Decadent Outrageous Oreo Brownies

This week is Teacher (and Staff) Appreciation week at My Oldest son’s school. So, when I received the email asking the parents to sign-up to make (or buy) something to contribute for the luncheon, I quickly responded that I’d make brownies. The main reason I chose brownies is that I do work a full-time outside of the home, so arriving at the school with something hot at 11 a.m. is just not going to happen on a Wednesday. Sorry, but it’s just not possible. Brownies I can do, AND I live around the corner from the PTA President so I knew I could give them to her and she’d make sure they’d arrive on time.

I’ve had my eye on this recipe for quite awhile now. Joe at Culinary in the Country adapted the recipe and uses bittersweet chocolate in them. I had every intention of making his version, but when I went through my stash of baking chocolate I realized I forgot to buy bittersweet chocolate! So, off to the Internet I go searching for the original version hoping that it used something I already had in my pantry. Wouldn’t you know it? I found Ina “pound of butter” Garten’s original version on Oprah’s site for her magazine, “O”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think Ina Garten has some really nice recipes, but they are more for special occasions since she is one of the Chef-ebrities (yep, I’m trying to be cute, and My Husband will surely tell me I’m a Dork for that one, but that’s ok!), that tends to use a pound of butter in every dessert. So, either the teachers and staff will love me for making these incredible brownies or they will be cursing me for creating the temptation to eat them! Either way, I’m happy to share!

These brownies are very dense and fudgey, which is exactly how I like them. The coffee flavor is very subtle, but it's there. I thought it would be more intense since there are 3 tablespoons added to the batter, but I think all the chocolate really overshadows it. These are definitely “special treat” brownies as a little goes a long way. I’m a big fan of chocolate, but these are so rich that you’ll want to cut them into smaller pieces and make the happiness last as long as possible.

Blueberry Muffins Bursting with Berries

I recently received a copy of a new cookbook,Summer Gatherings: Casual Food to Enjoy with Family and Friends. This cookbook has tons of beautiful pictures and so many recipes that I can't wait to make for family and friends this summer.

When I was in high school, there were a group of us who used to take turns hosting slumber parties every weekend. Whenever they were at my house, My Mom always made mini-blueberry muffins and everyone always went nuts for them. The reason this was a big deal was because all the other moms brought in donuts every weekend, which is why for years I couldn't stand looking at another donut. Sadly, I am over that but I do manage to avoid them these days. Anyway, whenever I see blueberry muffin recipes I always think back to those fun times with my friends back in high school. We are lucky that we are all still in touch "all" these years later and still very close despite the various states we all live in now.

So, when I saw the Melt-in-Your-Mouth Blueberry Muffins you know I just had to make them. With a name like that, how could I resist? They were simple to prepare, and with the addition of sour cream in the batter they had a nice cake-like texture. They were a huge hit with My Oldest and a nice treat for breakfast. They are best served the first day, but you can freeze them for up to 2 months and bring them back out when you just have to have a homemade blueberry muffin.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Blueberry Muffins

Source: Summer Gatherings, Rick Rodgers

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup full-fat sour cream
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 10 muffin tins with paper liners. (I was able to get 12 muffins from this recipe.)

Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt together into a medium bowl. Beat the eggs until combined in another medium bowl, then stir in the sour cream and melted butter. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Fold in the blueberries. Spoon equal amounts of the batter into each muffin tin.

Bake until the muffin tops are golden brown and a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cake rack. Serve warm or cooled to room temperature. (The muffins are best served the same day that they are baked. Freeze leftovers, stored in a self-locking plastic bag, for up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature.)

Garlic Potatoes and Grilled Chicken

On Sunday, after a day of baking various things we still needed to eat dinner. I had just been to the market where I buy my produce that morning, and had also just watched a recent Sunny Anderson show. She's got a new show, Cooking for Real, on Food Network. I'm not in love with her style or the show, but her Garlic Hasselback Potatoes caught my eye.

My Husband didn't care much for the potatoes, but I thought the garlic really made them. For once, I didn't feel they needed additional butter - or my favorite, sour cream. I didn't bother to make her herbed sour cream, and they really didn't need it.

The chicken was made very simply with a herb mix that we picked up at Costco recently. It has panko bread crumbs and parmesan cheese with a really flavorful mix of herbs. The kids could have done without it, too much flavor I guess. My Husband and I liked the flavor and the chicken would go nicely over salad greens, which could be a separate meal all together.

Broccoli with Toasted Garlic

One vegetable I can almost always get my boys to eat is broccoli. I know it's weird, they could care less about green peas but broccoli they will eat. Of course, steaming it all the time gets b-o-r-i-n-g. Enter Ellie Krieger! Her recipe for Broccoli with Toasted Garlic is so simple and so delicious that you'll want to make it this way all the time. The garlic is really crispy and brown and nice to nibble on by itself.

After you toast the garlic in the EVOO, you take it out and set aside. Then you toss in the broccoli and toss it with the EVOO in the skillet that has been infused with the garlic. The broccoli takes on the garlic flavor which is truly the star of this dish.

If you want to try something a bit different from the usual steamed broccoli, this is a good one to give a try. It's actually a bit faster than steaming and it tastes so much better. This side dish is even nice enough to serve to guests, so mark it to try soon.

2 Layer Chocolate Cake

Last night we got together with another family for dinner. To keep things simple, we just did a taco night which everyone enjoyed. Sorry, no pictures as they were eaten soon as they were ready!

When we were at the grocery store picking up a few things to go with dinner, My Husband decided that he really wanted a chocolate cake. And, being the wonderful wife that I am, I said sure we can do that. Now, I'll admit that I don't have a favorite chocolate cake recipe so we picked up a box of cake mix. I know... sharing with friends I should have made a cake from scratch. One thing I don't like to do is go in search of a dessert recipe after I've made it home from the store... which means I may not have all the ingredients. Soon as we got home, I got the cake baking. I should also mention that I've never made a 2 layer cake before. I have the pans, but for some reason I've never made a layered cake. Of course, I needed to change that so the batter went into 2 round cake pans. They baked up just as the should (remember it's a mix - how hard can that be, right?), they did dome a bit in the middle though.

I could have gone the easy route with the frosting as well, but where would the fun be in that? I ADORE frosting (who doesn't?). I used a VERY basic chocolate buttercream recipe that is on the Domino powdered sugar package. Super easy to make, that you really don't need to bother with the pre-made frosting. My boys enjoyed licking the little bit of frosting left in the mixing bowl.

My Youngest wanted to help with frosting the cake, but I told him I had a special decorating job for him once I had that part done. As I mentioned before, the cakes domed in the middle so I had to slice off that part of the bottom layer so that I could frost it and the top layer would sit properly. Once I had it frosted, I let My Youngest put chocolate sprinkles over the top. I think for my first attempt and a layered cake I did a pretty nice job.