Tales of the Traveling Tote 40 and a Giveaway

Welcome to the Tales of the Traveling Totes 40th post. (Wow, the big 40!) We are so glad to have you visit.  A group of the most fun ladies take their MacKenzie-Childs totes all over the place and share their adventures quarterly.  
Also welcome to Purple Chocolat Home's new home.It was a long journey, but we are now in and settled and Miss Madi K and I want to share our first photos with you.  

We moved in on December 8th with just enough time to set up a tree and do a little decorating. 
With traveling a lot during the cold winter months, it has taken some time to work on getting all settled in.  In addition we were getting our old house ready to sell.  
Hooray, it sold, even with the market the way it is!!

We have spent all spring 

and summer working on the 

back yard.  It still isn't done yet!

We were making progress and 

then we had a 100 year hail 

and rain storm and that set 

us back a bit with erosion, 

but the house was OK.

It was like a snowstorm with 

all of the hail.  The gardens 

are all shredded and fruit 

destroyed.  Our lower property

was flooded, but the house was 

fine.  Many houses were like a 

river running through their 

basements, so we feel blessed.   

Miss Madi K and I are going 

to start the home tour with 

one of my favorite rooms 

(wait, they are all my favorites - 

we spent several years designing 

the plans). 

This is the Orangerie - the French 

would bring their tropical plants 

into their orangeries during the 

winter.  We put in a sink and 

a drain in the floor.  

This piece you may recognize

from my old house.  We loved 

it and wanted to keep it, so 

we added a small sink so that 

watering plants would be easy.  

I can store vases and things 

below.  

It has its 

own heating and cooling 

system to keep the plants alive.  

I knew from the very beginning 

that I wanted it to be an entertaining 

space and to have a 

Modern French feel.  

Two amber chandeliers 

and beams add to the 

French flair.  We anchored

the one end with a gorgeous

fireplace.  

Miss Madi K and I set out 

to decorate the room for 

it's first party - 

A Mad Hatter Tea Party.

It was so much fun entertaining 

in the Orangerie.  I will give 

more details on our tea party 

later.  

Thanks for visiting, now hop 

on over and visit our other 

ladies of the 

Tales of the Traveling Tote.

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home (you are here)

 Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

 Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box  

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Bookish Dilettante

Visit Jenna's blog for a 

chance at this fabulous tote.

I always wish I could win these 

fun giveaways!!!

See you on December 1st for another adventure.

It's Pizza Night - Deep Dish Chicago Pizza

You know us - we LOVE pizza.  We love it so much we built a pizza oven in our last house, our daughter built one in her house, we built one in our new house,our other daughter got a Pizza Craft pizza oven she uses in her garage, and my son started Friday Night Pizza Nights at his house.He uses a pizza steel.  

That son and his wife just had a new baby this summer, and he had mentioned he wanted a deep dish Chicago style pizza. I had given him my mom's deep dish pizza pan, but he said it was too big for their family, so I decided to find a recipe and try it.  

I had never had this style of pizza before.  I grew up in Wisconsin, just a few hours from Chicago, and the Chicago style pizza we had wasn't like this.  
The secret to this is the dough.It has butter in the dough and then you laminate it with butter.  
Don't be intimidated by the lamination, it is a lot easier than making croissants. 
The recipe made two so we were able to eat one and his family had one.  
Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza Crust
3 1/4. C. flour1/2 C. cornmeal1 tsp. salt1 T. sugar1 T. yeast1 1/4 C. warm water1/4 C. melted butter1/4 C. softened butter
Mix everything but the softened butter in your mixer using a dough hook for around 5 minutes.  Let it rise covered in a greased bowl for one hour or until doubled. 
Punch dough down and roll out like you are making cinnamon rolls, into about a 15x12 inch rectangle,and spread the softened butter on the dough.  
Roll the dough up lengthwise and then cut the dough in half.  Form each half into a ball.  
Place the balls in your greased bowl, cover and let rise in fridge for about an hour.
See, that was so easy!  You want the butter to firmup so that the dough has buttery layers when it is baked. 
Spread each dough ball into a 9 inch springform pan, pushing it up the sides.  You want the dough to encase all of the wonderful fillings. 
Layer provolone cheese on the bottom of the dough in the pan, then top with 2 C. grated mozzarella, cooked Italian sausage, and your favorite pizza or spaghetti sauce.  You want the sauce thick, so if you use a prepared sauce, cook it down a bit.  Finish with grated parmesan.  
Bake at 425 for about 30 minutes.  You want the cheese all melted through.  
Let cool for a few minutes and then unmold.  
You will love this pizza. They liked it so much they had it for breakfast the next day.
That crust - amazing!!

Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility Lawn Party

Our Craft Group had another 

fabulous Jane Austen party 

this time featuring 

Sense and Sensibility, 

hosted by the wonderful 

Karen/Mrs. Dashwood. 

(I have the very best of friends!)

You can see the gazebo in 

the background, decked with 

British flags.  We dined there 

last year, but this year she 

asked her husband to create 

another spot to dine for us - 

wow, what a great guy!

Then opposite of that, she 

had constructed this amazing

serving table.  

We dined on a cold soup, 

finger sandwiches, eclairs, 

scones and tarts.

The table was set beautifully 

with her mother's china.

We had fresh flowers and 

candles everywhere.

The bouquets on the backs 

of the chairs held our 

placecards. 

We have been looking forward 

to this party all summer.  

All we had to do was 

to get dressed up for 

the event.  

Alas, my lady's maid 

didn't show up, so I had 

to dress myself and do my 

own hair! 

The cook didn't show either, 

so I had to make the scones 

for the party.  What is a woman 

to do these days?!!

Mrs. Dashwood created 

beautiful Charcuterie Cups 

for us to start the meal.

Details, details everywhere.

Edward Ferrars even arrived 

bringing gifts, and did a reading 

for us.  The gifts were aprons 

that Mrs. Dashwood had 

sewn for us. 

But if all of this wasn't enough - 

We were able to make 

mussie tussies from her flowers,

and Natalie gifted us each 

a pearl necklace with our 

initials and a crown jewelry 

holder.  (So spoiled!)

The evening was nothing but magical.

(Bottom second from right, 

the lovely Mrs. Dashwood 

and her husband/Edward.) 

We are already looking forward 

to next year's Jane Austen Party.

Crumbl Copycat French Silk Pie Cookies

I don't know if you have Crumbl Cookies where you are, but they started here in Utah.  We go there often to try the new flavorsfor the week. 
This French Silk Cookie has been my hands down favorite since they opened, but you can't always get them.  Now, I can make them, or at least a great version of them, whenever I want.

It starts with a melt in your 

mouth deep chocolate cookie

and is topped with a light 

French Silk mousse, then 

whipped cream and 

chocolate curls. 

French Silk Pie in 

a cookie form - what is 

not to love!

After baking, use a 1/2 C. 

measuring cup and press 

down on the baked cookie 

to give it an indentation 

for the French Silk to sit.  

Let the cookies cool 

completely and then 

top with the mousse 

and then the whipped cream.

I honestly have never 

been able to make great 

chocolate curls, but 

the Lindt Milk bar made 

it so, so easy. 

I made a variation of the 

recipe from 

Lifestyle of a Foodie.

This recipe is so amazing.  

The only thing I changed

was using a 1/2 C. measuring 

cup for the indentation and 

I omitted the semisweet 

chocolate chips in the mousse.

Visit her site for the full recipe.  

You won't have to wait 

ENDLESSLY

for Crumbl's

French Silk Pie Cookies 

anymore.

Tales of the Traveling Tote #39 and a Giveaway

Welcome to our June 2024 edition 

of Tales of the Traveling Tote.  

We started off in Cabo for the 

solar eclipse on April 8th.  It 

was almost a total eclipse.

Miss Petit Four was vacationing 

in Cabo with us and was lucky 

enough to experience the eclipse.  

The pull of the moon affects the 

tides, and with the eclipse happening, 

the beach was completely gone and 

the water was up in the chairs 

at the restaurant we went to. 

The Office is our favorite 

spot for breakfast and we 

went there 

that morning. I 

happened to bring my package 

of ten eclipse glasses with me 

and shared them with the 

waiters!  They were so excited.

Then we went back to the house

to view the full eclipse.  

The next day I got to meet 

Linda Primmer, who was one 

of the ladies who invited me 

into the Tales of the Traveling Tote 

group!  This was the first lady of 

our group that I got to meet in 

person. It was such a thrill for me, 

that I got emotional when I 

first saw Linda. 

 Linda and I have always 

called ourselves "Soul Sister", 

because we love the same style.  

We met up with them at their 

resort and when we went to the 

desk, the person there asked if 

we were sisters!!!  We LOVED that!!!

After touring their resort, we went back 

to our home and took a tour of it.  

Then the four of us headed 

to the Waldorf Astoria 

for dinner to celebrate 

Linda and Paul's 25th 

wedding anniversary.  

Our totes were so happy to be 

there to celebrate with them.

The resort happened to have fireworks

that night right behind our backs, 

and even the waiter teased us 

that the fireworks were just to 

celebrate their anniversary. 

After a delicious dinner of 

watermelon salad, empanadas, 

and lobster they were treated 

to a delicious dessert.  

Linda and Paul were so charming 

and lovely.  We had such a great time 

meeting them and celebrating 

with them.  

We were home a week and then 

off to San Antonio to visit my 

sister Jean.  

I had loved seeing Sarah Anderson's

pictures of the shakes she enjoys, 

so I contacted her and asked if 

they had a place in San Antonio.  

They didn't, but she invited us to 

come to Austen and visit her.  

On our way, I told my sister and 

her husband I had to stop at the 

famous Buc'ees 

gas station/destination stop 

for their BBQ sandwich.  Honestyly, 

it is the best BBQ beef sandwich 

I have ever had and I have craved 

it since I had one a few years ago. 

What a month I had, now I was 

meeting in person the other lovely 

lady who encouraged me to join 

the Tales of the Traveling Tote 

group.  I was over the moon to 

meet both of them in two weeks!!! 

Sarah is such a delightful lady 

and we loved visiting her in 

her gorgeous home.  

This is my favorite picture that 

I snapped of her.  She is so elegant 

and fabulous and this picture could 

be in a magazine.  

Her home could be a museum for 

MacKenzie-Childs!!!  Everywhere 

you look is another fabulous MC 

item from furniture to lamps to 

ceramics.  

She even has a MC bathroom!!!

And her backyard is gorgeous 

too.  She is situated in such a 

pretty neighborhood with 

lovely homes.  

Miss Madi K and I had the best 

time getting to know Sarah in person. 

Truly these two weeks were dreams 

come true getting to finally meet 

two of the loveliest ladies, and 

especially since they were the two 

who invited me into the group and 

found a bag online for me so 

that I could be a part of this group. 

Thanks darling ladies.  Now I have 

a few more ladies to get to meet - 

on my bucket list!!

We are finally getting settled 

into our new home, and I will 

start posting that soon.  Whew! 

It has been a project.  

On to your favorite part and that 

is our giveaway!  We have another 

fun tote as a giveaway this time.  

Visit Emily to enter for the tote.

Pop on in and visit all of the 

other ladies in our fun group 

to see where their totes were off to.  

 Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

 Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box  

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home (you are here)

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Sketchy Reader