there's a magnetic force, i tell ya!

the force just pulls me into starbucks everyday! day 1: grand opening, i had to go! day 2: just went to buy earl grey tea and passion tea and some coffee benas. day 3: chris and i had hot chocolate and just sat and chatted, something we hardly ever do. it was nice :-) day 4: my mom came by to help w/my curtain issues, and then we sat and had a latte.

today i'm trying out two new recipes. first up, tara's butter tarts. i'm having some relatives over for coffee and dessert tomorrow night, so i thought i'd try to do something in advance. if it failed, i would still have time to buy something tomorrow :-) i love butter tarts so much, and now that i have the recipe, it could be tempting to make them every day! i noticed right away that i'm not much of a baker.....i don't think i pressed the base enough, and when i brought it out of the oven, it was cracking. yikes! so i poured the topping, hoping it would seal in the cracks! it's like magic, i tell ya! the tarts tured out great! mind you they're actually more like butter tart squares. thanks for sharing the recipe, tara! i think i might have added too much brown sugar to the topping.....when it called for "packed sugar" i really squashed it into my measuring cup. so i made a second batch and just lightly filled the cup. i'm so excited about my new experience right now. the last time i made any attempt at baking was probably w/my grandma when i was about 10 years old. check it out...

cooking adventure #2 will follow later. stay tuned!