Fabulous recipes!

Sweet potato and brie flatbread

1 pound frozen pizza dough, thawed (I use the whole wheat dough from Trader Joe's)

a little flour or cornmeal for the baking sheet

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

8 sprigs fresh time, chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil (I think I used a little less and it was plenty!)

2 tsp red wine vinegar

4 oz Brie, sliced (I don't know how many ounces the wedges are at Joe's but one wedge is enough).

Heat oven to 400 (on our Verano oven, 375 is plenty hot). Shape the dough into a large oval and place on a flour-dusted baking sheet. In a medium bowl, toss the sweet potato, onion, thyme, oil, vinegar, and a little salt and pepper. Scatter over the dough. Bake for about 15 minutes till the sweet potatoes are tender. Take out, place the slices of Brie over the top, and return to oven for another 5-10 minutes till potatoes are done and cheese is melted.

And now for dessert...

Flourless Chocolate Cake (WARNING: DUE TO THE SCRUMPTIOUSNESS OF THIS CAKE, YOU MIGHT LOSE YOUR ABILITY TO PORTION-CONTROL)

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter (See, that's why it's so delicious!)

1/4 cup cocoa powder, plus more for the pan

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

8 oz bittersweet chocolate chips

5 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup confectioners sugar (optional)

Heat oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch springform cake pan and dust with cocoa powder. In a medium saucepan, heat the butter with 1/4 cup cream over medium-low heat until the butter is melted. Add the chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and cocoa powder; whisk in the chocolate mixture. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until puffed and set, 35-40 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 1 hour (if you're patient enough to do so; I can never wait more than 15 minutes). Dust the cake with confectioners sugar if you like.

Using an electric mixture, beat the 1 cup of heavy cream with 1 Tbsp white sugar until soft peaks form. Serve the cake with the whipped cream.

Let me know if you try the recipes and if your tastebuds dance as much as mine do when I make them.

Day of Fasting and Prayer for Chad

Chad and I are going to have a day of fasting and prayer this Wednesday for him to find a job. Please join us in praying that God will provide an academic job for Chad by the end of the month, preferably a tenure-track position.

There are several different kinds of fasts: a full fast all day, a 12-hour fast (e.g. 6 am to 6 pm), a fast where you eat one normal meal alongside two small meals or snacks (collations), etc. Since I am nursing, I will be doing a modified fast. If you are not able to fast, consider giving up something that day (coffee, chocolate...)

Pray also for all the unemployed people in our nation who are struggling to find work.

Thank you in advance for joining us in this day of prayer! Together, we will make a loud shout to God to provide something for our family.

Six Confessions ... and an excuse for every single one of them

1. I don't return shopping carts to the cart return unless there's one close to my car. I'm not going to load my kids and the groceries into the car and then walked half a mile to return the cart. It just ain't happenin'. If they want me to put the carts back, they need to make more cart return places in the parking lot.

2. I don't clean out the lint traps in the dryer when my load is finished. There seems to be an unspoken rule in our laundry room that you don't have to clean out the lint trap when your load is done because you've had to clean out someone else's lint before you put your load in. I feel it is unnecessary to clean out lint twice. If everyone started cleaning out their own lint when they're done with their laundry, it would be better. But how to make that happen?

3. I listen to pop music ... that's right, the kind of stuff they play on Kiss FM. Like Justin Beiber, J. Lo, and Katy Perry. Okay, I don't have an excuse for this one.

4. I love to watch shows like E! News and Bridezillas. Chad says they destroy my soul, but they're just so darn entertaining.

5. I pick my nose. Sometimes, you just got to use a finger to get out those pesky boogs when there's not a kleenex within arm's reach.

6. I made a flourless chocolate cake last week and ate a fourth of it in one night. But before you judge, it's not a 9x13 cake; it's made in a springform cake pan, and it's also not very thick, so a fourth is less than you think. But it's still a lot. It's just SO DARN good. It's the best flourless chocolate cake recipe in the world, and it's better than brownies.

If you would like to post a confession here, I'd love to hear it. The juicier and more scandalous, the better!