*In a separate bowl, beat 1 cup of cream with the sugar and the mint extract until stiff peaks form. Move about 1/4 cup of whipped cram to a separate bowl and add a little green food coloring.
*Gently fold the remaining whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Pipe or spoon into the brownie cups. Top with a dollop of the green whipped cream.
*Store in the refrigerator.