As I have stated previously, my sister is getting married!! The big day is coming up on January 2, and my sister just flew home to stay until the wedding. For Thanksgiving, her fiancee and his family came to visit so I thought it would be a perfect time to throw a wedding shower for Ruthie and Barlow, so he and his family could meet our Charlottesville friends. The in town bridesmaids helped host the party, and they took care of food while I made desserts. I ended up with chocolate truffles, cranberry shortbread bars, peanut butter fudge brownies, gingerbread cookies (not pictured), and maple pumpkin bread (also not pictured). All were a hit, as was the rest of the spread, and the future bride and groom had a great time, which was really all that mattered.

Petit message [avec un jour de retard] pour souhaiter une bonne fête de l’aïd à tous les musulmans, كل عام و أنتم بخير  koul 3am wa antom bi khayr !

Voici un aperçu de ce que nous avons pu préparer avec ma mère, et déguster, en ce jour de fête :

Ci-dessous le plateau de pâtisseries,

De gauche à droite :

• des briouat aux amandes, un petit délice marocain !
• des brownies aux noix cuits dans des moules individuels puis recouverts de chocolat et décorés d’un cerneau de noix, recette ici
• des maamoul aux pistaches, gâteau traditionnel syrien fait à l’occasion des fêtes religieuses (musulmane et chrétienne)
• différentes pâtisseries syriennes aux pistaches, achetées ! (Tous les autres gâteaux sont faits maison)
• des rochers coco fourrés d’une ganache de chocolat
• des karabij, une variante du maamoul, fourrés aux noix, accompagnés de natef : une délicieuse crème à base de bois de panama, d’eau de fleur d’oranger et sirop de sucre (saupoudrée de canelle).

Et pour le repas de ce jour :

• des brochettes de mouton épicées (viande fraîchement abattue ),

• Kebbé b’seniyé

• Kebbé nayyé

• Taboulé

Les recettes dans de prochains billets…

Brownies Kukus ini enak banget, resepnya asli dari mbak Nia Radin Cake. Terima Kasih sudah berbagi resep di milis mbak, moga aja barokah terus. Brokus ini rasanya gurih-gurih gitu deh dan ngeju abis. Toppingnya aku olesin selai strawberry plus diparutin keju yang banyak biar tambah enak. Beberapa potong kue aku bawain suamiku buat teman-teman di kantor, nyampe kantor langsung diserbu euyyy larisss manis. Lha wong kelaparan ya abissss . Maaf ya photonya kurang jelas.

You ever get those days when you don’t feel like having a fancy store-bought dessert (which these days cost an arm and a leg anyway) and instead choose to have a homemade dessert, minus the labor-intensive effort?  You think hard about it, leaf through your recipe collection and then…the idea hits you.  Why not brownies?  They can be made in a jiffy, they don’t require that many ingredients, and they go great with coffee!  And after you make them, you don’t end up slumped on the chair out of sheer exhaustion.  They’re virtually error-free and can be innovated upon a hundred ways.  My innovation – not exactly an original one – is to top it with slivered roasted almonds.

Brownies – they’re like an old lover you always go back to.  Or they’re like outdated, comfy shoes.  No splash, no pizazzz, but the ideal comfort food when it’s grey outside or you’re running out of positive thoughts.  Brownies are also the classic initiation rites for a pre-teen who’s itching to impress mom and the siblings.

One day my neighbor rang and she sounded excited.  Turns out the guy she’s madly in love with agreed to come to her house for dinner.  I asked what dessert she was going to surprise him with.  I was expecting her to say a mango flambé or a Chocolate Charlotte or something impressive.  When she said, “brownies!” I had to control myself from giggling.  But like I said, brownies are like an old lover that you run to each time you find yourself in a desperate bind.

Everyone knows how to make brownies, even four year-olds.  So I won’t post my recipe.  I bet you’ve got excellent brownie recipes of your own.  But I’d like to share a tip about using butter.  Two things I watch out for:

• the butter must be completely melted.  That means if you’re going to nuke it, it’s got to be all liquid, no lumps, no humps;
• the butter must be set aside to cool.  And I mean really cool.

I usually don’t have a problem with the first, but sometimes when I’m in a rush, I throw the butter in while it’s still lukewarm.  What this does is it produces lumps in my batter.  No matter how much I “smash” them with my wooden spoon, they come back right up when I stop mixing (it will probably be different if you’re using an electric mixer).  Then when the brownies bake, the chocolate all come together in one thick slab.  Result?  The brownies are heavy, the chocolate unevenly spread.

But the texture of brownies is really a personal choice.  Some like it chewy, some like it fudgy and yet others like them cake-like.  Someone wrote that when you want your brownies fudgy, use a minimum of flour with no leavening.  Also, you obtain that fudgy – dense – effect when you melt the butter instead of creaming it with the sugar.  Cake-like brownies have more flour and less butter with some baking powder.  This helps them rise, producing a lighter texture.  Adding milk will also make brownies softer.  I like to add milk – evaporated or 1% milk – because I don’t like the chocolate to have a concentrated taste.  Milk also “loosens” up my batter, making it easier to mix manually.

I like middle-of-the-road type of brownies.  Chewy and light, and not too fudgy. I don’t like to feel that I’m biting into a slab of fudge.  I probably would never use icing (I don’t know of anyone who does), but I like to throw in walnuts or almonds.

A few have shared their “brownie” secrets.  One baker says to add corn syrup.  She says it makes brownies more moist.  Another says he adds 1/3 cup of cooked black beans which, he says, cuts down the fat because they replace some of the butter.  I wonder what he calls his brownies – fibrous brownies or beany chocolate squares?

I’ve been quite the busy blogger! Our family trip to Gettysburg for Thanksgiving has been full of quality time with our aunts, uncles, cousins and grandmothers. Needless to say, this lil’ blog has been severely neglected.

In the time I haven’t been blogging, I have been doing a lot of one thing: eating! Yow-za.

Thanksgiving Day Lunch

On Thanksgiving morning, I woke up and went for a 50 minute run with my dad. I loved the change in scenery and actually enjoyed the hills. It was a neat change from the flat roads of Florida. Plus, it was nice to have a running buddy to talk to (not that Sadie isn’t a joy as well).

After a quick shower and lunch, my sister, dad and I left my one grandma’s house to visit our other grandmother.

Me, My Dad and Leslie

When we were done visiting with our grandma, we came back to my other grandmother’s house where appetizers were waiting.

appetizers

I ate way too many appetizers and by the time Thanksgiving dinner was ready I was barely hungry. That didn’t stop me from fixin’ myself a plate though. It was Thanksgiving after all!

Turkey

After dinner, my cousin Andrew, my sister and I made sugar cookies using my grandma’s famous recipe.

Sugar Cookie Dough

The Bakers

Cooked Cookie

These cookies are unreal. The smell, taste, texture… everything is perfect! Yummy!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. My stomach hurt from laughing so much at dinner. I went to bed with a full and happy belly!

Today

Today was another busy day full o’ family fun!

Cousins

Three cars full of relatives gathered at my grandma’s house! I am the oldest of all the cousins and felt even older when I couldn’t help but think about how much my cousins have grown! I’m gettin’ old, my friends.

The Adults

After our relatives from Maryland left, my mom, aunt, sister and cousin Andrew headed to Boyd’s Bears, a huge barn full of stuffed teddy bears. It was ginormous!

En Route to Boyd's Bears

Boyd's Bears

Me, My Mom and Bubba the Bear

The outside was decked out with Christmas decor, but that was nothing compared to the interior.

Cozy Fireplace

Inside

We had the best time looking at all the bears and huggin’ on the stuffed animals.

I Loved the Pigs!

The piggies were so cute! I bought a lil’ pig pig.

Andrew the Bear

We also couldn’t stop laughing when we saw a bull with quite the anatomically correct appendage.

Bull... Pretty sure it's a boy, no?

I loved this store and could have spent hours looking at everything. There were three floors of bears and toys. What a dream!

When we got home we played several rounds of games, including Catch Phrase (my favorite), and made a big batch of brownies with M & M’s and peanut butter chips stirred in. Now we’re ordering subs and pizza for a cozy night of more family fun.

We’re heading back to Florida tomorrow. I’m excited to see Ryan and my little Sadie girl! I miss my lil’ Orlando fam!

i made these rather yummy chocolate brownies today. i like to make them with a shot of espresso and rich, dark chocolate, and bake them for the least amount of time possible, so the centre is still moist and slightly gooey.

how do you like yours?

With days left to go, I didn’t post anything yesterday. Crash bang wallop indeed.

I’m back in the office at work today, clearing paperwork, getting expenses paid, and sorting the various minutiae out. This afternoon will no doubt be back to the grindstone, neck deep in Javascript, Webservices, .NET and Microsoft SharePoint again. My work is going well though, so I can’t complain.

I arrived home from another 4 day stint on-site last night in time to put the children to bed. As is the usual pattern of things in our house I actually arrived home to an empty house – it suddenly occurred to me that Thursday night is Brownies night. I set about washing up, tidying up, and putting things away, and had just about finished when the rabble re-appeared. Little miss 4 immediately ran to me for a hug. No shouts, no laughing – just a hug.

It’s good to be home. The spectre of another 3 weeks of this madness remains though.

En sånn här läckerbit går att låtsasäta om jag sluter ögonen ett ögonblick

Jo man kan ju bli något vriden i huvudet när det kommer till mat & godbitar nu på slutet av dieten. Det som mestadels fyller min snurriga skalle visuellt för tiden är stora, nygräddade choklad-brownies täckt med ett tjockt lager chokladglasyr från 7-Eleven… smakade dessa på Arlanda när vi senast kom hem från Budapest, och kan inte glömma den sjuuuukt goda maken… vad sjutton har de egentligen haft i dem??! Crack??

… så för att vete exact vart man kan hitta mina efterlängtade brownies i Göteborg – när jag slutligen kan ge mig själv grönt ljus – så har jag letat upp närmsta 7-Eleven-butik till vårt hotel (Gothia) Ja det gäller ju att vara väl förberedd! Hör ju till under tävlingsförberedelser det här eller hur? 

E ju nestan som att gå gravid detta ju  … när man blev galet fixerad på en viss doft eller matvara… för mig var det på den tiden Tom & Jerry-kexkakor med vaniljsmak varje dag under en stor del av graviditeten … hade en rejäl samling plastiga Tom & Jerry-figurer radat upp i fönstren när min son föddes

Fortfarande gott… ibland

Ack ja… det skall bli så skönt att få återgå till norrmalen igen … lite trött nu på både matrestriktioner och diverse måsten… och direkt roligt är det ju inte när intelligensen verkar rinna ut och bara chokladmoln finns kvar i huvudet ..he..he.. ja senaste igår presterade jag göra en pinsam blunder som jag vägrar berätta mer om 

When I first talked to Advantage about doing our t-shirts they implied that they would be gaining approval for the t-shirt art work and said since we’re just using the word “Girl Scouts” it would be easy to acquire. Now the price went up and they want me to go through the long process of gaining council approval for the artwork.

I don’t want to do that this month with holidays, school, and family responsibilities. So I have a new and better idea. The reason this is a new and better idea is this shirt will match our cookie prizes the girls will earn in spring. The cookie theme will be rainbow tie-dye and green with pandas. The girls will love them!

We are going to get tie-dye shirts at wholesale and not write anything on them at this time. $6 each includes shipping will get these shirts for us. I need an order for a minimum of 24 shirts to get this price.

 I have the following girls and adult t-shirt sizes for orders.

CHILD

• S Sarah, Megan, Taylor, Angelina, Christiana, Lily, Lilly, Jessica
• M Tara, Alison
• L Emily, Lizzie, Rachel, Erin

ADULT

• S Alexis
• M
• L Christina
• XL Cami
• XXL Monette
• XXXL Jean, Jenna, Monette

We need at least three more. Would you like any other shirts from this site? I’m thinking of getting this one for my son. Does anyone else need an inexpensive shirt for a sibling or a gift? 

Please just comment or email the color, shirt name and size. I’d like to place this order this Wednesday. Choose these shown or shop here. Please bring $6 per shirt for any additional orders on Tuesday. Those posted above are paid for already.
Thank you!

Even CY with 150 years of experience in the kitchen, can make a ‘booboo’!

Making a big groaning tray of chocolate brownies to sell at Twickenham’s St Mary’s Christmas Fair tomorrow, I poured the mixture in and as I was scraping the last bits out of the bowl, I realised I’d forgotten the blasted flour! Take your mind off things for a minute and everything goes to pieces!

Below is a copy of the full article from Kirkland Views.

Were you a Boy Scout or Girl Scout when you were a kid?  Do you remember how much fun it was?  The weekly meetings, making new friends, and working hard to earn badges.  I was a Girl Scout and a Brownie back in Connecticut where I grew up.  I remember how excited I was to earn those cherished  badges.

The Scouts are alive and well in Kirkland and I’ve had a chance to see the Scouts in my neighborhood, The Kirkland Highlands, in action.  Our two troops are real troopers.  Both groups work hard to have fun, earn badges by becoming more responsible citizens, and give back to the community.

The final numbers for the Eastside food drive were recently announced and Kirkland beat out all the other participating cities.  Kirkland collected 24,229 lbs. of food, 8000 lbs. more than any other city.  Our Scout troops helped the city be tops in food collection.  During the recent Eastside food drive, most of the food was collected on the Mayor’s Day of the event.  But both Scout troops delivered the most food of any group in Kirkland after that date.  The Brownies, troop 52875, collected 1650 pounds of food, while the Cub Scouts, Pack 550, collected 644 pounds and $366.  Both troops took a Saturday morning and afternoon collecting food for the drive.

The Boy Scouts have helped out the Kirkland Highlands community on a number of occasions.  They’ve cleaned and barked our smallest park, Cedar View, and they’ve volunteered with the Cotton Hill Park cleanup.

At this time of Thanksgiving, I’m thrilled to be able to thank our Scout troops for keeping up the good work in Kirkland.   The two troops are learning to give back at young age, which is a very good thing.

If you know of someone or a group that should be recognized for their service or because of a need, please feel free to email me at debra@debrasinick.com to tell me about them.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

   Tuesday 1 December 4:15 to 5:30 PM ~ Daisy & Brownie Troop Meeting
We are doing our Girl’s Rededication and Investiture Ceremonies.

Please have your uniform patches and petals up to date.

  RSVP for Saturday December 5th self-defense class is DUE. Your cost is only $5. Troop will pay $10 balance for each girl. If you RSVP and you do not attend you will owe the troop $10. The class will be in Little Elm from 12:30-1:30PM Saturday 5 December.

  RSVP for Saturday Febrary 13th International Day Event is DUE. You pay nothing. Troop will pay $5 for each girl. If you do not attend and you do not RSVP “NO” you will owe the troop $5. The International Day Event will be in Little Elm from 2:30-4PM Saturday 13 February.

  November & December dues are due $20 if you haven’t paid them yet. Please make checks payable to “GSNETX Troop#3763.” Thank you for paying them on time. I am working toward including almost all of the troop activities in our dues.

The Lil’ Sis’ Calendar is posted and up to date for 2010 until the end of the school year! 

So as I predicted, I was far too lazy to cook today. School sucks like that haha. Ahem, anyways. Not I’m on break until next Monday. Woo hoo! I may as well have stayed home today. Seriously. I had to go in at 6 AM…to get to class at 8:50 AM. When I get to class (early…) I find that the teacher is 10 minutes late AND she decided that she didn’t feel like teaching today. So I had to add another whole HOUR to my wait time for my next class (which is at 3 PM…uhg what a wait). If she had cancelled last night, I could have slept in, made myself a FFV lunch and chilled and went in at 3! GAH! I could have gone insane. So no. No FFV stuff today. But I am going to review a nutrition bar. Ever have a Gnu bar? Well I got the Chocolate Brownie Bar flavour at Wegmans the other day. It seemed appealing…fiberful, natural, low in calories (140 cal…not to shabby), sweetened with fruit. That’s all well and good. But. The taste didn’t do much for me…could have been a little better in that aspect. Other than that, the texture was nice and crunchy and satisfying. I’d like to try some more flavours to see if I like anything better.

What do you all think?

Desde el 1 de Diciembre hasta el 28, Brownies en un stand de esa novedosa feria, pendiente!

• Ha, I so need one of these….
• So excited about this new start because I am totally living out a “second chance” myself: a movement of people that would let radical integrity and radical grace consume them in their life and leadership.
• Took a nap on the couch tonight…so comfy and safe
• No cocoa for brownies….but popcorn when I woke up hit the spot
• New to me, free clothes make my heart so happy. seriously. 2 pairs of running tights and 2 under armor long sleeve shirts (plus, one with the thumb hole things!!! I am so set for running in the minnesota cold….) not to mention a cute tank top, other clothes and a fun bag.
• This looks totally awesome. I miss my bike and I heart Africa.
• Feeling the days slipping by so fast…
• We leave for debriefing and Cape Town on Saturday–what!?
• Why am I still up? Oh right, I took a forever long nap tonight.
• What are you up to?

Last week, I walked into my office to find a sandwich bag on my
desk containing three chewy, tasty, homemade chocolate brownies.
Some thoughtful and anonymous person who knew my love for tasty
homemade brownies had placed them there, along with a hand written
short story. I immediately sat down and began eating the first
chewy, tasty, homemade brownie as I read the following story:

Two teenagers asked their father if they could go the theater to
watch a movie that all their friends had seen. After reading some
reviews about the movie on the Internet, he denied their request.

Come on dad, why not? They complained. The movie is rated PG-13,
and we are both older than thirteen!

Dad replied: Because that movie contains nudity and portrays
immorality as being normal and acceptable behavior.

But dad, those are just very small parts of the movie! That’s what
our friends who’ve seen it have told us. The movie is two hours
long and those scenes are just a few minutes of the total film!
It’s based on a true story and good triumphs over evil, and there
are other redeeming themes like courage and self-sacrifice. Even
the movie review web sites say that!

My answer is no and that is my final answer. You are welcome to
stay home tonight, invite some of your friends over, and watch one
of the good videos we have in our home collection. But you will not
go and watch that film. End of discussion.

The two teenagers walked dejectedly into the family room and
slumped down on the couch. As they sulked, they were surprised to
hear the sounds of their father preparing something in the kitchen.
They soon recognized the wonderful aroma of brownies baking in the
oven, and one of the teenagers said to the other, “Dad must be
feeling guilty! , and now he’s going to try to make it up to us
with some fresh brownies. Maybe we can soften him with lots of
praise when he brings them out to us and persuade him to let us go
to the movie he refused to let us see.”

About that time I began eating the second brownie from the sandwich
bag and wondered if there was some connection to the brownies I was
eating and the brownies in the story. I kept reading…

The teens were not disappointed. Soon their father appeared with a
plate of warm brownies, which he offered to his kids. They each
took one. Then their father said, before you eat, I want to tell
you something: I love you both so much.

The teenagers smiled at each other with knowing glances. Dad was
softening.
That is why I’ve made these brownies with the very best
ingredients. I’ve made them from scratch. Most of the ingredients
are even organic.

The best organic flour. The best free-range eggs. The best organic
sugar. Premium vanilla and chocolate.

The brownies looked mouth-watering, and the teens began to become a
little impatient with their dad’s long speech.

But I want to be perfectly honest with you. There is one ingredient
I added that is not usually found in brownies. I got that
ingredient from our own back yard. But you don’t need to worry,
because I only added the tiniest bit of that ingredient to your
brownies. The amount of the portion is practically insignificant.
So go ahead, take a bite and let me know what you think.

Dad, would you mind telling us what that mystery ingredient is
before we eat?
Why? The portion I added was so small. Just a teaspoonful. You
won’t even taste it.

Come on, dad; just tell us what that ingredient is.
Don’t worry! It is organic, just like the other ingredients.

Dad!

Well, OK, if you insist That secret ingredient is fresh organic…dog poop.

I immediately stopped chewing that second brownie and I spit it out
into the wastebasket by my desk. I continued reading, now fearful
of the paragraphs that still remained.

Both teens instantly dropped their brownies back on the plate and
began inspecting their fingers with horror.

DAD! Why did you do that? You’ve tortured us by making us smell
those brownies cooking for the last half hour, and now you tell us
that you added dog poop! We can’t eat these brownies!

Why not? The amount of dog poop is very small compared to the rest
of the ingredients. It won’t hurt you. It’s been cooked right along
with the other ingredients. You won’t even taste it. It has the
same consistency as the brownies. Go ahead and eat!

No, Dad…NEVER!

And that is the same reason I won’t allow you to go watch that
movie. You won’t tolerate a little dog poop in your brownies, so
why should you tolerate a little immorality in your movies? We pray
that God will not lead us unto temptation, so how can we in good
conscience entertain ourselves with something that will imprint a
sinful image in our minds that will lead us into temptation long
after we first see it?

I discarded what remained of the second brownie as well as the
entire untouched third brownie. What had been irresistible a minute
go had become detestable. And only because of the very slim chance
that what I was eating was slightly polluted. (Surely it
wasn’t…but I couldn’t convince myself.)

What a good lesson about purity! Why do we tolerate any sin? On the
day of the Passover, the Israelites were commanded to remove every
bit of leaven from their homes. A little bit of leaven or yeast – makes the whole bowl of dough rise. Like leaven – even just a little bit of Sin contaminates the Christian. (1 Corinthians 5:6, 7)

“Who knocks so loud?” I asked …
The answer”Only a little sin” -
“Come right on in” I said -
and soon all Hell was in.

The Japanese have become extremely efficient at reproducing and improving on European/American (I mean the continents!) recipes when it comes to cakes and desserts.
Here is an example I found in my notes:

Crema Cheese Brownies!

INGREDIENTS: 20×20 cm square mold or a 23cm diameter round mold.

Cream Cheese Topping:
-Beaten egg: 1
-Cream cheese: 225 g
-Sugar: 50g
-Vanilla essence: 1 teaspoon

-Brownies
-Chocolate (for cakes and baking): 115 g
-Unsalted butter: 115 g
-Brown sugar: 150 g
-Beaten eggs: 2
-Light cake flour: 75 g
-Baking powder: 1 teaspoon

RECIPE:

-Butter/oil the inside of the mold and sprinkle with flour/line the mold with baking paper.
Sift and mix flour and baking powder together.
Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (3725F)

-Soften cream cheese inside microwave oven for 10 seconds and beat it just long enough as to obtain a smooth cream.

-Mix in te beaten egg, sugar and vanilla essence.
Set apart.

-In a separate bowl, drop the chocolate and butter and soften for 10 seconds inside a microwave oven. Take care not heat it too long, otherwise the chocolate will solidify.
Mix well with a spatula.

-Add brown sugar and mix well with electric mixer. Ad the 2 beaten eggs little by little and mix well.

-With a spatula (no mixer, please!) fold in the flour and baking powder in three equal steps.

-Pour in the brownies mixture inside the mold (about 4 fifths of its depths) and smoothen surface with spatula.

-First place the cream cheese into 4 parts on top as in picture.

-Spread each cheese cream “ball” around with the spatula.

-Make “patterns” with a stick.

-Bake at 160 degrees Celsius (325F) for 25~30 minutes.
Let cool completely before taking out the cake.

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Mangantayon, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles, Lexi, Culinary Musings, Eats and Everything, One Frugal Foodie, Bite Me New England, Heather Sweet

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Ingredientes:

Brownies

Preparación:

Tiempo: 50 minutos | Dificultad: Media | Raciones: 4 personas

This may be one of the easiest, and yet most universally appreciated dessert I’ve ever made. I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t love these. Once again this is a recipe my older sister Grandma brought to the family. It became a trade mark dessert at family parties. I mean… chocolate, more chocolate and vanilla, what’s not to like!?!?

You can make these the fast and easy way, using brownie mix and a can of frosting. I used brownie mix this time around, but made the frosting. However, I’m not sure it made much of a difference.

Double Fudge Brownies

Make brownies according box and allow to cool completely.

Vanilla Butter Frosting (1969 Betty Crocker Cookbook)

1/3 c soft butter

3 c powdered sugar

1 ½ tsp vanilla

2 Tbs milk

Blend butter and sugar. Mix in vanilla and milk, beat frosting until smooth and spreading consistency.

Spread frosting over cooled brownies.

Melt 2 oz unsweetened chocolate and 2 Tbs butter. Heat in microwave for 15 second increments, stirring well between each, until mixture is completely melted.

Pour over frosted brownies. Chill until chocolate sets completely.

Dengan wajah pucat pasi dan layu habis kuliah Soft Computing, kita bersiap-siap mau ngerjain temen kita yang baru aja ulang tahun. Segala bahan-bahan telah kita persiapkan sebelumnya, ada telor, tepung terigu, kecap, saus dan tidak terlupakan kopi.

Semua bahan-bahan yang telah dipersiapkan kita campur jadi satu, serasa seperti membuat adonan kue bolu. Dengan penuh semangat karena kuliah Information Retrieval hari ini ditiadakan, kami mencampur semua bahan jadi satu di kosan teman kuliah di IT Telkom Bandung.

Selain itu, ada satu lagi bahan berbahaya yang perlu diwaspadai, critanya si biar wangi, kita campur dengan air sabun yang sangat menjijikkan sekali. Semua bahan dipersiapkan, dan tinggal menunggu target yang sedang berulang tahun.

Semua anak memegang telor satu-satu, dimaksudkan untuk menimpuk target. Dengan perasaan was-was karena ada tugas dari bapak Yanuar Firdaus sebagai pengganti kuliah, kami mengendap-endap masuk ke halaman kosan target. Ternyata tugas dari pak YFA adalah resume tentang Web Crawler.

Dengan berpura-pura ingin main ke kosan target, ingin mengerjakan tugas IR dan diskusi judul TA (Tugas Akhir), supaya si target keluar dari kosan dan langsung kita lancarkan serangan serasa Perang Dunia II. Taktik kita berhasil.

Akhirnya dengan paksa, serasa seperti pemerkosaan HAM (Hak Asasi Manusia), kami berhasil membawa si target keluar dari kosan dan turun ke tanah. Semua orang ikut campur dalam aksi tersebut, “Waktunya beraksi” seperti lyric lagunya Kotak band dengan judul “Beraksi”.

Semua bahan-bahan yang telah dipersiapkan sebelumnya ditimpukkan ke target. Tubuhnya serasa seperti kue brownies yang sudah siap untuk dipanggang, berlumuran telor, tepung, kopi semuanya jadi satu. Kejutan Ulang Tahun yang berujung maut buat yang lainnya, karena si target ngejar balik.

Setelah berlumuran segala macam, ditambah lagi dengan segayung air sabun yang semakin menambah penderitaan hidup. Dengan beban yang cukup terasa berat, karena beberapa minggu lagi diadakan UTS di kampus tercinta IT Telkom, dan teman kami jam 3 ada kuliah Alstrukdat.

Selain si target, ada beberapa anak lain yang menjadi korban. Serasa seperti pengerjaian beruntun. Ulang tahun penuh dengan kesederhaan, tanpa ada kue Ulang Tahun yang special, hanya sekedar lilin sebagai penanda kalau sedang Ulang Tahun.

Dengan badan yang serasa sudah tidak steril lagi, dengan bau yang tak sedap, dengan segala penderitaan dan beban kuliah yang cukup padat dan menyeramkan, kami tetap masih bisa bergaya dan senyum dengan senyuman yang terindah, serasa seperti lagunya Letto.

I got the base of this recipe from the back of  a Nestle Cocoa container.  I have tried many homemade brownies recipes and never loved the results.  Honestly, I am not sure if it was me or the recipes that I was trying, but the boxed ones always seemed to turn out better.  This recipe came out perfectly chewy and moist!   It is a no fail recipe.  It didn’t take much longer than boxed brownies and was more delicious.  I wanted something a little different than just plain brownies and the caramel that I added hit the spot.  I will be making these brownies again and again!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of butter (melted)
• 1 tbsp of water
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of baking cocoa
• 1/4 tsp of baking powder
• 1/8 tsp of salt
• 1/4  cup of caramel

Combine the sugar, butter and water and then stir in the egg and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt and then stir into sugar mixture.  Stir the caramel into the batter and pour into a greased 9 x9 pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.   I drizzled some more caramel over the top before serving.

Every October and November I’m moved to make baked goods out of pumpkin. But hey, cold weather makes me want to bake more in general (I made an apple pie this evening, and tomorrow even more pies will be made because Tuesday at work? Is a pie party. Yes, a party with just pies. I’m making a raspberry tart with chocolate ganache and a tomato and corn pie). But back to the pumpkin . . .

Ooey, gooey, cheesey, easy(ish), peasy.

This year I made some pumpkin butterscotch bars with oatmeal topping and my annual pumpkin roll. But after that I wanted something different. After some browsing I saw pumpkin cheesecake or pumpkin brownies, but where were the pumpkin cheesecake brownies? Apparently, in my head. So I played around and came up with this recipe.

If this Thanksgiving you’re wanting a alternative to the usual pies and cakes, pumpkin cheesecake brownies might be a nice alternative.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

INGREDIENTS

For brownie batter:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 ounce chocolate baking squares, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

For cheesecake batter:

• 1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 8 oz pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Make brownie batter: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Oil and flour a 9×13 inch baking pan, or, line with parchment paper and oil slightly. These brownies are pretty soft and gooey, so parchment might help in the removal/clean-up process.
2. Heat butter and chocolate in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, whisking occasionally, just until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined, then add ½ cup of the semi-sweet chocolate chips and spread in baking pan. Reserve at least half a cup of batter.
3. Make cheesecake batter and bake brownies: Using an electric mixer, combine cheesecake batter ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Dollop over brownie batter, then dollop reserved batter and swirl in with a knife or spatula. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
4. Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 40-45 minutes.
5. Serve warm or at room temperature. However, refrigerating will make it easier to cut and remove the squares.

Spread out that cheesecake and dollop on some of the reserved batter before swirling it about.

And if I can say so myself, it turned out pretty well. I saved some for home and brought the rest to work, and by lunchtime I think they were all gone.

1. The Felted bags are now morphing back into slippers using this Martha Stewart pattern but will likely add leather bottoms (recovered from old leather goods).

2. I have lots of the tea towel toppers - I’ve been selling them at work.  Excellent prezzie for my co-Guiders, some thank you gifts, hostess gifts, and any unexpected gift opportunities.

3. A&K have asked for Wine.  Easy peasy, and inexpensive.  It is nice to have someone ask for stuff.

4. J still wants Colonade (see previous post for link).  Have purchased yarn for it with her approval.  I figured the element of surprise is good, unless you end up spending HOURS on something they never wear.  So, as J is particular, I need to consult before giving.

5. I don’t know how I’m going to fit this in, but it is so cute!  The first site has a better picture but the second one has a variety of poems that go with it.  (Snowman Soup1 Snowman Soup2 – beware the loud music though)

What’s left?  Parents need gifts - but they say they don’t need anything.  Erg.   The hat parade must start (lots of fish hats) and a few real ones.   Plus a few puppy prezzies.  First deadline is Dec 5 for a birthday.  Oh!  Mustn’t forget D on Nov 30.  I’ve got something in mind for him but it isn’t done.  Whoops.

Friday is the Science Centre sleepover for Brownies.  Of all the boneheaded ideas, why would I want to spend a night in a drafty museum with 30 kids?  (Answer – because I love these kids and they’ll have an absolute blast!  Also, if I want these kids to come camping, I need for them to try out being away from their parents).  And I can sleep on Saturday, right?