It's Official!

School is out for the semester, about a week after it was supposed to be...thanks, winter weather and wimpy school systems.

Grades are posted, I passed, and it is complete and total bliss. I can watch movies without feeling guilty. I can blog. I can do whatever I want. Right now, I'm sitting in bed with a Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake and a glass of champagne. Ahhh, the good life!

That's all for now (I can't keep Little Debbie waiting...)!

Suddenly Very Vera

I remember the very first time I ever heard of Vera Bradley. It was 2004, and my first college roommate was showing off her graduation present. The bags were evidently very popular in the big university town where she grew up, but they hadn't made it down to little ol'e Abingdon just yet. She did not understand my lack of excitement.

Fast forward a couple years, and our campus bookstore starts stocking the stuff. I thought they were pretty, but of course they were everywhere, and I longed for the day when I could go outside without seeing twenty girls carrying the same handbag.

Only recently did I come into my first Vera Bradley item, and it was a near-total accident. I noticed my sister had a VB wallet, and I considered getting her something to match for Christmas (Sorry, Amanda. Now I have other plans...). After locating a retailer online, I went to the store and shopped around and asked the owner a ton of questions. He said he admired my consumerism and offered me a small VB coin purse (free to other customers through some promotion) for being product-conscious (and probably to ensure a return visit on my part). Score!

Complete and total hopeless nerd that I am, I went home that evening and did some research on the history of the company. It was founded in the early 80's by two women who wanted unique and feminine-looking luggage. They expanded and expanded, and in 1994, they began raising money for breast cancer research and have since donated millions to the cause.  Both are very cool things, in my book. 

That's enough for now, but I'm sure I'll post more in a later entry about how a mere purse convinced a not-into-labels girl that this product is worth at least a great deal of its hype...

WTF Wednesday: Thanksgiving

This week's WTF Wednesday is my own.

For those who don't already know, my family is weird. Specifically, we had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner this past Sunday. This was also to celebrate everyone who was born in November (Mom, Grandma, Poppy and Justin). It was a lovely time, full of my loud aunt's antics and both of my grandmothers fussing at me to stop taking pictures of them. Ah, my family!

Better still, when Actual Thanksgiving finally does roll around, we'll likely celebrate with a taco buffet or make-your-own-pizza night. And board games.

Now, I'm typically not in favor of holiday celebrations that steal the thunder of other holidays, but when I think of all the years I've eaten four Thanksgiving dinners in one day due to family, friends, boyfriends and grandparents, I get quite comfortable with the idea of spreading this one out and varying it a bit. Bring on the queso!

No one else really gets this, though. So there's your WTF moment.
Happy Non-Holidays!

WTF Wednesdays

Blogging, in theory, helps keep me accountable for things. Usually these things aren't all that important in the grand scheme, but they are things nonetheless.

Weird stuff happens all around me. It is rare that a day passes when I don't think, "wtf?!"

When you connect these two ideas, you get what is to become a weekly blog entry about some recent happening that made me ask myself, "wtf?!"

I introduce to you, tender reader, WTF Wednesday. Now, let the madness begin!

I'm a nursing student. As such, I come into contact with many actual nurses. I find that these nurses fit into one of two categories:
1) people who are so intelligent that I feel as though I am good for not much more than the occasional snarky blog entry and
2) people who are so much on another planet that I'll be too embarrassed to show my face anywhere ever if I don't make it through this program.

Also as a nursing student, I am bound by several privacy laws. I can't get very specific about anything. The following conversation may or may not have taken place between someone who may have happened to be a patient and someone who may have happened to be a nurse:

Person one: I don't like yogurt. Why do I need to eat it?
Person two: It helps replace the natural flora and fauna that you've lost from your digestive tract.

1) No. It doesn't (Okay, it does replace flora. And that's cool.).
2) Unless you drink water from the Amazon, you probably don't have fauna (technically parasites are fauna, but personally, I like to imagine elk or other such majestic animalia.) in your digestive business.
3) Why would you want to replace parasites?!
4) Now I really want to watch The Addams Family. And like I really have time for that.

It Is NOT Time For Christmas Yet

...but it is time to start thinking about Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) cards!

I still get almost as excited about Christmas as I did when I was in elementary school, but I'll be the first person to admit that going to stores to buy discounted day-after-Halloween candy and seeing rows upon rows of Christmas trees is not only a bit much--it's downright inappropriate. I mean, how is Thanksgiving supposed to feel?

{Source}

What is totally and completely appropriate at this point in the year, though, is Christmas card shopping. In fact, with only 46 days until Christmas, it's high time to get cracking. If you're like me, you've become super impressed by your friends' and family's customized christmas cards, and this year, you're ready to make the change. Well, here comes some good news.

Shutterfly has all kinds of unique Christmas cards that wow even the most difficult-to-impress design snobs (...I should know!). What I like most of all is that it's so easy to order from them. Their website guides you through the entire process, step by step, until you have created your very own masterpiece of Christmas joy. The hardest part is picking your favorite design. Here are a few of mine (all images from this point on are from Shutterfly's website)...

My personal favorite (I think...for now, anyway) is this story card:

More informative than a traditional card, story cards give you a chance to fill your loved ones in on details they may have missed or to recap the year as you celebrate the holidays. What a great idea! 

Oh, the choices! But don't just think of Shutterfly for Christmas. They have great gift items like calendars and photo books that would make perfect Christmas presents--or anytime presents--for just about anyone on your list. 

Something else really cool? Bloggers who write about Shutterfly's 2010 holiday collection can receive a voucher for 50 free cards! To get in on this deal, simply click here and follow the directions. Couldn't be any easier, especially since I was probably going to blog about this anyway.

Those Veterans and Their Shenanigans

I ran out of the house, this morning, to do some errands. While driving, I heard sirens. I looked around and saw nothing but decided to proceed with caution anyway as the sound wasn't fading. As I approached one of the only big intersections in this little city, I got caught in a red light, and saw a bunch of police cars. A policeman got out of one of the cars. He put cones across the road.

It was then that I noticed a huge American flag being suspended above the street by two crains as well as a TON of people gathered downtown. By the time I realized what was going on, I was already quite blocked by other cars. There was no escape; I was going to watch the Veteran's Day parade.

At first I was really ticked. I had stuff to do, and I'd told sleepy boyfriend that I'd be right back.

It dawned on me, though, that if I'd been voluntarily or involuntarily shipped off to somewhere random with the overarching theme of "kill or be killed," and actually made it back, you'd better believe I'd be really into the idea of cruising down State Street in my T-Bird (Shout out to my grandfather who I didn't know would be there!) or doing doughnuts in my little shriner go-cart at the main intersection in Bristol. Yeah, watching a parade is kind of the very least I can do for veterans.

Suddenly I wasn't so ticked anymore, and I smiled to myself as I realized that the reason I sometimes get so frustrated with the elderly population is that I'm jealous that I haven't earned their little perks yet (...though I did just get the memo that comfortable shoes can change your life even though they won't have heels or bows, so maybe I'm on my way!).

So rock on, veterans. You have contributed more than most of us will ever know. Don't pay attention to us cranky whippersnappers.

{Source}

I originally left this entry picture-free, but Justin recommended this painting. I hadn't seen it before, but I think it's a very beautiful (though obviously heartbreaking) idea.

Butterducks

I love wine.
Wine. Wine. Wine.
If ever you are compelled to give me something and are unsure what I would like, few things would make me happier than a sweetish wine.

{Source}

It's nine in the morning, so don't get the wrong idea--this isn't a drink-and-post situation. I simply wanted to take the opportunity to reminiss about one of the latest wines I tried.

Not long after we got together, Justin and I took a trip to several places in Georgia. We did loads of other things and went many other places, but there's this super duper classy place in Savannah called Liquor Depot where we looked for area-specific wines and hard-to-find-in-Abingdon beers. That's where I picked up a bottle of Super Sweet Fuzzy Berry from the nearby family owned Butterducks Winery.

{Source}

And, oh, this wine! It's basically just what the name says (except that you need to know that "fuzzy" simply means that it's peach flavored...not actually fuzzy). I cannot say it enough--delightful! Even my practically prohibitionist mother was persuaded to have a very small glass. I intend to buy it again (in great quantities!) upon returning to south Georgia, and I highly recommend it to lovers of sweet wines with one word of caution: don't smell it before you drink it.

As I raised the first glass to my lips I sniffed, as I am wont to do before a new wine, and it nearly ended the experience right then and there. I have read, since then, that very sweet wines can tend to have a bit of a funky smell, especially if they're from small operations, so I'm assuming it was just the sweetness that gave me pause. I'm glad I pressed on, because the taste was spectacular.

The lesson here? Learn about your wines before you drink them. If you don't, you might miss out on some great ones.

Sock Madness: Part I

For the past several weeks, since autumn has graced us with its lovely, chilly presence, I've had an insatiable urge to make my own socks.

{Source}

Why? Who knows. But I seriously think about it whenever I'm not decidedly doing anything else. Since this became somewhat of a problem (I'm in school, for one, and it probably would make friends and boyfriend kinda jealous if they knew just how much of my thought content was dedicated to this) I spent several hours of designated study breaks at the local bookstore (franchise) pouring over books of sock patterns.

Confession: I have been knitting for 14 years...and I still don't know how to read a pattern. Sorry, Mom.

{Source}

So as I looked at book after book of sock pattern, waiting for one of them to be in plain enough English to explain itself to me, one phrase kept coming to mind:
"What does that even mean?!"
Patterns are clearly just not in my cards.

About three Christmases ago, my grandmother taught me how to crochet, saying it was easier. I'm not sure I agree with her, but I definitely feel like it promotes creativity more readily than knitting. This being the case, I set out, last night, in the midst of Justin's brother's birthday celebration to simply make them.

Next up on this topic, pictures of progress and details of how it's going...or possible surrender.

Ratchet

I am not a cat person; I like dogs.

At least I didn't used to be a cat person, but I am now (though I still like dogs).

A few months ago, though, Justin's sister brought a little tortoiseshell kitty home from the pet store where she works. She lived at their house for a month or so (I think?) and fell victim to repeated attacks of their long-time Siamese resident Misha. Kitty was brought to my house to escape the repeated beatings and has been thriving ever since. We have called her Ratchet, like Nurse Ratched or like Ratchet & Clank, if you want it to be justified in some way. 

Unfortunately, every time I try to take a picture of her it suddenly becomes Kitty Run 'N Go Time, and I have no such luck. I managed, with a maxed-out ISO, to snap this one earlier. Though it doesn't show her off much, it isn't a black and brown blur. She moved her eyes only a little; I'm so proud.

Ratchet is like many other kittens in that she switches wildly from play mode to sleep mode. She also enjoys snuggling and burrowing into shoulders and other bodily nooks, playing with a bouncy ball that looks like an eye, hair elastics, bits of paper and ensuring that I lack epidermis. 

Felties!

At the beginning of the month (this is how behind I am on pretty much everything), Justin and I celebrated our half anniversary. Our "anniv--," if you will. Rather than plan a typical celebration-type outing, we had fulfilled school obligations, came home, stayed in and did crafty things.

{source}

Earlier in the week I acquired a book about making tiny zombie creature things from felt. It rules, more or less, but is a bit more involved than I had originally thought. I don't know what magical land the authors live in, but the lucky ladies evidently have access to their very own felt farm (I know it sounds bitter, but I'm really just jealous). My local Wal-Mart (the only source of craft supplies within 30 miles) had only four colors of useful felt.  One road trip later, we each made the Michael Jackson feltie! Now my goal is to make and make and make them until I eventually have enough to make Halloween garland...or a small army of magnets. These pictures are my own...

Heads! 

Finished product with the destructions!

Saturday Morning

My very favorite kind of day is one that starts lazily. Since classes started (about three weeks ago) there aren't many of these to be found, which, I think,  makes it all the more enjoyable when they do eventually roll around.

At this very moment, I am perched in the corner of my cluttered basement apartment, typing away while slowly sipping black coffee and eating a cookie. The massage chair is undoing the damage from the weird way I slept. The screen door is open to let in some cool air, and I can hear cars splashing in what I assume was last night's rain. It isn't time for lights to be on yet, and the ambient noise-providing fan is blowing towards my still-sleeping boyfriend like it has done all night. And it simply happens all around me; I am totally in the moment, feeling like a voyeur.

The greatest reward on these types of mornings is the elusive second cup of coffee.

{Source}

I Can Has a Starrie Nitez?

Now that school is temporarily over, and I have time for such things, I've been doing a lot of stuff that I want to do. What I did tonight was to make Justin a starry night (no, not the painting) background for his huge monitor that has earthdesk. Don't get me wrong, it looks totally neat all by itself, but with a night sky full of stars behind it, it's just perfect. The problem? The lack of exactly what he wanted despite several google image searches (Go ahead, try it.). The solution? Brushing up on my photoshop skillz to make this:

It doesn't look like much this small, but the actual size version is neat. You could just steal my image (srsly, go for it if you don't mine that photobucket makes stuff small), but it's actually really easy to do this...if you have photoshop or gimp or something like that. Here are the (mac-specific, idiot-proof) instructions for photoshop:

Open a blank layer
Go to layer/new. Name your layer "stars" or something else that will help you remember what it is.

Make the layer black
With the foreground color set to black and the background color set to white (this is the default, so you shouldn't have to mess with it), press option + delete, and it magically makes your background black. Cool.

Make some noise
Go up to all the menus at the top. Choose filter/noise/add noise. Change the amount to what you think looks like pretty stars. This will differ from monitor to monitor, but for J's 1680x1050, I went with 100%. Also, select "Gaussian" under distribution and monochromatic. If it looks like TV static, you're headed in the right direction.

Blur the noise
Now back to the menu, and this time choose filter/blur/gaussian blur. Set the radius to .3 or .2 pixels.

Add a layer that adjusts the levels
Hold down option while clicking the new adjustment layer icon. It's the one that looks like a half-black/half-white circle at the bottom of the tab with the little thumbnail of your stars (or whatever you named it) layer. A little menu will pop up, and you'll click "levels." Now a little window will pop up, and you'll check a box that says "Use Previous Layer to [Blah Blah Blah Blah]." Now click "OK."

Get rid of some noise
Now you'll see a little box with a black and white blob and some slider things. What you're going to do now is move those sliders around until you make something that looks like stars. Start by moving the white one a little to the left and the black one almost all the way to the right. This should give you something to go by.

Wrap it up
You're done! Save and enjoy! 


You too can triumph over google image search's letdowns and end up with something like this (the finished product in use):

Freedom!

It's been almost a week since we finished summer classes, and I have to say that this lack of having anything to do for school is the sort of bliss I live for.

{source}

Soon to come is an update about The Bed That Has Changed My Life. Until then, I'm going to suck as much enjoyment out of this newfound freedom as humanly possible.

Mixer Fixer: Part Two

The last time we left Justin, he looked a lot like this:

Except that this time, he was putting in the last screw after (hopefully) fixing this thing. I held my breath while he plugged it in and turned it on.The results?

Total success!

So I did what any grateful, self-respecting girlfriend with a newly-working stand mixer and a knack for producing killer baked goods would do. Yes, it was cookie time. Justin's favorite cookies are white chocolate chip macadamia nut ones, so I did some searching and we went to get ingredients for...

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies...With Pumpkin.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugarpacked
• 1 cup Libby's canned pumpkin
• 1 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups white chocolate chipsnestle toll house premier
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts or walnuts, toasted
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Combine flour, cinnamon, cloves and baking soda in small bowl.
3. Beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. 
   
   
   {Ready to fire it up!}
   Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla until blended. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts.
4. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto greased baking sheets; flatten slightly with back of spoon or greased bottom of glass dipped in granulated sugar.
   
   
   
   {Mmm...}
5. Bake for 11-14 minutes (13 worked best for me) or until centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. I also put some chocolate chips into two of the later batches for those of us who are so inclined...I think I'll toss in some coconut next time. Mmmm...
   
   
   
   
   
   

Five Days Without a Face

Early Wednesday morning I did something that would shock and appaul most people:
I deleted or abandoned my social networks.

{source, source and source, respectively.}  

You saw that correctly--

No facebook. No twitter. No livejournal.

Why?
I've been thinking for quite a while that I use them too much and that they are just media clutter. There are much better things I can do with my time, especially going into my last year of nursing school. I also rely on them to effortlessly maintain my friendships. And that's really uncool.

Why now?
The final straw was thinking that I don't like it when facebook tells me that my friends are, say, getting married or having babies. This, childish as it may be, hurts my feelings. It also makes me feel like it's high time that I should be getting married and having babies (things which, though they are age appropriate and would be pretty fun, just don't fit into my life plan at the moment). Does facebook get to hurt my feelings? Does it get to make me feel like I'm weird for not doing what everyone else is doing?   No. That's weird.

As for Twitter and LiveJournal? Same bat time; different bat place. Plus I'd all but stopped using Twitter, and it seems that I only use LJ to complain about school--no one wants to read about it everyday, and there's no way I'm ever going to forget how school has effected me.

So since I identified the problem, I thought I'd go ahead and fix it.

Part of me thinks that If I'm really close to someone I'll know what's going on anyway, and the rest of me thinks that not knowing will be fun to talk about when my path eventually does cross with those of my acquaintances.

It's been five days since I said goodbye to my internet addictions, and I have to say...it's been surprisingly easy. It may not be a forever thing, but it's definitely a great thing for now. Ahh, I could get used to this...

Mixer Fixer: Part One

That mixer we found at that awesome yard sale several weeks ago? 

Beautiful. Perfect. 

...except for one thing. We knew when we bought it that the speed control was...well...out of control. Turn the thing on, and you get 400 watts worth of speed all at once. Wow. 


After a little research, Justin found what we thought would give us a normally functioning mixer, a speed control board thingy. He tinkered.

He closed up shop. I plugged in. He flipped the switch. And the darn thing did the same thing it did before we started. Sad face.


After a little more research, Justin thinks that we need the part that connects the other part to the motor. We ended up getting the part from a little appliance part shop in Bristol--wait for it--for less than we found it online. Who would have thought, right? 


Hopefully, in 7-10 business days, I'll be able to report that the finished product will be up and running...

Yard Sale Goodies

It’s not much of a secret that, along with fireflies, camping and the drive-in movie theatre, yard sales are one of my favorite things about summer.

{source}

Justin and I were driving back from the farmer's market last week, and he saw a sign for a yard sale. Now, you and I both know that yard sales are no good after about 8 a.m. because the oldies come out and get all the good stuff before us youngsters are awake. For the second time this summer, however, he convinced me to go anyway, and for the second time this summer we found awesome stuff for not much money. Actually, we found a ton of awesome stuff:

A room-dividing screen thing for $2

Going to replace the fabric…

A queen size down comforter for $1.50

I guess she just...didn't want nice things in her house anymore? o_O

Several stainless steel mixing bowls for $5

Alton Brown would be proud.

Two hand built mugs from an evil stepmother in Mexico for $1

Fun!

Four curtain rods for $5

Not useful now, but hey...why not?

A gas grill for $35

This one is actually going to take a bit of work. …sigh.

A new Kitchenaid stand mixer for $30. 

I'm going to have to sink about $35 into a speed control panel, but this will still be about a fifth of what it would cost in real life. 

A queen size canopy bed frame and drape for $12

I've always wanted a canopy bed. Always. 

There were other odds and ends, but they are already well enough absorbed into the environment that I consider them to have always been here.

Yard sales this weekend were not nearly so good, but we found a like-new electric knife and Uno Attack, each for $2. Not shabby.

Mmmm!

Justin and I are headed to the woods this weekend for his first ever camping trip. A few days ago, I started talking about what supplies we needed to pick up, and he suggested making our own granola bars. I was leery of this, and what we ended up making isn't really in bar form, but it turned out to be totally awesome.

He picked out Alton Brown's recipe and showed me the episode of "Good Eats," and the rest is history.
It's super easy, good for you and pretty cheap! What more could you want, right? Well, besides the recipe...

{source}

Ingredients

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup cashews
• 3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.

Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix until evenly distributed.

--

We used craisins instead of raisins (on purpose) and olive oil instead of vegetable (by accident), and it is amaaaaaazing. Hopefully, we'll even have some left for our trip!

How Thoughtful; How Silly

I freak out a lot lately. About school, mostly.
And I'm not really easy to deal with, but Justin always manages to do something silly to take my mind off of it. Earlier this week, I was upset about something, and he called my name to make me look up. I see this:

This little fella talked to me and told me not to be upset. It's weird what actually works to fix me sometimes.

Justin hurts himself a lot...the mouth on this guy was from an axe-i-dent a few weeks ago...

Tidbits

Man.
Time really flies by when your life consists of sleeping and stressing out about school.

I'm mostly kidding, though after a long Monday, it doesn't really feel like it. Everything bottlenecks on Mondays, lately. Today I had two psych. papers due, a pharmacology quiz to take, a three-hour class to go to (and workbook junk for it) and a test to worry about for tomorrow. Now that it's all over (except for that blasted psych. test), though, it doesn't seem so bad.

Thankfully, fun found its way into the week. I spent too much time photographing the flowers Justin got me for my birthday and trying to photograph his fish (Charlie). Never did get the Charlie pictures quite right...

 

George Clooney Cake

The other day was my twenty-fourth birthday. How strange!

My friend Mary and I once stumbled upon a recipe for something called George Clooney Cake, and lemmetellya, it is my favorite thing that has ever been in my mouth. I'm not much for chocolate desserts or even Mr. Clooney, now that I come to think of it, but this cake...oh, THIS CAKE!!! I decided several months ago that if nothing else got done today, this cake would. 

Since I like recipes and baking so very much and since I almost never get to really make food anymore, I decided to go totally overboard and do a step-by-step entry with pictures. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 cup cold whipping cream
• chocolate curls (optional...sort of)

Destructions

1. 
   

   1

   Heat oven to 425 F degrees Grease bottom of 8-inch springform pan.
2. 
   

   2

   In medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Mmmm...
   
   
   
   
3. 
   

   3

   Add cocoa and 1 cup sugar, stirring until well blended.
   
   
4. 
   

   4

   Remove from heat; cool slightly.
5. 
   

   5

   Stir in flour and vanilla.
6. 
   

   6

   Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. I love this part. Your mixture will thicken up really quickly after about the third yolk...don't panic.
   
   
7. 
   

   7

   In small mixer bowl, beat egg whites with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar until soft peaks form (check out my peaks!); gradually fold into chocolate mixture.
   
   
8. 
   

   8

   Spoon batter into prepared pan.
9. 
   

   9

   Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm (center will be soft).
   
   
10. 
    

    10

    Cool completely on wire rack (cake will sink slightly in center as it cools).
11. 
    

    11

    Remove side of pan. I don't do this, because I usually take the cake somewhere and want the side for extra support. 
12. 
    

    12

    Refrigerate cake at least 6 hours. This is the hardest part. Aaaaaah! Agony!
    
    
13. 
    

    13

    In small mixer bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form; spread over top of cake.
14. 
    

    14

    Cut cake while cold, but let stand at room temperature 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
15. 
    

    15

    Garnish with chocolate curls, if desired. Justin's family looked so excited to eat, that I forgot to take a picture...or even put candles in the darn thing. Oh well...it was still mighty tasty!