Coming Soon..2011

I really can’t believe what a year 2010 has been. It went by so fast I could barely keep up. I wanted to go over the  goals I had set for 2010 and make up some new ones for 2011. Did I achieve all my goals? Let’s take a look!

On December 30th, 2009 I made my goals in this post HERE. There is even a yummy recipe for my special pancakes posted here as well. Gosh they look good!

It was kind of cool, I ran all three 5k’s with my mama!

2010 Goals:

• Run a 5k CHECK (I actually participated in three 5k’s here, here and here!)
• Continue being happy with myself and life SEMI-CHECK
• Figure out what I want to do in life FAILED
• Stay focused on whatever I put my heart into and not give up CHECK (I took up Krav Maga. I really found love in this form of defense and would like to further my training.)

Not bad if I say so myself! Number three I failed that goal because thinking back I don’t feel I worked hard enough on figuring out what I want to do. I’m honestly confused. It’s like where do I start? Since I failed on that goal, I’m going to continue in 2011 working on that goal. Don’t get me wrong I’m a happy girl and I have a great life, but since I can’t fulfill my goal of what to do (job wise) if makes me unhappy with myself. It really affects me certain days and I can’t wait for the day where I’ll find a job that really satisfies who I am.

I never ran before. I thought 1 mile was rough. I did three 5k’s this year! I only set to do one and I went above my goal. Love it!

Lastly, Krav Maga has really kept me more focused on myself these past 3 months. I’ve lost inches, gain lots of muscle. I focused on my diet and found what really works for me! I’ll be sad to leave this studio, but I’ll be back. I’m hoping to find a studio elsewhere, wherever that may take me and I can continue practicing. Maybe achieve a black belt one of these days!

My goals for 2011:

• Figure out what I want to do in life!
• Run another race, possibly a 10k or half marathon. Will someone join me?
• Continue to expand on my blog to increase readership and have people love visiting Fallon’s Cucina!
• Spend more time with my boyfriend and build a stronger relationship. Goodbye long distance relationship!

Love this man. Moving on January 2nd couldn’t be a better way to start off 2011!

   

Definitely need more cupcakes in my life too!

Happy New Year’s from Fallon’s Cucina! I’ll be back soon and with many delicious posts. Like all those holiday cookies I made!!!

Love and happiness,

Fallon

Goodbye Las Vegas

Well it is official. I am moving and I’m moving out of Las Vegas. I’ve been living in the house I am in today for 20 years.The last time I moved I was 4, like I really remember what was going on! I have a lot going through my mind. I’m anxious, happy, sad, excited, stressed, overwhelmed, and scared. Which I think is perfectly normal. Moving to a new state, makes me more stressed, anxious and scared. If I was just moving on my own in Las Vegas it wouldn’t be half as bad. I’m going to miss a lot.

I’m going to miss:

My friends

My family

The gym 

(source)

Specialty Grocery Stores

 

(Source)

Krav Maga

Our newly renovated kitchen with EVERYTHING I need to cook and bake

My Old Navy Buddies!

(source)

All I know is Las Vegas. I’m spoiled to be near everything within 10 minutes of travel time. I have everything I need here. Now that I’ll be without a gym I need to learn how to workout at home. I’ve never had to do this before. Jillian Michael’s workout DVD’s will be my new friend. ;)

But really missing my friends and family. I don’t have many friends, but the few I have are great people. My family is small, all I have are my parents. Not seeing them everyday will be a huge change. I say I’m excited about it now, but one day it will hit me and hit me hard!

It is time to move on and start seeing what this world has to offer. I’ve been in a long distance relationship for over two years now. It’s been emotional and hard. I love him a lot and I can’t deal being in a long distance relationship much longer. He feels the same and this will only bring us together closer. I can’t wait to see his face, basically each day. This is crazy!! I can’t imagine but I know only good things are in my future.

So wish me luck. I’ll need it!

Love,

Fallon

Merry Christmas!

Going to keep this short and simple.

I’ve been super busy and I feel really bad that I couldn’t find any time to compile all the delicious cookies I’ve been baking up. So never fail, I will be back in January to share all the delicious cookies I’ve made. That means I will corrupt your New Years resolutions. ;)

I have some news coming on the 27th, so stay tune for that post!

I want to wish all my readers and followers a Very Merry Christmas. For better or worst take the time to spend it with loved ones around you, friends and family. That what this time of the year is all about. Smile and eat cookies. ;)

Love you guys!!!

Fallon

Mocha Brownies AKA Double-Chocolate Brownies

The last brownie I had was at the Cookie Swap and I declared it as my favorite brownie of all time. I’m a fudgy and moist brownie girl, but I like a good chew and more of a cakey edge. I just realized I’m a complicated brownie loving person! This brownie has ALL THAT!

Someone at the Cookie Swap made Martha Stewart’s delicious Double- Chocolate Brownies. Luckily I have a print out of the original recipe, which is slightly different from the recipe that has been floating around online recently. I found online the Mocha Brownie recipe HERE, and the other recipe for the Double-Chocolate Brownie HERE. This recipe came together quickly using the double-boiler method to marry all the ingredients together. Martha Stewart easy? I know it’s crazy but true!

My current goal is to clean out my kitchen AKA anything that is for baking. Making these brownies, I finished off an entire block of semisweet chocolate and part of my butter stash! Sweet!

These brownies must be made soon so you can share them with your friends and family. They also make a lovely gift for that foodie loving friend! Thanks to the Cookie Swap I found my favorite brownie at the moment!

Mocha Brownies AKA Double-Chocolate Brownies By Martha Stewart

Makes 16

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, cut into pieces, plus more for pan

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

2 teaspoons good-quality instant espresso powder

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan; line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides. Butter parchment. Whisk to combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Melt butter, espresso powder and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of gently simmering water; remove bowl from pan. Add sugar; stir to combine. Add eggs and mix to combine.Stir in flour mixture just until moistened (do not over mix). Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top with offset spatula.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out with only a few moist crumbs, 25 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Use parchment to lift brownies from pan; transfer (on parchment) to rack to cool completely. On a cutting board, with a dampened serrated knife, cut into 2-inch squares. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Notes: A good brownie is using both cocoa powder and melted chocolate to make a rich, fudgy and moist brownie, IMO. I also baked these the full 35 minutes.The espresso powder is optional. I never had a mocha brownie before and I wanted to try one. It really helps enhance the cocoa flavors and increases the richness. If you do leave the espresso powder out, then you will have Double-Chocolate Brownies!

I can’t believe only five more days till CHRISTMAS!!!

Very excited,

Fallon  

Cranberry, Nut and Seed Spread

I wanted something really festive for the Cookie Swap party. Bread and spread always go really well with crowds. I came across this spread on Aggie’s Kitchen. She used it on bagels and I was really hoping I could find some whole wheat mini bagels. That plan failed and I ended up with this delicious seeded baguette. The spread was colorful, delicious and festive!

I loved the contrast of sweet and tart. The crunch from the sunflower seeds, the buttery walnuts, tart dried cranberries, zesty orange zest and sweet honey. All mixed into cream cheese and spread onto bread was the perfect compliment to our tangerine and peach prosecco drinks! Make this for your next holiday party!

Cranberry, Nut and Seed Spread From Aggie’s Kitchen

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup clover honey

3/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

Combine cream cheese and honey in a medium mixing bowl. Use a mixer or wooden spoon to combine until smooth, then stir in cranberries, walnuts, sunflower seeds and orange zest. Best served at room temperature.

Enjoy,

Fallon  

2010 Cookie Swap

I finally was able to experience my very first cookie swap! I mentioned the idea to a good friend of the family and she loved it. She usually does a gingerbread decorating party but she just doesn’t get excited to do them anymore. It is a lot of work to throw a party like that. So I mentioned a cookie swap party and she loved it! We both never been one to before and were excited to finally host our own!I helped her out with making the invitations, putting some appetizers out and trying to figure out how to run the party. Doing it our first time we already know what we want to do differently next year. Yeah, we already want to do another one. That’s how much fun it was!

If you want me to get into more detail about how to host your own cookie swap let me know! I’ll make a special post about it. It’s a great way to get friends to come together and who doesn’t love cookies? I’m just going to recap the cookie swap with the photos I took using my new DSLR!

Enjoy and try not to drool!

I made the popular Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Dough Balls with dark chocolate, and then a combination with butterscotch chips!

This was a lot of dough ball making.

Cranberry, Nut and Seed spread. Recipe coming soon!

Classic hummus and veggie tray.

Cheers! Prosecco with tangerine or peach juice.

My cookie loot.

These brownies were THE best. A Martha Stewart recipe, I will share this with you one day. They were absolutely fabulous. It might just be my favorite brownie ever.

 

The famous Giada De Laurentiis Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze. They were fabulous and I’m making them for Christmas this year.

 

Okay stop drooling!!

Fallon