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[the makings of a caprese salad]
[making peppermint bark with my cousin]
[bowlin' the night away at lebowski fest]
[my niece, madeline's, work of art]
[snapped a pic post-lunch at nighttown]
[a couple "light meat" & "dark meat" turkeys from oakmont bakery]
Tags: chocolate, dessert, family, food, madeline, photographs, thanksgiving
Don’t let your eyes trick you, that says ‘heath’ up there, not ‘health’. While I do consider these brownies healthy for your soul and peace of mind, in the traditional sense… not so much. I chose to make this recipe for three reasons:
1] it required me to clean one dish {two if you include the baking pan}
2] it did not require the use of an electric mixer
*these two reasons are paramount when the baker at hand lives in a small city apartment with limited counter space and a noticeably absent [and sorely missed] dishwasher
**although an easy cleanup, take heed: hand-mixing leads directly to higher cake batter transferal from bowl to mouth during the baking process.
3] I had to see what gooey cookies & cream heath brownies tasted like!
My friend from college, Lyndi, texted me the other day asking that I post another easy dessert recipe. She is pregnant right now [the cutest pregnant girl ever, it's not even fair] and she is also perfecting her baking skills [she's a pro at making these nutella pillows]. Lyndi could eat 38 double fudge chocolate chip cookies and still look like a darn bikini model. So Lyndi these are for you [and baby O.]!
I found this recipe on one of my daily reads, Picky Palate, and decided to slightly alter it. It is a breeze to make and if you like soft, gooey freshly baked cookies, you will absolutely love these.
Gooey Cookies’n Cream Heath Brownies
1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a 9×13 inch baking pan with tin foil, spray liberally with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Place cake mix, butter and egg [must be room temperature] into a large bowl, mixing with your hands to combine. Attempt to demonstrate self-control and resist the urge to eat the whole bowl o’dough then & there. Press into prepared baking pan and top with broken pieces of oreo.
3. Pour sweetened condensed milk over cookies and top with heath bits. Bake for 23-25 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from oven and let cool.
4. After 5 minutes of cooling, run a knife around edges to loosen. If the knife gets stuck, run it under cold water. Let cool completely, remove foil from pan, then cut into squares. Makes 12 brownies.
Just wanted to pop in and say how awesome my mom is. She is one of those extremely rare people who always put others before themselves. She would fly across the world for her kids – and she has. One summer when I was studying abroad in Italy she flew out to see me for the weekend. All that traveling just to spend two days with me, I’m still in awe when I think about it. I hope I can be one-tenth of the mom she is one day.
So mom sent me some grown-up Easter treats this year from my favorite chocolate store [besides Malley's of course] that put those little pastel marshmallow chicks to shame:
And what was inside? If only you could taste it…
Chocolate covered vanilla marshmallows with a layer of creamy caramel on the bottom [as previously swooned over here] and that’s not all…
A sweet milk chocolate bonnet that tastes like heaven.
Happy Belated Easter! I hope the Easter bunny was good to you this year.
Tags: chocolate, love, mom, photographs, spring
{When life hands you mushy bananas…}
I had a couple bananas that were turning on me and it was the perfect time to bake a batch of banana bread. In the spirit of St. Pat’s I wanted to add some green flair to my grandma’s recipe but without any green food coloring in the cupboard I wasn’t sure how to pull it off. As my eyes settled on the basil pot on the windowsill it hit me, why not give the savory Italian herb a try? I had a hunch the subtle, slightly minty flavors of the basil would compliment the sugary sweetness of the banana nicely. Although I didn’t get the vibrant green hue I was hoping for, the incidental marrying of flavors was right on.
Basil Banana Bread
Reserve:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix butter, sugar, bananas, sour cream, water, chocolate chips, basil and eggs thoroughly in big bowl with electric mixer. Mix remaining dry ingredients and add to wet mixture slowly [otherwise the flour will fly everywhere and make a huge lovely mess...]. When all ingredients are combined, gently fold in reserved chocolate chips with a spatula. Grease one large loaf pan. Bake in oven 35-40 minutes or until butter knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on rack, remove from pan, slice, top with reserved basil. Enjoy a piece for breakfast [wrap in a lightly damp paper towel and steam it the microwave for 15 seconds. Slather a pat of butter on top while still warm], or have a slice as a sweet after dinner treat.
While perusing my new favorite grocery store, Trader Joe’s, I came across this sweet canister of Irish oatmeal. Satisfied with the retro aluminum can [my mind was already busy figuring out other uses for it once empty] I added it to my bounty and went on my merry way.
Last night I set about making a batch of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with my new purchase. I’d never seen Irish oats before, much less cooked with them, so I assumed they were the same as Quaker’s. Ah-hem, I was wrong:
This is how they appear cooked. I think they look more like rice than oatmeal but I was determined to see how they tasted in the cookie so I forged ahead. I found a way to use them in place of the “rolled oats” the recipe called for – in my case the recipe asked for 3/4 cup rolled oats so I placed 3/4 cup cold water and 3/4 cup Irish oatmeal in a pot and brought to a boil. Once cooled, I continued with the recipe as usual.
Irish Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
*adapted from this recipe
It was a cold, windy, rainy night here in Chicago – the perfect weather to watch some Real Housewives, catch up on magazines, and bake a batch of no-fuss brownies. Good thing I always keep a box of brownie mix in the pantry for times like this. One box of Jiffy fudge brownie mix, a handful of marshmallows, some mini milk-chocolate chips, and a dash of Reese’s pieces [mini for baking] later I had a plate of my kitchen-sink brownies. And, now my entire apartment smells like velvety chocolate, one of the upsides of living in a small space.
Kitchen-Sink Brownies
*as the name of the brownie implies, add whatever sweet ingredients you have. no need for a trip to the grocery store on a night like this.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add all ingredients into a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Pour into greased mini loaf pan [Jiffy says to use a 9"x 5" loaf pan but mine was even smaller and it turned out fine]. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Sprinkle mini-marshmallows on top and broil for 3-4 minutes until marshmallows are nicely toasted. Let cool completely. Here’s a tip I learned – if you dip a knife in cool water it makes it so much easier to cut.
[All that's missing? A glass of milk. On my nails: Revlon Minted layered with Essie Overnight.]
Tags: chocolate, cozy night, dessert, simple, stormy
