Guess Who Won a Raffle?

Miguel entered a raffle and to his surprise he won. He won a spot to play in a charity golf tournament two weeks from now. He hasn't played all winter so he's been going to the driving range during his lunch breaks and this weekend we went to the field by our house to hit some balls. Emma loved this because it was a game of constant fetch to her. She's also thrilled anytime Miguel comes to the field because he runs all over with her. After we left the field we went to lunch at one of our favorite BBQ places, Wiley's BBQ. Yum! Then we went home and took a nap before we went out with a group of friends for a date night. It took us FOREVER to get a table and then our food. Everyone and their brother has already made it to Savannah for St. Patrick's Day. Besides the crowds, the energy downtown is really fun right now! Very festive! All in all we had a good Saturday and bring on Thursday!!

We learned not to wear shorts to the field unless you are covered in bug spray! Damn sand gnats!

Loves, loves, loves running with her dad!

Emma is highly motivated by treats! Good sit, Emma!

All smiles!

A Home Is Built With Love and Dreams

Sunday Miguel and I saw a house that had just come on the market. We put an offer on the house the same day... which ended up being a good thing because they received multiple offers after only being on the market for one day. It's the perfect starter home for two, built in the 1940's and in the neighborhood of town we wanted. They accepted our offer and tonight we signed the papers! Now we're in the due diligence period where we'll have inspections etc and can back out of the deal within ten days without any cost to us. We're set to close the first week of May. Ooo em gee! So excited! I'm also feeling a little overwhelmed too! Being a homeowner seems like such a big responsibility! Just adding up costs in my head is a lot. So much to change out, upgrade, and clean up. But we are ready for the challenge! We are also going to do things step-by-step and over time. Please pray that all goes well this week and the next few months to come... specifically with the stress of this huge commitment!

 =)

I can't wait to post pictures after we get in there and get our hands on everything to make it our own! 

Flour-less Chocolate Cake

This week it was my turn to make a snack to bring to our Tuesday night Bible study. Though I've been fudging on the gluten-free eating recently, I still decided to make a flour-less and dairy-free treat. I got this recipe from my mom. She had told me it was a simple, easy to make cake. It is simple enough, I just got a little overwhelmed with some equipment difficulties and phone calls during the process. 

The ingredients are simple and few: 

7 oz really good semisweet chocolate (45-50% or higher cocoa)

3/4 cup of butter (I used Earth Balance - a dairy free butter)

1 cup of sugar, divided

4 eggs, separated

There are an assortment of dairy-free butter options to choose from. 

When I went to melt the butter and chocolate I ended up melting the bottom of my plastic mixing bowl... oops!

The process was quite messy... which was hard for me. There was little time for cleaning-as-you-go. 

I generally love using electric mixers. It's not quite as fun, however, when there isn't yummy batter goodness to lick off. This mixture was purely egg whites and sugar. 

Next I had to fold in the egg white/sugar mixture with the melted chocolate/butter/egg yolks, which created a marble-like effect. Pretty.

After everything was combined, I put the batter into a 9 inch cake pan and let it bake for 40 mins.

After baking I took the cake out and let it cool for 30 minutes before removing it from the pan.

It's pretty thin and flat. It is supposed to turn out this way. It almost looks like brownies. 

I dusted it with powdered sugar and called it a day!

These are the steps I followed if you are interested in giving it a go yourself:

1.  Preheat oven to 300°F.  Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler (you can use the microwave on lower power).  Stir together half the sugar and four yolks; add to melted chocolate concoction.

2.  Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites; slowly add remaining 1/2 cup sugar until stiff peaks form.  Fold mixture into chocolate.  Pour into a greased 9" cake pan.

3.  Bake 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few crumbs on it.  Cool 30 minutes before removing from pan.  Dust with powdered sugar.