Creme Puffs

2011. Those four numbers put together are very significant to me. In 2011, I will be married to my wonderful husband for 10 years. In 2011, our oldest child will start kindergarten. In 2011, I will turn 30 years old, and look back at my life so far with the utmost joy. In 2011, I will have the same best friend for the last 20 years. We have experienced first kisses, first broken hearts, college, weddings, breast cancer, and child birth together.

So many things about life have built me into the strong, smart, independent woman I am now. Every time I've been tripped up by life, I've had someone there that loves me to help me back up. Every struggle I've gone through I've had a best friend there to comfort me.

I didn't make any new years resolutions this year. Resolutions seem to be made to be broken. But I have so many dreams and wishes that I am going to watch come true this year instead. In 2011, I am going to not care about my scale, but instead my energy level and how my body feels. I am going to treat my body like I do my family...with love and respect. I will respect my body by feeding it healthy food, exercising regularly and sleeping plenty.

In 2011, I am going to do a better job at being a friend, a wife, and a mom. Somewhere along the line, the calendar started flipping my months instead of days. My children grew, my friends became busy with their children, my husbands business flourished. And now it feels like I'm missing chunks of time. So this year, I will stop for coffee with friends, I will bake cookies for no reason and drop them off at friends' houses, I will eat dinner by candle light with my husband, and I will waste entire Saturdays at the park with my kids. I will neglect nothing by my dirty laundry.

So here's to a great year ahead of us!

Pastry Puffs

1 Cup Water
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 - 2 cups flour
4 large eggs

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or a sil-pat.

In a saucepan, bring the water, butter and sugar to a boil over high heat. Immediately remove from heat once boiling starts and with a wood spoon stir in all-purpose flour. Continue to stir until the mixture begins to pull away from sides of pan (about 2 minutes), as pictured below.

Let mixture slightly cool (about 2 minutes) and add eggs, one at a time and stirring after each addition, until batter comes together.

Transfer batter into a piping bag or ziplock bag and cut off corner of bag about 1/2" up the side. Pipe into desired sized mounds (1" apart) onto lined baking sheets.

Bake 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until your puffs are golden brown and feel light and hollow in the center...about 20 minutes.


I filled mine with whipped cream and dipped them in melted semi-sweet chocolate! Delicious!!
(To make whipped cream, combine 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 3 tablespoons sugar, then whip until light and fluffy).

Enjoy!