buttermilk brownies

So I pretty much have the sweetest neighbor.

A few weeks ago, she brought me a single brownie.
I adored it and asked for the recipe.

Today, she brought an entire pan of warm said-brownies and a hand-written recipe. 

Who does that? Dianne.

She knows our family too well, and how quickly that pan will disappear...

In fact, the brownies were still really warm and gooey, but I couldn't resist taking a fork-full and that is why there is the lame photo below.

You have to follow a few steps for this recipe, or so it seems from her recipe, 

which makes me all the more grateful that she made these for us! 

They are SUPER moist and rich with the buttermilk. 

They would make a great birthday cake.

I had to write down this recipe before her little note-card disappeared in the shuffle of this house...

Take the time to make and enjoy these brownies.

You will NOT regret it.

Cake

Whisk together in a large bowl...

2 Cups Sugar

2 Cups Flour

Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly:

2 Cubes Butter

4 Tablespoons Cocoa

1 Cup Water

Pour that mixture over the flour and sugar.

Add:

1/2 Cup Buttermilk (put in first)

2 Slightly Beaten Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

Mix well with a WOODEN SPOON and pour into a buttered 13x9 pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Frosting 

(start 10 minutes after brownies come out of oven)

Bring to a boil, stirring, constantly:

1 Cube Butter

4 TB Cocoa

6 TB Buttermilk

Add to:

1 Pound Powdered Sugar, Sifted

STIR LIKE CRAZY

Add:

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Spread on WARM CAKE IMMEDIATELY...

I bet you can't resist licking ever single spoon/finger/bowl you used!

Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt Sprinkles

I am finally contributing to the family cooking blog. I love this cookie recipe from my neighbors. The Parkers are fabulous cooks and their cookie recipe is to die for! When I make these I can't stop eating them. Enjoy and thanks Parkers for sharing!

-Amanda

Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt Sprinkles

(Marsha & Nicole Parker)

1 cube salted butter (room temp)

1 cube unsalted butter (room temp)

½ c. granulated sugar

¼ c. Turbinado sugar (aka sugar in the raw)

1 ¾ c. light brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

2 tsp. high quality vanilla

3 ½ c. flour

1 ½ t. baking soda

¾ t. salt

12 oz. chocolate (3 bars) I use 2 semi sweet & 1 bittersweet of Giradelli. Use a serrated knife to chop to desired size…be sure to use all of the chocolate in the cookies.

Sea Salt …make sure the sea salt is coarse.

Preheat oven to 350. Set rack in the middle of the oven.

Cream the butter and the sugars until light.

Add the eggs one at a time.

Add vanilla.

Combine flour, salt & soda in a separate bowl..whisk together..slowly add flour to batter.

Remove bowl from mixer and stir in the chocolate.

Scoop dough into uniform balls..(a #40 cookie dough spring release scoop works perfect..available at Orson Gygi)

Place two inches apart on cookie sheet.

Sprinkle with coarse ground sea salt..experiment with the first few to see how much salt you like.

Bake…for 12 minutes…do not overbake…cookies will be puffy when pulled fro the oven but will fall as they cool

Let cookies cool undisturbed for two min. on the cookie sheet then transfer to cooling rack.

These cookies are delicious warm with a big glass of cold milk!!

They freeze well in an airtight container with wax paper in the layers! Enjoy!!!

Enjoy!

Green Smoothie Girl!

I am LOVING my new mother's day gift--a Blendtec blender (comparable to Vitamix)!

Everyday I feed myself a "green smoothie" from the www.greensmoothiegirl.com book/website. It fills me up (she recommends drinking a quart a day!) and it's suppose to curb the sweet cravings (haven't seen that happen yet :( though).

And I am trying to convert the kids too. Everyday Christian asks me for a "lettuce shake". I don't feel as bad about all the junk food he eats if he has one of these first.

So, here are the players...

You are suppose to basically add maybe 2 greens...(I have tried broccoli, cucumber, chard, collard greens, and my favorite---spinach) with a little water.

Then I add as much fruit as I want--whatever is on hand. I especially love having the frozen berries from Costco to add the chill and to change the color from green to pink-ish.

It is also recommended to add either some agave or other natural sweetener.

The BEST part is that with this type of blender you don't have to shake it or put a spoon down there, like my last blender...it blends sooo nicely. In fact, you can had whole apples, strawberries with the green tops still on (supposedly the greens have great vitamins), and I even put lemons slices in with the skin on!

When I make the kids a shake, I usually had much more fruit than greens and I intend to gradually convert them to more greens.

Here's the finished product and the happy, silly boy who just drank (or spilled) his entire shake!

burger by blake

leave it up to you Boyer Girls to run a cooking blog for nearly a year

without featuring one single burger

plenty of salad & lite brie options, so I figured I would add some substance to this bad boy!

trust me on this one

bbq's dry out the meat

try the oven next time & you'll never go back

sautee or cook in oven with meat 

burger patty

olive oil

white wine vinegar

grill mates montreal steak seasoning

i'm using celsius over here but i'd say around 375 F

approx 25 minutes

but don't hold me to that - keep an eye on em

sweet potato fries

olive oil

oregano

garlic salt

ok to cook simultaneously and the crispier the better

stay tuned for my bleu cheese crumble & basil burger

*i'm goin' out on a limb here so lets make sure none of my brothers catch wind of this post*

Heath Bar Chocolate Cake

Beck made this for Sunday Dinner this week.  

She said it was so easy.

(Wish I had a pic of the inside layers)

Her recipe:

(Correct me if wrong, Beck!)

Chocolate cake sliced in four layers.

Cool Whip mixed with cocoa and Heath pieces.

Garnished with tons of Heath Bar candy.

Divine!!!

somebody's wonderful pasta

who knows where this pasta dish came from originally...? 

i think i first had it at rebecca's way back when...

my boys love it and it makes a lot!

so here it is in black and white....

somebody's wonderful pasta

1 lb italian sausage, cooked, broken apart and drained 
(i used chicken sausage from traders, but any high-quality will do)

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

28 oz. can of crushed italian tomatoes

1 TB dried basil flakes (i used fresh)

1/8 teas. red pepper flakes

1/2 lb. fontina cheese, grated
(kinda hard to find in reg stores, but found at traders)

1 cup half and half cream

1 lb. rigatoni pasta

grated fresh parmesan

chopped fresh basil

cook sausage in a large pot and drain.
add garlic, tomatoes and seasonings and cook until bubbling.
add grated cheese and cook on medium heat until cheese melts, stirring often.
add half and half and cook on low until warm enough to serve.
(do not let sauce boil after cream has been added).

serve over cooked rigatoni and garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh, chopped basil.

serves 8-10.

easy pavlova

my wonderful new friend, emily has gotten me onto pavlova.  

the other day we had lunch, ordered pavlova for dessert, 

and i've been craving it ever since.  

so today for sunday dinner, i decided to attempt my own pavlova. 

thanks to emily's reference to this EASY recipe, 

it turned out to be SO simple...only 8 min prep time!

i remember when mom would make this for special occasions like easter, 

so eating it today brought back memories.

i love the crispy shell and gooey center.

oh and by the way,

is it kind of sickening that we completely finished the whole pan?

kid-you-not...we had not even one crumb left!

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 pint heavy cream or cool whip
• 6 kiwi/strawberries, peeled and sliced

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Draw a 9 inch circle on the parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually add in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until thick and glossy. Overbeaten egg whites lose volume and deflate when folded into other ingredients. Be absolutely sure not a particle of grease or egg yolk gets into the whites. Gently fold in vanilla extract, lemon juice and cornstarch.
3. Spoon mixture inside the circle drawn on the parchment paper. Working from the center, spread mixture toward the outside edge, building edge slightly. This should leave a slight depression in the center.
4. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack.
5. In a small bowl beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. Remove the paper, and place meringue on a flat serving plate. Fill the center of the meringue with whipped cream, sweetened if desired. Top whipped cream with kiwifruit slices & strawberries or whatever fruit you desire.