Cinnamon Biscuit Cookies

3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus (for the boring kind you can use reg. cinnamon)
1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla


Mix together your flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, and cinnamon. Using electric mixer (or your husbands brute strength) add in butter, sour cream, egg and vanilla. 


Refrigerate for about an hour


Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Grease all of your pans that you are working with (nobody likes a one legged gingerbread man). 


On your beautiful clean counter sprinkle and spread some flour. Your mixture may feel a bit sticky still. Add some flour as you need to. Roll out your dough and start cuttin!! Bells, candy canes, wreaths, whatever your heart desires. Just remember not to roll your dough too thin....I hate thin crispy cookies :)


Bake for about 10 minutes. Just as the tops start to brown. 


Place on your Pampered Chef cooling rack and repeat. Dont have a Pampered Chef cooling rack? Well you better call me before starting this recipe! (Like that? My sneaky business ways!)


Frosting:
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 tbs vanilla
1/4 cup milk


Mix all together...this is a thin frosting. I like to seperate the mixture into 4 or 5 different bowls, adding food coloring to have multiple colors. I use my PC basting brush to brush a thin layer on the cookies....I dont like overly sweet cookies. But cake on the frosting as you desire!! :)

:.:Hana Yori's Egg Yolk Sauce:.:

ALRIGHT ALREADY!!! :) Here it is folks....the one....the only....Egg Yolk Sauce!! It took me a couple days to get it right....and some may adjust the recipe to their liking...but all in all it ROCKS MY SOCKS! So here we go:

8 egg YOLKS

2 sticks butter (melted)

2 cups warmed peanut oil

1 tbsp Rice Vinegar (unseasoned)

soy sauce

salt

sugar

Get your blender plugged in and cranked up!!!  (While you are waiting for your husband to dig out your blender and get in plugged in) Mix together your melted butter, warmed oil and rice vinegar. Start with your egg yolks in the blender....BLEND BLEND BLEND....now slowly stream in the oil and butter mixture. Thats right I said SLOWLY!! Be careful not to let the emulsion break!! Add a tablespoon or so of soy sauce, a pinch or two of sugar and salt. BLEND BLEND BLEND BLEND BLEND

Okay so you are going to notice the mixture thickening up some. Or at least you should! I place mine in the refrigerator for a couple hours before cooking if possible. This recipe makes almost a full 4 cups...so there is plenty to share! 

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

Butterfly some shrimp...stick them on the grill or pan grill if its a chilly day out! For stovetop, high heat. Immediately place a dollop of your Yolk Sauce atop a trio of shrimp (it means put a glob of your yellow stuff on a pile of 3 shrimp!) and cover. These cook alot quicker than you think. Check after a minute-minute and a half. I douse mine with brandy, flame, and serve. But not necessary! Don't try to play Chef Ramsey if your inexperienced!

Like I said, I have had to tweak my recipe a bit....my first batch was too salty, my second was too sweet....Third Times A Charm

GOOD LUCK!

Pumpkin Pie Martinis?? WHAT!

Through a pampered chef email I received a new recipe for a pumpkin pie martini....Jake and I decided to try them out tonight and let me say....WOW!!! they were absolutely fabulous! Here is the recipe...give them a try! And of course a pic of one of ours :)

¼ cup pure pumpkin puree (4 small scoops) 

3 oz vanilla simple syrup

1 oz vodka

½ oz dark rum

2 oz half and half

Pinch of Cinnamon Plus Spice Blend

Place all ingredients into Martini Shaker. Add ice and shake to blend and chill. Strain into glasses. Makes 3 full-size servings. 

And make it your own! Add some whip cream, throw some cinnamon on top, maybe a few chocolate shavings???  Make it tasty and make it sexy :)

Its been awhile....

Its been awhile since my last post. I had begun my story and then a sudden halt in communication. My husband and I have been through alot in the last few months and have been able to find a new way of living life. Why look into the past? Why dwell on it? My past mistakes are simply that, mistakes. They are to remain in the past and not to be brought out again. This blog is to bring my family into a new world. New memories, new life. So, here we go....the start of our new life!


Recently Jake and I have decided to make a move. A HUGE move. We are moving to North Carolina!!! That's right folks! Jake has decided that he wants to go back to school and was recently accepted into Nascar's Automotive Technicians program. AWESOME!!!! So in November the Gorsuch family will be relocating to Charlotte, NC. We are overly excited and ready for a change. We are ready to leave the past here in Indiana, and move on to bigger and better things. I am so proud of my husband. What an amazing man he is! 


I have also started my own personal business with Pampered Chef. Everyone knows that I LOVE LOVE LOVE to bake, so this was the perfect business opportunity for me! Anyone interested in a party let me know!!! Christmas is coming up fast! <---sorry had to get that in there. Perfect time for an advertisement. 

Halloween was this past weekend and we had an absolute blast! Reid went as a dragon....and was cute as a button. Here ya go ---> 

AHHHHH! Cant help but love him!!! :) I think he was just so overly impressed that people would give him candy without asking for a hug or kiss. It was FREE! I actually broke down at the third house as I had realized that my little baby was no longer a baby. Oh I hope I can make it through this parenting thing! So many emotions! 


Before I go for the evening I want to say, just because I have decided not to openly discuss my past and the drug issues I had, I believe that I have come a long way and am becoming that DOMESTIC GODDESS that I have always wanted to be. On this blog I plan on posting recipes for some delicious foods, crafty things that Reid and I enjoy doing together, home ideas, and family stories. I hope that many decide to stay around and see what happens on this journey we are about to embark on. We will miss many people here in our home state of Indiana, but we are excited to begin a new and successful life! <3

tiny brain bubble.

Wow, I was just looking back on my last blog and it made me shiver. It sickens me to know that was MY life. Yuck. Next blog is coming up soon, almost finished with it. And many recipes to be posted within the next couple days! Some really good soups, party punch, and burgers! yum yum.

Some tasty advice....

Made these this afternoon, and they are AMAZING!! Try them out:

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cupcakes

Cupcakes

3 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped fine

1/3 cup cocoa

3/4 cup hot, strong-brewed coffee

3/4 cup bread flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cheesecake Filling

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature

1 large egg

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 ounces chocolate chips

Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 cups confectioners' sugar

2-4 tablespoons milk

1-3 tablespoons cocoa powder, depending on color/flavor of chocolate frosting desired

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. 

Place chocolate and cocoa in a medium bowl and pour hot coffee over the mixture. Whisk until smooth and transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely, 20-30 minutes.

Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in a medium bowl; set aside. 

Whisk oil, eggs, vanilla, and vinegar into the cooled chocolate mixture until smooth. Add flour mixture and whisk until batter is smooth. 

To prepare the cheesecake mixture, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg, vanilla, and salt and whisk until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. 

Fill each cupcake liner about 1/3 of the way full. Add about a tablespoon-size scoop of cheesecake mixture, then spoon more cupcake batter over the top until cheesecake is covered and the liner is filled about 3/4 of the way full.

Bake for 17-19 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To prepare the buttercream frosting, beat butter and shortening in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and salt. Beat in confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, scraping down sides of the bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of milk; beat at high speed until light and fluffy. Add additional milk for desired consistency.

Separate frosting into three bowls, one for vanilla, one for dark chocolate, and one for the lighter chocolate color. For the darker chocolate frosting, I used about 2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder until it was the color I wanted. Adding cocoa powder thickens up the frosting, so you might have to add a little more milk when you stir it in to keep it the consistency you want. For the lighter colored chocolate frosting, I used about a heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder.

Makes about 15 cupcakes. 

Addiction

There are many different addictions that people suffer from. You could say your addicted to chocolate, soda, or even cleaning, but would you lie cheat and steal for a piece of Godiva? Would you risk your life for a case of Mt. Dew? It doesn't seem logical, because these are not true addictions.

It is hard to look back on my life and see some of the things that I have done to family and friends. The way that I treated my grandmother, or the way that I talked to my father, or my violent outbursts toward my mother, these are just a few of the regrets I have in my life. Some would say that you should never regret, just learn. I call bullshit here. I regret my whole past.

I sit here and think of how I should start this conversation and what I should say. I have decided that there are some things that I will still keep a secret, only those close to me know, and other things that I have never told a soul. Not even my husband. So here we go, lets start from the beginning.

After a lifetime of learning and enjoying the game of golf, 2003 came around and I graduated from highschool on my way to Arkansas with a full ride golf scholarship. I was so excited! I was moving out of Indiana and on my own, where I knew no one! My parents were supportive but definately a little weary to send me 15 hours away, looking back now, I can't blame them. So, school starts and the partying follows soon after. I made it through my first year alive, but on academic probation when summer had begun. I was not attending class and found that partying and drinking was alot more fun than making the grade. (Now this was the exact opposite of the way I felt when I was in highschool, I was kind of a nerd in school) I thought I was a typical college student and doing what everyone else my age would have done.

In my second year of college I met a guy. We fell in love, moved in together pretty quickly, and started experimenting with some drugs. He was older than me and I truly looked up to him. I mean, I thought I was in love.....need I say more? This was the beginning of my drug use. I would have to say that it wasn't HARD drugs, marijuana, opium, hash, etc....nothing that could really kill a person. (I am sure that will bring on a whole gallery of people that believe marijuana is a god-awful drug, but I am not one of them) So we partied on a daily basis, went to school now and then, attended all of my golf tournaments and practices, and tried hard to make the grades. It was not working out very well. After 3 years of dating on and off, some life-changing adult situations occurred and I eventually moved back home. (Now this is the part where I will be leaving some of my life moments out, sore subject that I know I will get some slack from)

I returned to Indiana a mess. I was depressed, lonely, and really feeling like scum of the earth. I enrolled at IUSB, which I only went to one class, one day, and quit. My parents of course thought that I was attending on a daily basis, they had no idea what I was really into.

This is the part of my life that gets a little hairy. Many moments I dont remember or I possibly even chose to forget, but there are some that stick out on a scary level.

I didnt really have a drug of choice. I started out with ecstacy and cocaine. I would do it when I was partying every now and then....but then became hooked. I remember buying so much ecstacy that we stayed out for a week straight rolling all day and all night. Mixing cocaine and ex, adding a little acid in here and there, drinking on a daily basis, I was a mess. Time went by and I started experimenting in harder drugs. That is when I was introduced to heroin. The drug that broke my world.

There is so much to say, but so little time, stay tuned for more :)

Opening Day

Today is the first of many exciting new blogs :) I love to write and have decided to let people in on my life. There are many interesting facts that most do not know about me and my family. This is where I plan to let our stories out! I would also like to post recipes, crafts, and all other wife/mommy secrets I have learned along the way. I hope that many will join in! Stay tuned for more.