Swiss Chocolate Almond Parfait ( faux Friendly's sundae)

My husband grew up in Hartford, and he loves going to Friendly's for sundaes. Not just any sundae though, specifically Friendly's Swiss Chocolate Almond Sundaes.  Friendly's is one of the first places we go when we land in Hartford.

Now that you know how much he likes them, you will understand my quest to try to make him variations of his favorite desserts.  I hit on the idea of this parfait, and if I do say so myself, it was delicious.

If you do not know what is in a Swiss Chocolate Almond Sundae, I will describe it for you. It is actually a great sundae. It has vanilla, chocolate, coffee ice cream, swiss chocolate sauce, almonds, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. Simple and easy. So here goes.

Swiss Chocolate Almond Parfait

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

2 boxes vanilla pudding sugar free / fat free

1 box chocolate fudge pudding

6 cups milk

1/2 packet Starbucks instant Italian Decaf Coffee

1 7 oz. Container marshmallow cream

1/3 jar hot fudge sauce

Almonds

Whipped cream

maraschino cherries

Directions

Put one box of vanilla pudding and 1/2 packet instant coffee in a bowl. Stir dry ingredients. Then add 2 cups milk and mix with beaters or a whisk.

This will be your first layer, pour into the bottom of 6 pretty glass dessert bowls or even large wine glasses.

Next make your chocolate pudding according to the package directions. Pour the chocolate pudding in a layer over the coffee pudding.

Next make the vanilla pudding according to the directions, and pour it evenly over the chocolate pudding.

In a separate bowl mix the marshmallow cream with the hot fudge sauce. This is your swiss chocolate sauce. You will probably need to heat the hot fudge sauce for 30 seconds to soften it a little to help it mix a little easier with the marshmallow cream.

Next layer the swiss chocolate sauce over the vanilla pudding. It is really sticky, so you will need to do this carefully.

You will then sprinkle sliced almonds over the layer of swiss chocolate sauce.

Then add you whipped cream and a cherry, and viola!! You have a Swiss Chocolate Almond parfait.

This makes 6 servings.

I hope that you enjoy this dessert. Tell me what your favorite desserts are. I would love to hear from you.

Enjoy!!!

Debi

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Favorite Friday Blog Links Week 9

I can't believe we are already up to week 8 on my favorite blogs of the week.  Time has flown by.  I posted my very first post on April 26th.  It has been almost 3 months since I started writing Adorned From Above.  I am so grateful  to all of you for reading what I write.  I am very appreciative that you keep coming back.

Anyway,  we are on to my favorite posts for this week.  I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do.

This outrageously great recipe is Snickerdoodle Bread like a Warm Toasty Cinnamon Roll from Oxford Impressions.  This just looks so good.  I hope you visit this blog to see what else is there.

Our next post is DIY Peachy Keen Face Cream from Paula Parrish Living A Blessed Life.  This cream looks so wonderful for your skin, and when you read the recipe it gets even better.  Stop by Paula's blog and check out the other things that she is up to.

I love this next post.  It is Super Easy "Screen Print" Dish Towels from Rachael at Lovely Crafty Home.  These are the cutest dish towels, and so easy to make.  Rachael does a great tutorial.  Check out the other things that she is making.

Our last post for the week is Ottoman Upholstery How To from Amy at Aprons and Ambitions.  This is a really cute ottoman, but the tutorial is great.  Amy takes you step by step through upholstering an ottoman.  Take a look at some of her other tutorials, she does a great job.

Well, we are at the end of this weeks favorite blogs.  Tell me about your favorite blogs, I would love to hear from you.

Enjoy!!!
Debi
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Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette from The Pinterest Project and The Leibster Award

 So, I am a lucky lady! Melissa Kaylene from Willamette Valley Wonder Woman nominated me for a Liebster blog award! Terrie told us that "liebster" means "dearest" in German, and its meant for  blogs with less than 200 followers - as a way of encouraging them! <3

So, the rules are:

1. Link back to who gave you the award

2.Post your award on your blog

3.Pass the award on to 5 fellow bloggers with less than 200 followers!

 - and then of course comment on their blog and let them know you've nominated them!

Soooo here are the ladies I've decided to nominate!

1. Linda from With A Blast

2. Wren from For the Love of Lillian 

3.Emma from Intentional Hospitality

4. Amy from A Blossoming Life

5.Erin from Chronic Christian Crafter

- all of these ladies have been kind enough to leave comments and encouraging words on my new blog!

Well I had decided to do a tutorial on this Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette from the Pinterest Project and that has not really worked out that well, so I am just posting a picture of the finished product.  Last week I was downloading pictures one day and the photo editing program on my computer crashed and I actually lost about 70 pictures.  It is a long story, but I had already deleted them from my camera when my computer decided to tell me that Lightroom was not working correctly.  I still had 1/2 jar of the dressing, so I could at least take a picture of the dressing, and give you the recipe.

I did change two ingredients from the original recipe, I used vegetable oil instead of canola, just because I did not have any canola oil in the house, and I used Stevia in the Raw instead of Sugar.  I try not to eat a lot of sugar,  it seems to cause me some inflammation, so I try to substitute Stevia or Splenda for sugar in recipes.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe.  I found it at The Pinterest Project - Vinaigrette To Go

Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 TB stevia
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro in food processor

Mix the lime juice, rice wine vinegar, garlic, sea salt, stevia, oil, and finely chopped chopped cilantro.

This salad dressing is great, and I hope that you enjoy it.  Please let me know what you think.  I would love to hear from you.

Enjoy!!!
Debi
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3 Face Masks from Your Kitchen - Part 2

I first need to remind all of you that last weeks blog hop is a 10 day blog hop.  It will not end until midnight on July 15th, so you can still link up.  Just click on this link to get to the blog hop 3 Face Masks From Your Kitchen - Wednesdays Adorned From Above Blog Hop.

Today I am going to finish with the last 3 face masks, that you can make with food from your kitchen.

Always wash your face before you put these masks on your face.  I also suggest steaming to open your pores first, to get the most out of these masks.

Cream and Almond Meal Mask  -   This is a great mask and really easy.

• Cream has lactic acid which will brighten skin, exfoliate, and hydrate skin.  It is alpha hydroxy acid, in its base form
• Almond meal will also hydrate skin, plus you can use it as a natural exfoliant.

2 TB cream

1/4 cup almond meal

Mix the cream and almond meal together and spread on face.  Gently rub to exfoliate and then leave on skin for 20 minutes.  You can wipe it off with a wet wash cloth and then rinse well with warm water.

Coffee, Honey,  and Jojoba Mask

• Coffee has caffeine in it and it will reduce the puffiness around your eyes and in your face.  It will also brighten complexion and it can reduce the appearance of fine lines.
• Honey is a natural humectant, which means it will draw moisture into your skin
• Jojoba oil is great for its penetrating properties.  It is an oil that is closest to the oil that our skin produces.

1/4 cup coffee grounds

1 TB honey

2 TB jojoba oil

Mix these ingredients together, and put a thin layer on your face.  After 20 minutes gently rub your face to exfoliate, and then rinse with warm water.

The last is Pumpkin, Egg, and Honey Mask

• Pumpkin has natural Alpha Hydroxy Acids which will help with cell turnover which is great for skin rejuvenation.  It is great for acne prone and aging skin.
• Egg whites firms skin, reduces redness and inflamation
• Honey is our go to ingredient because it will draw moisture into your skin.

1/4 cup pumpkin

1 egg white

2 TB honey

Mix ingredients and spread a thin layer on your face and neck.  Leave on for 20 minutes and then rinse off with warm water.

After all of these masks you can use a toner and moisturize as you normally would.

Let me know what your favorite masks are.   I would love to hear what you use from your kitchen.

Enjoy!!!

Debi
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DIY Dish Soap - Flop

My Flop

Now is the time to show one of my flops.  We all have them every once in a while.  Well this is certainly mine.

I have been making the Homemade Liquid Dish Soap - Frugally Sustainable, and it does work.  I would just prefer to make it a little thicker.

This is what I have been having a hard time with.  I have been using and tweaking this recipe for some time, and I thought I finally had it.  I dissolved 3 additional tablespoons of Dr Bonner's castille soap in this last batch.  It was finally thicker, but, and here is the big but, after it cooled it separated.  So now I have white soap floating in my dish soap.

Oh well,  I will keep trying to make a thicker dish soap, but in the meantime the Homemade Liquid Dish Soap from Frugally Sustainable is a really great recipe.

Tell me if you have the secret to making a thicker liquid dish soap.  I would love to hear your solutions to this problem.

Enjoy!!!

Debi
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Footprints Poem - Bible Study

Last week I wrote about knowing that once we have invited God into our hearts, that he is always with us. 

God is so faithful, he will never leave us and never desert us.  I am so grateful for the work that he does in the lives of my family and myself.  He truly works miracles. 

As I was writing last week about how in times of trouble we sometimes forget to rely on God first, I was reminded of the poem called Footprints, so, I wanted to put that in today for all of you.  I believe that this poem shows how even if we are right with God, we can misconstrue his motives.  We need to learn to trust in him at all times, because he is so faithful.

FOOTPRINTS

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish,
sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints,
so I said to the Lord,
“ You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,
“ The years when you have seen only one set of footprints,
my child, is when I carried you.”

--Author Mary Stevenson--

I really love this poem.  We all have difficult times in our lives, and I am so grateful that during those trying times God is carrying me.

Let me know what you think of this poem.  I have relied on it during some of the most trying times in my life.  (divorce, death of a parent, a child in the front lines of Afghanistan)  Tell me about the times you have relied on God to get you through.

Have a blessed day!!!

Debi

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Cherry Creek Farmers Market Photo Series 4

I really enjoy taking pictures at farmers markets.  I love everything about them; the colors, textures, the variety of foods, and even the signs with the names of the businesses.

The colors are so vibrant and beautiful.  The textures are amazing, whether its a shiny tomato, a rough potato.  There are soft textures of fabric or the hard outside of pottery.  It all gives me a sense of excitement, because it excites all of my senses.
 

 

 It is not just the food and the clothing and the pottery and the baskets,  it is also the colors of the signs and the fonts on them.

I love the creativity of these people.  I adore looking at the food that the food trucks prepare.  They sell everything for a wonderful meal at the farmers market.  They have lemonade, sandwiches, soup, coffee, bread, gyros, and even jambalaya.  It is an amazing smorgasbord of delectable treats.

I hope that you have enjoyed this photo series.  Tell me about your local farmers markets.  I love hearing from you, and what you have to say.

Enjoy!!!
Debi