Mile High Peanut Butter Brownie Pie Recipe

Sunday night, my friend Carol had her annual Family Pie Night. It is simple - every family brings a pie to share and their family. It is a LOT of fun - thanks Carol!

I couldn't decide which pie to make (I am NOT a pie maker but had 3 simple ones I wanted to try) so I made THREE. I figured this was a great place to find out if they were good or not - because if they weren't, there were still lots of other pies for everyone to eat and there were lots of people that would give their opinions. But, I ended up liking all three recipes - and all three were really very simple. So, here is the first pie from Pie Night. This one was good and fun - really just a brownie with a yummy peanut butter topping - but I will make it again - I like how it looks! My favorite one was the Rich Chocolate Truffle Pie - that recipe will come in the next few days. Hope you enjoy this one!

FYI - I didn't have any peanuts (and forgot to buy them at the store since I did my shopping for my pies with the twins) - so I just chopped up some peanut butter chips for the top of the pie. Also, I got this recipe from allrecipes.com.

Krazy Kesley

Oh our little Kesley sure keeps us on our toes! She does not hold still for 2 seconds and is ALWAYS climbing on something! But boy is she CUTE - even when she has CRAZY morning hair and is sitting in the kitchen sink (which she climbed on the bar stool and then the counter to get into), throwing all the dirty dishes onto the floor (that was my favorite)!

Junior's Brownie Swirl Cheesecake Recipe

Here is another recipe from Ed's Grandma's birthday party a few weeks ago. This recipe comes from Junior (apparently famous for his cheesecakes and I can see why). The crust is a brownie (I cheated and used a box brownie mix - I am not a fan of brownies from scratch) and the cheesecake has some brownie chunks in it. Everyone LOVED this cheesecake. A couple of Ed's nieces said it was the BEST cheesecake EVER! Be very careful if you make this - you put the springform pan in another pan/cookie sheet that has water. I didn't wrap my springform pan well enough and water got in so the brownie crust was gooey/runny. Even with the very gooey crust, it was a big hit. And my "swirls" on top didn't turn out very swirly, so I drizzled chocolate on top. I will definitely make this one again - just with a lot more aluminum foil around the pan.

Carving Pumpkins

I know Halloween was a week ago and I am just posting about carving pumpkins - it has been crazy around here (just like your homes I'm sure). I wasn't sure we were going to get around to carving pumpkins this year but we did manage to squeeze it in last Friday night for Friday Night Daddy Night. The boys loved getting to pick out their pumpkins and carving them - Gavin did NOT like cleaning his out, he thought it was gross so I helped a little with that - Ed helped the boys a LOT. Other than having to scoop out the guts, they had a GREAT time!

A Groovy Halloween

For only the SECOND time in our whole married life, Ed and I dressed up for Halloween (okay, not actual Halloween but a Halloween party). Our friends Troy & Michele invited us to their Halloween party - which meant we had to get dressed up. We are glad we did. We had a lot fun playing laser tag, eating food (I took the Monster Munch - recipe in post below), and hanging out with lots of our friends. Thanks Troy & Michele for getting us to dress up again and for such a fun party!

Monster Munch (Halloween Chocolate Popcorn Mix) Recipe

Here is a fun twist on the chocolate popcorn I make. It is great for Halloween (save it for next year) and so easy to make. I found this recipe at Our Best Bites. I also drizzled some orange (colored not flavored) chocolate on top while it was hardening on the wax paper. The recipe called for Almond Bark but I always use white chocolate melting chips (you can use the Wilton ones but if you are in Utah County, go to FunFinity in Orem - they sell the white and white mint chocolate melting chips in 1 lb and 5 lb bags and it is so YUMMY). Almond Bark sets up faster but with this I don't think it matters - use whatever you like better or can find. ENJOY!

My Not So Spooky Little Spooks!

The kids all had a GREAT time dressing up this year. The big 3 were characters from their favorite TV show Phineas and Ferb (cartoon on Disney). Phineas (Dallin) and Ferb (Gavin) are brothers and they have a pet platypus Perry (Matthew). But Perry is also a secret agent. When Perry has his hat on, he is Agent P. That is way more than you needed to know but it explains why Matthew is both Perry and Agent P.

This year, Halloween (okay, the day before Halloween - but that was the day we trick-or-treat in Utah since Halloween was on a Sunday) was a rainy yucky day. So my plans to take ALL the kids to some of our friends houses in our old neighborhood didn't really work out. Ed did take the big 3 trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood - and luckily the rain died down right after they left (they did have on warmer clothes under their costumes, making their costumes not as cute but I didn't want them to freeze - and they had umbrellas).

I stayed home with the twins (Mickey and Minnie) and Brecken (Goofy) and we passed out candy. Okay, I passed out candy and the little 2 stole candy from the bowl. It was so much fun to watch them. They were so happy about it - especially Kesley since she was able to get her Dum Dums open and eat them. Once they went to bed, Brecken took over the candy bowl. He just sat by the bowl, with SEVERAL Dum Dums in each hand, by the front door waiting for the next kids to come. I was very impressed and shocked that Brecken wanted to wear his "Goofies" hat and actually kept it on.

Halloween was a lot of fun this year - I can't wait to see what all the kids want to be next year!

Halloween Parades

Friday morning was the big Halloween Parade at the boys' Elementary School. Ed couldn't make it so I took the 4 little ones over to see the big 2 by myself. It was quite the adventure - I thought it would be easier if Brecken was contained in his own stroller. Which turned out to be true. But the wheels weren't working well on that stroller so it was hard for Gavin to push it. Let's just say I got a lot of "Oh sweetie - you have your hands full" and "you are a busy lady". Yes I am - but who isn't. Luckily, the kids were all really good during the parades.

It was so much fun to see my boys dressed up (even though it was sad to not see all my friends and their kids at the parade - I knew all of 3 people). Dallin, Matthew, and Gavin love the Disney cartoon Phineas and Ferb so they all dressed up (thanks to my friend Paulette's sister who made the costumes) as characters from that show (yes, Matthew was a platypus). In the afternoon, Gavin got to be in the parade just for the afternoon kindergartners. So back we went. But this time I just took one stroller (and carried Kesley - she weighs the least). Gavin is so silly - I think he was really trying to act like Ferb. Brecken was fun to watch - he would get so excited when he saw his brothers. We even got to see Dallin (Phineas) during Gavin's parade. It was a lot of fun.

Caramel Apples

I started a new tradition this year - caramel apples! My friend Carol was doing them with her family for FHE one night and I thought it would be fun. So that night, we had the Taylor's come over and we made caramel apples. I crushed up several different candy bars for the kids to dip their caramel apples in. Next year I will plan ahead and do more - but I still think it turned out to be a fun night!

Halloween Cookies

What a crazy busy but fun time of the year this is! I am so far behind in scrapbooking but I thought I would try to make some recent pages (instead of folding clothes, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming - this is a lot more fun). So, here is a very simple page from a very fun night. Every year our friends have everyone over to decorate Halloween sugar cookies. The kids love to pile on the frosting and candy. Ed stayed home with the twins so I got to go and hang out with my friends. It was a fun night - thanks Taylor's for always doing this!

Brecken's 3-Year Check-up

Last week Brecken had his 3-year old well child check-up. Dr. Abrams was very happy with how much weight Brecken had gained. It is amazing how much a kid can grow when he actually eats - a year ago, he would only GOLD FISH, PRETZELS, and drink APPLE JUICE. But now, he eats lots of things - now he is just a picky 3-year old. His height isn't very accurate - Brecken refused to stand up so I tried to hold him against the wall to get his height - it didn't work very well. The doctor said that Brecken is very healthy. Then after the normal check-up, the doctor watched Brecken, asked me lots of questions about Brecken, and then just talked to me about Brecken. He really made me feel better about my little guy. He said that some kids just need time to catch up and others never really catch up, but he thinks that Brecken just needs time. All and all, it was a great visit and Brecken is doing GREAT!

Pumpkin-Pecan Cake Recipe

On Sunday we had all of Ed's family (immediate and extended) over for his Grandma's 96th birthday. We did cake and ice cream with everyone first and later had dinner (3 different soups) with Ed's immediate family. I baked my yummy chocolate cake (per his Grandma's request), a brownie swirl cheesecake (recipe to come), a caramel apple cake (recipe to come), and a pumpkin-pecan cake (recipe above). I didn't actually taste the pumpkin-pecan cake (I am trying to be good and lose the rest of the weight from the twins - yes they are 16-months old) but everyone LOVED it - they all said it was a keeper. Ed even said he might like it more than carrot cake. So, if you want a fun and easy fall cake, try this one!