This recipe for orange braised carrots and parsnips was a side dish at my friendsgiving this year. Confession time-I have never before cooked or eaten a parsnip. And while I don;t know how that is possible, I do know that now I am trying to put them into everything that might benefit from a slightly spicy, slightly sweet, all delicious root vegetable presence….
Well folks, it happened again. I baked. I know what you’re thinking. What’s happening to you?? You are a savory person. You hate flour all over your kitchen. All of these things are true. BUT, the reality is, the other night I just had to have some chocolate ooey-gooey-ness. You know what I mean here ladies, right?
Sad to say, before I made this delicious treat, this lovely portrayal by Xena, the warrior princess, was pretttty close to my actual state of being. So much so that I almost ate the batter when it was in the mixing bowl…
And once again when they were transferred to the pan…
Thankfully, they eventually made it to the oven. I can’t promise you that I did not finish off the rest of the bag of mini chocolate chips while I waited for them to bake and cool though. Mainly because that would be a straight up lie. I ate them. I ate them all. And when these blondies emerged from the oven, they were just marvelous. The best way to describe them is a rich, decadent, chocolatey, peanut-buttery, extreme version of a chocolate chip cookie…in a square.
Ingredients
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup margarine (or butter), softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ). Grease a 9×9 inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, cream together peanut butter and margarine. Gradually blend in the brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix until fluffy. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in preheated oven, or until the top springs back when touched. Cool, and cut into 16 squares. Recipe from From Kitchen Simplicity via Two Tiny Kitchens
I promise these were super easy to make. Trust me, if I can bake these-you definitely can.
Right about now you might be asking yourself, Hey, what’s with the title of this blog post? And What does Debbie Harry have to do with these baked goods? Well, since these are called blondies, I thought I would use this opportunity to give a shout out to one of my favorite blondies of all time…Miss Debbie Harry. Here’s lookin’ at you kid.
I hope you enjoyed this tribute to chocolate, PMS, and Debbie Harry. I dare you to find a more random sentence than that along your travels this week. See you all on Monday for Coffee Break…What will I be highlighting….Hmmmmm…(That’s actually me thinking, because I haven’t decided yet :P)
xoxo,
First let me say, Yay! because I love Monday Coffee Break. I love sharing my weekend food finds with all of you. Second let me say, Boooo! Is it already monday?
You know, I had the idea for the Monday Coffee Break post for a while…but it wasnt called coffee break, and it wasnt neccesarily going to be a Monday. But then…Eureka! Two things made this combo happen.
1. I absolutely abhor Monday
(Please reference the picture above. That is what I feel like on Monday)
2. I absolutely love sharing food ideas with all of you!
(What better way to brighten a Monday then to share some food love with my lovely readers?)
And so, my darlings, Monday Coffee Break was born. This Monday, and these next weeks coming up, are going to be particularly exciting/stressful/bite-your-nails-off kind of weeks. Why? Well, thank you for asking. The hubby and I are in the process of buying a house. I feel like many of my recipes coming up will contain slightly more wine than usual…a dash for the sauce…and a few glasses for the cook!
Now, onto this Monday’s feature…Cheese. I can’t say enough about our friend cheese. Perfect on almost anything as a centerpiece, garnish or finishing touch, what other food can also say that it is just as fantastic, if not more fantastic on it’s own. Just shmeared on some bread and shoved into the mouth (yes, I intentionally said shmeared. I specifically went to college and became a writer so I could learn all of the rules and then break them by using words like shmeared. Hey, if James Joyce can make up an entire fake language for Finnegan’s Wake, I can say shmeared, right? Thank you. That’s what I think too.)
But I digress! On to our friend cheese. Ah, the magic of cheese. From the delicate triple creams to the sharp and pungent cheddars that the French once banned in public…they are all beautiful in my eyes… and even more so in my mouth.
First up, this Savory Galette, by Bev Cooks. How good does this look? Created with only a few ingredients, this dish really shows up at the party. It can show up at my party any time. Doesn’t even need to call ahead.
This Parsnip Gratin by Moeys Kitchen looks absolutely to die for. The site is in Russian, but you can always use the handy translate trick I talked about in last weeks post to read it whatever language you prefer!
Ok. This Pull Apart Pizza Bread from Stick a Fork in it looks so good. Yes, it’s basically ooey, gooey, pizza bread. Yeah. Exactly. There is nothing wrong with that sentence. I want to eat this.
Next, we have this beauty from Tartine and Apron strings. This Roasted Beet Salad with Crispy Goat Cheese looks so fresh, festive, and delish. Look at these colors! And honestly, anything topped with a crispy, breaded goat cheese cake is going to be good. It just is. bottom line.
And the Italian in me could not do this post without a nod to one of my favorite ways to use a classic Italian dish, Risotto. These Cheesy Risotto Balls, or Arancini, from Food is Luv is a great, simple recipe for these crispy bites of cheese heaven.
Next we have this Egg casserole with Roquefort and bresaola from Now I’m a Cook. How good does this look for a chilly winter morning? Yum. (This recipe is in French, here’s a link to a loose English translation if you are not lucky enough to be able read French…I really need to learn.) Just look at this beauty…
And finally we absolutely must let the cheese stand alone. I gotta get at least one pun in here people 😉 This cheese plate is from Ezra Pound Cake. The post it is from is called “Cheese 101” and it has some great tips for assembling the perfect cheese plate. It also features Ina Garten’s cheese plate rules, which is my guideline for all of my cheese plates.
I hope you all enjoyed this walk down cheese lane. Oh my God. There needs to be an actual cheese lane. Wait. There kind of is in certain markets. Anywhoooo, you know what I mean, right? Of course you do.
See you guys on Thursday when I’ll be sharing this weeks recipe, and check out my menu page near the end of the week where I’ll be sharing my own Thanksgiving Feast menu.
xxoo,
Hello Lovies, and welcome to this weeks Monday Coffee Break. This weekend I was all about appetizers. As soon as Halloween was over, I immediately started thinking about Thanksgiving. Now, I don’t know about you, but I absolutely LOVE cooking for the holidays. LOVE. One of my favorite parts is making the menu…and my favorite part of making the menu is choosing the appetizers. WHY, You ask?
Because you can really play jazz with the appetizers. People might be sorely dissapointed if a traditional side dish is missing, or God forbid the giant bird (clearly I have a dislike/hate relationship with making the turkey. Honestly, I think it just stems from boredom. If any of my lovely readers have a suggestion about how I can revive this relationship, please, please drop me a line!). On the other hand, I find guests to be pretty open to different appetizers. That said, I found some really tasty finds over the weekend. Let the drooling begin!
First up, this scrumptious Cranberry Cream Crostini from What’s Cooking with Ruthie. The tanginess of the cream cheese married with the tartness of the cranberry sounds amazing. I’d like to eat these right now (BTW, it’s 7:30 AM here, and Yes, I am always thinking about food). These definitely grabbed a spot on my Thanksgiving menu.
Next up are these Smoked Gorgonzola Rosemary Cheese Balls from Knead to Cook. I can’t even talk about the cuteness of these. How amazing would they look on a beautiful holiday table spread? And the taste? It’s gotta be good with the combo of smoked gorgonzola and earthy rosemary. YUM.
How about this Golden Beet Tart From the folks at Country Living Magazine? This feels very holiday to me, and oh so French (you will soon learn that I am a complete Francophile.) AND…this recipe only has five ingredients. Love it.
Now, I’m going to ask you a very serious question, who doesn’t like cheese? These adorable and deliscous-looking Homemade Cheese Sticks from The Cooking Adventure want to answer that question by saying, “how can anyone not like me?” These would look so pretty on a table in festive containers or even by a drink station as a cocktail snack. I’ll definitely be making these (can I make these instead of the turkey? no? Darn it.)
And last, but not least, this twist on the classic stuffed mushroom. These Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms from The Curvy Carrot seem like the perfect combo of a favorite dip and a favorite classic appetizer. Their ingredients make them classic, while their combination keeps them fresh. Lookin’ good mushrooms!
I hope you enjoyed these appetizer finds. If you decide to try any for your holiday feasts, or your regular, everyday feasts, let me know, I’d love to hear from you, my friends in the land of all things delicious.
Stop by on Thursday as I very gratefully accept this award that I was nominated for by the lovely Christina from Small Kitchen Chronicles.
I’ll be sharing some of my favorite blogs and foodie havens, as well as some facts about my self. YIKES!
My issue of Food & Wine arrived today and I was very excited to see it was the Thanksgiving issue.
Of particular interest (oh, aren’t we fancy this evening?) was the section on side dishes. Why? Because you already know what the main dish is- It’s a large bird. You can cook it in a paper bag, brine it, roast it, fry it, an even smash it together with other birds and give it a funky name, but, in the end, it’s a turkey.
If your hosting, or cooking food for, a Thanksgiving dinner, what you always end up having to think about are the side dishes- and for me, these little asides often trump the big ‘ol bird. That being said, check out some of these interesing options from Food & Wine
via Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes: Stuffing, Sweet Potatoes, Cranberries & More | Food & Wine.
Everyone knows you eat with your eyes first. So what better way to get in the mood for all of the amazing Fall menus than with some gorgeous tablescapes? These would make a super Backdrop for any fall get together.
So cool for a Halloween party
Another variation of the same idea
How great is this cider station? I want some. Like now.
Adding a little height to a table always looks great.
This would be great for thanksgiving dinner…or any fall dinner. It’s understated enough that it doesn’t scream ‘Holiday!’
Love these veggie centerpieces
How. Cute. Are. These.
Love the wheat and acorns, classic and totally doable.
Happy Autumn!
“Seriously so good! My husband asked me to make MORE! He never does that!!” -Chylanne
