Marshmallow Creme Brownies

My grandmother was an amazing woman. And she made amazing brownies. I'm amazed it's taken me this long to make them myself.

I was going to go to the gym. But then I went to the grocery store instead.


You too should go to the grocery store.

Bottom Layer:
6 tbsp cocoa
2 sticks melted margarine
2 c sugar
1½ c flour
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c chopped pecans
Middle Layer:
1 jar marshmallow creme (7 oz)
Top Layer:
½ stick melted margarine
½ c evaporated milk
½ c cocoa
1 box confectioners sugar (approx 4 cups)
½ tsp vanilla

You'll also need a large cookie sheet, and you'll want to grease that cookie sheet.


For the bottom layer...

Melt the margarine, and beat in the cocoa and sugar


Beat in the eggs, then add the flour and vanilla


I chopped up the pecans in my little food chopper






Spread it out on your greased cookie sheet


Bake at 350 for 17 minutes


Then spread the jar of marshmallow creme all over the top


It'll melt a bit, which makes it easier to spread


For the last layer, bring ½ stick of margarine and ½ cup of evaporated milk to a boil


Then add ½ cup cocoa, the confectioners sugar, and ½ tsp vanilla




Pour that over the top, and spread it out


The chocolate might mix a little with the marshmallow creme, and this is fine. You can make a point of marbling it consistently by mixing deeper as you spread (I used the back of a spoon)


Then you'll want to chill the whole thing (perhaps let it cool off a bit before you stick it in the fridge). Then cut the brownies into squares!


Once they're cut up, I store them in the freezer, just like my grandmother, and they're a great frozen treat!


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Toffee Brownies and Blondies

Do you often find yourself with an excess of chocolate toffee bars? No? You should try it sometime.



I purchased some Hershey's Almond and Toffee Symphony bars because of these amazing brownies a lady at my work makes with them. They're ridiculously easy, and ridiculously awesome. All you need is a family size brownie mix and several of the chocolate toffee bars (enough to cover whatever size pan you're using).

They come in different sizes. Bigger and better.


The family size brownie mix will fill a 13 x 9 pan, but you can also use a square pan, your brownies will just come out thicker. Ah, the wonders of science!

Start by following the directions on the back of the box. Then pour half the mix into your (greased) pan of choice, and cover with a layer of toffee bars (depending on your pan size and your bar size, they'll either fit across the pan perfectly, or you'll need to puzzle piece them together a little bit).


Then pour the other half of the mix over the top, and cook the brownies as directed (just check them with a fork or toothpick, they may or may not need a few extra minutes).




Then earlier today I came across a recipe for Heath Bar Brownies. I happened to have a large portion of one of my toffee and almond bars left, so I ran it through my food chopper and determined that I had enough to make this recipe (you could always supplement with chocolate chips...in fact you should probably add some of those anyway).

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped Heath Bars (or in this case, almond and toffee Symphony bars)

Preheat your oven to 350, and start by creaming together the brown sugar and melted butter. Then beat in the egg and vanilla. Next, add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until blended.

Finally, stir in the Heath/Toffee/Whatever bars (or whatever addition you prefer) and pour into a greased 8x8 pan.


Bake for 30-35 minutes.


Let them cool completely, and then cut them up, separating out the best pieces for yourself and eating them before anyone else can.


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Green Bean Casserole

So I ordered some onion strings while I was at Kona Grill for Happy Hour. They gave me a huge pile and I'm not even sure I ate half of them. My dinner companion had the brilliant idea that I take them home and make greenbean casserole.


So that's what I did.

I imagine most green bean casserole recipes are similar, green beans and cream of mushroom soup. This one also uses cheese (Velveeta!), and that makes it better than all the other recipes. And of course french fried onions (the kind in the can will work if you don't have restaurant leftovers like I did).

You'll need 2 cans of green beans for each can of cream of mushroom soup. For a large casserole dish you would likely use 4 cans of green beans. I am cooking for one in a 9 x 9 pan, so I only used 2 cans of green beans, and 1 can of soup.

Mix your green beans and cream of mushroom soup together, along with some of the french fried onions (make sure to leave enough to spread on top). Go ahead and add a dash (or 8) of Worcestershire sauce if you're so inclined. After you've mixed this all up, and somewhat flattened the top, you'll want to cut up some cubes of Velveeta cheese (not the whole block, calm down). Place the cubes on the top, spread out a bit, and stick the whole thing in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes (just until the cheese is melted).

You end up with this.


Now, mix the whole thing up again, so that creamy, yummy, cheesy goodness is evenly spread throughout the dish. Then cover the top with more french fried onions. And back in the oven it goes, maybe for another 20 or 30 minutes (it's all cooked, you're just getting things hot and crisping up your onions).

Once it's out of the oven, you can just inhale the lovely aromas.


Then you pretty much have to eat it. Probably two helpings.


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Mt. St. Helens - layer dip

My family has always called this Mt. St. Helens...because that's what it was called in the cookbook where my aunt found the recipe. It's very similar to what a lot of people call "Mexican Layer Dip", maybe exactly the same in some cases. But either way, it's easy to make, and everyone will love it.



Oh the excitement you can have with less than 10 ingredients...

You will need:
guacamole dip
sour cream (16 oz container)
a packet of taco seasoning
shredded cheese (the recipe calls for Cheddar and Monterrey Jack, but I tend to buy the pre-shredded blends that are a mix of several cheeses)
a tomato
a small bunch of green onions
a small can of minced olives

This will fit in a 13 x 9 casserole dish, or the equivalent. I've used disposable cake pans, round trays, etc., depending how fancy I want the end product to look. I also like to make it the day or so before the "event" because it just tastes better after it's sat awhile.

There is a big football game this weekend, and I am expected to join some people in tailgating. I figured this dip would be the perfect thing to contribute, so I'm making a double recipe.


We start with guacamole. Before you go thinking this is "real" guacamole, I assure you, it's not. It's actually guacamole flavored dip (you can typically find it next to the sour cream and french onion dips).


Next, mix the sour cream and taco seasoning. I usually do this within the sour cream container, but since I was mixing up two containers, I poured it in a bowl first.




Cheese comes next. I used to grate this myself, but now I buy the pre-shredded "fiesta" blend because I am lazy.


The last three ingredients are to add some color as well as flavor. But if I ever don't have one of these items, I'll make the dip without it, and there usually isn't a huge degradation of quality.

First chop up your tomato...


And spread it all over your cheese.


Keep up the good work, and add some chopped green onions.


Last but not least is our minced black olives. I buy these in a little can, and I never use the entire can...but that's the size container they come in, so that's what I buy. And I squeeze out the extra juice first.


I didn't even use the whole can on this huge double-batch dip. But regardless, I know my efforts will be appreciated.


It now goes into the fridge, until it's time to tailgate. Then we'll devour it with a collection of corn chips and tortilla chips.

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Pasta for Dummies - Rose Sauce

Remember when I had you put two jars of sauce in a pot and heat them up? Remember that? Yeah, well we're going to do that again.

Behold! Super easy rose sauce! It is called rose sauce because we mix a red sauce with white sauce, which in color wheel land would equal a pink sauce...but in real life it's actually rather orange.


We'll start with our two jars of sauce!

Since I wasn't sure how it would turn out, I didn't use the entire jars. However, the proportions would be right I think. I didn't use equal parts of each sauce, but I used equal parts of the jars. As in, I used 2/3 of the jar of alfredo sauce, and 2/3 of the jar of spaghetti sauce, so using the entire jar of each would work out as well. Alfredo sauce tends to come in slightly smaller jars than spaghetti sauces so I think in most cases these proportions would be right. Although you could just mix the two until you get the color you want.

You're aiming for this color, I guess.


If you're really cool you can wear a tomato themed apron while you do this.


Now for chicken slices! (I had the chicken breasts marinating in Italian salad dressing)


Multitasking! I'm cooking a whole wheat shell pasta for this experiment.


I plated it on a blue plate because orange and blue are complementary colors and I like to prove to my mother that I am using my art degree.


I think it came out pretty yummy. I don't think it's as great as the alfredo/pesto mix, but it's still pretty good. At least it gives you something different to do. I actually think I might mix the rest of the sauce together and make a lasagna with it.

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Flank Steak, etc.

You want this.


Trust me.

Flank Steak Marinade:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp red wine or balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

I put mine in a big ziploc bag and it sat in the fridge overnight AND all the next day. I mean business.

Steak needs sidekicks, so I decided on corn on the cob and spinach. But before you start thinking I've gone healthy, keep reading.


Corn by itself is just corn, so let's make it better!

Start with some herbs...say, thyme, parsley, basil, and tarragon (or whatever you like/have), a 1/2 tsp of each.


And add them to some butter!


This equals herb butter! Yippee!


Now we can have corn with herb butter! I will continue to narrate in all exclamations!


Wrap up the corn so the herb butter doesn't escape!


Now let's cook it! Med-High heat, for 15 - 20 minutes!


Here's our meat that's been marinating for a long time!


You must have a paper towel dipped in oil, so you can oil the grill grate and prevent sticking!


Side one, you're up! (well, down actually...for about 5 minutes)


Side two, time for you! (for another 5 minutes)


Here I've got my meat tented (it must rest!), and my corn cobs cooked!


OMG GREEN STUFF AGGGHHH!!!! (it's about to get steamed in herb butter :D)


Hello beautiful!


*sigh*


That's nice and colorful!


Ha, whaddya know, I didn't eat all the green stuff


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