Category: 11…

11…
A list of things, people, places, whosits, whatsit, and random things I write about on Mondays at 11:11.

11..., Baked Goods, In The Kitchen, Lifestyle

11… Kitchen To Dos in 2021 and Chocolate Mousse Crêpe Cake Recipe

RaeAnna
It’s a little wobbly, but look at this awesome and delicious crêpe cake!

I’m a big lover of food. Like a BIG lover of food. I’m the epitome of a foodie. I love everything about it. From grocery shopping to cooking to eating to talking about food to watching cooking shows. I’m an adventurous cook and an even more adventurous eater. There’s really nothing I won’t try once. By once I mean, I’ll keep on trying to make sure I wasn’t wrong the fourth or seventh times. Sure, there are a few things that I’m not a huge fan of, but there’s really nothing I won’t eat if it’s put before me. The only real things I don’t love and avoid are ketchup and mustard. I don’t love them, but again, I will eat them if they’re placed in front of me.

Cooking and baking are things I do for fun, to show my love, to get creative, to destress, to have something to eat. Food is one of my love languages. If you enter my house and stay for long, I will try and feed you… By try, I mean, I almost always succeed. 

I’ve never been one for setting goals or resolutions. I am creating an In The Kitchen To Do List for 2021. There are things I’ve never made but have always wanted to or things I just haven’t gotten around to or things I’ve been scared to take on. I’m going to try my hand and some of these things… Finally.

  1. Full English Breakfast
  2. Bûche de Noël
  3. Jägerschnitzel
  4. Kringla
  5. Beef Wellington
  6. Croissants
  7. Black Bean Burgers
  8. Pelmeni or пельмени
  9. Black Forest Cake
  10. Gluten free bread (gluten free baking scares me)
  11. Italian Beef ala Portillos

January is pretty much a wash for me baking and cooking for a variety of reasons. That being said, if I tackle one of these every month, I can have the list done by next year. One a month… That’s not too daunting. I can do it. Probably.

Alright, I’m using a picture of a Chocolate Mousse Crêpe Cake with Candied Pecans I’ve made more than a few times over the years. I won’t be mean and not include the recipe. It’s delicious. All the parts individually are really easy. A crêpe cake seems far more daunting than it actually is. The hardest part is making the crêpes, and I promise you can do it… Just make a double batch and throw the first five out.

A delicious Chocolate Mousse Crêpe Cake!

Ingredients
Crêpes

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1¼ cup milk
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tbs. melted butter
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 2 tbs. sugar
  • 1 tbs. vanilla extract

Chocolate Mousse

  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1½ cups powdered sugar
  •  ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 2 tbs. vanilla extract

Candied Pecans

  • 1 cup halved pecans
  • ¼ heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tbs. butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp. cloves 

Directions
Crêpes

  • Sift flour into a large bowl, and mix in dry ingredients.
  • Whisk in milk, eggs, and vanilla.
  • Fold in the melted butter.
  • Let rest for an hour. This really is an important step. (You can make the mousse!)
  • In a hot pan, (you don’t have to have a crêpe pan, just as flat as possible, nonstick is easiest) melt butter. Pour in enough batter to thinly coat the pan. Swirl the pan to evenly spread the batter.
  • Once little bubbles start to form, flip the crêpe. 
  • When the crêpe is done, put on a plate to cool. (I put a sheet of wax paper on top so I can stack the crêpes without them sticking together.) 
  • Repeat the cooking of the crêpes until all the batter is gone. Try and keep them equally sized and shaped… to the best of your ability. 
  • Set aside to cool completely.

Chocolate Mousse

  • Make sure cream cheese is room temperature.
  • In a glass bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream until it becomes whipped cream. Set aside.
  • Whisk (either by hand or in an electric mixer) together the remaining ingredients until they are well blended. You can always add more or less cocoa powder to whatever your tastes are.
  • With a spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
  • Place in the refrigerator until ready to assemble.

Candied Pecans

  • If you prefer walnuts (weirdo), you can do this with walnuts. 
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a skillet, melt butter, brown sugar and spices. 
  • Once the sugar mixture is bubbling and sugar is no longer grainy, pour in heavy whipping cream. Whisk until combined and bubbling.
  • Pour in the nuts and stir until they are completely coated in the sugar mixture.
  • Spread the nuts onto the baking sheet to cool completely.
  • Once cooled, crumble and separate the nuts so they’re not one giant glob.

Assembly

  • On whatever serving platter you’re going to use, lay the first crêpe down in the center.
  • Spread a thin layer of chocolate mousse on the crêpe. 
  • Place the second crêpe as centered as you can on the first, then spread a thin layer of chocolate mousse.
  • Continue this process until you have used all the crêpes or it’s as tall as you want.
  • Cover the top of the cake with a thick layer of chocolate mousse. If you want, you can also cover the sides… I like a rustic looking cake, so I leave the sides bare.
  • Sprinkle the candied pecans over the top of the cake in whatever quantity makes you happy.
  • Place in the refrigerator to set for at least one hour.
  • CUT AND DIG ON IN!

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

11..., Lifestyle

11… Wonderful Things That Happened in 2020

RaeAnna
Finding happiness on the beach in Galveston, Texas. | Swimsuit | Hat | Cover Up |

Like most people in the world, I am happy to wave goodbye to 2020. It was quite the year filled with historic events that we could have all lived without. 

I’m sure that I’m in the minority with this view, but I will look back on 2020 with a certain amount of fondness. Sure it was a shit year, one might even say: It was quite the shituation. Okay, I say that. For me, 2020 brought a host of wonderful things that I am choosing to focus on instead of the globally pervasive catastrophes. 

Doing my best to be cute and not ridiculous… But probably both.
  1. I brought life into this world! Well, not personally. I did enable life to be brought into this world when I rescued a pregnant dog off the street. She had thirteen puppies. She and all the babies are alive and thriving. 
  2. I bought a house. Fuck was that a fiasco. But it happened, and I’m thankful for it. 
  3. The world started paying attention to racial inequity in a meaningful way. That being said, I hate that it’s still a problem and everything that transpired in order to draw attention to the systemic racism existing in this country. A lot of people have definitely lost interest in the issue, but so many people’s eyes were opened to the problem. I’m hoping good will continue to come out of the atrocities of 2020. 
  4. I got a lot of reading done. I was able to really plow through my reading list. Unfortunately, I have even more books on my reading pile now… So hopefully, I can keep up the reading stream. 
  5. Trump did not win the election. Thank fucking God. 
  6. My priorities were evaluated. Being stranded at home with six dogs, I had a lot of time at home with my immediate family to think about life. So many of my life choices, I am very proud of. Going forward in a post-pandemic world, I’m looking forward to continuing to chase my dreams and happiness. 
  7. We elected a woman of color to the Vice Presidency. I am so thrilled about this. 
  8. I made new friends. 
  9. I took a semi-break from writing and fell back in love with it. It wasn’t so much of a conscious break as it was a break due to circumstance. I didn’t have time to write and COVID put a dent in the amount of projects I was receiving. Being forced into taking a break from writing helped me solidify my love of my job. So hopefully, you’ll be seeing more consistent and more interesting writing coming from this lady. 
  10. I worked the election as a poll worker. It was a fascinating experience, and it solidified a lot of opinions I had and opinions I didn’t even know I held. It opened my eyes to so many things, I was never even aware of as a voter. It was exhausting emotionally and physically, but I am so glad I did it. 
  11. I hit ten thousand followers on Instagram. Yay! That number has fluctuated up and down, but I hit it and I have stayed over 10k, which means I can do the swipe up thingy. Woo!!!

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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11..., Lifestyle

11… Hopes for the New Year

RaeAnna
Enjoying Christmas things in Baytown, Texas. | Dress | Shirt | Boots |

I’ve never been one for resolutions. In reality, I’m not even one for goal setting or manifesting. It’s not that I’m unmotivated; I’m actually incredibly motivated and hardworking. I’ve just found that it doesn’t work for me. Resolutions, goals, manifestations are not for me. 

Happiness and kindness are the two driving forces in my life. Every day I wake up and live my life to the best of my abilities by making choices that make me happy and do as much good as I can in the world. At the end of the day, if I have accomplished those, I have lived a good day and that will culminate into a good life. I hope. 

2020 was quite the year. Filled with ups and downs on a global and personal scale. I did what I could to find happiness and create kindness, but I, like the entirety of Earth’s population, am hoping for better things in 2021. 

I missed the usual Christmas traditions in 2020, but I won’t let it get me down for 2021. | Dress | Flannel | Boots | Earrings |
  1. I hope the pandemic is reigned in. For selfish reasons, I want life to get on with it. For global reasons, I want life to get on with it. Everything has been on hold for far too long. 
  2. I hope to see friends and family again. It’s been over a year since I have seen some of my closest friends and family members. Some live far away and others live just on the other side of town. Due to COVID, I have gone without seeing many people for their safety and mine. It sucks, but it is for the best. 
  3. I hope to travel. Knock on wood, 2020 was supposed to be my year of international travel. Shocker: It wasn’t. I went to none of the places I was supposed to. It makes me sad, but at the end of the day, it was for the best. Most of the trips were postponed, a few were permanently canceled. Time will tell when I get to see Europe again. 
  4. I hope for health. The health of the world and myself. As an imuno-compromised person, this year has been tough. I’ll speak more on how I’m ringing in 2021later, but it’s not the way I was hoping for my family.
  5. I hope to be more consistent. 2020 was anything but my finest year of consistency. I managed to let so many things fall through the cracks that I have never ever let fall through the cracks before. I’m ashamed… Kind of. In all honesty, I’m disappointed in myself, but at the end of the day, I just couldn’t make those things happen. In 2021, I want to get back to being the consistent human I was before and even more consistent than before.  
  6. I hope to get back to working. As a freelance writer, COVID seriously affected my income. I’m not complaining because, at least, I’m still working. It has been a very, very slow year for me. As a creative, I was impacted significantly. Luckily, I have a partner who has been able to work consistently throughout the pandemic, so we have not struggled the way other families have. I miss working, though. Here’s to a better year!
  7. I hope to not wear a mask. I will absolutely continue to wear a mask until it is completely safe to not wear one. I am looking forward to not having to need it, though. 
  8. I hope the vaccine can be administered to one and all. 
  9. I hope my puppies continue to grow healthy and strong. They will celebrate their first birthday in March. I can’t believe how soon that is and how quickly this year has gone by. I was so very blessed to have them and be able to provide for their health and happiness. COVID gave me the time to care for them, and for that, I will forever be grateful for 2020. 
  10. I hope to grow my blog. 2020 was incredibly inconsistent for the blog. It grew and shrunk and stagnated. I’m not complaining. I love this part of my life, but I’m hoping to really dive into it in the way I had been wanting to in 2020 but was unable to. I have a lot of books to catch up on reviews. So I hope to have those all published by May. Fingers crossed. 
  11. I hope to continue chasing happiness and kindness. I want 2021 to be filled with happiness for myself and others. I want to spread kindness wherever I go, making the world a better place as much as I possibly can. 
  12. Bonus Hope I hope to get a bunch of projects done in my house. I very much love it as it is, but there are so many things I want to get done, like painting and decorating. I’ll absolutely document my progress as I go because it’s so fun!!!

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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11..., Lifestyle

11… Post Christmas Musings

RaeAnna
My gorgeous and huge tree.
Christmas Eve with my babies.
Enjoying Christmas Morning

I can’t believe Christmas 2020 is past. The season went by so quickly. I’m still a little bit shocked that it even happened, but it did. I’m trying to process 2020, but I’m having a very hard time with it all. So I am going to begin by processing the easiest things first: Christmas!

  1. I did not get nearly enough done. Oops.
  2. Five books went unreviewed. 
  3. Christmas content was completely nonexistent from me this year. 
  4. I managed to bake a total of zero Christmas cookies.
  5. I watched the same Christmas movies on repeat and didn’t even see any of the new Netflix Christmas movies. 
  6. Santa didn’t get me a single thing this year… Not even coal. I feel forgotten. 
  7. I’m still not done Christmas shopping.
  8. I failed as a mother because the puppies didn’t get a single present. I’m the worst mother ever. Poor babies. 
  9. I’m sad my office Christmas tree was never put up. 
  10. I wish I would’ve seen more Christmas lights. 
  11. I really missed getting to go out and do Christmassy things. 

Those are a few of my post Christmas musings. I’m hoping next year will be better… Well, next year, I’ll be better. I was lazy and slacking this year. Oh well. I had a great Christmas day with family and puppies, so that is all that matters. 

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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11..., Lifestyle

11… Ways I’m Getting in The Christmas Spirit

RaeAnna
Posing at the Renaissance in my Celtic Christmas outfit even though it was pouring. | Dress | Cardigan | Wellies | Purse | Earrings | Necklace |

I’ve been having difficulty getting into the Christmas spirit this year. There’s not really a reason, but I have a sneaking suspicion it may have something to do with 2020. 

In America, there is a long and heated debate on when Christmassing begins. For the correct people, like me, it starts at midnight on November 1st. Halloween is the gateway holiday to Christmas. For the wrong people, it begins after Thanksgiving. 

My love of Christmas has not waivered, but I think 2020 has taken an emotional toll. Just maybe. There’s a slim possibility. Teensy chance. COVID, the election, buying a house, having a herd of dogs, quarantine, not traveling, and the in betweens has sapped my perpetual enthusiasm. I’ve been able to tap into my Christmabsession at friends’ homes, but my own house is lacking even a hint of Christmas. So I’m trying to really get into the spirit now that Thanksgiving is behind us.

  1. Celtic Christmas at The Renaissance Festival Last Saturday, I went to the Renaissance Festival here in Texas. The theme of the weekend was Celtic Christmas, which was very fun. There were loads of Christmas trees and decorations everywhere. A lot of musicians were playing carols. The only down part of the day was the rain. It poured—and I mean POURED—the entire time we were there. It only got worse the longer we stayed. Honestly, the most authentic part of the festival was the mud. 
  2. Baking I’ve been spending a lot of time at my friends’ homes the past few weeks, and I decided to fill their houses with Christmas cookies. It definitely helps.
  3. Decorating I was a part of decorating my friends’ house. That counts, right?
  4. Fires I love a good fire. There is something so cozy and lovely about it. They make me feel like it’s winter and Christmas is coming. In my house, I have a gorgeous fireplace; unfortunately, it’s gas, but now I don’t have to clean it out. I recently became the owner of a fireplace key, so I can use it. Man oh man, I have had a fire everyday this week. It’s been amazing.
  5. Christmas Music I have turned the Christmas music on. It makes me sing and dance, which helps me get into the mood.
  6. White Christmas This is my favorite Christmas movie. I will watch it all year round, but it definitely gets played on repeat this time of year. I finally watched it the first time this season on Saturday night. 
  7. Starbucks Christmas Cups They always bring me joy when they’re released. I love them. They bring the joy of the season with them. 
  8. Grinch, Home Alone, Elf These three movies have already been watched a few times because my friends love them. I can’t argue; they are classics and deserve to be watched repetitively. So good. 
  9. Holiday Reading Every year since I started blogging, I only read holiday books and publish holiday book reviews, so prepare yourself for the onslaught. This year I’ve tried a few different ones than usual. 
  10. Christmas Content I love taking Christmas content. It’s so fun and helps get me in the spirit. Although, it will probably look a little different this year because of COVID and the world being a dumpster fire. Hopefully I can find a few Christmas locales to take advantage of. 
  11. Thinking About the Family Christmas Card With five new additions to the family, I’m not sure what this card will look like. The last few years, we’ve dressed up and included Beau. I’m not sure if all six of the dogs will have Christmas outfits this year or not. Stay tuned to find out!

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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11..., Lifestyle

11… Ways I Have Avoided Dealing With 2020

RaeAnna
#12 I’ve also been dancing it out a whole lot! Although, that’s nothing new. | Skirt | Top |

2020 has been a shit year. I hate generalizations, but I think the world will agree with me on this one. It’s been a Biblical plague level disaster of a year. Part of me is so ready for it to be over, and the other part of me is terrified 2021 will pop and say, “So you thought 2020 was bad? Wait and see what I have planned.” I am truly concerned that this is the new reality for the world. My biggest life goal as an adventure seeker and travel enthusiast is to see the world. 2020 was supposed to be a year of international travel. None of that happened, but I am terrified in my core, that this is the new status quo. What if I can’t see the world? 

I’ve been emotionally distancing myself from 2020. Even though this year has produced more fodder for my social justice focused writing career, I have not been able to actually write about it. It hurts my heart too much. So I have spent all of 2020 avoiding 2020 and not doing my job and writing about the world and how it’s a dumpster fire on steroids.

  1. Puppies… I’ve been avoiding this year with puppies. Not only is this good for my mental health and increases the amount of love and affection I have in my life, it has also been good for the puppies. They didn’t die on the street with their mom from exposure or starvation. That’s dark but not untrue. I love my dogs, and they drained the life out of me for many months, but I would not change a Goddamn thing. 
  2. Netflix… They keep making new shows and movies, and I must watch them or I won’t know what’s going on in the world. Or I add them all to my list and never feel like I’m in the mood for that particular show or starting a new series or a movie or whatever so then I… [see #9]
  3. Sleep… I have never been a great sleeper. I pushed my parents sleep deprivation limits within the first year of my life because I didn’t sleep. Now, I just push my own limits of sleep deprivation. With work being less crazy—thanks COVID—and me having nowhere to go, I’ve been trying to give myself a normal human sleep schedule for the first time in my life. It’s not going great.
  4. Nyquil Induced Sleep… When I can’t sleep and I need to sleep but the anxiety is too high, I do the healthy thing and drug myself to sleep with Nyquil. Why am I admitting this online? In the vain of honesty? Maybe I’m just too sleep deprived to know better. Either way, this is a thing I do sometimes. 
  5. Relentless Existential Crises… The inside of my brain is not a happy place. I am an existentialist (just kidding, I’m a full on nihilist but that doesn’t sound as cute). I trend towards nothing means anything! and why do I even try? and my credit score won’t matter when I die! and it will all end in the Big Crunch anyways! Like I said, not a happy place, and this is what I crawl in bed with every night.  
  6. Reading… I have been reading without writing book reviews. Woops! There is a very large pile of books waiting to be reviewed sitting on my desk. I need to get to them, but I haven’t been able to force myself into being a productive human and writing down my thoughts for you all to not read. 
  7. Anxiety Induced Paranoia… Hi! I’m a human. I have anxiety. It’s debilitating and sometimes gives me streaks of paranoia. Like: My life-partner no longer loves me and has changed the locks, left my stuff by the curb, and won’t let me back in the house all because he fell asleep, forgot to plug in his phone, and can’t answer my call because the phone is dead. I absolutely do not have abandonment issues. But the anxiety monster pops up and says: You’re not worth being loved, so here’s a terrible situation that could TOTALLY happen and has happened. You’re now homeless. Best wishes. 
  8. Staring At My Computer and Doing Nothing… I absolutely am always productive. This is a lie. There are some days when I say “I’m going to be productive!” So I sit down at my computer. Open a document to start writing and finally make a tiny dent in my ever growing pile of books and blog posts I want/need to write. As I gaze upon my computer with my hands on the keys, I am overcome by the feeling of NOPE! So I stare at my computer and pretend like I was productive for two hours before saying, “Well, I tried.” I end it all by cuddling dogs and reading another book I hope to review someday. 
  9. Rewatching Shows I’ve Already Seen Too Many Times… This is a thing people with anxiety do. They rewatch shows over and over and over again because it’s comforting because we know what is going to happen. Instead of starting new shows, I just rewatch the old ones. This is the most productive thing (other than puppies) that I have done during quarantine. Sue me. I didn’t bake sourdough.
  10. Planning To Tackle Projects And Then Never Doing Anything… I NEED TO SET UP MY OFFICE AND PAINT MY HOUSE. I haven’t. I have all the things I need for my office, and yet it hasn’t been done. Oh well. That’s life. I know in my head what my house will look like when it’s done. It is beautiful. Reality: The walls are a terrible and dated color of greige. 
  11. Staring At The Ceiling… When in doubt. Lay in bed and stare at the ceiling doing nothingness. Seriously. Nothing but drown in self-doubt, anxiety, worry, and nihilism. 

Sending all my love to everyone who reads this and everyone who doesn’t. The world is a terrifying place right now. I’m hoping it gets better and we can all see and love one another again. Until then, I’ll just be here keeping up with avoiding 2020. 

bisous un обьятий,
RaeAnna

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