It's True!

We are expecting our second baby November 1. We are so excited to welcome a new little one into our family! Here are the ultrasound pictures we got at our first appointment. They really are not good pictures at all but it is proof that there is a baby in there. 

Our trip to Idaho

Do two halves make a whole?

I ran my second half marathon last weekend. It was called the Shamrockin' Half Marathon in Sacramento.  It was a lot of fun. I finished in 2 hours and 7 minutes. That's 6 minutes faster than the one I ran in November. I'm thinking about doing another one in May so maybe I can get under 2 hours then. We'll see.

Here's what we've been up to lately...

Not a whole lot has been happening in the Andersen home lately, which is both good and bad. I have been training for another half marathon and taking an art history class. Daniel has been working hard on preparing taxes at work and Marston has just been growing growing growing. We took a day and drove out to the coast to Point Reyes (a national park just above San Francisco). It was a beautiful day and really nice to get out of the house. 

We are happy and enjoying life and looking forward to our trip to Idaho in a couple of weeks. 

Marston's Room Progress

It's taken us a really long time to get this far but here's what we did last weekend in Marston's room. I finished painting and Daniel put up the chair rail. We decided not to go with bead-board because we don't have the right tools and it is more expensive. I think it turned out beautiful without it anyway. This weekend we are going to finish up the room with crown molding. Wish us luck.

The color blue

The next project I want to start is decorating Marston's room. This is my vision so far; 4 feet high b-board in white then a dark blue wall and finished with a white crown molding. The trick is to find the right color of blue. I have narrowed it down to 3 shades of blue. When I put them all on the wall, the color dusk (the far left color) looks really gray but alone it has more of a dark blue feeling. Perhaps it is too mature for a child's room. Still undecided and would love any input. What do you think?

French Chocolate Mousse

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe. I have been wanting to try my hand at mousse making for a long time now. I looked at several different mousse recipes and decided to try one from Tyler Florence. First of all, I love Tyler Florence. I have tried many of his recipes and all of them have been absolutely delicious. This one was surprisingly easy to prepare and a perfect ending to any meal. It has the sophistication of a fancy restaurant dessert but easy enough for any common cook to make. I do have one question that I have not yet come to a conclusion; what makes this mousse French?

French Chocolate Mousse

Food Network-Tyler Florence

6 ounces semisweet baking chocolate

3 TBSP butter

3 eggs, separated

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar

1/2 heavy whipping cream, cold

1/2 tsp vanilla

Place chopped chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan over simmering water (double boiler). Melt chocolate and butter stirring with a wooden spoon until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add the egg yolks 1 by 1, beating with a whisk. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

In another chilled bowl, beat heavy cream until it thickens. Add 2 TBSP sugar and vanilla. Continue to beat until it holds soft peaks.

Gradually and gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Then carefully and very gently fold in cream. Be careful not to over work the mousse. Divide mousse into small glasses. Cover and chill for several hours.