2012: our year in review

looking back over the past year, it's hard to believe that so much has happened in the last 12 months.  here are a few highlights from this past year . . .

in january, we rang in the new year with our family.  we adopted a kitten named leko, who we fell in love with immediately.  we celebrated my birthday, and our family met leko for the very first time.  we got snowed in and we re-watched all of the old episodes of the office too.

in february, we had a super bowl party by ourselves (here and here).  we celebrated valentine's day at home with leko (and he tried lobster for the first time).  we reorganized our bedroom closet with the help of our handy little kitten, and we celebrated fat tuesday with our friend kelly.

in march, we took leko on his first road trip.  we went to the philadelphia international flower show with my parents (here and here).  we traveled to north carolina with ryan's parents for ryan's sister-in-law's baby shower, and we celebrated ryan's mom's birthday.

in april, i passed my doctoral dissertation defense presentation!  we celebrtated easter with our family.  we got our exercise when we biked the lackawanna river heritage trail, we hiked around promised land state park, and we hiked with our friend kelly.  ryan's brother and sister-in-law had a baby boy too.

in may, i graduated with my doctoral degree!  we celebrated my graduation with our family, and i got a digital slr camera (which i totally and completely love).  we made another trip to north carolina with ryan's parents to meet our nephew for the first time.  we took a trip to quiet valley living historical farm with my parents too.

in june, we took a cruise to haiti, jamaica, and mexico.  it was amazing!  we celebrated father's day, and we went strawberry picking at a local farm.  we celebrated ryan's parents' 40th wedding anniversary too.

in july, we celebrated the fourth of july at home with sparklers.  we biked on local trials, we lounged in the pool, ate lots of ice cream, and we went biking at two local state parks (here and here).  we celebrated ryan's grandmother's 91st birthday, and we walked around lake scranton with ryan's parents.

in august, we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary by having dinner at the location where we were married.  we spent a weekend at point pleasant beach (here and here).  we went to the county fair, and we celebrated ryan's birthday clam bake style.  we traveled to north carolina with ryan's parents again to visit our nephew (here and here).  we went raspberry and blackberry picking at a local farm, and we visited a butterfly house with my parents too.

in september, we celebrated labor day with my parents.  we took a trip to the west end fair, and we made our annual trip to la festa italiana where we ate too much and watched the fireworks.  my parents created a memorial walkway, and we finally bought a new computer!  we celebrated leko's first birthday with a little party, and we went apple picking.  we said goodbye to our dear nade-kitten, and we took a trip to roba family farms with my parents too.

in october, i traveled to florida to attend a conference for work all by myself.  my blog turned one year old!  we took a trip to sight and sound with ryan's parents, and we celebrated my parent's 32nd wedding anniversary too.  we visited a local apple cider mill, and we took a trip to binghamton, new york.  we carved pumpkins (with the help of leko) and we had a happy halloween.

in november, we celebrated my dad's birthday.  we took a trip to new york city and while we were there, we explored the american museum of natural history.  we ate way too much on thanksgiving.  we went to a surprise 98th birthday party for my great-great aunt, and i got a new pair of glasses.

in december, leko rediscovered his love for climbing our christmas tree all over again.  we celebrated christmas early with ryan's brother and his family, and we celebrated my mom's birthday too.  we decorated a graham cracker house (instead of a gingerbread house), we got to include leko in our annual photo christmas card for the very first time, and we had a very merry christmas.

i hope everyone had a great 2012!

happy new year!

love, laurie

. . .

(you can see 2011 in review here)

mom's tiramisu (a christmas day tradition)

christmas day is so special to us, not just because it is a holiday, but because we got engaged on christmas day several years ago.  after ryan proposed to me, we had tiramisu for dessert.  it has always been one of our favorite desserts, and we have made it a tradition each year since then to have tiramisu for dessert on christmas day.

my mom made the tiramisu for dessert the year we got engaged, and keeping with tradition, she made it again for dessert this year as well.  as always, she did such an awesome job!  my mom's tiramisu is so delicious, and it brings back so many great memories too!

mom's tiramisu
prep time: 10-15 minutes
cooking time: 8-10 minutes
refrigeration time: 6-12 hours
yields: 10-12 servings

ingredients:
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
16 oz. mascarpone cheese
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup cold decaffeinated coffee/espresso
25-30 lady fingers
cocoa powder

directions:
in a double boiler, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, and sugar.  heat the mixture until thickened, stirring often (about 8-10 minutes).  remove the mixture from the heat.  pour the mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer, and add the mascarpone cheese and vanilla.  beat well until no lumps remain (about 2-3 minutes).  in a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream with a hand mixer until thickened into whipped cream.  gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone cheese mixture until it is completely incorporated.  (be careful not to over mix, or the cream mixture will deflate.)  set the cream mixture aside.

pour the cold coffee into a shallow bowl and quickly dip the lady fingers into coffee.  (be careful not to over saturate the lady fingers, or they will be too soggy.)  place the moist lady fingers around the edge and around the bottom of a 9-inch round spring-form pan.  dust the lady fingers with cocoa powder.  spoon half of the cream mixture evenly over the lady fingers.  add a second layer of moist lady fingers, followed by a second layer of the cream mixture.  dust the top layer of the cream mixture with cocoa powder.  chill the tiramisu for several hours (or overnight) before serving in order to let the flavors blend together.

enjoy!

love, laurie