Utah Was Surprising

When I was in elementary school, learning US geography, Utah was one of the states I had the most trouble placing on the map. I could never remember the order of all those little fiddly bits on the East coast, either... but Utah?! It's huge! I wish I could remember exactly what I said when I first heard that, for our family vacation this year, we were going to Utah. It's not a state I had ever been to before, so check one off on my list I guess. Still, it wasn't a state I ever thought I needed to see. What's the big deal about Utah? Mormons, you say? So what?

"We're going to be staying in Park City." When I learned that our resort was right by the Olympic park from the 2002 Winter Olympics, my attitude wasn't much improved, honestly. I couldn't really imagine what would be interesting about a has-been sports park turned into a tourist attraction. My feelings about that haven't really changed, and I would never want to live in Utah, but I did find love for the largest state I had hardly thought about before.

Utah is beautiful. Salt Lake City is basically just a city. It's on a surprising flat piece of land surrounded by foothills and plateaus. It's all of the stuff around Salt Lake City that is beautiful.

On our vacation, we made time for horseback riding and shooting, both in striking, but very different, landscapes. We also did less rural things like watching a fourth of July parade, going to the zoo, and the obligatory visit to the Olympic park. Most of those activities were shared with family members we don't get to see more than a few times each year (some we see even less). And, at the end of each day, we all went home to two cottages we shared with those same people we love.

There was some trouble with planning this year. With twenty-something people, including eight kids, it's really more noteworthy when there aren't planning issues. I mean, I sometimes feel like I need a manager and personal assistant and I only have the four kids. Some of us have a lot of wrangling to do before we can get out the door, while others might not understand that struggle. Some of us are a little less schedule oriented than others. Plus, I think staying in two separate cottages complicated communication. In the end, I don't think it matters because we all had a good time.

Tiny Pies

Here is yet another recipe I'm crazy excited to share with you (because I could probably eat all twenty-four in one night if I didn't have plenty of people to share with). Miniature fudge-cream pies. Look how cute they are! If you like dark chocolate, these are a huge win, and not very difficult to make.

Mini Fudge-Cream Pies

Makes 24 mini-muffin-size pies

Total time about 48 minutes
Time to cook: 18 minutes

Prep time about 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup of unsalted butter, softened (two sticks)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate (comes in bars, sectioned into squares. I bought two, 4-oz bars)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 oz frozen whipped topping (thawed. more if you want to go crazy with the whipped topping)

Instructions

When I first read this recipe, I decided to put off making it because it sounded like a lot of work. Make the crust. Form the crust. Bake the crust. Press the crust. Bake the crust again. What kind of magic, bored and lonely housewife do you think I am?! But I promise it's worth it... in part because the results are delicious, but also because it's not nearly as tedious as it sounds. 

Crusts

1. Preheat your oven to 350. 
2. Coat a mini-muffin tin (the kind with 24 tiny cups) with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Beat butter and sugar until well combined. (You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer. This is basically a less-sweet sugar cookie crust you're making)
4. Mix in flour and salt until dough ball is formed. 
5. Make 24 dough balls, about 2 teaspoons in size.
6. Press one dough ball into the bottom of each mini-muffin cup and spread the dough up the sides of the cups a bit. 
7. Bake for 10 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and press center of each crust with a spoon. (I do not recommend using your finger. I used a plastic measuring spoon and it got a little uncomfortably hot in the bowl of it)
9. Return pan and crusts to the oven for 6-8 minutes, until edges start to brown.
10. Remove from oven and let cool while you make the delicious filling!

Filling

1. Load your chocolate and milk into a large, microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals until chocolate is totally melted. (this only took two microwave sessions for me)
2. Let melted chocolate mixture cool for 10 minutes.
3. Stir in vanilla and 1-1/2 cups of thawed, whipped topping. 

Combine

1. Scoop (or pipe with a piping bag if you're really ambitious) chocolate mixture into the crust cups, while they're still in the pan.
2. Scoop (or, again, pipe...) a bit of the remaining whipped topping on top of each pie.
3. Scatter some chopped chocolate, or sprinkles, or... whatever... on top of your adorable pies.
4. Remove from the pan and serve immediately or store, covered, in the fridge.