The other day, I was really worn out. But since I’m not a coffee drinker, I did the next best thing: I gave myself a shot of this mousse. It’s not alcoholic, but it sure is caffeinated. Be still my heart. Nope, it’s beating too fast for that.

Not only is this the epitome of coffee and chocolate goodness, but there are also chocolate Heath bits through and through. Mousse has never tasted so incredible!

Mousse is definitely a sensitive topic in my family. When I was growing up, one of my brothers didn’t put such a high premium on staying out of trouble. To make matters worse, he had this really bad habit of laughing at my parents whenever they were trying to punish them. I always told him that was a dumb move, but he didn’t seem to care that much.

On the rare occasions when my brother wasn’t wreaking havoc, my mother would reward him by making chocolate mousse. My mom didn’t bake often, so this was quite a treat. He loved chocolate mousse and I guess it was supposed to be a behavior incentive, but it didn’t work in the long term because, you know, kids.

Anyway, I have another brother who always a model of kindness and goodness. He was in trouble, oh, never. So all these years later, he’s still kind of amazed that while the majority of my mother’s children behaved well and never received mousse, my brother got it for being good now and then. It seemed like a great injustice.

And, well, I guess it was. But I’ve learned that it’s impossible to treat your children the same way. They’re different people, and it’s inevitable that they can’t always have the same things. It might come across as unfair, but I think it’s unavoidable.

Besides, my brother can have all the mousse he wants now, because I’ll make it for him! I’ll even make it for the one who didn’t behave. I love them both.

This takes almost no time to whip up, and it’s so nice and cool and light for these hot days. The toffee bits give a delightful crunch amid all the mocha creaminess, and you’ll be very happy. Plus, if you put this mousse in elegant glassware, it becomes the best company dessert ever!

If you want to stall some family squabbles this holiday weekend (or anytime, really), give mousse a try. It might make your kids behave, anyway…for about ten seconds!

There used to be something romantic about snowstorms too, but now that I’m watching Kenny dig us out from two-plus feet of snow while my children destroy the house, I’m not really that into it. I’d much rather have clean streets and be at work, thank you very much.

The good news is, I’ve got these mocha mousse brownie bites to keep me company as the snow refuses to melt and the winds die down. These are pretty much my idea of a perfect Valentine’s dessert. These rich, fudgy brownie bites are topped with a mocha mousse and drizzled with chocolate. If you think it’s rich, you’re right! That’s how I do.

In the D.C. area, people aren’t used to snow. When I first moved here, I was shocked at how a simple dusting could immobilize the entire region for hours, so you can imagine what this huge snowstorm (dubbed Snowzilla in these here parts) has done for the area.

It all began Friday night, and we have yet to see a single snowplow. Our cul de sac is still dusted with twentysomething inches of fresh powder, untouched by person or machine. I’d like to think we’ll be plowed out at some point, but I really have no clue when. In the meantime, the task falls upon me to keep the three little monsters happy. Lucky Kenny gets to go back to work tomorrow in our basement, since he teleworks.

So, any suggestions? I’m looking for snow day ideas that aren’t crazy messy or difficult. We’ll have our baking time, our yoga/fitness time, our movie time, our snow time. But what else can I do? Help me, please. PLEASE.

In exchange, I will bake you marvelousness if you ever come through DC. Really. It’s the least I can do for keeping everyone sane in the big bad storm aftermath.

These bites of decadence might be helping with that sanity a bit, too. When things get rough, I can hide in the closet with a stack of these and a thermos full of Riesling. That’s a pretty good coping strategy, in case you needed one.

If you’ve never made mousse using cream, it’s the easiest and safest way to go without resorting to Cool Whip. Instead of a mousse packed with raw egg, this requires whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Then the mocha gets mixed in (hellooooo, coffee and chocolate) and once the mousse is chilled, you can pipe it onto the brownie bites. It’s elegant as well as satisfying!

Stay tuned, because if they don’t plow us out by Wednesday’s post, I’ll either need more snow day ideas from you or some serious therapy. In the meantime, the digging begins as Valentine’s Day looms ever nearer. Stay warm, everyone!

I’ve gone on for quite a while about how I believe in healthy balance and moderation all year long, and I find January 1st to be quite arbitrary a date to start getting healthy. But hey, who am I to discourage people from being healthier? After all, I’m a fitness junkie. I do barre workouts with religious zeal and fuel up with protein afterward. And this is one of my favorite ways to do it.

Three ingredients: peanut butter, tofu and powdered sugar. Blend. Chill. I’m done! Now can we start talking about the barre again?

Two years ago, I joined the cult of the barre via Physique 57, a super-ritzy program that is nothing short of addictive. If you don’t believe me, head to my basement. You’ll find a healthy assortment of free weights, a so-called “playground ball” that I squeeze between my thighs as I squat and cry, and an actual barre. Yep. I own a barre. Kenny makes endless fun of me for my barre, but I betcha he can’t stand up on the ball of one foot while lifting the other leg in the air and pulsing it endlessly and not falling over.

Last week, Physique 57 was offering a free trial week of their online streaming workouts, so of course, I signed up. I spent my free week grunting and stretching out sore muscles, which is my idea of a good time. But then, my free week ended. And I can’t quite bring myself to pay the $57 monthly fee to online stream the workouts, so I’m back to the land of the DVD. Why does it cost so much? Why, P57?

In the meantime, Kenny has taken up P90X, and his monthly streaming bills are a lot cheaper, so he gets to build his six-pack without guilt. I’m jealous, but not enough to ever leave the barre. Try it sometime! The DVDs are a lot more economically sound than the streaming. But you can stream my videos for free. See?

I’m on YouTube as Just About Baked. Go ahead and subscribe! But don’t be like me. I accidentally hit the “dislike” button on a video I made.

After my long workout (they can go anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the barre DVD I’m using any given day), I need protein. Quickly. Because if you have protein within an hour of strength training, those long and lean muscles can pop out even more!

This pudding is almost pure protein, minus the sugar. It’s made of silken tofu, which liquefies very easily, along with creamy peanut butter and the aforementioned powdered sugar. You pulse those three simple ingredients for less than a minute, and there you have it. Well, after the chilling. The pudding must be chilled.

I’m not gonna lie here; you can taste a trace of tofu in this, but if you like the taste of tofu (which isn’t exactly a taste anyway), it works fine. And the peanut butter is a strong enough flavor to be the main focus. Plus, adding garnish makes the experience more fun. I added chocolate chips in the video above, but you can do whatever. Chopped peanuts, a cocoa powder dusting, or for decadence, chopped peanut butter cups or peanut butter chips. Anything will work!

Make the resolutions you want, and be happy. Just be sure that you already love who you are, and that you aim for balance and not deprivation. I might log in a lot of barre time, but that gives me the strength to get through the day and bake brownies, too. And that’s a goal worth striving for!

So instead, I’ll summarize. Ready? Oreo crust. Mocha mousse filling. Chopped Heath bar garnish.

Can we get some applause here? Maybe a reward of some kind? Actually, eating the pie is its own reward.

This might be one of those days when I’m mainlining pie. See, I just read another Donald Trump quote. Before we get into it, let me just be clear: I’m not talking politics right now. I’m just talking about this one person and his views on women.

We all know that the word “feminist” is loaded, and that’s too bad. It has taken me many years to be confident enough to say, loud and clear, that I am a feminist. If we need to define that, my view is that men and women should be equal. That means that we should be given the same opportunities, be on the same pay scale, and be free from societal double standards. As in, I don’t think that it’s fair to call a man a “player” and a woman a “slut” (pardon my language) when they’re engaging in the exact same behavior.

Enter Donald Trump. He’s on record as referring to women as “bimbos,” “fat pigs,” and “dogs.” He’s been very clear that he subscribes to the ancient idea that women are less intelligent than men. Anyone who truly believes that should probably not be in charge of anything more serious than real estate.

If anyone had made similar comments about men, I’d be up in arms, too. I think all of us deserve fair treatment. Let’s not even get started on Trump’s comments about people who come to America from other countries. He’s sounding scarily racist, and people need to speak out and defend others. It’s not okay to victimize people on the basis of their race or gender. It’s 2015. Get with the program.

And it’s also not too professional for a presidential candidate to be using derogatory or foul language. But I’m picky about language, being an English teacher and all. I know that I never use certain words in the workplace. Maybe he shouldn’t, either.

I have a theory about politics, actually. Here it is: if we all stopped arguing and started eating pie, the world would be a much happier place. Or, you know, dysfunctional. But there would be pie.

This pie is partially no-bake, which is always a lot of fun. The crust is made of Oreos, and then I whip up heavy cream and combine it with melted chocolate and coffee to make a mocha mousse. It’s coffee chocolate heaven. And if you’ve never had Heath bars with coffee (any Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz Ben and Jerry’s eaters out there?), it’s the best flavor pairing ever.

Just be careful, because once you start eating this pie, you probably won’t stop. But that’s okay. It’s much healthier to eat this whole thing under a blanket in the closet than to listen to Donald Trump talk about women. Like he knows anything about us.

Nothing screams Cinco de Mayo more than lime. Or key lime. So I’m doing it up today with this mousse! As it turns out, key lime isn’t just about pie.

This past week has been all about prepping kids for the upcoming AP tests. If you have a teenager in an AP class, you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, then you clearly don’t care. And that’s fine! I didn’t care either, once upon a time.

When I was in high school, I made a choice to put aside overachievement in favor of socializing. You see, I come from a family of academic, high-achieving people, and they are a pretty intellectual bunch. Growing up, I thought I was stupid because I didn’t fit into that construct. It took years for me to understand that I was smart in a different way.

It’s hard to outgrow your childhood, that’s for sure. We all get slotted into roles fairly early in life: the geek, the emotional one, the sweet one. Do we ever stop being those people, deep down? I doubt it.

These roles are often assigned accidentally, but that almost makes it worse. Two kids can’t be the smartest, after all. So one of them inevitably becomes the one who is good with people, or the one who plays a better game of basketball. And unless you’re a very determined or confident person, there you stay, in that role.

I don’t have any answers. As hard as I try not to fit my own kids into roles, I can’t stop certain natural processes. I can only control what I do with dessert. You see, key lime is accustomed to being put into pie. That is key lime’s designated function. And I’ve turned it into mousse!

In case you didn’t hear about my raw egg aversion in this cappuccino mousse post, I make it a point not to make my mousse with egg. Instead, I whip heavy cream into stiff peaks, fold in my flavors, and call it a day. You could use Cool Whip, but the heavy cream tastes a little better. Or a lot, depending on your taste discernment.

This Cinco de Mayo, change up the book a little bit. Don’t be afraid to try a dessert you’ve only known in another role. And don’t be averse to embracing an identity you didn’t grow up with. We can’t stay the people we were as children, for better or worse. So let’s embrace the people we’ve become!

-How does available space get filled so fast?

-Why doesn’t healthy food taste like brownies?

-If a tree falls in the forest and we think there’s nobody to hear, did it maybe crush the one person who was out for an early morning stroll?

-How do you keep small children occupied on endless snow days when you’re all trapped together in the house?

I have very few answers, but the last one has to be projects, projects, projects. Keep those little hands busy!

Everyone’s different, and here’s my confession of the day: I am a better mom when I do the job part-time. In other words, I love my kids, but I also need my teaching job, and not just for the big bucks. It keeps me sane. Teenagers are fun to work with. And it also helps me appreciate my time with little sticky-handed people at home more.

On a recent series of snow days, I enlisted the help of my gang to make these flowerpots. Don’t be alarmed: these pots have never been used for anything but food! Don’t use ones you find in your garden shed. Did I need to say that?

I chose springy colors because, well, a girl can wish. After that, the fun begins! The cookies and cream mousse is simplicity itself. You melt chocolate and fold it into Cool Whip.

Once that’s done, you mix it up well and add crushed Oreos. Stirring is the fun part!

And you have to let everyone have a turn.

Once the mousse is done, you begin filling your flowerpots. You can fill them as high as you like. I dolloped out generous helpings, but then again,  I had a lot of helpers. Not just my own kids, either. Some other kids showed up at some point. I’m not sure how that happens, but my house is a magnet for crumb-crunchers.

Make sure the mousse in the flowerpot is evened out on top before adding your Oreo “dirt.” It looks just like dirt, by the way. Very appetizing.

Then comes your garnish in the form of gummy worms (many of which were eaten in the process of making these, oops) and some lovely floral cocktail sticks. It’s what I had. You can use the same, or be really ambitious and make edible flowers.

The kids got a little too enthusiastic with their garnishes, by the way. But whatevs.

And when they were done, they were proud. And sugared up. And hyper. And I was a puddle on the floor.

But now, faithful readers, I’m back at work, i.e. the magical place where I can go to the bathroom by myself and even (gasp!) finish a sentence. It’s glorious.

Hey, I don’t have any answers. Life is tough and full of puzzling conundrums. But I do know that doing a project with kids is enough to take down even the best of mothers, so I’m proud to be still standing with cookies and cream mousse in hand. I mean, flowerpot.

They need to try this cappuccino mousse. Because if anything will get your dopamine flowing and trigger a happy moment, this is it. Honestly, this mousse is pure wow. And it’s easy.

When we were kids, my brother loved mousse. My mom would make it when he behaved, which wasn’t too often. As a result, the rest of us got kind of annoyed. I mean, we behaved nicely all the time, but we never got mousse. Why was the pain in the neck being rewarded?

Until I got older, mousse to me was about being good. As an adult, I’m happy to report that it’s earned its proper place as an ultimate indulgence, the kind of treat you make when you have a few minutes of silence, a spoon, and a really comfy pair of yoga pants.

What makes this mousse such a standout is that it has a strong mocha punch. You can skip your coffee, or just prepare yourself for the joy of having it in dessert. Once the coffee and chocolate chips are melted together, they get folded into whipped cream. It’s heaven.

Now, I used real cream for this because Valentine’s Day is coming up, and Cool Whip doesn’t really float my romantic boat. But my guess is that this would work, though not as decadently, with Cool Whip.

Once the mousse is done it sets quickly, so be ready to spoon it into any glasses you desire. I put some of mine into cute to-go coffee cups to share with friends, and the rest got stored in my fridge in glass tumblers for maybe two hours before people found and ate it all.

Chocolate and coffee are amazing, and even better in mousse. Whether you’re single or attached this Valentine’s, well-behaved or not, get that happy moment going!

I’m not really sure how to classify this dessert. My grandmother, who taught me how to make it, called it a cake. In fact, she made it for my grandfather’s birthday every year. But darn it, whenever I make it, I just see a pie. So we’ll go with that. Sorry, Grandma.

Whatever you call it, this dessert is fabulous and easy to make. It’s one of those happy recipes that is mind-numblingly simple to create but that will still impress the masses. Impressing your fans is important. You want people to think that you worked so much harder than you did.

If you’ve seen my peanut butter brownie trifle recipe, then you’re familiar with this mousse base. It’s a great solution for people who don’t like to eat traditional mousse because of the raw egg factor but who still want to have that dessert experience. The answer is to combine thawed Cool Whip (in this case, light) along with melted chocolate chips and to let the mixture chill and set.

The pie is made in a springform pan with lady fingers forming the mousse’s crust, or outer shell. Lady fingers are typically stored in your grocer’s bakery section. When I went to my local supermarket, I had to ask the bakery to get some out of the back storage for me. But fear not: they still exist, and you can find them!

How you place the lady fingers is up to you. You need to evenly cut a bit off the bottom of the cookies and then you either put the cut side down to make them sit flat against the pan, or you can flip them the other way for a straight edge. That’s what I did, but my grandmother used to prefer the scalloped edge, so she’d put the cut side down, like this:

Anyway, you line the lady fingers along the sides of the pan, and then you fill in the bottom with your remaining cookies. The spongy texture of the lady fingers absorbs the mousse really well and reminds me a little of ice cream cake.

Once you’ve made your filling and set up the lady finger crust, pour the filling into the pan and then let it chill for at least a few hours, though overnight is better. When the mousse sets, it’s ready to eat!

People will be super impressed with your culinary skills. They’ll think it looks so pretty and impressive, and will never guess how little time you spend making the mousse. And all of that ease and deliciousness will give you more time to do what really matters in life: play with kids, read magazines, take a bath, or just stare into space. Why not?

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
• 16 oz. Cool Whip (I used light), thawed
• 2 packages lady fingers

Instructions:

Line a springform pan with lady fingers, starting with the sides and then filling in the bottom (see post above for more specific instructions).

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips. Heat for two minutes, and then stir. If the chocolate isn’t melted, heat in 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Be careful not to burn the chocolate.

Working in batches, add the Cool Whip gradually to the chocolate, stirring after each addition until the two ingredients are smoothly incorporated. There should be no white streaks in the bowl.

Once the mousse is ready, pour it into your lady finger crust.

Place the mousse in the fridge and chill for several hours or overnight.

Serve when ready! Keep the pie in the fridge when it’s not being served.

Many years ago when I was a sparkly newlywed, someone went off the registry and got us a trifle dish. At first, I was confused. What on earth was this vase-bowl hybrid thingy? But years of experience and some research cleared up my fog. And I learned that trifles are actually quite nice.

More traditional trifles have whipped cream and berries inside of them, but if you’re getting to know me, then you realize that I can’t go without chocolate. Preferably with peanut butter.

So, here’s the kind of trifle I like to make:

It’s a layer of brownies filled with mini peanut butter cups and peanut butter chips followed by layer upon layer of chocolate mousse, peanut butter mousse, peanut butter cups, and of course, more brownies.

It’s a little bit decadent. And when I brought it into work, the interns ripped into its daintiness with giant spoons and decimated the whole thing in thirty seconds flat.  Too bad, because it was so pretty before that.

But hey, better that people enjoy themselves. The only desserts that hang around are the bad ones.

For you peanut butter cup enthusiasts out there, this recipe is lousy with them. They’re in the brownie batter, there are mini cups between the layers, and then I chopped up snack-sized cups in uneven triangles and placed them gently on top along with some brownie crumbles. It’s a happy sea of peanut butter cup goodness.

And the rest of it is pretty easy to make, too. My grandmother taught me how to make mousse with chocolate chips and Cool Whip.  I decided to do the same with peanut butter chips, and that resulted in the alternating mousse layers. It looks like it took forever, but really, it was kind of a breeze.

Which if you think about it, dessert should be. Every now and then I do really detailed recipes, but some of them should be just as easy to make as they are to eat. Or to serve to starving interns.

Sorry, she wanted a close-up.  But now you can see the brownie and mousse in all its glorious detail.

Since this dessert made me so happy, I decided to show you the other thing that makes me happy this week: this orchid.  It’s called an ice cube orchid because you put an ice cube in it once a week and that’s all the care it needs.  For someone who loves flowers but has a hard  time keeping them alive (ahem), that’s pretty user friendly!

Okay, okay, I’m done. For now. Trifle time!

Brownie Layer:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 mini peanut butter cups (I used Reese’s)
• 1/2 cup Reese’s peanut butter chips

Mousse Layers:

• 16 oz. Cool Whip, thawed (can use regular or light)
• 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 4 oz. peanut butter chips

Peanut Butter Cup Layers:

• 1 cup mini peanut butter cups
• 4 snack-sized peanut butter cups, chopped into uneven triangles

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a foil-lined 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.

Combine the melted butter and cocoa until smooth. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly.  Then, add the eggs and vanilla and stir again until the ingredients are incorporated. Add the salt and the flour, stirring until everything is combined. Fold in the peanut butter cups and peanut butter chips.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake until done, about 30 minutes. Do not overbake.

In the meantime, take two microwave-safe bowls and put the chocolate chips in one and the peanut butter chips in the other. Doing one bowl at a time, follow this process: melt the chips in the microwave for two minutes and then stir. Microwave again in 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval until the chips are melted.

Gradually, stir 8 oz. (half the container) of Cool Whip into the bowl, making sure the chocolate and cool whip are fully combined and there are no white streaks.

Once the two bowls of mousse are done, set aside.

When the brownies are out and have cooled enough that you won’t get burned handling them, start making layers. If you have a trifle dish, great. If not, use a pretty bowl.

Crumble a layer of brownie onto the bottom and press it firmly down, making sure the brownie covers the bottom of the bowl.  Then, put on a layer of chocolate mousse and spread it to cover the brownies. Sprinkle on half of the mini peanut butter cups.

Gently crumble on another brownie layer, trying to get as much of the area as possible covered, but do not press down. Cover that with a layer of peanut butter mousse, and then the remaining mini peanut butter cups.

Finally, put on the last brownie layer (you may have a bit left over), using the same method as before. You can take any leftover mousse (chocolate and peanut butter), combine, and use that for your top mousse layer.

Take the chopped peanut butter cups and place evenly over the top layer. If you have leftover brownie, you can crumble that onto the top layer.

Cover the trifle in plastic wrap and chill it overnight. It will be ready to serve the next day!