Almost done...

Ok. I swear... only one or two more brownie posts after this!

This particular one from justJenn struck my fancy... peanut butter + chocolate brownie! yes please!!

Peanut Butter Brownies

Melting the chocolate + butter.

Melting together the PB "batter".

Folding the flour into the chocolate mixture.

Poured the PB mix over the brownie mix.

The weird texture that the PB mix bakes up to be.

So as usual, I had a bit of a timing issue. I pulled it out of the oven just in time, maybe just a taaaaad over, but there wasn't a burnt hard crust or anything. I added on an additional 30 min of bake time. Seems like I do that a lot. I did the toothpick test, as well as just watched for the top PB layer to set. It takes a while.

The result was still a super moist and thick and chewy brownie. The peanut butter "topping" is definitely a treat, but I don't think it was peanut buttery enough for some of the people that sampled. But still good!

The tricky part with this recipe too was not cooking the eggs when mixing them into the batter. Tricky tricky business!

Also, I used this:

It is apparently awesome because it's just simply peanut butter. No monosodaieoriehsiuasida or polysaturagestadas... just peanuts and other pronounceable ingredients.

Also, given the heat (again!!!!) and the laziness that comes with having to pack up my apartment... I ordered out and decided to try the pastas from Pizza Hut. Bacon Mac n Cheese, Chicken Alfredo, Breadsticks. Not too shabby a meal. Not phenomenal. But its a nice change from just pizza being delivered to your door.

Dinner and a Cookie

Ever impatient, I couldn't wait the 30 min to reheat the full round pan of leftovers from Two Guys from Italy, so I scooped a hunk into a ramekin and nuked my Baked Gnocchi with Tomato Cream Sauce and Ricotta and Mozzarella.

I added some red pepper flakes and fresh basil from by own little basil plant.

And since I beat traffic, and had some time... I baked! again! In like 3 days! OMG WOW!

Potato Chip Cookies from justJENN recipes

I only had 1 bag of chips, so I halved the recipe.
1 Stick Butter
1/4 C Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 C Sugar
1/2 an egg (this was a toughie)
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 C Flour
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/16 salt (another toughie... I "pinched" this one)
3/4C crushed potato chips (1 snack sized bag - I used Lay's)

Cream butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla.
Combine dry ingredients. Add to butter mixture.
Mix in by hand crushed potato chips.
Drop teaspoon dollops onto parchment lined baking sheets.
Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Notes: The cookies are SUPER buttery. They melt down quickly and bubble a lot. Once removed from the oven, they're still soft. Let stand to firm up a bit before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

I planned to drizzle with chocolate. But they weren't as salty as I thought (wanted) them to come out to be. I should have used a different kind of chip - maybe kettlecooked, or just a thicker chip.

always celebrate with delishness food

Anniversaries, of any kind, are relatively rare for me... so of course, I try to celebrate them when they come around. And so... out to eat we go!

Catal Restaurant @ Downtown Disney

[Forgot to take a picture]
Starter: Butcher Plate - Shaved Serrano, Coppa Ham, Spanish Chorizo, Olives, Caper Berries, and Grilled Bread


Entree for moi: Boneless Braised Short Ribs with Fontina Mac and Cheese and Mushroom-Black Truffle Escabeche


Entree for him: Slow Rendered Duck Breast with Sweet Potato, Parsnip Fondue, Licorice, and Toasted Almonds


Dessert: Caramel Chocolate Mousse Torte (with some ice cream and crunchies I can't recall from the menu)

Overall, yummy! I wasn't blown away by the Butcher Plate, but it caught our eye, so we gave it a try. Our entrees were delish. Dessert was not as phenomenal I would have hope. But that's ok! Still good!

pig out

Park's Barbeque • Tel: 213-380-1717 • 955 S. Vermont Avenue • Los Angeles, CA 90006

Beignets

Ever since beignets from Jazz Kitchen at Downtown Disney, the boy and I have been making beignets. I'm not sure if this is the easiest/tastiest/bestest recipe out there... the boy found it; we made it; it worked. While not quite the same as Jazz Kitchen, its pretty good!

French Market Doughnut Recipe - Beignet

I just HATE deep frying. It makes everything (EVERYTHING!) smell like oil. And that's actually kind of sickening to me.

Birthday Fun!

This year I went (and am still going) overboard for my birthday. I had a bday trip up to SF, then a bday dinner, and soon a bday pool/bbq party! And in between all that, I had a FABULOUS day at work for my bday. It was fantastical!

So to begin my bday adventures, I visited fr'isco (as seen in the previous post). And I must say, I am a major fan of the Ferry Building. It is a magical place with all sorts of foods! I should have taken more pictures... but oh well, what can you do.

So mainly I went to the Ferry Building to find this cute sweets shop- Miette Patisserie. Since I've been drooling over cake stands, modern/kitschy/cute/vintage, for a while now, I was REALLY tempted to buy one of their cake stands. But that would have been a bad idea given my lack of packing space. So, next time, cake stand... next time.

The cakes and pastries, like the shop front, look so sweet and cute and good! I will be sure to try some next time. I should have timed my meals more appropriately that day.

Other shops in the Ferry building consisted of a chocolate shop, more confections, fresh meats, herbs, mushrooms, a tea house, cheese shop, and all things utterly and totally foodie!

My favorite part of hoteling is ALWAYS the room service... yes, it costs a pretty penny, but when on vacation... do as vacationers do. SPLURGE.

So, we ordered in some edamame (to be "healthy"), a raved about mushroom and pepperoni pizza, fried calamari with a chili oil dipping sauce (which really reminded me of some type of dim-sum), and of course, who can resist getting some chicken nuggets and fries. My favorite was the pizza... I would have enjoyed the calamari more if it wasn't so salty.

The most massive meal I had was at Max's diner...
Chicken Pot Pie that is pretty much made as large as a normal WHOLE pie. Good, but geezus, it was HUGE.

and never one to skip out on Max's Strawberry Shortcake when in season, we had to get a 1/2 slice. YUM.

Back in Orange County, on my actual birthday, my wonderful work peoples took me out to lunch to the Slidebar in Downtown Fullerton. I had "The" Mac n Cheese. But the most eye popping, jaw dropping, was the dessert... i forget the name, but it was a brownie sandwich with cookiedough between the layers, DEEP FRIED, topped with vanilla ice cream. Yummy? yes... A heartstopper? you betcha.

Then, for dinner, a mere 5 hours later (which really isn't enough to digest a meal of seismic proportions from the Slidebar), I had dinner at Cafe Tu Tu Tango at the Block in Orange. Food pics and comments can be found on my most favorite food blogger's page here. It may have been the novelty of the idea that's worn off... but it just wasn't as good this time around. Oh wells, it was spending time with friends that really mattered. :)

Oddly enough, and to my surprise... I didn't eat a CAKE at all on my birthday. I'll make sure to remedy that during my pool/bbq party. Ice cream cake... here I come!

home sweet home

I finally got a chance to park it in front of the tube and chow down tonight...
it's TACO TUESDAY! so i had 3 tacos with a macho coke from Del Taco...
then I proceed to inhale some leftovers from a previous dining excursion:

Grillin' Chicken Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries from the Veggie Grill

(leftovers did NOT do the fresh sandwich justice... but when are leftovers just as good as the original?) Cilantro Pesto = YUM. Chipotle Ranch = YUM. Cute eco-friendly take-out box= AWESOME.

And to finish off the evening, a bowl of Rocky Road. YUM.

lazy monday

I didn't do much of anything today... and most definitely did not get around to baking those cookies. I WILL be doing some baking/cooking for a bbq this weekend though... so hopefully I can get those up! But for now... nada.

One of the things I did do today was EAT.
I had sushi again for dinner... but here's a new one:

the CRAZY california roll

tres bien

giganamous pizookie

imagine this...

x 4
= <PIZOOKIE^® PARTY PLATTER
Perfect for groups of five or more! This Pizookie contains ALL FOUR KINDS of cookies presented together on a large platter and topped with a mountain of vanilla bean ice cream. Also available in an all-Oreo^® cookie party platter.>

IT WAS HUGE! I didn't even finish my one slice of Great White deep-dish pizza... and suddenly this UFO sized pizookie lands in front of us with Oreo, Chocolate Chip, White Chocolate Macadamia and Peanut Butter cookie with 10+ scoops of vanilla ice cream. OMFG. I was actually intimidated for a minute.

... then I got over it and dug in! (didn't get around to trying the Peanut Butter though... waaay to much sweetness in me by that time... astonishingly)

Hot Day Dessert

HOT HOT day today... thank goodness for A/C and cold desserts. I went to Phoenix Restaurant for dinner and of course had to have DESSERT!!

Almond Jello w/ Mini Cube-lettes of Watermelon and Honey Dew and Coconut Milk
SO good... even better since it was complementary.
The coconut milk (I think) added a sweetness and creaminess that was just right.
And the fresh fruit bits with that slight crunch of watermelon was a nice contrast to the gelatin consistency of the jello.

And since one dessert is never enough...

Soy Tofu with Tapioca and Mango (and sweet milk?)
YUM! The tapioca texture and the smooth tofu... so fun! Not too sweet, and refreshing with the fresh mango pieces.

I love pudding desserts... but if I make it myself, I just never finish the batch and it all ends up going to waste. Sometimes less is more. The individual portions were PERFECT. Gotta love the easy clean up too with disposable bowls.