Caramel Candy Brownies and another loaf of bread!

Are you sick of the bread yet?

I'm certainly not...its delicious! 

Friends of ours came for dinner tonight with their daughter, Everly.  When Matt and I were engaged, Maureen and Andy bought us The Bride and Groom First and Forever Cookbook.  Whenever they come, I try to use some recipes out of it to show them how much I love it.  Everything I've made from this book has been fantastic.   I decided on the following menu...

Appetizer:

Brie with Apricot Topping (from the Year of Slowcooking blog)

Main Course:

Stuffed Chicken Parmesan (from the cookbook)

Fetucine Alfredo

Broccoli with sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts (from the cookbook)

Sun-dried tomato and mozzarella bread

Dessert:

Caramel Candy Brownies (from the bookbook)

Leftover Peanut Brownies (from my snow day on Wednesday!)

With some help from my parents, who are in from out of town, and Matt, dinner came together perfectly.  That doesn't always happen for me when I try to make dinner.  Something usually is undercooked or burnt or simply doesn't turn out the way I had hoped.  I was lucky this time!

As you can tell, I'm still on my bread machine kick...

For once, the loaf looked different from the outside!

How good do those sun-dried tomatoes look?

The inside was moist and savory.  The bits of tomato were a nice addition.

The caramel candy brownies were a recipe I've been wanting to try from the cookbook I mentioned earlier.  The basic brownie recipe was different from other brownies I had made in the past, but came out pretty good.  The authors of the cookbook said that you could use caramel candies or chopped up snickers.  Who can resist a snickers?  I certainly can't.

The desserts were a perfect ending to a fantastic meal and time with good friends.   Thanks, Maureen, Andy and Everly.  We hope you had a good time and can come again soon!

Another Snow Day!

Have I mentioned that I'm like a little kid on a snow day?

I'm lucky enough to work at a place that closes if it snows bad enough.  I wake up extra early waiting for a phone call saying that our agency is closed.  Usually, the phone call comes before 6 am.  This morning, at 6:25 am, I thought that we were going to have to go into work.  However, at 6:26, the phone rang!  I couldn't be more excited.  Its probably the only time before 8am when I sound alert and awake on the phone!  I promptly went back to sleep for another two hours, then woke up to start my day.  I made a list of everything  I wanted to accomplish today, and as of right now, I accomplished all but one of them.  After I write this blog, I may go finish that up, just so I can cross everything off of my list.  Why is it that crossing things off lists is so cathartic?   I feel super productive!

A few of the things on my list had to do with baking, of course!  As I mentioned previously, I normally bake cookies on snow days, but I need a little more time before I'm back in the mood for cookies after Christmas.  For dinner, I decided to make chicken noodle soup in the crockpot, and make grilled cheese sandwhiches.  That is one of my favorite cold night, comfort combinations.  I thought I'd try to fancy up the grilled cheese sandwhiches by making my own loaf of bread.  (Have I mentioned how much I love my new bread machine??)  After flipping though the recipe booklet, I finally found a recipe for which I had all of the ingredients I needed.  No way was I running out in the snow and ice to get more ingredients!  I decided on Parmesan Peppercorn French Bread.  Its sort of a joke in my family how much I love Parmesan.  Everyone makes sure at dinner to get to the parm first so that I don't hog it all!  Again, the bread machine makes it so easy to have a fresh loaf of bread in a few simple steps. 

 

I should probably stop taking pictures of the whole loaf of bread...from the outside, they all look the same!  However, if you look close, you can see the little bits of peppercorn.

The inside of the bread looks like a simple loaf of french bread, but when you bite into it, you can immediately taste the delicious blend of parmesan and peppercorn. 

I sliced up some cheddar cheese and made the grilled cheese extra crispy.  Grilling the bread really brought out more of the cheese flavor in the bread, and I thought it was the perfect combination!  Here's a picture of my soup that I made as well.  So simple to do in the crockpot.  Just add some leftover chicken, chicken broth, carrots, celery, onion and seasonings (which ever kind you like...I used Italian seasoning) to the crockpot and let sit for six to eight hours on low.  About 20 minutes before you are ready to eat, add any type of noodle you'd like to the pot.  I used egg noodles.  Voila!  The perfect snowy night meal.

For dessert, I wanted to make something simple but different.  I stared at my stash of cookbooks and decided to use my 101 Things to do with a Cake Mix cookbook. 

I had a box of white cake mix that was dangerously close to its expiration date, so I flipped through until I found a recipe that called for white cake mix.  I knew I found the perfect one when I saw "Peanut Butter Brownies."  And better yet, the ingredient list was small and I had all of them! 

All you need is:

1 box of white or yellow cake mix

1/3 cup of vegetable oil

2 eggs

2/3 cup of chunky peanut butter ( I didn't have chunky, only smooth, so I used that and then chopped up some peanuts to add to the mixture.)

1 1/2 tablespoons of milk (I thought the glaze was a little thick so I added a splash more of milk)

1 cup of powdered sugar

Add the first four ingredients to a mixing bowl, mix, and bake in a 9x12 baking dish at 350 degrees for about 16-18 minutes.  As soon as you pull the dish out of the oven, mix your powdered sugar and milk and drizzle over the "brownies" until even. 

I was nervous that this wasn't going to taste so great, but it definitely did.  It sort of tasted like peanut butter cookie dough.   I thought that I wouldn't like the glaze on top and wish that I had put some chocolate sauce over it, but the glaze complements it perfectly. 

Alright, well, back to being productive and checking things off my list! 

Congratulations, Lauren and Shawn!

A work wedding shower...

My coworker and friend, Lauren, is getting married on New Years Eve.  We decided to throw her a small shower at work to celebrate the big day!  Lauren is using a shade of purple for her wedding colors, so I thought the Lavendar Brownie Cupcakes from the Martha Stewart Cupcake Cookbook would be perfect.  First of all, the brownie recipe is to die for.  So. Flipping. Delicious.  Then, the lavendar icing added such a subtle spice punch.  Fantastically indulgent.  Martha added sugared edible flowers to the top, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that.  So instead, I simply piped the Bride and Groom's initials onto them.  Not as pretty. 

The recipe says that it should yield 24 cupcakes.  After making one batch, it seems to only yield 12.  So, I had to make another.  Turns out I just put too much batter into each cupcake liner.  I used the same scoop I use for regular cupcakes, and I think I should have used about half that batter.  However, still delicious...

Congratulations, Lauren and Shawn.  Can't wait to rock out with you on New Year's Eve!



Martha's Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Drive-by posting...

I had just gotten in from a long day of shopping with my cousins, sister-in-law, and aunt when Matt called and said his cousin, Doug, was stopping by on his drive home.  We hadn't seen him in a few months, so it was a great surprise.  I wanted to make something quick for us to enjoy for dessert, so I flipped through my Martha Stewart Cookie Cookbook and saw Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies.  Jackpot!  I hadn't made this recipe yet, so I was excited to try it.  It was very simple to throw together at the last minute and was delicious! 

My swirling technique leaves a little to be desired, but you get the idea.

If you are interested in the recipe, check it out here on Martha's website.

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Celebrating four years of marriage...

That was the best moment of my life.  I had finally married the most wonderfully handsome and loving man in the world in front of our entire HUGE families in my childhood church.  I cannot believe it has been four years since that awesome day.  Who knew that in only four years, we could already become the "Old Married Couple?"  That, we are.  Some people may celebrate their anniversaries with gifts, fancy dinners out or vacations, but we're a little more low key than that.  Matt took the day off from work, and I took a half day.  We spent the afternoon reading, watching the World Cup, playing cards, and sitting on the front porch watching a thunderstorm roll by.  The weather was the exact weather we had four years ago...hot, humid and thunderstorms! 

We knew that we'd make dinner together, and Matt suggested homemade pizzas on the grill...sounded great to me! I found a recipe for basic pizza dough on the food network website. Emeril Lagasse's Basic Pizza Dough recipe was so simple to make that I don't think I'll buy frozen pizza dough ever again.

Before Rising...

During Rising...

After Rising...

I don't know why but the science of rising dough always makes me laugh because I think of Alton Brown's explanation of yeast and how it works. I keep picturing the burping molecules.

As you can see, our pizza dough tossing skills leave a little to be desired.    We decided to make four different types of pizza so we could sample each.  Needless to say, we have plenty of leftovers now.

My first one had olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, green peppers, mozzarella, Parmesan, and basil.

Matt's first was a buffalo chicken pizza...BBQ sauce, roasted chicken, mozzarella, and garlic.

Matt's second had tomato sauce, tomatoes, basil, garlic, and mozzarella.

My final pizza was plain...just tomato sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan.

We decided to try the pizzas on the grill.  I read somewhere that it makes it taste more like brick oven pizza.  It was a nice night out (after the thunderstorm passed) so we went for it.  We used our pizza stone instead of putting them directly on the grill...we weren't that confident in our pizza making skills to not make a mess!

The results were fantastic!  The dough was perfectly cooked.  I think we'll use the grill all the time now when we make pizza! 

How great does that dough look?! 

For dessert, I made some Black Forest Brownies from a mix my mom got us on clearance at Target last week.  My mom is super thoughtful and knows how much Matt loves brownies and cherries.  Finding a mix that combined both, she couldn't resist :)  I have to tell you, they were so fudgey and delicious!  I've become sort of a brownie snob since I started making Martha Stewart's Fudge brownies from her Baking Handbook, but these were great. 

Can you see the juicy sour cherries?  The combination was so unique and scrumptious.  If you find these at target, BUY THEM!

Anyway, it was a fun and relaxing anniversary...just the way we like it.  Matt broke the rules a little bit and bought me some flowers.  When I yelled at him, telling him he wasn't supposed to, he said, "Big Whoop.  I bought you flowers."  I thought it was a big whoop!  They are beautiful.  Thanks, Matt, for a wonderful day and a fun four years.  I love you!

 

Fondue!

Book Club...

This month, we read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.  I really enjoyed reading this book, but the group was split on whether they liked it or not.   If you like murder mysteries and can stomach some graphic descriptions of abuse, you will enjoy this book.  Despite a slow start, the book is a quick read. 

Anyway, onto baking.  I hosted book club this month, and I wanted to make something easy but different to enjoy.  The other week, I started to crave fondue, and I thought, "Duh.  Make fondue for book club!"  I made two cheese fondues (is that the plural of fondue?  Or is it like the word moose? Who knows...don't judge me) and one chocolate fondue.  The first of the cheese course was a spicy parmesan fondue and the second, a cheddar beer fondue.  I chopped up lots of bread, carrots and apples to dip.  YUM!  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture.  Sorry :( 

The Chocolate Fondue was a simple chocolate fondue recipe from an article I ripped out of a Rachel Ray magazine.  I bought some rice crispy treats, strawberries and apricots and made some brownies, chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies for dipping. 

See those brownies in the corner of the first picture?  Those are actually Raspberry with Cabernet Wine Brownies.  Yep, you read that right.  What could be better than raspberry, chocolate, red wine and brownies?  My good friend, Patricia, bought me this mix for my birthday a month ago, and I've been saving them for book club.  She bought the mix at a craft fair that our employer was running.  (She got shushed at the craft fair for laughing too loud.  Clearly the person didn't know that this laugh is Patricia's trade mark).  I'd love to be able to hook you up with a website of wherever this brownie mix came from, but I could not find a website on the tag.  Have any of you seen this brand before or know where I could get a more of it?

The recipe called for only a cup of wine, so we drank the rest of the bottle during book club with these wine glasses that I found at HomeGoods a few weeks ago.  I couldn't resist.  I just found them way too cute.

Brownie Fail...and a few other things.

Another snow day...

Yet, not the most successful day of baking.  In the simplest of terms, I tried to use this...

to make brownies, but ended up with this...

and this...

So much for trying to be cute with brownies.  The bright side is that Matt loves to use brownie pieces in his ice cream.  Guess what we are having tonight instead of cute brownies?

I also made some Peanut Butter blossoms using some cookie dough I had made awhile ago and frozen.  Delish.  Can't go wrong with peanut butter cookies.

Finally, I attempted to make my own fondant for the first time.  I detest the way store bought fondant tastes, so I decided to try a homemade recipe.  Let me tell you, I will never use store bought again.  This fondant tastes just like buttercream icing, and it is simple to make.  I need the fondant for cupcakes I am making this week and thought that I could get a head start.  It  is not pretty right now, but hopefully I will be turning it into something special later this week.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day

Matt and I are not usually in to the Hallmark Holiday, but we had my cousin and her family over for lunch to celebrate.  We had a simple lunch of homemade pizza and heart shaped brownies.  Both were very good.  But watching the kids, Kate and Jack, was better. 

Keylime Cupcakes and Brownies

Old College Friends

We spent the evening last night with our college friends, whom we do not get to see nearly enough.  We had a great time telling old stories and reliving the "glory" years.  Makes me feel old when I think that we've been out of college for eight years!  We had pizzas, beers, and a dessert.  It was a great time, and I miss my friends already. 

I found this recipe online for Keylime Cupcakes.  Considering Matt's favorite dessert is Keylime pie, I thought he might like these.  They were the perfect amount of lime flavor...very subtle but delicious! 

Last weekend, Matt and I had a great "date" night where we used up all of the gift cards we've been neglecting since LAST Christmas.  We had a great time going from store to store using up every gift card we had.  My favorite one to use was the Williams Sonoma gift card.  I bought this brownie pan...its sooo cute!  I used the Martha Stewart Fudge Brownie Recipe from her Baking Handbook.  The brownies turned out very chewy and extra rich.  Perfect!

Sorry I didn't put them on a prettier plate, but we were in a rush to get out the door.  I think next time I make them I'm going to wrap them in aluminum foil and make a wrapper like a real chocolate bar.

Brownie Cupcakes with Rose Tinted Icing

Girls' Night

Over the summer, I was lucky to be able to spend so much time with some of my favorite women in my family, and since fall began, three of them are in different states for school.  I  have been going through withdrawal!  Therefore, I invited my three cousins, my two aunts, and my mom over for Girls' Night.  I can't wait to see them, and I thought I'd make pretty girl cupcakes.  Inspiration for these came from the Martha Stewart Cupcake Cookbook; however, Martha had lavender infused icing with edible flowers.  I am certainly no Martha and have NO idea where to find edible flowers and lavender.  I stumbled upon rose extract and made the flowers out of fondant.

Milk Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes with Rose Infused Royal Icing

I want one now.