Hello 2009!

We made it all the way through our New Years Eve dinner and popped the cork on the champagne just in time for the countdown. For dessert I did this molten chocolate lava cake. I would highly recommend this recipe, it was so easy and turned out perfect. We paired it with the cherry wine from Carlson Vinyard we picked up on our western slope wine tasting adventure. It would have worked out better if I had used bittersweet chocolate instead of dark in the cakes, but I forgot to pick up chocolate and had to get by with what I had on hand. I found several variations of the recipe by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the originator of this cake, but I liked this one because it makes two servings and seemed just right for the occasion.

The recipe:
Melt 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate with 4 Tbl butter in microwave, about 1 min. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool.
Beat one egg plus one egg yolk with 2 Tbl sugar until thick and pale yellow
Beat in 1 Tbl flour and a pinch of salt
Stir in the chocolate mixture
Pour into 2 buttered and floured 6 oz ramekins, bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes. Let stand for 1 minute before plating. Sprinkle with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

The tree is going to have to go today, it is so dry. I will miss it, the kids decorating made it my most special Christmas tree ever. Anna's leapord bear will go back to the playroom. Bye Bye tree!

And these vintage Santa's are some of my favorites. I always look forward to seeing them when I open the Christmas boxes each year. Bye Bye for now to all my Santas.

Hello 2009!