Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day has always been a special day for us - to remember and celebrate my sister Marcia's birthday on May 30, and to visit the cemeteries where our families are buried. We also made an afternoon of taking fresh peonies to the cemeteries and visiting grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles grave sites.

And we always then enjoyed some traditional Memorial Day food - grilled chicken and ribs, home-made potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, and yummy desserts. I have a dessert to share with you today.

Whoopie Pies


From Food Network Kitchens

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet.



Ingredients
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup natural cocoa powder, such as Hershey's
1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons fine salt
18 large marshmallows (not minis)

Put the unsweetened and semisweet chocolates and butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl; heat at 75 percent power until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir, and continue to microwave until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. (Alternatively, put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching the water, and stir occasionally until melted and smooth.)

Whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla into the chocolate mixture until smooth.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into another bowl. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until moistened. Switch to a rubber spatula and finish folding the batter together; take care not to over-mix.

Use a small cookie scoop or spoon to drop a heaping tablespoon of batter onto the prepared pan. Repeat to make 36 cookies, spacing them about 1-inch apart. Bake until the cookies spring back when lightly touched, about 6 minutes.

Cool the cookies slightly. Transfer half of the cookies to a rack. Turn the remaining cookies on the pan over, so they lay flat side up. Place a marshmallow on top of each flipped cookie and return pan to the oven. Cook just until the marshmallow begins to soften and puff, about 3 minutes. Cool marshmallow topped cookies slightly, about 2 minutes. Top with the remaining cookies, pressing lightly to make sandwiches. Cool whoopee pies completely on wire racks. Serve. Store in tightly sealed container for up to 1 week.

Enjoy your Memorial Day, and remember our troops!

Happy Memorial Day from Kentucky

Wayne and I are spending the weekend here at home...and it's a much needed weekend without any travel plans. We are roasting a turkey on the grill, potato salad is made, and Andi and Dennis are coming over for dinner later.

Wayne has been busy this week mowing the yard. With rains in between mowing spells, it's been hard to keep up with it.

Tuffy thinks it's a good day for a nap....

.........And he settled in to take one on the back porch.

Today I took my camera out to shoot some photos of our hydrangea bushes - they are in full bloom now.

Love those bright blue flowering heads on them.

And the lilies we bought for Socks are all in full bloom. Don't they look like someone painted them? They are exactly that rosy color with the dark red splotches. There are about ten stalks on each plant this year.

Wishing you all a safe holiday weekend.

And Happy Birthday to my sister Marcia!

Wayne and Bonnie