The Be All and End All - Brownie Edition

There are brownies, and then there are brownies. There are brownies that are, you know, pretty good. From a box. Not too shabby.

And then there are brownies. That say 'hey, baby' in this voice. (Feel free to substitute whatever voice you like. Take your time. I'll wait.)

These are fudgy, dense, and gooey. If you like cakey brownies, these are not for you. And please don't tell me you like cakey brownies, because if you do then I'm not sure we can be friends anymore.

The brownies consist mainly of melted chocolate, butter, eggs, and sugar, held together by just a bit of flour. I know. Word.

I make this recipe about once a year. Because otherwise I would make them all the time, and I would be a rather girthy (but happy!) lady.

I've been making this particular recipe for several years now, and if I remember correctly I adapted it from a few other recipes. However, as I can barely remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, I could be wrong. If anyone finds a recipe that's very similar, let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.

Be All and End All Brownies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups dark or semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 large eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8 x 8 inch square pan.

Cut the butter into small cubes. Place the butter and chocolate in a double boiler, heat until just melted and smooth. Remove from double boiler.

Whisk in the sugar and cocoa power. Add eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add remaining ingredients, mix just until flour is incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the center has puffed up and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean. Cool completely before serving.

To the Woods!

Again with the woods. I know. It's what we do, apparently. Perhaps we were elves in past lives. Or, more accurately, given my love of polyester, hippies.

The Mr's goggle-thingies. Apparently these are the shizz when it comes to keeping flying chunks of wood and/or tree limbs out of one's eyes. They're also very sexy. I should sell these to Lady Gaga, start a trend, and become a millionaire. With solid plans like that, I just can't understand how I'm not ruling the world.

What the Mr does during the day:

Slightly more productive (and dangerous) than what I do. Although I did give myself a wicked paper cut yesterday, so I have that going for me. 

Pineapple Coffee Cake

This recipe? Totally not mine.

It's tasty.

It's vegan.

The occupants of this household, who shall remain nameless, have ridiculous sweet-teeth. And would happily eat cookies and cake all day until we they looked like a troop of Violet Beauregards. (By the way, how awesome is YouTube? I mean, really.)

I've taken to making vegan desserts so that we can still have our cake and eat it too, but in a somewhat healthier manner. The above cake has no butter. No milk. Less sugar. And yet it's moist, delicious, and dense, with lovely bits of pineapple throughout. The layer of crunchy sugar on top is perfection. The recipe comes from Susan Voisin, of the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.

The only change I made to this recipe was that I used an actual egg instead of the vegan egg replacer. Thus rendering my version not vegan at all, but we'll just ignore that. If I had a suggestion for this recipe, it would be to add a handful of chopped walnuts. Oh! I lied. There was another change that I made - the cake was baked in a round cake pan instead of square. 

Normally I would type the recipe here, but since I changed it so little, I'll just link to it. Click here to get it. And while you're at it, check out the dessert archive. You want to. Believe me. (I'm peer pressuring you right now, by the way. Give in.)

Thrift Store Goodness

A current obsession.

I know. Corelle. Part of me wants to be all snooty and say, 'I use only Limoges,' but yeah. Not so much. Me = clumsy, and Corelle = no breaky. The only reason we needed new plates in the first place was because I, Madame Graceful, had chipped and/or broken the majority of our old stoneware plates. 

I saw these, said 'OH MY GOD OWLS!', and threw them in my cart. For $1.99 at Goodwill, I get eternal owl-filled happiness in the form of earrings. 

A red day dress. I tried on one other blue and white checked dress, but it was too Little House on the Prairie even for me, which I would have thought impossible. Also a Goodwill purchase.

Heeled loafers that have vintage styling, but were made not that long ago. Found at a thrift store in Michigan for $3.00

A few recent finds have made their way into the Etsy shop as well, it hasn't all been about me lately. Mostly about me. But not all.