Baked Ice Cream

Ok, I hope I never stop bragging about my husband, because not only is he a great hubby and father, but an awesome cook and when he wants to try something new he just goes looking on the Internet for a recipe!

Doesn't it look so yummy?  It is and I wanted to share the recipe with you!

4 slices* (1 oz. each) angel food cake

2 Tbsp. peach** jam

4 scoops (1/2 c. ea) light vanilla ice cream

2 extra-large egg whites

3 Tbsp extra-fine sugar

-Preheat oven to 400

-On cookie sheet, arrange cake slices in single layer, leaving some space between each slice; spread each slice with 1 1/2 tsp. jam.  Top each slice with a scoop of ice cream; freeze at least 5 minutes***

-Meanwhile, prepare meringue.  In clean, grease-free bowl, using electric mixer at medium speed, beat egg whites just until stiff peaks form.  Continue to beat, gradually add sugar; beat until glossy

-Remove cookie sheet from freezer.  Immediately spread meringue over ice cream, working quickly to cover entire scoop AND being sure meringue touches edges of cake slices on all sides to SEAL.  Bake until meringue is lightly brown, about 5 minutes; serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings, 220 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber

*-slices should be flat, don't cut them at a wedge angle otherwise ice cream slides off!

**- we have not actually tried the peach jam, but apricot, and that has been delicious!

***- Tom has found the longer it is in the freezer the better it works, even up to 20 minutes!

Enjoy!  It is so delicious, warm on the outside and then the scoop of ice cream is still formed and cold in the middle!

The Anniversary Evening and Other Things...

Well we ended up going out for dinner at the Mustard Seed Restaurant here in town, it is Asian style.  Very good food and great company!  I am very grateful for Tom's job at Allegiance, not only does it provide good enough for our family that I can stay home with Titus but it provides great benefits for us including a gift card on his birthday for a nice place to eat like that!  Titus seemed to love his babysitter once again!  To end our night we watched our wedding video with him and then after he went to bed, we enjoyed a game of cribbage, which Tom beat me at!  (He also beat me on my birthday!)

This was the dessert we shared, Chocolate Cloud Cake, a flour less cake dessert, mmmm so yummy!

We went camping back in mid June and I never shared our experience.  We had been planning to camp up on one of the lakes near Seeley, MT, there are many different lakes up there with campsites.  We were planning this little outing with my friend Daisy and her four children but one of them came down with a cough and so we moved out camping expedition to her backyard here in Missoula!  She has one of those off the ground fire pits and so we were still able to cook hot dogs on the fire and have smores later, but since we were at her house we also got to enjoy a rhubarb strawberry pie that I made there!  Mmmm so yummy!  Her and her two oldest kids slept outside in their huge tent, the twins were just not going to to sleep so they got sent inside to sleep.  And Tom and Titus and I slept in our two man tent.  I was worried about Titus getting cold so I put him in this "layette" thing that makes him look like a fluffy teddy bear complete with his pj's and wool socks!  He slept well and stayed warm but he could not move around in this thing if he wanted!  So about 3 am rolls around and he is starting to try to move and I am trying to help him without waking him up but that did not work!  He was wide awake for about an hour, "talking" to us and slapping our faces and laughing and then I finally got him back to sleep.  But I took him out of that thing and he actually slept out from under our sleeping bags for the most part up by our heads and he stayed perfectly warm!  I was surprised but I think it helps for sure to have a smaller tent for the heat rather than a big one for space.

Here is the little teddy bear fast asleep in the tent by himself, while we are enjoying the smores!

Our Anniversary So Far....

Today is our 2 year Wedding Anniversary!  I am so thankful for the husband that God has crafted and grown just for me!  Tom is the most amazing man I could ever ask for and never ever dreamed of having!  He is such a blessing to me everyday and TODAY is one of those extra special days!  He never forgets to make me feel special on those special occasions throughout the year!  He has to be to work at 7 am and must have woke up extra early to make blueberry muffins for me to enjoy whenever I decided to wake up (or my son wakes me up).  He always gives me a kiss before he leaves for work and he left the door open to our room and I could smell some yummy goodness coming from something!  So I got up before Titus woke up which is very unusual for me but I needed to find out what that smell was!  I went out to the kitchen to find a dozen red roses and a dozen blueberry muffins cooling on the cooling rack!  Mmmm, needless to say Titus and I had a very yummy breakfast!

And I know there is more to come because he lined up a babysitter for tonight!  He tried to keep that a secret but she returned his call while we were driving to some friends' house last night!  I have no idea where we are going but I can't wait to find out!

Thank you God for Your gift of marriage and Your gift of Tom to me!  I couldn't have asked for anyone better!

Hiking Adventures!

Fourth of July weekend we did a hike down in the Bitterroots just past Hamilton called the Sawtooth Trail.  It was very pretty, Tom says it was about 6 miles round trip, and a lot of it was along a creek which was so beautiful and when our trail would go along the creek it would be cool temperatures from like our knees down and felt so good in the hot warm sun.  Lots of the trail was shaded but still warm.  Our intention was to hike into a pond so that Tom could fish and catch us some trout for a late lunch.  Well you have to cross the creek towards the end, about 1/2 mile, from the pond and the crossing log had been washed away!  So Tom tried fishing the creek in that area where we were supposed to cross and had caught one small one but otherwise no luck.  He thought about keeping it just to show Titus but he didn't want to waste a fish.

Titus did ok on this hike, it was a little bit long I think and we also had to drive about 1 hr and a half just to get there!  So overall I would say he did good for his first long hike!

In the lot before we left, Titus' first exploration of sand and gravel!  He was so cute playing in the "dirt".

Titus and Daddy with his fly rod!

Some of the raging creek, so nice and beautiful.  Titus had fallen asleep on the way in and I think this is where he got disturbed from the raging of the water, he was not a happy hiker then!

Titus loves clapping, he had just discovered it that weekend!  We were in a little 'camping' site here eating some snacks that thankfully were packed while we were waiting for our fisherman to catch us good one!  Better fishing next time!

This last weekend we went up the Morrell Falls up in Seeley Lake, MT.  Titus did really well for this hike and was even playing with, ok pulling, Mommy's hair on our way back out!  He did not complain at all unless he was hungry.  This hike is 5 miles round trip and has a beautiful waterfall at the end of it!  This hike is very easy, only about a 250 ft. elevation gain on it, if you have not been there, you need to go!  The waterfall cascades and is 200 ft. total but you only see about 90 ft. of it because of the cascading.  Still so beautiful and it was very cool in there from the mist of the falls!  Little Titus' lips and hands were purple but he didn't care!

We could not get Titus to look at the camera, the falls were just to exciting for him!

We also took my cousin Nate basically on the spur of the moment with us, he hadn't been there since he was in a backpack himself and I bribed him by telling him the falls were 900 ft.!  Whoops!  Before we left I got out my day hike book and found out that I was mistaken!

Mommy and Titus on the creek crossing bridge, clapping!