Recipe Swap - Sweet Treats!

Hi friends! If you're here from Penny's blog, thanks for stopping by and welcome! After the EPIC FAIL that was lasagna on Easter, today I'm sharing two sweet treats that I made recently. The first is a dessert, which is kinda funny since I don't really have much of a sweet tooth. This is a rich, dense chocolate cupcake with a cheesecake and chocolate chip top though, and is SO easy (and quick!) to make. It's a favorite of mine.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Makes: 12 cupcakes

adapted from Beyond the Butter. 


Ingredients

for the cream cheese filling:
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened and at room temperature
1 Large Egg, room temperature
1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
2 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

for the cupcake batter:
1.5 cups All-purpose Flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

5 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Water
1 Tbsp Apple Cider or Distilled White Vinegar
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions

Cream Cheese Filling: 

• Adjust the oven rack to the 2nd level position and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

• Using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes).

• Add in the granulated sugar and egg and continue to mix until completely blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

• Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. Set to the side.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

• In a medium bowl, sift the dry ingredients together: flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

• In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients: vegetable oil, water, vinegar, and vanilla extract. 

• Make a little well in the center of your dry ingredients, and slowly add in the wet ingredients, then mix it all together, stirring until smooth. You can use a hand mixer, standing mixer (with paddle attachment), or you can do it old school like I did and just use a spoon.

Dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and filling

Putting it all together:

right before the oven- I was generous with my filling!

• Divide the batter among the muffin tops. Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly. This will fit the cups almost completely, which is fine. (Recommended to use an ice cream scoop.) 

• Bake for 25 minutes at 350ºF, or until the tops looks slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed.

• Remove from the oven and let cool. Can stay unrefrigerated 2-3 days in an airtight container- if you can make them last that long! 

This next one is a breakfast food. I'll be the first to admit that I don't eat breakfast as often as I should, but I like to indulge on weekends. We had this on a Sunday morning the other week and it was sooo good! Especially since we did "the hard part" the night before, so all we had to do in the morning was turn on the oven and pop it in! We used challah bread for this one, and I would recommend using this or French bread- it needs a certain thickness to soak up all the liquids without getting too mushy. We also used Bourbon maple syrup because that's what we had, but it didn't come out tasting "boozy" at all! 

French Toast Casserole Bake 

Adapted from Kristine's Kitchen Blog

Ingredients:

1 loaf day old French bread- whole wheat, brioche, challah, or ciabatta, cut into 1-inch cubes
6 eggs
2 ¼ cups milk
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or light brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions:

• Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Place the bread cubes in an even layer in the dish.

• In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread in the dish.

• In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, maple syrup or brown sugar and cinnamon. Drizzle over the casserole.

At this point, you can refrigerate the casserole overnight (covered) and bake in the morning, or let it rest for 20-30 minutes (in the refrigerator) and then bake right away. We left it overnight. 

• When you are ready to bake the casserole, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10-15 minutes more, until the top is lightly browned. Top with fresh fruit, butter, syrup- whatever you like! 

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That's all I've got for you today! Next month I'll try to share some "main" dishes,... we shall see. I'll try to be better about taking pics in the process too! Anyway, thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out more yummy treats at another Dani next over here, and all the other bloggers on Leslie's blog! 

Post-Isolation Challenge

I found this over on Hazel's blog, and followed it back to Kezzie's blog, and wanted to play along, because it's fun to dream, right?! Also, the original post had 13 questions but I prefer a nice round number like 10, so I left some out. Head over to one of those to see the whole list! 

1. Restaurant you would go out to?
It's a draw - either my all-time favorite local Italian restaurant Casa Guiseppe, or Blue's all-time favorite local pizza/Italian place, Patsy's.

2. Friend you would meet up with first?
Probably Raven. She's been having a hard time during this time because her mom is sick. 

3. Place you would go?
A park or the beach.

4. Shop you would go to?
TJ Maxx! Especially since it's right around the corner from me haha! 

5. Food item you would buy/eat?
This is a tough one because a lot of the dishes I normally eat are offering home delivery, but for the sake of this questionnaire I'll choose something that doesn't travel well, like... oooh a beef gyro platter from The Halal Guys! 

6. Show you would/will go to see?
I have tickets to see comedian Whitney Cummings the last week in May, and though I have 0 expectations of the isolation being lifted by then, this is the one I'd go to. 

7. Concert you will go to watch?
Like above, I have tickets to see Alanis Morisette (with Garbage and Liz Phair) at an outdoor venue the first week of June, so that one! 

8. Holiday you would go on?
We were originally planning to go to Iceland in October to see the Northern Lights but travel bans or not, this will not be happening this year. 

9. Thing you would do at work?
Grab our favorite drinks for me and my team from the local cafe and set up in the break-room to catch up with everyone! 

10. Item you would buy?

TP! ALL THE TP! Haha, jk... mostly ;)

How would you answer some of these? 

Spring Bucket List Check-In

Hi friends! I hope you're all hanging in there as we embark on Week 6 of quarantine! I'm actually doing okay. Maybe it's from growing up an only child and having to find ways to entertain myself, but I haven't found myself "bored" yet. Besides work, here are some fun ways I've kept busy.

Play more games: Yup! So far we've played both Scrabble and Yahtzee and breaking out our Heart and Brain game soon! 

Print pictures and work on scrapbook: No longer planning on printing any pics because I don't want to go anywhere unnecessary, but I also haven't even touched the scrapbook...oops! 

Work on and complete puzzle: Work in progress! 

Take more walks with Blue: They closed the park around the corner from Blue's house, but we've taken walks around the complex and usually go to the edge of the complex to watch the sunset.

Create a viable WFH space: Though I have a desk in my bedroom, I've moved myself to the dining room table. I prefer the lighting (and not being so close to my bed), and there's more room for me to add a monitor. 

Spring Clean my apartment: Umm... I got all my cleaning supplies together, so that's something right? Baby steps. 

Love it Or Leave it - utilize what I have or get rid of it! So far I've done this with books. I've sent off 14 to my dear friend in Colorado, and 4 others via Paperback Swap! (I've since put myself on "Vacation Hold" because I don't want to take any more chances going to the post office.)

Read more: Yes! I've read 5 books and finished the book challenge I was participating in! I'm working on my first non-fiction of the year (a memoir) and hoping to finish that and one other one by the end of this month. 

5 new recipes: I've been sticking to a few recipes that I've made before but not in a long time, for the most part. I made my first lasagna on Easter, and it turned out... less than stellar lol! However, Blue and I made a french toast bake that was ah-mazing! I'll be sharing that recipe in the Recipe Swap next week! 2/5

Keep up "virtual" dates: Yes! Had a "happy hour" with my coworkers, scheduled another "lunch date" with other coworkers,  and started game nights with my friends with the help of a free app called "House Party" (available on Google Chrome on your computer or iOS). It includes games such as Pictionary, Head's Up, and Cards Against Humanity, and it's video so you can all play together- so much fun! 

How are you doing with your Spring Bucket List?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

COVID Confessions

Alternate title: "Confessions in the Time of COVID." 

I wake up earlier and do more actual work than I did when I went to the office everyday. 

I drink more coffee than I did in the "Before." I guess because I'm waking up earlier? Prior to working remotely, I would have one cup in my travel mug every day. I'm up to 3 cups between 7:30-12:30. 

Relatedly, I warm up my coffee in the microwave at least 10 times every day. 

I'm at a 2-square ration for TP because I'm afraid of running out, since we can't seem to find it ANYWHERE! (And seriously, wth is up with that?!)

This is my most recent grocery list...

I can't believe nearly 3 weeks ago Blue and I were like "Eh, maaaaaybe we shouldn't go out for St. Patty's Day?" and that was the biggest question mark/concern. 

I have never been happier to not have kids and have had this thought every.single.day, and would totally add that to a gratitude list daily if I kept one. File that under "good for you, not for me" as Steph would say. #notsorry

Even though I have a desk in my bedroom, I've moved my work from home space to my dining room table because it's kind of creepy having clients seeing my bed when I'm on a video call. 

I've never considered myself a germaphobe before but now I'm like "what if the warehouse person or mail carrier is infected?" 

I have a new across-the hall neighbor! I wasn't sure at first, but I saw a new car parked in the spot designated to that apt. Anyway, that's not the confession- this is: I waited until the car left (missed seeing if the person was male or female, darn it) and sneaked in using a key the old neighbor/my friend Raven gave me when she had to go out of town and wanted me to feed and play with her cat. I didn't go all the way in, but I peeked and saw a new TV, couch, and some kitchen stuff, and now I need to meet this person! 

How's that for my first time in a loooong time confessing?! 

Need to get something off your chest? Follow along and share with Beth! 

March Reads

Welp, I did it - I finished BCBE 12! I honestly wasn't sure this time around. I've been struggling with my reading this year, and this pandemic only made it harder. I've been having issues finding focus and creating a routine, and though I desperately needed an escape, books just weren't cutting it at first. So I stopped trying to force it. And then I got approved for a recent Netgalley read I'd wanted... and then a few e-books I had on hold from the library came in... and then well, here we are! I feel like I'm *finally* crawling out of my rut, at least for the time being. I still want to read the books I currently have on my physical shelves, but I'm not going to stop placing holds I want to read either (currently The Honey Don't List, The Boy From The Woods, and Normal People). These are weird times, and I want to stay entertained and not needlessly pressured by inflicting "rules" on myself. 

Anyway, enough preamble! Here's what I managed before I got "unstuck."

In The Dark- Loreth Anne White: 2 Stars
Netgalley/ Kindle Unlimited

Strong premise, mediocre execution. I really enjoyed the relationship between Callie and Mason, and how each o of their stories were drawn out, and was itching for more about/with them. I liked the rhyme, it added a creepy, sinister touch, but I had to keep going back to it to try to figure out how it matched up with the characters.  The dual timelines and the many, many characters made the plot hard to follow. And with such a large cast, I didn't feel like I truly got to know any of them and their pasts and motivations. (Which i guess was fine since the majority wound up dead anyway.) Overall there were too many holes and things that were explained one way, but didn’t add up or make sense in the sequence of events. 
Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. 

House Rules (Uptown #3)- Ruby Lang: 4 Stars
Netgalley

I was a little nervous about reading this one since I didn't notice that it was #3 in a series until after I got it, but it read perfectly as a standalone. I read this in one sitting. It was exactly what I needed to get out of my reading rut. I absolutely loved the chemistry between Simon and Lana from the very beginning. And of course you know what's going to happen, but the (short) unfolding and steamy in-betweens and the mature romance made it quite a bit of fun getting there. It was paced perfectly, was just the right length, and even made me a little sad for it to end!

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. 

All The Bright Places- Jennifer Niven: 4 Stars
library e-book

I didn't realize how much I missed YA until I dove into this. I loved Violet and Finch and their adventures. A heartfelt story covering heavy topics like bullying, depression, and suicide among teens, but in an honest way without being preachy. Broke my heart, but somehow still managed to have a promising ending.

Book Stats-
Total number read: 12
Netgalley: 7
Owned: 1
Non-Fiction: 0
WOC: 3
Given Away: 18


Currently Reading: If I Never Met You - Mhairi McFarlane

What are you reading?

Linking up with Steph and Jana!

10 on the 10th: Favorite Songs

It took me over 3 hours and listening to countless songs over and over in order to narrow it down, but I did it! At least for now. My "10 Favorite Songs" is ever-changing, depending on my mood. Right now I'm feeling pretty balanced (is that weird for the current situation?), so I think this is a pretty solid list. Some days or weeks or seasons it could be completely different though. Also taking a note from Leslie and putting in alphabetical order by artist(s)' first name(s) because none rank higher than the others (for the most part). 

Alanis Morisette - Ironic



Angie Martinez ft. Lil Mo, Sacario - If I Could Go

Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes - (I Had) The Time of My Life



Cher - Believe



Des'ree - You Gotta Be



Ed Sheeran- Thinking Out Loud




Missy Elliott ft Nelly Furtado - Get Ur Freak On (Remix) 

Shakira - Hips Don't Lie



Toto - Africa



Wayne Wonder - No Letting Go

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And as I said earlier... I just can't pick 10! So here's 10 more, for your listening pleasure! A lot of these are older or more obscure, but somehow still made a lasting impression. 


Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya, P!nk - Lady Marmalade



Florence and the Machine - You've Got The Love



Lizzo - Good As Hell



M.I.A.- Jimmy



MC Solaar - La Belle et Le Bad Boy



Miley Cyrus - Jolene



No Doubt - Spiderwebs



Ozomatli- Can't Stop



Phoenix- If I Ever Feel Better



Wilson Phillips - Hold On 






Looking for more music related posts? You can see The Soundtrack of My Life, My Firsts (in Music), Ten Favorite Country Songs, Favorite Movie Soundtracks! Or find me on Spotify! 

What are some of your favorite songs or artists?

Linking up with Leslie for 10 on the 10th! 

April Goals

Howdy friends! I hope you are all sheltering in place and not going stir crazy! One way I'm attempting to stay focused in by continuing to set goals. I've set some "fun" goals on my Spring Bucket List, but these are more "productive" items I'd like to accomplish this month. But before we dive into those, let's see how we did in the mess that was March! 

March Goals:

Read 3 books- Sadly only 2... will try again this month! 

Count physical books - Done! I have 53 that are unread on my physical bookshelf. Time to crack those spines! 

Track spending- With the world in disarray, I completely forgot about this one, but I know I stopped using cash so this could easily be found on my card statement. Maybe I'll share that next month! 

Change all online payments to new debit card (15)-  By necessity, this got done. 

2 New Recipes - Major fail. 

Research /Book? Iceland- HAHAHAH. We've decided that even if the world puts itself back together again, we're not going this year. I'm not listing this as a pass or fail, just a consequence of circumstances. 

As for yearly goals or resolutions, a lot of those can't or won't be accomplished for the time being (ya know, since I made them in January... in the "Before"). The ones I'm focusing on are getting rid of 100 items (23/100 so far), selling 52 items on Poshmark (0/52- updating soon!), and my reading goals. 

Onward to April!

{via}

Create a "Legacy Drawer" - Steph wrote about this not too long ago, and I think it's a really great idea. In her own words, "A Legacy Drawer is a Dave Ramsey term for the place where you keep all the things your family will need when you die. Your will, any account numbers and passwords, any insurance policies you have, etc. Even instructions to delete your facebook if you want. It's really stressful on family when someone dies, the last thing they need is a long to do list to wind up your affairs. So it doesn't have to be a drawer, but it should be someplace secure that your point people have access to easily."

List 25 items on Poshmark- items are already set aside in my closet, just need to take pics and post! 

Read 3 books - the last one for BCBE, one for the A-Z Challenge, and one from my shelves

Read all the mags- so I can participate in Lauren's Glossies Made Me Do It and to get rid of them

Re-start Tasty Tuesdays- to tackle my yearly goal of making new recipes and sharing them! I'm hoping to share on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. Wish me luck! 

Write 10 Blog Posts- The two above will help with this, along with my regular linkups, and maybe I'll finally post some old travel posts? Mainly though, I think it's important to document this weird and historical time in life. 

Create (and maintain) a Schedule/Routine- to say I haven't had one in about 3 weeks would be an understatement. I need to find a way to break my days and nights up in a way so that I work during "work hours" and eat actual meals at normal times and stop being a gross little being in general. 

Retrace and Track Spending - rollover from last month!

Tackle the living room closet- This is one of three closets that are for throwing random crap, to the point now where nothing fits in it anymore! As I attempt to declutter, I want to start here. 

Switch over wardrobe winter to spring- Just because I'm not wearing "real clothes" everyday, but this still needs to be done. For some reason I still have my snow boots out and it hasn't snowed in any great amount for like 3 months! 

Any goals you're hoping to accomplish this month?
Linking up with the Peaceful Posse! 

What's New With Me

Hello! I hope you are all doing well. Thought I'd do a proper catch up since I haven't in so long. 

I've been in self-isolation since March 16th, and will remain so until May 18th. Though my company knew it *might* happen, we were unprepared overall. It started very suddenly. My boss texted our group Sunday night, saying that we were having a team meeting via Zoom in 20 min. And it was like "Ok folks, so we're officially working remotely, starting tomorrow morning." 

As such, week one was incredibly anxiety-ridden. While I thought working from home would be kinda fun, and "I'd have so much time... for activities!" (Step Brothers reference), it was quite the opposite. I'm actually working more now than I was when I went in to the office! There are no water cooler chats, or reasons to be late/away, or even "given" breaks, like lunch. 

I guess this is a good time to explain what I actually do- I work in User Support Services (read: customer service/tech support) for a university. I basically run the call center and the student workers, and do a lot of admin type stuff and trainings and less "techy," hands-on trouble-shooting stuff. So having to answer all of the help desk calls and tickets (because of course week one started when the students were on Spring Break), was incredibly stressful for me, as was acclimating to a new phone system and remote service application. 

Towards the end of the week, I realized I could (and should) schedule calls, as opposed to answering random hotline calls. That way I'd still be productive, but not working on the fly- I would be prepared for whatever the issue was and could research solutions beforehand. 

Because of this, Week 2 went much smoother. I also remembered that I didn't have to answer every call that came to my phone. The system is set up as a round robin, so if I didn't answer, it would ring to the next person on the list. This allowed me to take breaks when I needed to. Worst case, I could always call them back. 

And that brings me to now, towards the end of Week 3. The work part is getting easier. I'm still going over to Blue's condo Friday after work through Monday, and I love getting that time with another person. We she cooks, we play games, catch up on our shows, and just *be*. We went to the grocery store last week and now we're both fully stocked again, but that was anxiety-inducing and I won't be going back. It's going to be delivery groceries for anything else I need! I'm still having trouble getting into any books and have mostly been either puzzles or phone games. I'm going to keep trying though. 

Things I've Learned During Social Distancing/Isolation:

• I cannot listen to the news for extended periods of time. It gives me a headache and makes me incredibly anxious. I can only handle about 30 min at a time.

• I need light. Preferably natural light. This means even on cloudy days, all of my shades are open. I never thought I was one of those people who needed this before, but I've learned the hard way that I am. 

• I also need sound. Music works just fine, none of that "white noise" business. 

• I'm not great at time management at home. I need to set a schedule and stick to it. Writing "to-do" lists, even for work stuff, helps me stay focused and on task. 

• Wearing "real clothes" makes you (just me?) feel different, specifically more productive. I used to think Blue, who worked from home 2x a week, was crazy for not wearing PJs all day. "Why not?" I'd ask in awe. I get it now. Just like going to bed and waking up at the same times every day, even changing from daytime pajamas to night-time pajamas helps with sticking to a schedule and differentiating between work and non-work time, even when you're in the same physical space for both. 

• Video chats and daily check-ins with my people really do help. I used to hate video chats and even speaking on the phone, but there is something to be said for hearing another person's voice (and no, the TV doesn't count), especially when I'm home alone. 

TL;DR: This time of self isolation and social distancing started out really stressful and I was incredibly anxious, but now I'm finding my groove and generally doing okay!

How bout you? How are you REALLY doing?

Linking up with Kristen! 

Currently: April

I'll be sharing a "real talk" post tomorrow but as for today we're going to keep it light, mkay? :)

Reading: I just got All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, and I've been struggling through Between Sisters by Cathy Kelly for damn near 2 weeks now. 

Listening to: the "Happy to be Home" playlist on Spotify. It really is quite happy. 

Watching: I tried to watch Tiger King, and you guys... WTF was that?! 
Finished High Fidelity and was...underwhelmed. 
Other than that, a lot of my favorites are wrapping up, but I did find this list of movies on Netflix and even though I'm not a huge movie watcher, I'm planning on checking out some big ones like Marriage Story, Roma, Moonlight, Zodiac, and maybe SnowPiercer.


Procrastinating: Cleaning and reading. Why did I think I'd have more time to do both of these things just because I was working remotely?! Also responding to blog comments, which I will correct with this post! Sorry for being a bit out of it!

Looking forward to: The day when I'm not afraid to walk in to ShopRite. Or anywhere, for that matter, due to this pandemic :( 

Loving: The way light streams into my apartment, especially in the morning. Not having to wear real pants or a bra most days. My apartment in general (hope so, since it's been where I've been spending the majority of my time!). 

Sharing: Books. I mailed 14 books to one of my friends in CO and another 4 via Paperback Swap. Check out my bookshelf here! 

Writing: My Spring bucket list, which I shared last week. I also started writing in my journal consistently for the first time in years, because these are some strange times.

Wishing: That I didn't have to work from home? Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to still be employed, but maybe work a little less instead of more? Definitely wishing that things would get back to normal soon. 

Investigating: Time management strategies and tips. Working from home means I'm working harder and longer hours and not taking much needed breaks! I need to find some balance. 

Buying: 
Amazon Basics wireless keyboard and mouse combo - this was purchased for Blue, because she's solely using a laptop

Amazon Basics mini display port (adapter for monitor to laptop) - for work, so I can actually see my screen since now I'm also solely on a laptop

Cremo French Lavender Moisturizing Shave Cream - this was recommended by Steph ages ago and I absolutely love it! It smells great, gets the job done, and leaves my legs silky smooth afterwards!

J. Lo Glow perfume - I ran out of my usual perfume, and this was an old favorite

What's currently going on with you?

Linking up with Anne!