Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies

This past Saturday was Tony's pot-luck holiday party.  With his famous Key Lime Pie already on the menu, we were trying to decide on another dessert to bring.  Pinterest strikes again! And Tony thinks it's a useless website, tsk tsk.  Well moments later I found  this recipe.  With some help from my ass groove Tony was able to make some damn tasty brownies!

Pumpkin Mousse with Maple Creme Fraiche

I wasn't sure what I could do with half a cup of canned pumpkin leftover from my pumpkin and white chocolate bars, but this recipe sounded too good not to try: pumpkin mousse with maple creme fraiche.

While not particularly difficult, you should probably get your whisking arm and several bowls ready, as the mousse has 3 different ingredients that get a thorough whisking: egg yolks, egg whites, and cream. 

The recipe was quite tasty- the maple creme fraiche (which is like a super thick sour cream to me) was the kicker- so good!  Without it I think the mousse may have been a little bland despite all the spices, but together they were great.  I didn't make the gingersnaps as directed in the recipe, but instead crumbled some butter/almond cookies on top.  Also, I made a half recipe and was able to fill 3 dessert glasses with it (luckily, because I dropped one of them and still had two left for me and Tim!), so I think you could get six desserts out of the full recipe.

Chocolate Mousse

Haven't thought of anything to make for Valentine's Day?   Protesting Valentine's Day, yet still want something chocolatey and delicious?  This chocolate mousse is super quick and easy, with very few ingredients.  Put it in a wine glass or whatever fancy looking dish you have and you're golden, valentine or not.

Me, I decided that my nonexistent V-day plans ("Happy valentine's day, Tim!  I splurged on imported ground beef from Australia!") needed to be perked up, so I looked through the fridge and realized that I had all of the ingredients for the Other Martha's chocolate mousse... mmmm.  

Not sure I used bittersweet chocolate.  The Indonesian chocolate packaging is a little bit vague about its cocoa content.  Maybe it was semi-sweet?  Delicious nonetheless.  I made a half recipe and it was 2 big servings.