Dessert Archives - TechyDad

A Doctor Who/Dole Whip-seeking/Mini-Golfing/Chocolate-Cakey Birthday

August 5, 2013 TechyDad Birthday, Dessert, Doctor Who, Geeky Pursuits

Saturday was my birthday. I awoke a 38 year old thinking about how far I’ve come. Ten years ago, I was a father to be. Six years ago, I had just become a father for the second time a few months prior. In that time, I’ve done my part to raise my boys to be just as geeky as I am. Sure enough, the presents that B and the boys got me were definitely geeky.

That’s a sonic screwdriver, mini-TARDIS, and a Dalek bookmark. I wasted no time putting the batteries in my new sonic screwdriver and trying it out. A few seconds after that, the kids were trying it out as I desperately tried to get it back. JSL has now declared that HE wants a sonic screwdriver. Though we probably won’t buy him one (he’s got enough toys right now), B might try knitting or crocheting one for him. There are a lot of patterns online for sonic screwdrivers.

After the gifts, we ate a quick breakfast at home and went to the local mall. I had heard the previous day that Menchie’s frozen yogurt was offering Dole pineapple flavor. Disney fans know this as Dole Whip: A frozen creation that no trip to Disney World or Disney Land is complete without. In fact, the only place you can get Dole Whips were the two Disney parks and the Dole factory. And now Menchie’s.

We stopped by and – after eating lunch to give the lines for the grand opening time to die down a bit – looked inside. It looked amazing, but there was no Dole Whip. Luckily, the manager was there and mentioned that he did have the Dole pineapple mix in the back – it just wasn’t one of their weekly flavors. He also had no clue what a big deal Dole Whips were. We gave him our card and he said he’d definitely update his Facebook page to let us know when the pineapple goodness is available. (Check the Menchie’s by you. If they have Dole Pineapple… GET IT!!!! You’re welcome.) We’ll be headed back there another day.

After that, we headed to FunPlex Fun Park in East Greenbush. Here, we mini-golfed 18 pirate themed holes. The boys had a blast avoiding sharks and hitting their balls through wrecked ships.

When we were done golfing, we picked up a cake for me, went out to dinner, and then went to B’s parents house to have dessert. I picked out a "7th Heaven" cake from Price Chopper.

Price Chopper describes this as:

Four chocolate layers filled with whipped ganache and Hershey’s icing. Melted ganache is drizzled over Hershey’s whipped topping. Garnished with chocolate spaghetti and rosettes for a real slice of heaven.

And this WAS a slice of heaven. By all rights, this much chocolate should be overly sugary and too much chocolate. But it works. Even non-chocoholic B loved it. It was a little bit more than the basic cakes, but it was well worth it.

Oh, and my in-laws got me a wonderful Doctor Who shirt.

It was a wonderful way to start the day. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.

Wordless Wednesday: Birthday Date Night At The Melting Pot

August 1, 2012 TechyDad Birthday, Dessert, Food, Photos, Wordless Wednesday

Cooking With TechyDad: Love Of Cookie Dough

June 19, 2012 TechyDad Books, Cooking, Dessert, Photos

Cookie dough has a special place in our hearts. We all love eating cookies and have been known to sneak the occasional cookie dough nibble. Of course, any food safety expert could tell you that this is a no-no. Cookie dough invariably contains eggs and eating eggs without cooking them is basically putting a giant welcome mat in front of your insides for salmonella to enter. So the lure of the cookie dough is always tempered by the knowledge that one heavenly bite now could lead to days of pain and suffering later.

Enter The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook: Cookies, Cakes, Candies, and More by Lindsay Landis (aka LoveAndOliveOil). Now, I haven’t actually read this book (yet), so don’t consider this a review. However, Lindsay has released a few of her recipes via her blog and other blogs that were giving away copies of her book. I tried the Cookie Dough S’mores recipe. Minus the S’mores part. So just cookie dough. Delicious, salmonella-risk-free cookie dough!

First you gather your ingredients:

That’s milk, brown sugar, white sugar, butter, salt, vanilla, and flour. First, you put the butter (at room temperature) and the sugars in a bowl together. Use an electric mixer to combine them. NOTE: I forgot the brown sugar at this point, I realized my mistake after the next step and added it then. Fortunately, the recipe seems very flexible to minor mistakes.

Once the butter and sugars are creamed, add in the milk and vanilla and mix that in. Next, add the flour and salt and mix this together.

Now for the final ingredient. For those of you keeping track, you’ll notice that I’ve used all of the ingredients. However, I left out one very important secret ingredient.

Mini-chocolate chips!

Add these to your batter and stir to combine.

At this point, you could use this cookie dough in any of a dozen different ways. Or, if you are like my family, you can channel your inner Cookie Monster, shout "Cooooookie dough!" and devour it! (Om nom nom nom nom.)

Want some? Here’s a spoonful.

What’s that? You can’t eat cookie dough through a computer screen? Oh well, more for me!

We will definitely be purchasing Lindsay’s book at which time I will prepare so many cookie dough recipes that even my kids will be sick of cookie dough! (Ok, let’s be honest, they’ll never get sick of cookie dough!)

The #DisneySMMoms Report: Swashbuckler Soiree

May 15, 2012 TechyDad Dessert, Disney, DisneySMMoms, DisneySMMoms2012, Food, Fun, Photos, Travel

Note: To see all of my posts on DisneySMMoms 2012, go here.

After we left the introductory cocktail reception, I headed over the the beach near the Yacht Club. (B and I had actually gotten separated during the Adventures By Disney.) There, I found B, her parents, and the kids.

We were each given a bandana (which some of us fastened around our heads pirate-style) and drinks were offered with cool light-up "ice" cubes.

As we entered, we were serenaded by a pirate band and the centerpieces on our tables included a treasure chest. (NOTE: We didn’t try digging up the beach looking for buried treasure. That’d be bad form.) Even the food was being guarded by a pirate.

Luckily, the pirate food guard didn’t mind us chowing down on some grub. And what food there was! A feast fit for a Captain (Hook)!

Many of the dishes had a decent kick to them. Not burn your mouth spicy, mind you. Disney wasn’t trying to get us to soak our mouths’ in the nearby waterway. The food did have a spiciness about it that felt perfectly appropriate for a pirate party. After all, what pirate would choose to eat bland food?

This wasn’t even all of the food, mind you. There was also a kids table with corn (a non-spicy version), hamburgers, hot dogs, fruit, and, of course, Mickey-roni and Cheese.

Of course, there were plenty of people to meet. I had finally met Rene Syler (aka Good Enough Mother) in person at the cocktail reception, but we took the opportunity to have our photo taken.

(Hmmm…. Is that dadarocks in the background checking his smartphone? I believe so!)

See this calm looking spot over here?

Well, it wasn’t calm for long. They called all the kids over and started playing some pirate games.

Yes, those are hooks on their hands. Just like a certain Captain had. Speaking of whom, he made an appearance with Smee and Jake. Sharkey and Bones couldn’t make it – I think they were busy cleaning the Jolly Roger – but a pair of singing pirates helped get the kids dancing.

Finally, there were amazing desserts including a fantastic bananas foster and, of course, Mickey Ice Cream Bars.

With the sun setting and the kids getting tired, we headed off of the sand for some much needed sleep. It was a long, but very fun day at Disney World and our trip was just getting started.

Disclaimer: We paid for our own trip to Disney World to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Though we were given an incredible deal from Disney, they never asked us to blog about this event. All opinions expressed above are my own.

Aloha Friday: A Disney Valentine’s Treat

February 17, 2012 TechyDad Aloha Friday, Cooking, Dessert, Disney, Food, Photos

Before Valentine’s Day, B purchased a Valentine’s Day treat for the boys. Given their love of Disney, this treat hid a special surprise. Can you see the special hidden character?

Yes, these are Hidden Mickey Valentine’s Day cookies!

My Aloha Friday question for today is: What special Valentine’s Day treats did you have?

P.S. If you haven’t already, go visit FollowerHQ and let me know what you think of my Twitter application.

P.P.S. For a bit of fun, try my other Twitter Application, Rout. It’s a +F in Fun!

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #126

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