Blog | Page 60 of 67 | Local Passport Family

(First things first…happy happy birthday to my witty, ambitious, kind, gorgeous sister!) Confession time…I’m not always a ginormous fan of banana bread. I know! Evil. They’re just usually too…banana-y? I don’t know. Anyway, this basic version of this was the … Read More

Lifestyle

Top 10 Essentials of a Vegetarian Kitchen

When we were putting together our registry before getting married, I was inexplicably thrilled to register for a melon baller. I have no explanation for this. In the nearly 6 years we’ve been married, I think I’ve used that thing … Read More

Lifestyle

Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Until this weekend, I’d never before put chocolate chips in my pancakes. It was…life changing. I mean, HOW had I not put chocolate chips in my pancakes? Maybe not the brightest crayon. These were delicious. A little lighter than with … Read More

Uncategorized

A Chocolate-Themed Vegetarian Valentine’s Menu

This afternoon, I finally sat down and constructed my Valentine’s Day meal plan. I’m kind of ridiculously excited to steal Mel’s idea this year of having a little family candlelit dinner. I think the kids will be stoked. There’s a … Read More

Lifestyle

Citrus & Coconut Oil Snickerdoodles

A couple of weeks ago, I was attending a bridal shower. We had a few errands to run in the morning, but I figured we had plenty of time until the afternoon shower. Until I remembered I had offered to … Read More

Lifestyle

Roasted Red Pepper Pizza Sauce

I’ve mentioned before that we have homemade pizza most Friday nights around here. We tend to keep things pretty standard with either a basic tomato sauce or pesto. We had some red bell peppers sitting around last week, though, so … Read More

Lifestyle

S’mores Brownies

We are the luckiest and have a fireplace in our place and maybe it’s our favorite thing about our place. It goes without saying that we eat a lot of s’mores around here. It took me a while but I … Read More

Lifestyle

DIY Sequin Border Skirt

I can’t for the life of me find where now, but sometime in early December, I saw an image of a leather skirt. With a sequin border. And it was gorgeous. And somewhere in the range of super pricey to … Read More

Lifestyle

Favorite Recipes of 2013

Told’ya it was coming. I’ve been sensing the anticipation all over the InterPlace. In no particular order because that would be like choosing between children. Click the picture for the recipe! So glad to have finally found a chile I … Read More

Books | Learn | Lifestyle

Favorite Books of 2013

Here’s everything I read in 2013. In no particular order, my… Five Favorite: OH, this was tough. I read some great books this year, especially right at the end. Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – … Read More

Lifestyle

5 Favorite Outfits of 2013

Now that I’m on a 2013 review streak, I can’t stop. Sickness. Look for books and recipes to come. Also, this obviously only includes the outfits that were blogged. Which was…not many. With that rousing intro! 5 My beloved stretchy pencil … Read More

How was your Pi Day? We had a party and there was much pie and good friends. What more could one want? Nothing, there is nothing more anyone could want. My mom has her master’s in math, so Pi Day is basically celebrating my family heritage, you know? One of our friends observed as he was leaving that we and the party were, “A little bit nerdy, let’s be honest; really sweet; and you always want to come back for more.” Pretty apt, I’d say.

Janssen and her family also stayed over one night last week. It was so fun catching up and eventually all the children even slept. (wink) In anticipation of Pi Day, I naturally had to make pie for dessert. I’ve made this chocolate tart several times before and it’s always been delicious, but decided to hack it a bit. Mint seemed just right for St. Patty’s Day (WHICH, by the way, we have a snow day today. It is beyond amazing, I can’t even tell you the level of excitement I felt at 5am when I realized Dan’s work was cancelled).

Once I finally started making it after much distraction and bed-putting, it took about 15 minutes to throw together. And was delicious.

Thin Mint Chocolate Tart

Crust
One sleeve Thin Mints (half the box)
4 T butter, melted

Filling
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1 cup heavy cream
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 T all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Softly whipped cream, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Finely grind Thin Mint cookies in food processor. Mix in melted butter until moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly into bottom and up sides of 9″ tart pan. Place pan on rimmed baking sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes, until lightly puffed.

2. Combine chopped chocolate and heavy whipping cream in a medium saucepan. Whisk over low heat until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove saucepan from heat. Whisk eggs, sugar, flour and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk half the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture to temper until smooth. Whisk egg mixture back into the rest of the chocolate mixture until smooth and blended. Pour filling into crust.

3. Bake tart until filling is slightly puffed at edges and center is softly set, about 30-40 minutes. Transfer to rack. If you can wait, cool in pan 20 minutes, then remove tart pan sides and let cool completely. Otherwise, scoop it directly out of the pan and serve with softly whipped cream.