Hannah and Lacey

Before you watch, I need you to do me a favor. Please turn DOWN your volume. I am heard trying to turn the horse in a 360 degree circle...like my whispering and other coaching is going to help? Guess I'll fix that next time around.



And this is how the judge saw it!

For my friends up north,
this is for you - a little glimpse of springtime.

Even my pitiful little hyacinths are trying to appear.

And, I guess I should enjoy the camellias while I can. The low tomorrow night is supposed to dip below freezing, so they'll all be brown and sorry looking on Thursday.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope you had a terrific day with your Valentine!

I do believe Hannah has perfected the art of making chocolate creme brulee. She made a practice batch last week that was pretty good, but her effort for Valentine's Day was flawless - creamy, chocolaty and divine. Seriously, I think this just might be my all time favorite dessert.

Patrick is the official guy in charge of caramelizing the top...but is sorely disappointed that I didn't purchase a torch like Paula Deen uses (looked like some kind of giant shop torch that should be stored in the garage).

For anyone interested, Hannah uses Paula Deen's recipe. If you follow the link, there's even a demonstration video. The girls have watched it quite a few times, and now Victoria can do a hysterical Paula Deen imitation. Fyi, we didn't have any chocolate liqueur (what the recipe calls for) or Grand Marnier (what Bonefish uses), so we substituted 1/2 t. of orange extract and 1 1/2 Tbsp. of orange juice. It was plenty chocolaty without the liqueur and orange extract was a suitable substitute for the Grand Marnier. Go ahead...give it a try. It's not hard at all!