Banana Cream Pie in a Bowl

I'm not really a cream pie fan. Luckily, this dessert doesn't remind me of cream pie. It is, however, delicious, and easy to make in a more healthful way, if you so choose.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup firm butter or margerine
1/2 cup peanuts (I've never used peanuts in this recipe, but I'm in no position to decide whether or not you'd like peanuts in your Banana Cream Pie in a bowl, so I'll leave it in)
1 box (4-serving size) banana instant pudding and pie filling mix
2 cups cold milk
3 ripe medium bananas, sliced
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In medium bowl, mix flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter, using pastry blender, until mixture is crumbly. Stir in peanuts (I mean... if you want). Press evenly on bottom of ungreased 9-inch square pan. Bake about 15 minutes or until light brown. Stir to break up. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

2. In large bowl, make pudding mix as directed on box, using 2 cups milk. In 2-quart serving bowl, layer half of the crumb mixture, pudding, bananas, and whipped topping; repeat layers. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Top with additional peanuts if desired (if you're into that). Store in refrigerator.

Leslie's tidbits: I usually buy the 6-serving pudding, which calls for an additional cup of milk. When I use the 4-serving size... I feel there's never enough pudding. Also... it is ready for consumption long before 4 hours has gone by.

Where's Danny?

He sure loves the warm laundry fresh from the dryer.

The Best New Recipe I've Tried in a Long Time

This is a slow-cooker meal, which means it is automatically a new favorite.

Pulled-Pork Tacos (Boo hoo pork haters!)
2 cups store-bought salsa, plus more for serving
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
kosher salt
2 1/2 pound boneless pork butt (tee hee) or pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat
18 corn tortillas
1/2 cup fresh cilantro sprigs
sour cream
1 lime

In a 4 to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the salso, chili powder, oregano, cocoa, and 1 tsp salt. Add the pork and turn to coat.

Cook, covered, until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily, on high for 4 to 5 hour or on low for 7 to 8 hours

Twenty minutes before serving, heat oven to 350 degrees, wrap them in foil, and bake until warm, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, using 2 forks, shred the pork and stir into the cooking liquid. Serve with the tortillas, cilantro, sour cream, lime, and extra salsa.

So here is what I did. Basically I did exactly what the recipe called for; however, I felt the two-cups of salsa wasn't enough to adequately blend in the spices. Unfortunately, I was out of salsa, so I tossed in a can of tomatoes. I put four slabs of pork shoulder into the crock-pot on top of the salsa mixture, and I smothered them with the sauce. I left the crock-pot on low, then went to work. It cooked for exactly eight hours, and it was PERFECT! The meat just dropped right off the bone, as you can see.

I heated the tortillas as directed and was intrigued to see how they would turn out because I've never warmed tortillas that way. Maybe I purchased cheap tortillas, but I was not a fan of how they turned out. They tore way too easily, and I ended up eating my tacos with a fork, o un tenedor si prefieres. I ate some leftovers today and just heated up a couple tortillas in the microwave, and they were perfect - did not break. Therefore, I personally do not recommend the oven-foil method.

Here is a picture of my finished product. I added some delicioso avocado, as you can see. Dave just could not get enough of these babies! He was going... hog wild. Tee hee hee... get it?!

My First Knitting Project

I don't know why, but back in November, I decided I wanted to see if I could pick up knitting. I bought a $5 kit on sale at Michael's that provided me with two sets of knitting needles, other accoutrements like stitch markers and stitch counters, and a book of simple projects. I began making the scarf - I figured that would be the easiest one with which to begin . I also used Youtube videos quite heavily when I got confused with stitch directions.

I really thought highly of myself when I began and even ran out and bought more yarn in hopes of finishing my project and making a scarf for my mom for Christmas. By the time Christmas came and went, I was maybe halfway done with my own scarf. Finally about a week ago, I finished the darned thing. This project took me nearly three months to complete! I couldn't believe it. I felt I was a reasonably paced knitter, so I don't know why it took so long.

Anyway, as you can see, I have posted some fabulous pictures of this scarf. First though, some disclaimers about the modeling photos. #1) It's Superbowl Sunday, okay? If I can't dress casually on Superbowl Sunday, when can I dress casually? Therefore, please look beyond the boyish, short-sleeved, grey t-shirt. #2) Picture number one shows me in an annoyed state with my cameraman, David Gamble. He decided to cease counting off, and instead decided to just take pictures willy-nilly. #3) Picture number 2 is me trying to make up for picture number 1 by appearing extra happy with my new scarf. Finally, #4) Picture number 3 shows me in the way I will most likely be wearing my scarf, as I generally wear most scarves this way. My expression is intended to show you how warm I am at that very moment!

#1#2#3

Lastly, I wanted to share how this scarf also works unisexually. Don't let the color mislead you. It's less a pink, and more of a salmon, if you ask me.

Leslie's Mm-Mmm Good Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups shortening

3 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

one package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Whilst my directions to myself read, "350 degrees, 12 minutes or less... play it by ear, champ!" I realize you, dear readers, may want more details. So here goes:

Mix together the first five ingredients, like so:


In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients, like so:


Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients, like so:


Add chocolate chips, like so:


Mix together, like so:


Take a moment to admire the REAL, non-imitation vanilla Leslie purchased in Ensenada, Mexico for $3, like so:


Place cookie dough in spoonfuls on cookie sheet (lightly sprayed with no-stick spray if you want these babies to slide right off), like so:


Take cookies out of 350-degree'd oven after sometime between 11 and 12 minutes, like so:


Take a picture of Dave and Danny enjoying the scent of fresh-baked cookies, like so:

Stinky dogs are where the heart is...

We finally arrived back to our lovely apartment in San Diego. We returned during the play-off game between the Chargers and the Colts. They only reason I knew that was because our complex was unusually noisy with eruptions of cheering and boo-ing.

It took us forever to unpack, but the dogs didn't mind because we let them out first, and they were able to run free in their home - stretch their legs after more than 10 hours in the car! Actually, now that I think about it, it was close to 12. How could it be close to 12, you ask? The damn dogs! Usually they are great on long car rides, but Danny couldn't stop whining for the first half of the trip (and large parts of the second half). So we had to frequently pull over to various fields of weeds, grass, and dead leaves to let the dogs relieve themselves. The problem was, they only ended up relieving themselves about half of the time, so the majority of our stops were big wastes of time.

Danny took a particular liking to one pile of dead leaves. He'd sniff it, then roll in it. I said to Dave, I says, "I've seen dogs do this before, but it's always been a girl dog, and it's always been poop that they roll in." Hmm, I said to myself, as I sipped my hot chocolate and continued observing the dogs. When I retrieved Danny, I saw some fresh brown streaks on his neck. Poop. He was rolling himself in some poop. And we just stood there and watched it.

So the car reeked for the next couple of hours until the poop apparently dried onto his fur and was no longer so incredibly stinky. A couple of hours later, I glanced back at Pearl in her crate, and saw some regurgitated partial pebbles of food. She had barfed, who knows when... and had just been sitting in it.

Once home, we let the dogs calm down for about an hour, then we bathed both of them. Another one of the (many) perks of having a small dog is that it takes 5 minutes (max) to thoroughly bathe them. Danny dried off almost immediately, but Pearl took longer. The apartment was, of course, cold when we returned, so I cuddled with Pearl while she dried. Then Danny tried to get in on the cuddling action. Dave was moved to take a picture (after I said, "Take a picture!"). It's really just great to be home.

This year's Christmas wall-hanging

I always have great aspirations to make many Christmas-themed projects during the holiday season, but I usually end up only completing one. This year I made a Christmas wall-hanging for my Secret Snowperson. I wouldn't have put nearly as much effort into this gift, but I happen to really like the person whose name I picked.

Therefore, I made a three-squared wall-hanging. Two of the squares (the tree and the present) were paper-pieced. Every time I paper-piece, I love it! I always ask myself, "Could I make a whole quilt out of paper-pieced blocks? Would I have the patience?"

Here are some pictures of my paper-piecing progress on the tree block.






After I assembled all of it, I got a little panicky... I think just because I'm giving it away. Usually my wall-hangings don't make me so nervous. One thing I changed... I didn't really think it looked Christmas-y enough, so I added ornaments and garland to the middle block - the tree.



And here's the finished project:



If only I had a picture of Traci's face when she saw it. Unless she was faking those happily watered eyes!