The very Last One!

So the very last sister from Sharmea is getting married! We are so excited for you Carrie Ann, you have been waiting for Mr. Right for way too long! I'm glad you two finally found each other.
It was so fun to get together again, I haven't seen some of these girls in years, that is way too long! And we really missed the other's that weren't able to be there. I think we are definitely going to try to schedule more girl's night outs. Pictured: Me, Susan, Jodi, Amber, Amanda, Carrie Ann and Amber. To check out another picture go to Susan's Blog.




As is tradition with Sharmea showers, the theme was "Honeymoon" Carrie Ann got a lot of beautiful lingerie!













Sorry I forgot my gift at home, I promise I'm not always so flaky, pregnancy just does that to me! There it is on the kitchen counter, right where I left it! I promise, I'll bring it to your reception (or at least I'll try really hard to remember!)


But the important thing is I did remember the treats! And I promised the girls I would share my recipes. I really can't take credit for either, but I did add a lot of changes. I'll share the original and my changes.

Peanut Butter Brownies

I got this from a cooking class at Thanksgiving Point taught by Martha Moench

Now I've had the original recipe and it was fabulous, but I did easy it up. She made brownies from scratch. I just made mine from a box.

Ingredients for brownies:
1 package brownie mix plus the ingredients to make brownies. (the original recipes also added 1 cup roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped. I did not add them because I don't like peanuts)
Make brownies according to directions and cool completely.

Ingredients for frosting and ganache:
1 cup chunky peanut butter (not natural or old fashioned)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, divided in half, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Next time, I will probably use creamy peanut butter instead of chunky, because I would prefer no peanut chunks. I did not have cream so I used skim milk, but I had to add 2 Tablespoons in order for the mixture to be creamy enough to spread over the brownies. For the semisweet chocolate, I just used semisweet chocolate chips.

Directions for peanut butter frosting:
Using an electric mixer, beat peanut butter and softened half of butter to blend. Beat in powdered sugar, salt and nutmeg, then cream (milk) and vanilla. Spread frosting over brownies. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to spread ganache.

Directions for ganache:
Stir chocolate and second half of butter in a small sauce pan set over simmering water until smooth. Let cool a few minutes. Spread to cover. Chill until set, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Can be made a day ahead.
I didn't melt the chocolate this way. I just melted the chocolate in the microwave. If you choose to microwave, you have to be VERY careful not to burn the chocolate. I put my micro on power level 5 and checked and stirred the chocolate every 30 seconds until it was creamy.

Strawberry Party Punch
This is a pampered chef recipe. I've made it before following the exact recipe and it was very good, and I would have made it that way again except I didn't have the exact ingredients this time. (Sorry I don't have a picture, I left the rest for Carrie Ann to finish off).

Original
4 packages (10 ounces each) frozen sliced strawberries, partially thawed
1 cup sugar
2 quarts strawberry soda
1 can (6 ounces) frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 quarts club soda, chilled

What I made last night
10 ounces frozen sliced strawberries, partially thawed
I did not add any sugar
2 liter raspberry soda
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 liter of sprite

So there you go! Enjoy!