Recipe: No-Bake Chocolate Raspberry Pie

My husband sent me this recipe from the Home Cooking Adventure blog over text. He claims he wasn't asking me to make it, but he certainly didn't seem to mind it when I told him I'd make it for him!

Ingredients

Oreo Cookie Crust

• 7 oz (200g) Oreo cookies
• 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted

Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling

• 4 oz (120g) semisweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup (60g) whipping cream
• 9 oz (250g) cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 tbsp (24g) powdered sugar
• 1 tsp (5g) vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup (80g) whipping cream (35% fat), chilled

Raspberry Sauce

• 5 oz (150g) raspberries, fresh or frozen
• 2 tbsp (30g) sugar
• 1 tbsp (15g) lemon juice
• 2 tsp (6g) cornstarch

For Decoration

• fresh raspberries
• powdered sugar for dusting
• mini chocolate rocks

Directions

 

1. Grease with butter an 8-inch (20cm) pie or tart pan.

2. Prepare the raspberry sauce.

• In a small saucepan add raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
• Simmer for about 5-10 minutes or until thickens. Remove from heat and set aside to cool down until ready to use.

3. Prepare the crust.

• Place the Oreo cookies into the bowl of a food processor. Blend until crumbs form. Add melted butter and process until completely combined.
• Press the mixture with the back of the spoon and your fingers where necessary, into the bottom and edges of the pan. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Spread the raspberry sauce over the crust. Freeze until you prepare the chocolate filling.

4. Prepare the chocolate cream cheese filling.

• Place semisweet chocolate and ¼ cup (60g) cream into a heatproof bowl and place over a pan with simmering water. Melt over low heat. Let cool to room temperature.
• In a large bowl mix cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and mix to combine. Mix in the melted chocolate. Add whipping cream and continue mixing until stiff peaks form.

5. Assemble the pie.

• Cover the raspberry sauce with the chocolate cream cheese filling. Smooth the top.
• Refrigerate the pie to set for about 4-6 hours or even overnight.
• Decorate with fresh raspberries, chocolate mini rocks and dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

As usual, I tried to make the recipe as easy as possible, but there were a few hiccups. For one, I didn't want to make my own Oreo crust. I know pre-made ones exist, but I couldn't find one for the life of me! Not at Target, not at Publix, not at Aldi. So I bought Oreos to do it myself. The recipe calls for seven ounces; why not just tell me the number of cookies, or just say half the package?

I had also counted on Marshall's having raspberry syrup (that's where I always buy it!), because I was NOT going to make my own raspberry sauce (I already had to make the crust!). But the store did have a nice jar of raspberry preserves, so I went with that. 

I also only had regular heavy whipping cream, so I never got the "peaks" as described in the directions. Maybe I should have incorporated Cool-whip? And I did refrigerate the pie for a while, and then I second-guessed myself and thought I should have put it in the freezer, so I did that for a little while, too. AND I had bought the raspberries several days before making the pie, so by the time the pie was actually made, many of them had started to grow mold. What a waste, especially when they are already expensive!

But even with all of this going on, the pie turned out great. It was delicious, and Steve couldn't stop making yummy noises while eating it. The recipe wasn't too hard, but it was more steps than something I would normally make. But maybe I'd make it again!

Recipe: Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have followed the Crazy for Crust blog for years now. I look at the emails regularly, and when there's a recipe I want to try, I tuck it away, usually never to be found again. BUT since I started my new job this week (yay!), I wanted to bring a treat to the office on my first day. I saw this recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and I knew I had to give it a go.

Ingredients

• ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted
• ½ cup (133g) creamy peanut butter
• ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
• ⅔ cup (134g) packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ¼ cups (155g) all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ cups (213g) chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Mix or stir butter with peanut butter until smooth. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix until creamy.
2. Beat in vanilla, egg, baking soda, and salt. Mix in flour slowly until cookie dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Scoop 2 tablespoon sized cookie dough balls onto cookie sheets covered with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Chill 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F.
5. Press cookie dough balls flat with the tines of a fork.
6. Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes, or until slightly brown on the bottom and the top just loses the wet cookie dough look.
7. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to one month.

This recipe was really easy! I mean, you don't even have to mix the dry and wet ingredients separately! Even letting the dough chill wasn't too annoying. I might have made the cookies too big (I only got 20), so even after nine minutes they weren't fully baked yet. But I hate overbaked cookies (then they are too dry and crunchy), so I actually was pleased with the softer texture. I brought some to a friend's house, too, and she loved them! So I think I'll be making this recipe again 💗.

Dan + Shay Concert at Midflorida Credit Union Amphitheater

Image found here

I bought tickets to see Dan + Shay at the Midflorida Credit Union Amphitheater even before I moved to Florida. I saw them in 2018 (so long ago!) when they opened for Chris Young (read that blog post here), but I had never seen them headline a show before. Plus, I love outdoor venues like Wolf Trap and Merriweather Post Pavilion in the D.C. area, so I wanted to try a similar venue in Tampa. 

Unfortunately, it started POURING on our drive there. There wasn't a lot of signage, so even though I paid for premiere parking (which I didn't need; I received an email saying I needed to purchase parking, which was not the case), I just parked in the first lot I came to. We sat in the car for probably an hour, getting updates via email and social media that the gates were delayed in opening until the storm calmed down. Finally the rain stopped and we could come in. The entry lines were SO long, but luckily they moved quickly. Once we were inside, we easily found a good spot on the lawn where our views weren't blocked by lawn chairs. Steve bought us drinks (the raspberry lemonade from Smirnoff Ice is delicious!), and we settled in for the show.

Dylan Marlowe was the first opener. I had heard his name before, but I couldn't have named one of his songs. I didn't recognize any of his songs, but he did do a cover of Taylor Swift's "Back to December," which I love. So that was fun!

The second opener was Jake Owen. I totally forgot that I had seen him open for Kenny Chesney in 2015 (even longer ago! Read that blog post here.); he even had the short hair back then and I still remembered him with long hair. He has so many great hits, and it was fun to see him again (for the first time in my mind haha). Here are some of my favorites:

Barefoot Blue Jean Night

Anywhere With You

Alone With You

Made For You

Then it was Dan + Shay's turn! Even though I slept through some of their set (I had woken up at 5:10am that morning to teach Pure Barre!), I still really enjoyed the show. Here are some of the songs they sang:

All to Myself

From the Ground Up

How Not To

Speechless

Save Me the Trouble

Bigger Houses

Glad You Exist

10,000 Hours (which I didn't know was originally recorded with Justin Bieber!)

We left early to beat the crowds, but as we were walking out, we could hear them sing a cover of The Killers' "Mr. Brightside," and the whole audience was singing along. And we missed the encore song, but my guess is that it was "Tequila," which is my favorite song of theirs:

Such a fun show and a good venue! We will be back, and hopefully it won't rain next time!

Backstage Tour of the Manatee Performing Arts Center

The sisterhood of Temple Beth El in Bradenton hosted a backstage tour of the Manatee Performing Arts Center earlier this week. While I am not a member of the sisterhood or the temple in general, I was invited to tag along, and I'm so glad I got the invitation!

Janene Amick, CEO of the Florida Cultural Group, Inc. (of which the center is a part), led the tour, and she was amazing! She has been with the organization for nearly 20 years, and she knows her stuff. I learned so much during the tour that I feel like I know the ins and outs of this theater! Here are some interesting facts about the theater:

• The theater has a $2 million annual budget, which comes from ticket sales and donations. The budget covers things like contractors who help make the shows possible (people who build sets, work the tech/equipment, etc.), as well as the musicians (the orchestra pit can hold up to 30 people, but usually there are about six musicians for a show). But there are many volunteers who are very important to the shows: all of the actors are volunteers, as well as some carpenters ("Tool Timers") and costume makers ("Fabulous Fabricators"). They also have college and high school interns who help on a semesterly basis to learn more about the behind-the-scenes work of the theater, getting a true hands-on education.
• The building itself is almost completely made of concrete so that it can weather storms and hurricanes (built to last 100 years, she said!). And the orchestra pit I mentioned? It's built like a swimming pool; if the roof were to collapse, all of the water would run into the pit and be contained there. 
• There are two theaters within the building. The main one can hold 350 people (there are no bad seats!), and the other holds about 80 for a more intimate experience. In the smaller theater, they host a program called "Actions Through Acting," in which plays will focus on a particular issue. Examples include The Father, which looks at Alzheimer's (A woman in our group has a husband with the disease, and she burst into tears during this part of the presentation. We should have had a trigger warning!), Steel Magnolias focuses on diabetes, On Golden Pond is all about aging, and Death of a Salesman is about mental health. So for these shows, a representative from a local organization will talk about the respective issue, and theatergoers can ask questions and learn more. I thought the coolest one Janene talked about was how, when they were showing "Bark the Musical," the Manatee Humane Society discussed how they have a foster program for pets when their owners are in the hospital for a surgery and related recovery. That is such a cool idea! I really like how the theater is connecting live entertainment with the local community, and especially how this program provides education about the available resources for topics that would be particularly important for the older demographics of their viewers and the general area.
• The theater has several dressing rooms for the actors, including ADA-accessible ones on the first floor (which are also used as youth dressing rooms when needed). There's a laundry room for the clothes/costumes, and even showers (If an actor has just finished up with Cats, Shrek, or Wicked, that person probably wants to wash off ALL that make-up paint!). And of course there is a green room where actors get into character; I had never thought about it before, but it makes sense that dressing rooms are for physically becoming a character, while the green room is the space where actors mentally transform into their characters.
• Janene said the theater's mission it to "gather and educate." The theater rents out a lot of its space for other organizations to use. While we were there, there were scholars from Bradenton Bay High School taking class so that they could earn credits toward their high school diplomas. The Kiwanis Club was meeting in another room, too. Together, those two spaces actually make up one big ball room that can hold 300 people and has been rented out for wedding receptions, bar mitzvahs, etc. (There's even a full catering kitchen!) So this theater touches the local community in SO many ways!
• Another space to rent is the skybox, which can be rented for $1,200 and can hold 13 people. The rental includes dinner before the show, a separate open bar, and during intermission dessert and a meet-and-greet with one of the actors or the artistic director. What a fun idea for a special occasion!
• The theater offers a songwriting camp for professional songwriters, and they bring in FAMOUS speakers for master classes. Celebrities could include people like Michael McDonald from the Doobie Brothers, Sting, Smokey Robinson, and Randy Johnson (yes, the baseball player, but now he's a photographer, and some of his work focuses on the history of rock 'n' roll). 

Here are some behind-the-scenes photos I took while we were on the tour:

This is Janene on the calk-walk (which is ADA accessible, btw). She put the headset on for us, too!

They have THOUSANDS of costumes that range from military uniforms all the way to Renaissance wear. I felt like I was walking through the biggest thrift store ever. A lot of the items, including clothes, eyeglasses, housewares, etc., have been donated by community members. And you can even rent a costume from them; just ask!

These are a few signs from previous shows. They try to reuse as many of their supplies as they can.

These are the FORTY-FOUR pullies that control all the drapes, like the grand curtain but also a film screen, sheer drapes, etc.

This is where the stage director sits so he can see the full show from multiple angles on the different monitors.

This is the main theater, which includes several sizes of seats and offers a few rows with extra legroom. So accommodating!

Like all arts organizations, the theater really depends on its patrons and supporters. Janene told us about a capital campaign they are running now to build a new building next door, which would house more rehearsal spaces and classrooms (ones that are more sound-proof!). Of course they always need funds to maintain the existing theater; they will need more than $3 million in the next ~10 years to maintain things like the roof, elevators, air conditioning etc. And they hope to create an endowment which could cover some of the costs that aren't basic, day-to-day operational costs. So if you would like to support the theater, you can donate today!

I'm at the head of the table (how fitting for the youngest person there!😆)

After the tour, the group went to Caddy's for lunch. What a fun tiki spot! We were right on the water, which was beautiful. It was such a lovely way to end a fun outing. I would definitely go back to both the theater and this restaurant! 

Recipe: Acorn Squash Mashed Potatoes

Image found here

I bought some well-overdue acorn squash recently (i.e. they were orange instead of dark green), so I wanted to find a new recipe to use them in a different way than just eating them on their own. I also had a lot of mini potatoes (I bought some, then my husband bought some, so we were overloaded). When I found this recipe for acorn squash mashed potatoes from the Tidy Mom blog, I thought it sounded pretty easy and thought I'd give it a try.

Ingredients

• 1 acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 5 yukon gold potatoes peeled and quartered
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon dill weed
• salt and ground black pepper to your taste
• 1/2 cup milk

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Place the halved acorn squash cut-side down on a baking sheet lined with foil.
2. Roast squash in oven 25-30 minutes or until soft and tender. Remove squash from oven and scoop out the flesh.
3. Place potatoes in a large pot and with cold heavily salted water and bring to boil over high heat. Once boiling cook the potatoes 15-20 minutes until completely tender. Drain potatoes completely and return to pot over low heat for a few minutes stirring occasionally to dry out the potatoes slightly.
4. Place potatoes and squash flesh in a large bowl and mash with hand masher or a hand mixer on medium speed. Using a large spatula mix the potatoes and squash with the butter, mustard and dill weed until smooth. Add milk gradually, mashing to desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If the mix is too thick and you’d like it smoother, add more milk a couple tablespoons at a time until you get the texture you prefer.

I cooked the acorn squash in the microwave instead of the oven, just because that's so much faster (all you have to do is poke holes in it for the steam to release and microwave for ten minutes!). But otherwise I pretty much stuck to the original directions (and I could use dill from my own dill plant, which I thought was so neat). I did forget the salt and pepper, so that was my bad; they were a little bland. But I loved the texture, and I thought the mustard (I actually used honey mustard) was an interesting touch. This was very easy to make, and I would totally make them again!

Weekend in St. Petersburg

We only live about 45 minutes from St. Petersburg (St. Pete for short), so we have visited several times since moving to Florida. This past weekend we were there both Saturday and Sunday, but for completely different adventures!

Saturday: Visting the Imagine Museum

St. Pete has a lot of museums (the Dali and the Chihuly probably being the most famous ones), and as Florida residents, we could visit the Imagine Museum for only $10/person in August. What a deal! It is all modern art featuring a lot of glass work. Here are some of my favorite pieces:

There were many of these purple glass pieces along one main hallway featuring butterflies and different kinds of flowers in each one. So pretty! That's the kind of art I would want in my own windows at home.

I loved all the different patterns and shapes in these glass pieces.

This is a close-up of a bigger piece that contains all sorts of glass flowers, creatures, and shapes. I felt like I was looking at some sort of other-worldly coral reef.

These flowers were so pretty, and the ones with clear glass at their centers look like they are glowing!

I think it's so cool the different colors and textures that glass can emit. Even though the horse's opaque body looks like it's made from stone, it's really just a different way of making glass. How cool!

I also liked that there were a few optical illusion pieces:

From the side, this just looks like a light blue glass egg...

But from a different angle, it actually has LOTS of different colors in it!

Up close, it almost looks like you're looking inside of an eye or a technicolor tunnel.

Steve and I were really taken by Anthony James' "Portal Icosahedron," which is made up of several mirrors. When you look "inside" of it, you feel like you are looking into infinity!

There was also a whole gallery that was essentially dedicated to fan art (i.e. art inspired by other art):

While this piece doesn't mention Don Quixote, those are definitely the vibes!

There were some questionable pieces included in the collection. The founder of the museum, Trish Duggan, has a piece featuring many Roman soldiers called "Let Men Be Men." I wasn't sure if this was commentary on the violence of men and war (valid), or her personal opinion to just let men do what they want to do (which is raping and attacking women, which are NOT valid). There was also a large display featuring different women throughout history, which was really neat, except it included J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. While the books are very good, she is most recently known for her very transphobic views, and for that she should not be honored.

After visiting the museum, we walked down Central Avenue and had lunch at Little Philly's. Since I don't eat beef, I was happy to see that they had chicken and even vegan options. Yum!

Sunday: A Boat Ride with the Jewish Federation

The St. Pete skyline from the water

This boat ride was rescheduled due to Hurricane Debby, and I'm glad it wasn't fully cancelled, because it was so much fun! While the Jewish Federation of Tampa helped to organize the trip, the lead organization was Repair the Sea ("Tikkun HaYam" instead of "Tikkun Olam," which means to repair the world). Rabbi Ed Rosenthal founded the organization to connect Jews to ocean conservation. He talked about the creation of the ocean and how the second verse of Genesis is frequently skipped over:

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

The rabbi emphasized how there is not mention of the creation of the ocean specifically; it was just always there. And we talked about the power of water, how it can take three forms (liquid, solid, and gas), and how we all need it to survive. The organization teaches Jews (both students and community members) how to scuba dive, and in doing so, the group cleans up reefs. They manage an annual clean-up called a "reverse Tashlich" during Rosh Hashana, or the Jewish new year. Traditionally, the ritual of Tashlich is casting bread crumbs, representing your sins, into the sea to start of the new year with a clean slate. So the reverse of this is pulling sin OUT of the water, and that sin is pollution. Groups around the world organize clean-ups for that one day and pull out TONS of trash from the oceans. What a nice way to start the new year off! I immediately signed up for the group's newsletter, and I definitely want to participate in one of those clean-ups!

We did see some wildlife while we were on the water. As we were leaving the dock, someone pointed out a manatee. I couldn't see it, but they said the little thing poking out of the water was its snout. I'll just have to take their word for it! We also saw a blue crab (since I'm from Maryland, I'm very familiar with these!) and a dolphin (well, at least its dorsal fin). And of course sea gulls were all over the place!

We also had the chance to mingle with each other and hear our own stories of Judaism. Many of us talked about how people question our own Jewish-ness (e.g. if your mother isn't Jewish, or if you're adopted, etc.). I really appreciated how the rabbi doesn't stand by any of that. He sees all Jews as equal (not one kind or way of practice is better than another), and that anyone who identifies as Jewish is indeed Jewish. We also talked about the differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. Most people (including myself) are under the impression that the main difference is geography: Ashkenaz Jews are from Eastern Europe, while Sephardi Jews are from the Iberian Peninsula and north Africa (and the Middle East, although now many people used the term "Mizrahi" to describe Jews from the Middle East); this geographic difference leads to other ones, like general diets and what is eaten during Passover. But the rabbi taught us another way of looking at this divide through the teachings of Kabbala. Essentially, some Jews interpreted Kabbala as being the highest form of Jewish study, and therefore was limited in access to only older, married, male rabbis. Other Jews saw Kabbalah as the most basic understanding of study of the Torah, and therefore it was accessible to anyone. The first viewpoint turned into Ashkenaz, while the other is Sephardi. I think that is fascinating!

I learned so much on the boat, met some lovely people, and got to enjoy a few hours in the sun. When we came back to the dock, several of us went out to lunch at High & Dry, a restaurant right on the Harborage Marina. We enjoyed awesome fish tacos and delicious plantains, all while looking at the water and enjoying some live Reggae music. This really was the epitome of perfect Florida day!

We look forward to exploring more of St. Pete and Florida in general! There is so much to see and do!