Or so I keep telling myself as I hit the big 3-0 today!

First, good news in the photography front – you will notice an improvement in my photography (hopefully) as I got a digital SLR for my birthday!  Also, I too have come up with a list of 30 things to make while I’m 30.  By next August 22 – you should see me making:

1. Crumpets
2. Chocolate Croissants
3. Pulled pork
4. Hot fudge sauce
5. Salt Ice Cream
6. Crème Brulee
7. Ceviche
8. Braised Beef Canneloni
9. Gnocchi
10. Clam Chowder
11. French Meat Pie
12. Boston Cream Pie
13. Fish Tacos
14. Baked Oatmeal
15. Galette
16. Beer Pancakes
17. Eggs Benedict
18. Focacia
19. Black & White Cookies
20. Cinnamon Bun French Toast
21. Homemade Sausage
22. Sangria
23. Sauerbraten
24. Beef Wellington
25. Homemade Mayonnaise
26. Spanikopita
27. Italian Wedding Soup
28. Jam / Preserves
29. Coq au Vin
30. Bisque

Sadly, bacon-infused vodka did not make the list.  For now, off to celebrate with more cake.  Stay tuned for the cooking adventures!

At 12:13 this morning, I started the third decade of my life.  Yes, today I turned the big 3-0.

A handful of bloggers that I follow have compiled lists of cooking tasks that they want to complete during or before their 30th year.  With my birthday fast approaching, I assembled a list 30 things that I want to make in the coming  year.

It seems like a fun way to set some goals and finally work on some dishes I’ve been meaning to make for ages.  I’ll get to stretch myself and work outside my comfort zone, trying new techniques and working with new foods (see 24 – I’m an avowed fish-hater).  Along the way, I’ll document my progress on this blog and share my victories and defeats… although hopefully there will be far more of the former.

If any of my readers have tried and true recipe suggestions for any of the items on my list, please feel free to send them my way – my contact information is listed in the left side bar.

Wish me luck!

30 Things to Make While I’m 30

1. English muffins
2. Focaccia bread
3. Pita bread
4. Whole wheat bread
5. Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
6. Berry pie/cobbler
7. Cheesecake
8. Chocolate Mint Fudge
9. Chocolate mousse
10. Gelato
11. Gingerbread
12. Homemade fondant
13. Lemon meringue pie
14. Scones
15. Shortbread
16. Sugar cookies with royal icing
17. Pumpkin Ice Cream
18. Pad thai
19. Homemade ravioli
20. Homemade pasta
21. Tomato sauce (from scratch)
22. Crepes
23. Carnitas
24. Fish
25. Meatballs
26. Barbacoa
27. Pork loin
28. Limoncello
29. Vanilla extract
30. Hummus

Greetings from the Midwest, Domestic Pursuits readers! First and foremost, many thanks to Beth and Lisa for letting me join the DP team. I am an enthusiast of cooking, crafting, and gardening and firmly believe that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to enjoy The Good Life.  As Beth mentioned earlier, I dabble in everything from home brewing to home improvements. I don’t claim to be an expert in any of these areas, but  I hope you’ll find in my projects some inspiration for your own space.

As a fairly new homeowner, this spring has been my first real chance to delve into the world of gardening and landscaping.   While I don’t know if I’ve inherited my mother’s green thumb yet, she did leave me her lovely green gardening hat and a plethora of gardening tools– which is more than enough to get started.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing with you some of my experiences with my first perennial gardens and highlighting some “Must Haves” for your flower beds.  One of the many beauties of a perennial garden is that these plants will bloom year after year with a little care and maintenance. Please keep in mind that I’ll be sharing plants hardy in my hardiness region (5).  Perhaps my first nugget of planting wisdom is to check out what Plant Zone you live in– just about any gardening manual or plant catalog will have a color-coded map indicating this.  While it’s not a foolproof system, it’s a pretty good starting point for your garden.  So go check out what the hardiness zone is in your region, and stay tuned!

I’d like to take the opportunity to welcome my dear friend Kathleen to Domestic Pursuits. A close college-friend of Lisa’s, Kathleen and I were co-matrons of honor in Lisa’s wedding. Kathleen will be a regular contributor to the blog, sharing her experiences with gardening, house projects, cooking, baking and other domestic endeavors.

Kathleen has quite a green thumb; her yard hosts a wide variety of annuals, perennials, as well as a raised-bed garden (so jealous!).  She’s also an excellent, creative cook and a home brewer.  I’m looking forward to hearing more about her garden and trying out her recipes!

It’s a time for backyard barbeques,  fireworks and trips to the beach.  Hope everyone has a happy 4th!

As a former piccolo player, I particularly appreciate Beaker’s rendition of the pic part in the final stanza.

Chocolate Mint Cupcake recipe can be found here.

Use Wilton tip 233 to make grass.

This is a very special post. No, not because it contains the recipe for an amazing dark chocolate brownie. It marks both the 100th post and the first anniversary of Domestic Pursuits. I’ve enjoyed sharing my cooking adventures and look forward to working my way through many more interesting recipes and domestic activities in the coming year. Happy Anniversary to us!

Now onto the delicious part…

After picking up a container of Edy’s Slow Churned Pumpkin ice cream last night, I decided that I needed brownies to go with it. Pumpkin and chocolate is my new favorite flavor combination and you just can’t go wrong with brownies a la mode!

I love this recipe for mint brownie cups and decided to eliminate the mint extract to yield traditional brownies. As I started baking, I realized that I didn’t have the right balance of chocolate, so these brownies contain more bittersweet chocolate than the originals. Since I eliminated the mint extract, I decided to add some amaretto to further emphasize the richness of the chocolate. These changes yielded a decadent brownie with a smooth, dark chocolate flavor.

Dark Chocolate Brownie Cups
Yields 14-16 brownies

6 tbsp butter
6 oz bittersweet chocolate (chopped)
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (chopped)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp amaretto
1/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2 Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Lightly spray liners with cooking spray.
3. In a heat-proof bowl, melt together butter and chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals stirring after each interval until smooth. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
5. Whisk or beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture.
6. Add eggs, amaretto and vanilla extract to the chocolate mixture and mix until well combined and smooth.
7. Add flour mixture and mix until combined.
8. Gently fold in the 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
9. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups. Each cup should be about 2/3 full.
10. Bake for 18-23 minutes or until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs.
11. Allow brownies to cool before removing from muffin pan.

I’m always looking for a reason to try out new recipes, and to share new favorites with friends and family. Mother’s Day presented the perfect opportunity for a little bit of both.

We celebrated Mother’s Day with my mother, father and brother on Saturday evening. After a delicious take-out meal from a local Italian restaurant, we had a gold cake frosted with Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting.

On Sunday, we hosted a brunch for my husband’s mother and sister. We served coffee, mimosas, fresh fruit with creamy dip, crustless quiche, orange blueberry muffins and strawberry banana muffins.

It was a lovely weekend, and I am so grateful for our wonderful moms!

***The photo above was taken by my Mom in her beautiful perennial garden.***

I’d like to take the opportunity to welcome my dear friend Lisa to Domestic Pursuits. We’ve known each other for more than twenty years. Lisa will be a regular contributor to the blog, sharing her experiences with cooking, baking, household projects and other domestic endeavors.

I’m impressed that in the midst of her crazy schedule, she not only finds time to prepare meals, but make many interesting food items from scratch. Some of her creations include bread, butter, ice cream, sorbet, sushi and various types of pasta. I’ve sampled her delicious cooking on numerous occasions and I’m looking forward to trying out her recipes myself!

I’ve been making this recipe for Dijon Alfredo Sauce for years. My husband and I stumbled across this on allrecipes.com when we were searching for a cream sauce to go along with a bottle of Gew?rztraminer that we had picked up.

The Dijon mustard adds an interesting bite to the creamy Alfredo sauce and complements the asparagus quite nicely. In fact, this dish made me fall in love with asparagus. The sauce is rather rich, but it’s a fun treat. This dish has always gotten rave reviews from guests.

I love making this dish for company because of its’ unique flavor combinations and impressive presentation. It does require around 30 minutes of hands-on preparation, but the steps aren’t too complicated. I typically work on dinner while casually visiting with guests in the kitchen.

Based upon reader reviews, I have lightened up a the recipe by reducing the amount of butter and using light cream in place of whipping cream. I also use far less mustard than the original recipe. The resulting sauce is rich, smooth and flavorful.

Asparagus and Ravioli with Dijon Alfredo Sauce

Yields 4 servings

2 (9 ounce) packages refrigerated chicken- or cheese-filled ravioli
1 pound fresh asparagus
6 tbsp butter, divided
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1-2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups light cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Cook ravioli in a large saucepan according to package directions; drain and keep warm.
2. Snap off tough ends of asparagus; cut asparagus into 2-inch-long pieces.
3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add asparagus, and saute 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Spoon over ravioli.
4. Melt remaining 5 tablespoons butter in skillet over medium heat; add garlic, and saute 1 minute. Whisk in mustard. Gradually whisk in light cream until smooth.
5. Bring cream mixture to a boil; reduce heat, and cook, stirring often, 5 minutes. Stir in cheese and remaining ingredients. Cook, stirring constantly, until cheese melts. Pour over asparagus and ravioli, and toss. Serve immediately.