SoBro Bungalow

Brownies Interrupted

It's raining and we've been getting bad news by the bucketload here, so naturally my mind turned to brownies. I pulled out a recipe that I've had for four years, but have yet to try -- So-Good-They-Can-Dance Brownies. I melted the chocolate and the butter, went to grab the eggs and, of course, we had none. Sigh. It's just sort of how things have been going here lately. Luckily the local egg delivery service (Jeff) was heading this way and one unhappy toddler, who had been bribed with promised brownies after her nap was appeased with cereal. After much delay, the brownies were made, and I must say, they're seriously righteous.

So-Good-They Can-Dance Brownies (K. Carey)

"These are good under-cooked, overcooked and stale, but they are especially good eaten alone...in secret."

Beat together 5 eggs, 3 cups sugar, 2 tsp. vanilla, and 1/2 tsp salt.
Add 8 oz. of melted butter and 8 oz. melted unsweetened chocolate.
Stir in 1 2/3 cups flour.
Bake in greased 9X9 pan at 350 F for 45 minutes.

Resolutions

If I made resolutions this year, they would go something like this:

1. Post more. (November 19? Really? Geez.)
2. Exercise more. OK, excercise. (A back injury in late summer TKO'd my running and then it got dark and cold and insert lame excuse here.)
3. Eat better. (Translation? Stop eating Green & Blacks chocolate bars by the truckload.)

2007 was a frenetic year, and by December I was running on fumes. So this year, I'm making plans instead of resolutions. I plan to slow down, do less and take more time for things that I really, really love. I started the New Year on the right foot by cracking the spine on Barefoot Contessa at Home -- a gift from last Christmas -- and hosting an impromptu brunch for friends we did not see at all in 2007. Not once.

Good food, good friends and 2008 looks good, indeed.

Leftovers

Nevermind that yesterday's weather was July-ish, it seemed more like a day in late October today -- overcast, a little chilly. I went with it and made a batch of muffins using one of the many cans of pumpkin from last fall, which surely must be multiplying when the cabinet doors are closed. I couldn't have possibly bought this many cans of pumpkin, and if I did, what exactly was I planning to do with them? Who knows.

A little streusel makes everything better...

Just when I thought I was out of muffin cups, I found these lovelies from Valentine's Day lurking in the cabinet.

Seasonally confused? Sure. But tasty all the same.

Right on (Ahem) Target

In honor of spring, I present a gorgeous bowl of rhubarb that was later turned into a delicious crumble.

And in completely unrelated matters, I had a bit of an epiphany over the weekend as I was oh-so-patiently waiting at the customer-service counter of a discount retailer that shall remain nameless. I was attempting to return sheets that, while very soft, proved lacking in colorfastness. Clutching the hyper-colored bed linens, I sweetly explained to the fourth person that yes, I wanted to return the sheets and no, I didn’t have the package or a receipt, but I would have surely held onto both had I known that their merchandise was defective. An assistant manager disappeared into the office to work on a resolution, and I leafed through a sales flyer, watched people flood into the store, and kept an eye out for Jeff who was doing laps trying to keep Mootsie from having a meltdown. Ironically, that’s when I had mine.

I don’t know if it was a panic attack or what, but red row after red row of shelves stacked with merchandise and shoppers with their carts filled to the brim made my head swim. I took a deep breath and looked up only to see the countless security bubbles taking in this awesome display of consumerism. I felt a little queasy. The sheets were exchanged, and I found Jeff who had a cart full of stuff even though we were just there to pick up like light bulbs, a lamp and whatnot, but so it goes at this retailer – lots of whatnot. They make it so easy. Everything seems inexpensive and is so expertly merchandised and hey, I can get groceries here, too? Fantastic. I don’t think I’ve ever had a trip there that totaled less than $50. In fact, I was shocked, shocked I say, when I figured out how much we actually spend there every month. So unlike the store’s new ad campaign that sings about a “little bit more,” I’m aiming for much, much less. Less spending, less stuff, just less.

Not My Cup of Tea

Green beer that is. I'm more of a nice-cupa-and-soda-bread-lass. Here's what I'll be making tomorrow:

Mom's Soda Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
2 eggs lightly beaten
6 Tbs. butter
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
8 oz. golden raisins

Sift dry ingredients and set aside. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture. Put mixture in two greased 9X5X3 loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 45 minutes.

Happy St. Pat's!

On Holiday

I'm taking a few days off for a little freshly squeezed sunshine. Back soon!

Feeling Crunchy

I had a mad craving for Patachou granola on Friday, so I stopped to pick some up for the weekend. The stuff is insanely delicious. It's also $10 per pound, so the next time I get a hankering for granola, I may try Ina's recipe or this one. It seems like I'm not the only one who was jonesing for the tasty, yet healthy (Right? Right? C'mon lie to me.) treat. And because there is a fantastic flower shop right next door to Patachou, I also treated my self to a pretty, little bouquet of tulips just because.

Hey, Oh (Snow)

Snow. Finally snow. Somehow the six inches we got yesterday make the frigid temps here worthwhile. Almost.

Mootsie doesn't like to be in one place for too long. I noticed this about her when she was just a few months old. I swear she would look at me like, "Hey, lady. The walls are closing in on me. You're no longer entertaining. Let's go somewhere." So somewhere we would go -- to the grocery store, the park, a walk. It didn't matter as long as she got some new scenery every few hours. Well, yesterday the roads were a wreck. To head off cabin fever, I went in search of an oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. I used to use the one on the back of the Quaker Oats package, but call me crazy, I think it's changed. Lately, it's yielded cakey cookies, and I'm a crispy, chewy girl. I gave this one a whirl with the help of a very excited toddler. We put on some baking music and pulled Mootsie's Trip Trap chair over. I creamed the butter, eggs and sugar and gave the spoon to Mootsie so she could stir. She moved the spoon a bit and then got a devilish look on her face. Before I could say, "No! Samonella," she had sampled the mix. Kid, I swear. But oh, the little shimmy of happiness that came from that stolen, sweet nibble. It was all I could do to keep from laughing. While the cookies baked, we danced around the kitchen in our flour-covered aprons. (She, of course, tried to eat the flour, too. Sigh.) 

Mootsie also donned two oven mits, which is ironic because the girl refuses to wear mittens. See? About two seconds after I snapped this picture, she fell fingers-first into a pile of snow. Hysterics ensued. And only the most delicious oatmeal cookie ever with milk could make it better.

Easy Does It

Photo from MSL December 2006

When I saw this in the December issue of Martha Stewart Living, the project went to the top of my holiday want-to-do list. Every year, I want to make a gingerbread house, and every year I run out of time. Using graham crackers as a shortcut is genius, and I also used store-bought frosting instead of making my own Royale Icing. I think the whole thing took me about 10 minutes to do. I spent more time thinking about doing it than actually doing it. Now that's my kind of holiday craft.

What could be better than a Lilliputian replica of SoBro Bungalow? OK...It's not exact. The big Sweet Little House doesn't have pink shutters (but wouldn't that be fun?) and we still have no snow (so sad), but I think it's adorable all the same.

Warm Chocolate

I've been dreaming about grown-up hot chocolate (the kind that's not made from anything with a bunny or Swiss girl on the package) since seeing this post a while back. So on my trip to Sunflower Market on Friday, I picked up a few Green & Blacks bars. It's the kind of chocolate that just might make a girl cry. Seriously.

Anyway, last night was the night. We put Mootsie to bed just after 7 p.m., and I got to work. Problem is, Mootsie didn't go to sleep. Seems somebody who shall remain nameless (and uh, it wasn't me or the cats) had been feeding her pink sugar wafers while mom was finishing up the Christmas shopping. Just how many, I'm not quite sure, but for two hours, Jeff and I took turns going into Mootsie's room to settle the poor, sugar-buzzed baby. Finally, at about 9:30 p.m. we sat down to luke warm mugs of "hot" cocoa. It was probably just as well. It was nearly 65 degrees here yesterday. Not exactly hot chocolate weather.