A Dobbins' Day

What You Need: 1 pkg. chocolate cake mix 1 pkg. chocolate instant pudding 1/2 C. butter, melted 1/2 C. cold milk 6 squares bakers chocolate (I recommend using 1 C. chocolate chips instead) 1 C. dry roasted peanuts, divided (I didn't use these, because the kids said no) 1 C. creamy peanut butter Make it: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 13X9 inch pan with foil; spray with cooking spray. Mix first four ingredients until blended. (Mixture will be thick.) Press half the cake mix mixture into prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes. (Then I put mine in the freezer for 10 min.) Chop the chocolate. (The second and third time I made this, I used chocolate chips which I highly recommend.) Sprinkle half of each of the chocolate and nuts over crust; top with peanut butter. Cover with layers of remaining cake mix mixture, chocolate and nuts. Press gently with spatula. Bake 15 min. Cool 1 hour. Refrigerate 4 hours before cutting into bars (or put in freezer to speed up the waiting time!) Grab a glas...

Now what would you do if your BIL dropped off this baby? Well, since my freezer was already totally full, and I'd already baked my heart out, this is what I did. I peeled bananas. I melted chocolate. Dipped the bananas. Then I froze them. YUMMY! We couldn't wait until they were ready. Once they were, we all grabbed one for a taste. Audrey only ate the chocolate off of hers and then got another and only ate the chocolate off of it. I told her no more! Cannon dropped chocolate all over. Hunter took one bite and immediately put it into the garbage. I was so mad. I spent all that time on these treats and then they weren't appreciated. I'm not sure if Russell or Isaac has tried them, so maybe someone will like it. And if not, I do, so they can be all mine!

Getting the mail can be fun. You never know what surprises will be waiting for you. Unless you only get junk or bills then I can understand why you wouldn't like to get your mail. For me I always think there might be a chance that I'll get a letter. I love getting letters! With emails and other forms of instant communication this chance of a letter becomes few and far between. Except in December. I LOVE getting the mail in December! So a few weeks ago (sorry I'm a little slow on posting this, I took the picture right away because I knew it was blog worthy, but then never got around to it.) I went out to get the mail. To my delight there was a package. To my surprise it was for me! I didn't order anything, so I had no idea what it could be. While examining the package I saw some clues that it was going to be a good one. I couldn't wait to get in the house and open it up. After I opened it I just laughed! Then I hid the entire box in my room! My wonderful MIL sent t...

Happy Easter to all!

I secretly went out and bought some Cadbury Creme Egss. You know, heaven on earth right? I did this in secret because I knew that my kids the chocolate eaters would eat them before I could. Well even though they didn't see me buy them, they found the bag that contained them the next morning. Of course they wanted to eat it. I grudgingly said o.k. Hunter took a bite of that yummy egg and said, "Yuck, I don't like it!" What? Are you serious? So he gave it to Audrey. Audrey then ate all of the chocolate that she could and then came to me with a hand full of 'yolk' and said "Yucky!" What? You've got to be kidding! After I washed her off, I asked Isaac if he liked Cadbury Creme Eggs. He said of course and then asked if we had any. I grudgingly said yes and gave him one. Later when I was eating my last one (I only bought 4) he asked if he could have a bite. His idea of a bite is to shove almost all of it in his mouth leaving me with a small taste. I...

It is a well documented fact that I love chocolate. My obsession with peanut m&m's speaks for itself. I hadn't realized that this love has been passed down to the next generation, but the proof is in the pudding as they say. (chocolate pudding of course!) "All I really need is love, but chocolate doesn't hurt!" -Lucy from Charlie Brown HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! Since my sweatheart is out of town, I'll send each of you a hug. XOXOX

Sorry you don't have a scratch and sniff (or lick) computer, because honestly the best part of making fudge is eating it!

This isn't ordinary marshmallow fluff fudge. This is the real deal. The yummiest stuff ever slaved over a hot stove stuff. My Grandma has been making it since the Depression when she was a girl and wanted a little something chocolaty. It is super yummy, and although I've been trying, nobody makes it the way my Grandma does. On her recent trip out here she taught me some of the secrets and gave me the recipe. I'm not sure if I'm going to share the recipe (except with sisters of course) BUT I would like the opportunity to practice. So if you live near by and would like to taste the best fudge ever, then just give me a 8X8 or pie pan and I'll fill it up for you. That way I'll get to perfect my fudge skills AND not gain any weight!

Chocolate & Cactus On Monday we went to Ethel M.'s Chocolate Factory and Cactus Garden. This is a free tour of the chocolate factory and then you can walk around the cactus garden that has more than 300 different species of cacti. My Mom and my Grandma really liked looking at the different cactus. The kids liked running around the different paths. The Chocolate Factory wasn't in production at the time we were there, so we got to see big empty pots, but we still got the free chcolate sample at the end. YUM!