Rocky Road Sundae Recipe

My Mr. Pea left me this week to visit our only daughter and son-in-law in Texas. Mr. Pea's birthday was last month and our Texas children gifted him a plane ticket. They are having fun together; Mr. Pea has them make out a "to-do" list for when he visits and they work on some home projects. I think a cornice board for the guest bedroom and some built-in bookcases were on the agenda for this visit.

Our daughter knows that Mr. Pea's favorite ice cream is rocky road. She had a special "birthday" dessert for him and his son-in-law (whose birthday is in two weeks!) to share.

Rocky Road Sundae

Mmmmm!! Layers of toasted walnuts, marshmallow cream, chocolate sauce, vanilla and chocolate ice creams on a cookie crust! This dessert was easy to make and was a real hit with the birthday boys.

Candles for the birthday boys

Birthday boy Brad

Mr. Pea blowing out his candle

My daughter found the recipe on Epicurious.com and made a few alterations according to reviewer's recommendations. Here it is:

Rocky Road Sundae Recipe

Ingredients

For crust

• 1/2 bag of Oreo cookies (9 ounces)
  
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For milk chocolate fudge sauce

• 2/3 cup whipping cream
• 8 ounces imported milk chocolate (such as Lindt), chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For marshmallow sauce

• 4 cups miniature marshmallows (about 7 1/2 ounces)
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 quart vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
• 1 quart chocolate ice cream, slightly softened
  
• 1 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped (about 3 3/4 ounces)

Preparation

Make crust:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Finely grind oreo cookies in processor. Add melted butter and process until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust until set, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Make milk chocolate fudge sauce:
Bring cream just to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add milk chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Let stand at room temperature until sauce cools and thickens slightly, about 20 minutes.

Make marshmallow sauce:
Combine marshmallows and cream in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water). Stir until marshmallows melt and mixture is smooth, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from over water; stir in vanilla. Let stand until slightly cooled but still pourable, about 10 minutes.

Spread 1 quart chocolate ice cream evenly in cooled crust. Drop half of milk chocolate sauce by tablespoonfuls over ice cream, spacing apart. Sprinkle half of walnuts over sauce. Drizzle half of marshmallow sauce over walnuts. Freeze until sauces are set, about 10 minutes.

Spread 1 quart vanilla ice cream evenly in crust. Drop remaining milk chocolate sauce by tablespoonfuls over ice cream. Drizzle remaining marshmallow sauce over, allowing some chocolate sauce to show through. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts. Freeze until pie is firm, about 4 hours. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Cover tightly with foil. Keep frozen.)

Cut around pan sides to loosen. Let pie soften slightly at room temperature, about 10 minutes. Remove pan sides.

Old Town Escalon, California

Downtown Escalon, my building is the one with the flat awning . Look! dirt roads, horses and cars all along Main Street. My building was built in 1906 and most of the town burnt to the ground in 1920. I do not know the date of this picture but it's somewhere in between those dates.



Look at this beautiful old oak train station bench. It originally had six iron arm rests (I was told that the iron rests would keep anyone from being able to lie down on the bench). When the bench was no longer needed in the train station the city used it in the park in the state of Washington. Eventually it was purchased by a family in WA and they moved to Escalon. I bought it at an estate sale some years ago. The condition is great and it should be around for many years to come.



Here are some burlap hand made place mats with Bon Appe'tit embroidered acrossed them. They have sold very well, I have about eight of them left. Hurry if you are interested......

Blessings, Sandi

Meet Mr. Pea

My Texan daughter called the other day and said, "Let's go shopping at Canton next month!" After a quick scramble to find a flight deal online, our rendezvous was on! Oo-la-la, so much to do and see in Texas! Flea markets, the Dallas Trade Mart, the Design District---enough shopping to fill an entire week! To boot, my daughter will have her guest bedroom with the padded headboard put together in time for my stay and a mini photo shoot. How exciting!

I also have some new blogging friends that I would love to meet face to face while I am in Canton!

Some tastey treasures found here in Escalon

Back here at the home front, I have an important person to introduce you to. I'm embarrassed that I have not introduced this person to you sooner, as he has been instrumental in the very existence of The Green Pea. He has labored on the building everyday for two years until its grand opening, and has been my go-to handyman ever since. When I tell you that he is multi-talented, this is an understatement. This man has been my electrician and my plumber. He has installed my floors and has opened up and reinforced my basement. He has threaded a vacuum system through these century-old walls. He has preserved the integrity of this old building and has done so obligingly. Even more amazing is that he willingly has taken all this direction out of his sentiments for me---his wife.

Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Pea.

Mr. Pea assessing the door and archway he built

You are bound to find Mr. Pea staying busy around the store someplace. Here he is checking out the custom door he constructed. The doorway was so large he had to brick it in to make it a smaller opening. This area was once a livery stable and this doorway was wide enough to lead a horse through! (Poor Mr. Pea; he was once a golfer and look now what I have him doing!!)

More of Mr. Pea's handiwork

Currently Mr. Pea is laying down bricks in different rooms. He is even bricking the floor beneath the staircase that is now closet space. These bricks have yet to be grouted. I will update you with more pictures as he finishes. Hurry, Mr. Pea, I have some other projects I haven't told you about yet!! (Stay tuned for those too.)

Blessings,
Sandi

Almond Blossoms

March is always a beautiful time of year here in the Valley. Many orchards are in bloom: almond, cherry, apple, peach and many more. Escalon is known for its agricultural dairy farms and orchards.

Almond trees

With the inspiration of spring in full bloom outside, I have decorated The Green Pea with a few seasonal items.

Here are some Easter decorations. See that wonderful, old, turquoise-painted tray? That tray and a few of those decorations just left me to go live with that little cubby that I sold about a month ago. Leslie is the fortunate lady that bought my favorite cubby. Just this last weekend she brought in some pictures for me to see of the cubby and its new, perfect home. It looks even prettier there and I was so delighted that she was kind enough to show me. Thank you, Leslie!!

Easter Decorations

Now this is a beautiful, old, handmade quilt. I really love the color combination and it has a such a wonderful "feel" to it too. It reminds me of the one that my grandmother made for me when I was a little girl.

Handmade Quilt

Update on painted table and hutch

Back in February I posted about this dining set that I was in the process of painting:

Before picture of hutch

Before picture of chairs

Here are the table, chairs and hutch that I have painted a soft green. The top of the table is a formica wood grain so I did not paint it. The set is around 35 years old. It is amazing the transformation a little paint can do!

Table and chairs

Hutch with white ironstone pieces

Cute hutch with the Captain's chair

It has been so cold, windy or rainy that I haven't been able to paint much. Spring is here and I can hardly wait to start some new projects. This week I plan on working on about six new things to bring into the store. Stay tuned!!

The Green Pea Boutique Gets Press on Design Bitz

I was so excited when a talented designer and fellow blogger asked if she could "interview" me and use The Green Pea Boutique for her blog! What a compliment! And so I wanted to introduce my cute friend Michele Beatty and her blog Design Bitz. Check out our interview here!

Michele Beatty of Design Bitz

I met Michele when she wandered into my store one day. She struck up a conversation and we talked about her interior design work. She has a penchant for eclecticism, mixing up conversation antique pieces with contemporary design. She told me that she is very conscientious about choosing design elements that are affordable for her clients. She struck me as very authentic and very in tune to her clients' needs, and I like what she says on her website, "Our homes are very important to us; it is where we tell our story."

Thank you, Michele, for your wonderful article! I hope to see you soon! And readers, please check the link and post comments!! We love comments!!