Mini Parfaits

The church youth had a prom last spring. One of the amazing women I know did the catering. She created these mini parfaits and served them in small shot glass sized cups. Very tasty little treats! I'm going to try at least one for the book group next week.

Chocolate Mousse Parfaits

Chocolate Crust
1 c. finely crushed chocolate cookies
2 T. melted butter

Mix together. Spoon into bottom of parfait cups

Mousse
1 t. unflavored gelatin
1 T. cold water
2 T. boiling water (just heat it in a small bowl in your microwave)
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 c. whipping cream
1 t. vanilla

In a small bowl, combine gelatin and cold water and allow to stand for about 1 minute. While gelatin is softening, bring 2 T. water to a boil in the microwave. Whisk into the softened gelatin and allow to cool slightly.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, cocoa powder, whipping cream, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until medium-stiff peaks form. Mix in gelatin mixture. Pipe into parfait cups layering with homemade whipped cream. Garnish with a fresh raspberry.



Peanut Butter Parfaits

Chocolate Crust

1 c. finely crushed chocolate cookies
2 T. melted butter

Mix together. Spoon into bottom of parfait cups


Peanut Butter Mousse
(This recipe makes approximately 5 1/2 cups)

10 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. sugar
1 c. peanut butter
2 T. butter, melted
1 T. vanilla
12 oz. heavy cream

With a paddle, mix cream cheese and sugar together, scraping down the sides often. Add the peanut butter and mix until smooth. Add butter and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Reserve. Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Whisk in 1/3 of the cream into the peanut butter mixture. Fold in remaining cream in two parts. Pipe into parfait cups, layering with whipped cream or chocolate pudding. Top with whipped cream. Garnish with crushed or mini peanut butter cups.



Lemon Parfaits

Graham Cracker Crust
12 crackers
5 T. butter, melted
1/4 c. sugar
1/8 t. salt

Pulse in food processor until fine crumbs

Lemon Curd
12 egg yolks
2 c. sugar
1 cup lemon juice (6 med. lemons)
zest of 4 lemons
1 c. butter, room temp; cut in small pieces

1) In a medium glass bowl, thoroughly whisk yolks and sugar.

2) Add lemon juice and zest and cook over a double boiler, making sure bottom does not touch the simmering water. Whisk occasionally and cook until mixture thickens and can coat the back of a spoon, 15-20 minutes.

3) Remove from heat and strain through a fine-mesh strainer into another medium bowl. Add butter, then use an immersion blender to mix until completely smooth and incorporated.

4) Strain once again and reserve 1 cup of curd in a small bowl, with plastic wrap pressed on surface. Pour remaining curd into a medium bowl and press plastic wrap on the surface of the curd. Refrigerate.

Lemon Mousse
1 1/4 t. powdered gelatin
1/4 c. cold water
3/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cups plain or vanilla yogurt
1/2 c. lemon curd, from prior section

1) Sprinkle gelatin evenly over water in a small bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, in a stand mixer set to low speed, whip cream. Gradually increase to high speed and whip to soft peaks. Store in refrigerator until ready to use (for up to 1 hour).
3) Pour gelatin set in water into a small saucepan over very low heat. Wait until all granules are dissolved, about 3 minutes.
4) Transfer gelatin to a medium bowl. Whisk in half the yogurt until no lumps remain, then repeat with remaining yogurt. Add the lemon curd. Fold in the whipped cream until no white streaks remain.

To Assemble:
1) Fit two pastry bags with 1/2-inch tip. Fill each pastry bag about halfway, one with mousse, one with lemon curd (don't overfill bags).
2) Pipe about 1/2 inch of lemon curd into the bottom of each 4-ounce glass, and repeat with the mousse. Repeat until all cups have been filled, or all filling has been used. Top with whipped cream. Garnish with lemon zest or diced strawberries. Refrigerate to chill.




Whipped Cream

2 c. heavy whipping cream
1/3 c. sugar

Beat until medium peaks form. Chill.



Stabilized Whipped Cream

Use this if the parfaits are going to be made ahead of time. The cream looks the same many hours later as it did when you first piped it on. Pipe it on the top of the parfaits using a ½ inch star tip

1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 T. instant dry vanilla pudding mix
2 T. sugar

Beat until soft peaks form

You can also use gelatin to stabilize it. Look online for recipe.

14 Common Food Storage Mistakes + Emergency Preparation

Since we get to spend a few days at Katmai Roost with Barbara (aka Mom) & Dad (aka Grandma/Grandpa), I thought I would prepare a post in advance about … preparedness!

First of all, I saw this post on a food storage website I like. 

You might also enjoying reading about it by clicking here.

Second, I read an article about other home shelter basics

you might want to back up on here.

The author of the above article is very down to earth, literally,

and I've enjoyed learning more about gardening from her.

Here is a link to her website.

I had fun starting my garden this year in milk cartons.

Here more about it on this website.

I only started in March, but have had great results.

We are currently expanding our garden to include fruit.

We hope our apples, pears, Asian pears and berries 

will be productive in the future.

Finally, I attended/helped with an emergency preparedness fair last week. 

I was able to take two classes. The first was Permaculture and Edible Landscaping: Rethinking the Modern Garden Space. The teacher was knowable and inspiring…and she had a great British accent.

A friend and I are going out to tour her gardens. She recommended this book: Gaia's Garden. I also went to a class by someone in our ward who works for the Secret Service. His class was titled Don't Get Caught Off Guard Self Defense and he included a lot about identity theft also. There are definitely many was to be prepared. 

Here's a link to the preparedness fair website. This fair was also held two years ago, so you can get the source information for those classes also. It's a great source of information with many available downloads and links. Here's a handout on on edible plants I learned from. I sampled Miner's Lettuce and saw some in the gorge yesterday. 

Good luck with all of your prepareness preparations!

by Dee, wife of Barbara's son Scott