It has been almost two weeks ago since we had our first guests in our home, but I wanted to share with ya'll!! My mom had visited a while back after we had only been in the Valley a couple of weeks, so the house was not unpacked and she helped me organize and unpack most of the time. But, a couple weeks ago we had our real first guests. It was really exciting and I am finding that I love to entertain. My friend Mandy from A&M lives here in the Valley and I have been so thankful to have a friend here. We don't see each other as often as I would like because she is working a lot, but I am always so grateful when we can. Mandy and her boyfriend Joe came over for dessert and to play a game. We were able to introduce Joe to Apples to Apples and to eat some yummy dessert.
Mandy and I
Ryan and Joe
Mandy and I
Ryan and JoeI also made some dessert that we loved!! It is called Toffee Bars and I thought I would share the recipe!
Toffee Bars
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/3 cup chocolate covered toffee pieces (like Heath Bar)
1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in flour and salt until combined.
2. Spread dough evenly in an ungreased 13x9 baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until edges begin to brown and surface is dry. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate pieces. Let stand about 2 minutes or until chocolate is softened; spread evenly. Sprinkle with walnuts and toffee pieces. Cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cut into bars.
I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to share of what the toffee bars look like, but they were so good! We added more toffee pieces on top than it says and more nuts because we wanted it to be extra crunchy. It was a really easy dessert to make. The top of the bars started to melt and so my sweet husband put them in the freezer to help it harden. We forgot about them and they were frozen solid when Mandy and Joe got there. Ryan kept telling me it would be ok, but I was so upset that the dessert was ruined. Well, I should have trusted my husband. The bars warmed up and they were delicious. Ryan is so sweet to me. So, you should all make these sometime!
I thought in honor of our first guests in our house I would share with you some pictures of our first home. We are renting this little duplex in Edinburg and have loved it. It is small, but it is so nice and such a blessing to have a nice place to live. We have a very nice little family from Mexico that lives directly across from us- they are so cute and have a little baby boy named Dante. We also have an Asian couple that lives next to us that are very nice- they have been playing their techno music/singing karaoke lately and that has been really funny. So, it is a good place to live. We don't know how long we will be here, but right now it is perfect for us. So, here is our house...
The view from the front door
The view from the back door
Our little living room area
Notice the picture collage on the wall. I made a wall hanging out of plywood and some fabric to add some color to the wall because we can not paint.
Our dining room area
We have a galley style kitchen, so this is half of it. Check out the nice granite counter tops! There is granite in the kitchen and both of the bathrooms.
And this is the other half
To the left is the guest bathroom, straight ahead is the guest room/office and to the right is our bedroom.
The guest bathroom
The guest room/office. We are making a headboard this weekend for the bed, so I will have to post pictures of that soon!
Our bedroom. We had to be creative to add some color to the wall. We found some fabric and my mom made a wall hanging to put on a curtain rod. It is hard to see the pattern, but it is a tan and light blue damask that coordinates with our bedding colors.
Our bathroom
Toffee Bars
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/3 cup chocolate covered toffee pieces (like Heath Bar)
1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in flour and salt until combined.
2. Spread dough evenly in an ungreased 13x9 baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until edges begin to brown and surface is dry. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate pieces. Let stand about 2 minutes or until chocolate is softened; spread evenly. Sprinkle with walnuts and toffee pieces. Cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cut into bars.
I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to share of what the toffee bars look like, but they were so good! We added more toffee pieces on top than it says and more nuts because we wanted it to be extra crunchy. It was a really easy dessert to make. The top of the bars started to melt and so my sweet husband put them in the freezer to help it harden. We forgot about them and they were frozen solid when Mandy and Joe got there. Ryan kept telling me it would be ok, but I was so upset that the dessert was ruined. Well, I should have trusted my husband. The bars warmed up and they were delicious. Ryan is so sweet to me. So, you should all make these sometime!
I thought in honor of our first guests in our house I would share with you some pictures of our first home. We are renting this little duplex in Edinburg and have loved it. It is small, but it is so nice and such a blessing to have a nice place to live. We have a very nice little family from Mexico that lives directly across from us- they are so cute and have a little baby boy named Dante. We also have an Asian couple that lives next to us that are very nice- they have been playing their techno music/singing karaoke lately and that has been really funny. So, it is a good place to live. We don't know how long we will be here, but right now it is perfect for us. So, here is our house...
The view from the front door
The view from the back door
Our little living room area
Notice the picture collage on the wall. I made a wall hanging out of plywood and some fabric to add some color to the wall because we can not paint.
Our dining room area
We have a galley style kitchen, so this is half of it. Check out the nice granite counter tops! There is granite in the kitchen and both of the bathrooms.
And this is the other half
To the left is the guest bathroom, straight ahead is the guest room/office and to the right is our bedroom.
The guest bathroom
The guest room/office. We are making a headboard this weekend for the bed, so I will have to post pictures of that soon!
Our bedroom. We had to be creative to add some color to the wall. We found some fabric and my mom made a wall hanging to put on a curtain rod. It is hard to see the pattern, but it is a tan and light blue damask that coordinates with our bedding colors.
Our bathroomWell, that is our house and I am so glad to share it with ya'll! If you ever want to visit The Valley, you are always welcome to stay with us! Now, I am off to lunch with my husband!
your house looks great! We also just had our first guests a couple weeks ago... just hanging out a watching football - it was definitely fun!
ReplyDeleteNice pictures! The toffee bars sound awesome! Will have to make those at some point.
ReplyDeleteLOVE THE HOUSE everything looks so GREAT! SOO fun that you got to see Mandy! LOVE YOU!
ReplyDelete