Cheesecake Truffle Topped Brownies, for real???

You read the title right??

Sooo..uuumm yeah and that's not all either. There's marshmallow cream involved too.
If you are dieting or diabetic, this post is not for you, sorry.

Let's get to it.

First off, brownies.

Adapted by SomethingDifferentForDinner
Original recipe by Beth Setrakian courtesy of  Food Network

Classic Brownie Recipe:

6 squares unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt chocolate and butter together in microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes, or on stove top in heavy saucepan on very low heat. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir sugar into chocolate until well blended. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour until well blended. Spread in greased 9x13-inch glass baking dish. Bake 30 minutes. Do not over bake. Cool in pan. Keep the oven on.

OK OK OK, now that my brownies were cool. I topped them with my chopped up Russell Stover New York Cheesecake Ganache Truffles. WOW. Yes, you heard right.

DO IT!!!

Throw them back in the oven on 325 degrees ten more minutes, or until melted and all gooey. YUM!

There is more, really. Take them out and let them cool, not totally though. When they are still a little bit warm, slightly warm. Top them with a jar of marshmallow cream. And that's finally it.

3,2,1 let the sugar rush commence.  They are so delicious, I had one for breakfast.
ssssshhh don't tell the kids.

Enjoy! Happy Friday everyone, thanks for coming by!!

A great read!

I finished reading Water for Elephants last night. Wow. What a great book. I literally took this book everywhere with me, antisipating a free moment to read a few more pages. It was that good people.

What a wonderful story. I don't know why I didn't read it sooner.

It was the quickest I've read a book since my pre children days. Now, this is saying a lot for me. It usually takes me a looong time to finish a book, if I ever even get to finish.

I felt a read need to read it quickly though, I have to admit. The movie is coming out on April 22nd starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christopher Waltz. I really hope they don't F it up!
I'm gonna be pissed if they do.

I'm almost scared to go see it. Why, becuase if it's bad, it might ruin it all for me. All that said, I have to say the trailer looks good!! It looks very Titanic, circus style.

Movie Trailer here   check it out!!

For all of you out there, under a rock, here's a summary of Water for Elephants, a novel by Sara Gruen.

"When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her. "
- from bookbrowse.com

Easter Cupcakes, Kid Style

The girls and I made Easter cupcakes.. they turned out so cute. I helped with some of the decorations, but they did them mostly by themselves.

Original recipes taken from Better Homes and Gardens, New Cook Book, 14th edition
Adapted by Something Different For Dinner



Basic white cupcakes:

*for whiter cupcakes, use shortening instead of butter, and clear vanilla instead of regular vanilla

Oven: preheat to 350 degrees F

4 egg whites
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking power
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or shortening, softened
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups buttermilk


First start by letting your eggs, reach room temperature. About 30 mins sitting out.

In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; and set aside.

In large mixing bowl beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.

Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add egg whites one at a time, beating well after you add each one.

Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture. Beat on low speed after adding each.  At this point I added in 1/4 cup of multi-color sprinkles to the batter, to give it that confetti look.

Spoon batter, into cupcake baking cups. I use an icecream scoop, it just seems easier and the portion is perfect.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes, or until done. Mine took 17 minutes exactly. :-)

Set on wire rack until thoroughly cooled.

Butter Frosting:

3/4 cup butter, softened
2 pounds powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with mixer on medium speed until smooth.

Add 2 cups of powdered sugar, beating well. Beat in 1/3 cup milk and vanilla. Slowly mix in remaining sugar.

Beat in remaining milk, until your frosting gets to a spreadable consistancy.

I added a few drops of red food coloring to get a pink color.


For the decorations, the girls used mulit-colored and pink sprinkles; as well as coconut colored green (for grass) with a few drops of green food coloring.

Chicken Stir Fry w/ Red Bell Peppers, Broccoli, Shallots, & Garlic

Stir Fry Sauce:

1 bottle Kikkoman, Stir Fry Sauce
2 tablespoons Sesame Oil
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
dash of Rice Vinegar
a couple pinches of corn starch, to thicken
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
3-4 pieces of garlic, chopped

I combined all these ingredients, in a medium bowl and mixed well. Set aside, until ready to use.

Chicken & Vegetables:

I used four medium size, defrosted organic chicken breasts.

Begin by cutting the chicken into small pieces.

In a large skillet, on medium-high heat, cook your chicken pieces using a little bit of vegetable oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Approx. 10 minutes, maybe less. Depending on the size of your chicken chunks, cooking time will vary.

Once the chicken pieces were fully cooked, I poured in half of my stir fry sauce.

Coated the pieces well in the sauce.

Next, I added in my chopped vegetables and the rest of my stir fry sauce.

1 broccoli crown, chopped up into small pieces, and stems of course

2 red bell peppers, seeded, cleaned, and sliced thinly

This might my seem like alot of veggie variety for stir fry but, keep in mind that the sauce has shallots and garlic in it. You could always add more of whatever you like.

Cook the chicken and veggies together on medium heat for another 8-10 minutes.

Depending on how crisp or soft you like your vegetables to be will determine how long you need to cook then...ya know???

I served my stir fry over white rice, which I made in my rice cooker, according to package directions. Easy cheesy.

Thanks for coming by, Cheers & Enjoy!!!

Peanut Butter Semifreddo

Peanut Butter Semifreddo

2 eggs
1 egg yolk extra
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup peanut butter

Place peanut butter, in a bowl, mix it up until really smooth

Place eggs, yolk, vanilla, and sugar in large bowl. Place over saucepan of simmering water, mix with electric mixer about 8 minutes, until egg becomes thick and pale. Remove from heat.

In a seperate medium bowl, whisk the cream until it peaks. Then gently fold in egg mixture. Fold in peanut butter. Stir gently so that all is mixed well.

Pour into a freeze safe bowl. Freeze at least 6 hours, or overnight.

Note: this semifreddo is really rich, so enjoy in small portions.

Semifreddo: (Italian for "half cold"), is a class of semi-frozen desserts, typically ice-cream cakes, semi-frozen custards, and certain fruit tarts. It has the texture of frozen mousse because it is usually produced by uniting two equal parts of ice cream and whipped cream.

This was my first attempt at this dessert. It was so good!! You all have to try this!!

I had, had this dessert before in Austin, TX at a really great restaurant called Uchi.

Mine was good but Uchi's was better. I'll get better though, this was my first attempt.

Shout out!!!!I got my semifreddo inspiration from a fellow blog, Moogie & Pap. http://moogieland.blogspot.com/

Peanut Buttery Chocolate Chip Loaded Cowboy Cookies

Original recipe by Camilla Saulsbury, The Ultimate Shortcut Cookie Book

Adapted recipe and photos by Something Different For Dinner

My shortcut for this recipe was refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough, but I didn't have any so I made mine. The cookies turned out awesome!! They were so yummy.

I better stop baking!! Summer is just around the corner. Although you'd never know it, with the weather up here.  I don't think it's ever going to stop raining! GRRRR.

Peanut Buttery Chocolate Chip Loaded Cowboy Cookies:

1 roll refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough ( I made my own, recipe below)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts ( I DIDN'T USE THESE)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie sheets with non stick cooking spray.

Break up cookie dough into a large bowl. Add coconut, peanut butter, quick oats, and peanuts to the dough.  Mix well.

Drop by kitchen teaspoons, 2 inches apart, on cookie sheets.

Bake for 10-13 minutes or until just set. Cool on wire racks.

Cheers! Enjoy. These cookie will not disappoint.

Original NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Chocolate Chip Cookies

By: Nestle Toll House

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Directions:

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts(opinional).

50/50 Salad w/ fuji apples, feta, candied walnuts, and dried cranberries

I was inspired to make this salad from one I had at Mimi's Cafe, in Sacramento, CA. I'm sure they have it at all their locations. I think they call it a "Strawberry Salad".

I used a 50/50 spring/ baby spinach mix for my green base. Then, I added thinly sliced Fuji apples, dried cranberries, feta cheese, some homemade candied walnuts, and tossed it in Brianna's Home Style Real French Vinaigrette.




before the toss

 This salad is good and tasty.

Slightly sweet from the apples, a little tart from the feta and dried cranberries, nutty sweetness from the candied walnuts, and a final tang from the vinaigrette. Give it a try. My family was asking for more!!




after the toss :0)


Plus, it's a great way for my girls to get their salad in.
Enjoy!! Happy Monday!!