Mocha Peppermint Brownies

Oh no! I ran out of ingredients. Ugh. Guess I’m done baking for the night. Was really hoping to make a batch of peanut butter brownies next.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 eggs
3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup crushed candy cane pieces
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 ⁰F. Lightly grease a 9” x 9” baking dish.
Combine the melted butter, sugar, peppermint and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder and salt in a bowl. Gradually stir flour mixture into the egg mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.

Chunky Cheesecake Brownies

Second batch of brownies for this evening. I’ll be taking all these goodies to work tomorrow. Once again I used my Pampered Chef Brownie Pan and only had to bake these for 20 minutes ish. I love anything with cream cheese.
Ingredients
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 ⁰F. Grease a 9 inch square baking pan.
Combine cream cheese with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth. Stir 1 cup chocolate chips into the cream cheese mixture. Set aside.
Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat off, and set a heatproof mixing bowl over the water. In the mixing bowl, combine butter with the remaining cup of chocolate chips; stir until just melted and blended together. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 2 eggs, then sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into chocolate until evenly blended.
Pour half of the batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate layer. Top with remaining chocolate mixture (this doesn't need to completely cover the cream cheese layer). Using a knife, swirl the top chocolate layer into the cream cheese to make a marble pattern.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until top is crinkled and edges pull away from sides of the pan. Cool thoroughly. Cut into 12 to 16 squares. Store in the refrigerator or freeze.

White Chocolate Blondies

I’m in a baking craze this evening and just wanted to quickly share these brownie recipes. These are melt in your mouth good. I recently purchased a Pampered Chef Brownie Pan,  love it! If you use it for this recipe the brownies will only need to bake for 15 minutes ish. Plus I always use my microwave to melt my chocolate just remember to not over nuke it.
Ingredients
8 oz white chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
3/4 tap salt
1/3 cup white sugar
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 ⁰F. Grease a 9" x 9" baking pan. Melt white chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler, over barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs until foamy. With the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar and vanilla. Drizzle in the melted white chocolate mixture. Combine the flour and salt; fold into the white chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool pan on a wire rack before cutting into bars.

Happy Everything

Happy Belated Blogoversary! … this year marked 11 years of blogging. Crazy.
Happy Belated Thanksgiving/Birthday! … lucky spoiled me had the two combined this year. It was delicious.
Excluding Thanksgiving I’ve been pretty MIK (missing in kitchen) this last month. So when my Early Bird copy of Gooseberry Patch’s cookbook “101 Soups, Salads & Sandwiches” showed up I was extremely excited. I miss food. I miss my kitchen. I really miss sharing recipes. So here’s what is going to happen. I am going to sit down with a hot cup of peppermint tea, read my cookbook and plan out next week’s menu.

On Monday I’ll share my menu and kick off a giveaway for this cookbook. You could be the lucky winner to own it before it’s even out at stores. Throughout the week I’ll blog and share with you like I use to. Back when I was a SAHM and life was good. I miss that life but I’m loving my paychecks. So bittersweet.

Pity Party, Table For One

This has got to be the longest day ever. Last night I did something foolish, I finished off a bottle of my favorite wine and followed that with three very gross blueberry oatmeal beers. *ugh* I think Christopher found me funny and I don't think it's fair that he messes with me when I'm intoxicated. Now being the day after I remember why I don't care for drinking, I've been useless all day. It was a pity party night for me. I have been job searching which is absolutely no fun. I can't tell you how many cover letters I have written and how many resumes I have sent out. Can you guess how many calls for interviews I have received? ZERO! Apparently I'm obsolete and no longer a hot commodity in the job market. *lol* It's so sad, poor poor me, the kiddos don't need me and the work force doesn't want me. What's a stay at home mom suppose to do?

Dang Knap It

Hats off to all of you working moms! *applause* I seriously don't see how you do this daily. I had to go to work today with Christopher so I could finish up the college's ROTC website. Normally he leaves for work at 4:30 am, PT (physical training) starts at 6:00 am, and he has an hour and a half drive. He was a sweetheart and skipped PT for me today. I woke up at 6:00 which I normally do anyway since that is when Haillie wakes up. Today's routine was totally different! I jumped into the shower and was out within ten minutes. Record time! Then I headed downstairs to good morning Haillie and get dinner into the crock pot. I returned upstairs to dry my hair, do my make up and get dressed. I ran back downstairs to pack Abby's lunch, drink my green smoothie and fill the dishwasher. By this time my dad was at the door, I let him in and ran back upstairs to wake up Abby. Straighten my hair and add some finishing touches. I ran back downstairs and packed my computer bag and notes, kissed Abby good bye and by 7:24 am Christopher and I were out the door. Six minutes to spare! I totally had enough time to shave my legs and through a load of laundry into the washer. The drive wasn't as bad as I expect and Christopher stopped for an ice coffee. Totally would have kissed him if I didn't have this pesky cold sore. We get to the office, I set up my laptop and get straight to work. This is the part I have been dreading, grown up communication. Depending on how much you know about Hashimoto's disease let me tell it has really affected my brain. I did surprisingly well, got all the big words out of my mouth at the appropriate time. Worked all morning, confidence building. Then Christopher took me out to Chili's for lunch. Delicious! We headed back to the office and I'm on cloud nine. During the afternoon I reached for my ice coffee, hit my hand on the desk and my diamond pops off my engagement ring and is laying right there on the desk. *wtf* I swear it was a sign that I should be at home scrubbing the toilets. Other than that the day was great! I didn't realize how much I have missed working outside our home. The work day ended at 3:30 pm. Once home again I had dinner on the table within thirty minutes. *first glass of wine* Kitchen cleaned up, laundry started and Abby's homework checked by 7:30 pm. *second glass of wine* I'm exhausted, you working moms are amazing!

Coffee Break

I am actually doing some website work this morning. A little creating, some updating and real live give me you money billing! And as a bonus Christopher thinks I'm busy so I haven't had to go help him finish gutting out the stairway. Whew! We are getting close to phase one being done which just includes the stairs and the landings. Once all those walls and ceilings are done then phase two can begin. That will be my dad's job, putting in all the new wiring. We are giving him a week to complete and then onto phase three. This is my favorite phase because we broke down and decided to hire a contractor to put up new walls and ceiling. After that we go back to phase one and we start renovating the bedrooms one by one. I'm so excited for it to be done and the house to be finished. I don't deal well with mess and chaos.