Jenal's No Fail Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Tart Recipe

I'm cooking dinner this weekend for my family and I was looking for some new recipes to try. They're pretty particular and love the traditional dinner we do, so I don't want to stray too far, but I thought one or two new things would be great. I asked on my facebook if anyone had any no fail, super yummy recipes and this is one that I got back from my friend Jenal! She was such a doll to send it to me (in the facebook comment section no less)! I thought I would share it with all of you! 

Thanks so much Jenal! I'll let you know how it turns out! xoxo

White Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Tart

40 gingersnap cookies
½ cup melted butter

Filling

2pkg unflavored gelatin
¼ cup dark rum (or spiced rum) or water
4 eggs
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp each ground ginger, nutmeg and salt
2oz white chocolate finely chopped
½ cup pasteurized egg white
¼ cup sugar
½ cup whipping cream
2 cups of pumpkin puree (not the pie mix)

Crust

in food processor grind gingersnaps, add butter. Press onto the bottom of cheese cake pan. Bake 350 for 10 min

Filling 

In a small bowl sprinkle gelatin over rum, set aside. In large bowl beat eggs and brown sugar until pale, beat in pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Transfer to sauce pan cook over med heat, stirring constantly for about 6 min. Remove from heat add gelatin mixture stir until melted. Add whit chocolate stir until melted. Scrape into large bowl, refrigerate stirring until slightly colder than room temperature, about ½ hour.
In medium bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks. Beat in sugar 1 tbsp at a time until stiff and glossy.

In a separate bowl whip cream then fold into pumpkin mixture. Slowly fold in egg whites. Scrap on to crust, swirl top chill for 4 hours (better if chilled over night)

Just for fun...

I saw this cute little picture on Pintrest (my newest obsession) ;) and thought it was just plain lovely. So many times we find ourselves swept away with life's little to do lists, and sometimes while completing that list, we don't get to see our loved ones as much as we'd like. I know I've said it before, but I really am truly blessed with all the fantastic people I have in my life. I love them all. This little pic just reminded me that no matter what comes up and even if we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like, we're all still here, and always will be :)

Happy Tuesday All!
Tam xoxo

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Mother's Day, good friends and cupcakes...

I hope you all enjoyed this mother's day weekend as much as I did! Mine was definitely busy, but tons of fun! I spent most of it visiting with family and friends, and in the kitchen making cupcakes :) My little friend Sydney turned 9 this last week and asked if I would make the cupcakes for her party. She was pretty excited when I told her she could pick any kind she wanted and even more excited when she found out we could put chocolate pudding in the middle of them ;) We decided they would be vanilla cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate pudding in the middle, oh and they had to be pink and red.

I was so happy to hear that everyone loved them! Good choice on the flavors Syd!

Here's a few pics of the finished product...

We usually combine  Mother's Day with my Mom's birthday as they're only a few days apart, so this year I had the family plus my two good friends Lisa and Lisha over for dinner. Such a good time! My stomach hurts from laughing so much! So glad they could all make it! Instead of cake this year my mom requested cupcakes... The recipe for these little beauties came from the ever so lovely and talented, Miss Martha Stewart. The pics below are mine from tonight.. not bad for my first attempt :) Click here to find the complete instructions directly from Martha herself! They turned out to be super cute, and actually pretty easy to make!

Wishing all you amazing Mamas out there a fantastic Mother's Day!
Love Tam xo

Restful weekends = good friends, campfires, and banana boats...

Happy Sunday Morning :)

I had such a busy week last week. Between contract work, meetings with brides and other clients, and my own stuff, I burned the midnight oil a few times! It was really nice to be able to spend at least one day of my weekend doing whatever I wanted. :) Friday night I got together with some friends at a local pub. So great to catch up and just laugh. I'm pretty lucky, I really do have the bestest and funniest friends ever. :) Love them all.

Saturday was puttering around home and getting ready for the bestie who's visiting with her kidlets from Banff, to come over for some "pretend camping". We told Thomas that when we're able to go swimming we'd really camp out at my house. We had a campfire, roasted hot dogs and made banana boats for dessert! sooo yummy and it brought back memories of the days when the bestie and i used to be in Brownies together. See how lucky I am?... I've known her since we were 6!

{the little cutie pie Emily... she was ready for the weather! }

Just in case you all don't know what a Banana Boat is, I'll give you the scoop! Best camping treat ever and super easy to make. The kids can make their own. :)

{Yummy, Banana Boat}

What you need:
a banana
2 teaspoons of mini marshmallows
1 teaspoon of chocolate chips
tinfoil
a sharp knife or steak knife
oven mitts

What you need to do:
With the banana still in the peel you need to make one cut down the entire length of the banana. leave about 1 cm on each end. Stuff the marshmallows and chocolate chips into the slit. Feel free to stuff in as many as you can. Wrap the banana in tin foil leaving a room for a bit of air or steam to move around inside. Place directly into the coals of the campfire for about 10-15 min. Remove from fire and let cool. Open up and eat directly out of the peel with a spoon! So terribly yummy!

Kim suggested that ice cream would be heavenly with is as well.

Hope you all have enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Love Tam
xoxo

What's on my table...

I'm very fortunate to be blessed with so many wonderful friends. :) I wish I was able to see some of them more often, but even though I don't get to see some of them as often as I'd like, I love them just the same :) Everyone has been so busy with the holidays, switching jobs, and their families that we thought it was time for a quick little get together. A few girlfriends and one certain Mr. came by for lunch and a visit. Was really great to see everyone, it's been a while since I laughed that much and it was just what I needed!

It's always nice to try and make your table look pretty. My best friend Kim gave me a great tip for keeping your table festive and it's super cheap. Instead of using whole table cloths, which can get pretty pricy and take up alot of space, (believe me I know), she suggested just using bits of cloth for table runners. It's great because you can always find bits of fabric in the discount bin, or because you're only making a table runner, you can splurge and get the fancier stuff that may have been too pricy if you were making an entire table cloth!

What's on my table:
Swatch of navy blue with white polka dotted fabric
Vintage milk glass vases from my personal collection. (one was a gift from Emily)
Yellow mums from the grocery store. ( I think they're mums)

What was on the menu:
Carrot, Yam, Apple and Ginger Soup
Spinach, Bacon, and Feta quiche
Spinach salad
and Caramel Apple Pie Crumble for dessert! (from Safeway, not homemade but sooo yummy)
oh and white wine of course ;)

Have a great night everyone!
Tam xo

Tofino... truly one of my most favorite places to be

A few weekends ago some friends and I made the trip to Tofino for the day. A couple of the people that I went with had never been there before, so it was nice to be able to show them just how beautiful it really is. I think every surfer in the area was out that day. I've never tried it, but it looks like so much fun and is definately on the bucket list!

Our day was spent puttering around town, playing shutterbug on the beach, and just generally taking in the beauty of it all. I love our little piece of the world. :) These are a few of my favorite pics from the day...

{you never know what you'll discover in the little nooks and crannies}

{surf boards}

{going out to catch the waves}

{on the way back in}

Love to all,

Tam xo