recipe: peanut butter ice cream pie

I embarked on a recipe that I'm hoping will be as amazing as I've built it up to be. How can you not expect a taste of heaven when the end result is supposed to look like this:

So I tried it out this morning, modifying it as I saw fit (which meant only adding more chocolate). The recipe is from http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=29616 and is relatively simple (the best kind).

Ingredients

• 1 pkg Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough (though I bought the tub of dough since I'm making it for a bunch of middle schoolers and an pie serving 8 just wouldn't cut it).
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (again, I bought a large jar and ended up using the whole thing).
• 2 cups vanilla ice cream (I used a gallon and though there's still some left over so we'll end up making sundae's - the proverbial two birds with one stone in action).
• chocolate syrup
• peanuts (I left these out because I'm not a big peanut fan)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch pie pan (or a baking dish as I did). Press cookie dough onto bottom and sides of pan. Mine looked like this:

Bake for 18-22 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before flattening your "crust" with a spoon. Allow to cool completely before adding a layer of peanut butter (about half the jar).

Mix ice cream and the rest of the peanut butter together before spreading on top of the layer of peanut butter.

Drizzle with chocolate syrup and I also added some mini chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Let freeze for at least 2 hours or overnight (I'll add more of the last 3 ingredients before serving).

And there you go! Easy, right? I've yet to taste it and see how absolutely amazing it but I'm thinking it's gonna be good :-)

he said, she said

So yesterday I had an interesting conversation with some friends. I posted something on Twitter which sparked different reactions from three people. Let me set up the scene. I was on my way to work and stopped to get gas. The lines were at least two cars deep for each pump so I finally picked one and decided to wait it out. The guy in front of me, aware he now had an audience, tried to give off the "I'm smooth" vibe. Here's what happened, along with my commentary:

Me: It's funny how people act when they know you're watching. Guy in front of me getting gas is trying to play the "cool & casual" card. [and by this I mean he had the pump set to automatic so he could lean against his car, ankles crossed and appear as if he had all the time in the world]

Friend 1: Is he cute?

Me: Cute? Not so much. I liked his car though :-) [black BMW - very sporty]

Friend 2: Did you talk to him?

Me: Did i talk to him? That'd be a no. Maybe if he played the "cool & casual" card a little better :-) [I was raised to not talk to strangers and how awkward would that be for me to get out of my car while he's pumping gas to say hi??]

Friend 3: If he had to play the card then he is neither.

Friend 2: Poor guy...saw a hot girl and freaked out. You should have said hi. You would have made his day!

Wow...so that's how my afternoon went yesterday :-)

steering wheel

content: desiring no more than what one has; satisfied.

I'm making the decision to be content with my life. Not content as in "Yep, I'm good right here" and never want to strive for anything more but content as in "God, there are things I want in my life but I trust You with how and when they'll happen." Philippians 4:11-13 says, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength (NIV)."

I think contentment (true contentment) is a by-product of faith in God. When you're content, you have this sense inside you that it's going to be ok; everything will work out so just enjoy the ride. I want to be content. I want to hand the steering wheel over to God while I either watch the scenery or take a nap. Why? Because I trust where He's taking me.

contagious

Although I listen to Christian music, I'm not a fan of every single song incorporating scripture and talking about God. I think sometimes it's ok for music to have a God-centered message in a subtle way. For example, I've been listening to the song "Fever" by Family Force 5. I don't think God is mentioned one time but I can't hear it without thinking about Him. To me, the song is about being contagious in our Christianity, like a fever spreading. I just sometimes think we overdo the whole "Christian music" thing by staying on the end of the spectrum where the songs have to be so flowery and "God I love you." I'm not trying to be too much of a critic and say that all Christian songs are fluff and whatever else - it's just that sometimes we don't have to mention God in order to be talking about Him.

words

I want to be a writer. I have other goals for my life but I know writing factors in somehow. The problem I'm facing is finding the time to write. I keep wanting to set aside a few hours each night, locked in my room with my computer so I can focus solely on cranking out the next literary masterpiece (no pressure or anything). Yet my schedule is busy and allotting that much time to writing doesn't seem all that realistic. So what's the solution? One word at a time. I read a blog the other day (the name of which escapes me) and the advice she gave was to keep a notepad with you (something I already do so I'm halfway there right off the bat) and whenever you have five minutes of free time, write. Write a sentence, paragraph - whatever - so long as you write. Take advantage of the time you do have to write instead of trying to make more time...and see what you come up with :-)

still

Have you ever stopped what you were doing and simply listened to the sounds around you? My freshman year of college I took a Humanities course and our assignment one day was to do exactly that. We were to go home, sit in our room, close our eyes and just listen. It's a rather interesting experiment. I think we're so used to go, go, go that we forget to slow down at times and simply enjoy driving with the windows down or watching a ladybug scurry across the pavement. We're driven to accomplish massive to-do lists and miss out on life.

This week I'm pet-sitting for some neighbors and they have an 8 week-old kitten. I don't think I've ever heard a cat purr that was sweeter than when I hold this kitten up to my face and listen to him purr. Something so simple but if I were solely focused on checking the food and water and then leaving, I would miss out on.

And if we're so busy checking off things we need to do, we might also miss out on hearing God. There's the story in the Bible of how God wasn't in the fire or the earthquake but He was in the wind. He's the whisper we sometimes drown out with our music or tv or phone. We ask Him to show Himself to us but then we're too busy to hear Him when He talks. We need to just take a deep breath and...listen.

believe

Life can get crazy sometimes. I know that's not a new revelation or anything but it's true. We go through times in our life when nothing seems to make sense. It's at these times when the only thing we can possibly do is believe. That's it. The only other option is give up and where's the point in that? I refuse to believe God isn't working things out in my life - even if I can't see physical evidence of it. I just have to believe. Something that seems like almost doing nothing but by making that conscious decision is also doing everything.