Mom's Cocoa Brownies

This recipe isn't actually mom's, but she makes them fantastically and I got the recipe from her, so the credit goes to mom. We had these in place of birthday cake for my party yesterday.

3/4 c butter, softened
3 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
2/3 c cocoa powder
1 1/4 c flour
1 c sugar
3/4 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine all ingredients and pour into 9x13 greased pan.
3. Bake 20-25 minutes, until brownies spring back when lightly touched. Do not over bake (then they're no longer gooey!).

Our Balcony Garden

With much help from my wonderful mom, Alex and I have a nice assortment of plants and vegetables on our balcony this year. Last year we had tomatoes, LOTS of them, and some herbs, including chives, parsley, dill and basil. So far this year we have tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, snap peas, a fig tree, cat nip, leaks, and herbs (parsley, chives and dill). I still would like to get some basil out there this year and once the lettuce is done mid-month I'll have an empty plater for something else.

Last year the tomatoes (and one pepper plant that didn't fruit) were in a large planter with mostly composed soil. This spring all the weeds in the composted soil started to grow and since I didn't have new tomato plant yet, I let it grow. Every time we opened the balcony door our cat, Tula, would race outside and into the planter and aggressively eat the grass. When it came time to clear it out and plant this year's crop, Tula was so angry, she jumped into the planter when I was half-way through and started chomping away. Alex tried to pull her out and she meowed like she was dying. I realized then that there was a cat nip plant growing in the weeds! NO wonder she was so drawn to this planter. I transplanted some grass and the cat nip into a cat sized pot, just for her. She nearly ate the cat nip to nothing that day. It's doing okay now and mom's provided some more plants for her entertainment. At least it keeps her from the real edible plants. =)

We have been enjoying the lettuce for about a week now, we planted it a little late. It's growing back in fast where we've harvested already, so we'll get a couple more weeks out of it. The peas will go well in a salad once they're a little bit bigger. We have tiny figs growing now too! I'm so excited mom brought me one of her trees, they are just one of my favorite summer treats! We'll also be overrun with tomatoes before we know it. I'm so excited to try some new salsa and tomato sauce recipes (posted then, of course!).

Here are some pictures of our balcony garden:


Our fig tree.


Little figs coming in!


Snap peas, hanging on!


Baby snap pea!


The peas hanging off the balcony.


Tula with her pot.

Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Yesterday I made my first attempt at homemade veggie burgers with guidance from a recipe on the Whole Foods Website (link). They came out so well, my meat-loving fiance even had seconds!! This is a quick easy recipe that allows for a lot of customization. Check it out:

1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 egg
1/2 onion, chopped
1 c bread crumbs
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried basil
1/2 t garlic powder or granules
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
olive oil (for cooking)

1. Mash beans with a fork in a large bowl.
2. Add egg, onion, bread crumbs, spices and hot sauce and mix together thoroughly.
3. Form into 6 patties.
4. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat and cook patties in single layer until brown on both sides and cooked through (approx. 10min total).
5. Transfer to buns and dress as desired.

I actually didn't have an onion when I made these, so I cut celery really fine for crunch and added onion powder to the mix. I do plan on using an onion next time though! I also used some seasoned salt, pepper, oregano, chili powder and hot sauce instead of what was suggested. I went a little heavy on the hot sauce and it was pretty amazing. We dressed them with some lettuce from our balcony garden, pickle relish, ketchup and mayo. Mmm!

Pretzel Salad

So, Pretzel Salad isn't really anything like it sounds: it's not a salad made with pretzels. It's actually a dessert featuring gelatin and cream cheese. Yum! My co-worker, Diana, introduced me to this dessert recently and provided me with a copy of the recipe. This was something I knew my family would love! I was in Shop Rite a couple weeks later when everything I needed to make Pretzel Salad was coincidentally on sale, seriously, Cool Whip was 99cents, cream cheese 2/$3, fresh strawberries $1.99, gelatin 3/$2... So I quick Google'ed the recipe on my phone and made sure I had everything. I decided to make it for Easter dessert at my parents house, and although I tweaked the recipes a little (the one from Diana and Paula Dean's I found online were a little different), and didn't even follow directions at all at one point (not on purpose, oops!), my dessert got rave reviews. Hope you will have the same reaction. This seriously is an amazing dessert!



2 c crushed pretzels
3/4 c softened butter
3 T & 3/4 c sugar
8 oz (1 pkg) cream cheese
8 oz (1 pkg) whipped topping
6 oz (2 3 oz pkgs) strawberry gelatin
10 oz (1 pkg) fresh or frozen strawberries*
2 c boiling water
extra fresh strawberries and/or whipped topping for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

For the Pretzel Crust:
1. Mix the pretzels, butter, and 3 tablespoons of sugar.
2. Press this mixture into a 9 by 13-inch pan and bake for 7-10 minutes, until crisp.
3. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

For the "Salad:"
1. In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and 3/4 cup of sugar.
2. Fold in the whipped topping.
3. Spread over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until well chilled.
4. In another bowl, dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water. *If you're using fresh strawberries, add about 10 ice cubes to the mixture. Then allow to cool slightly (10-15min in the fridge).
5. Add the strawberries, and let set for approx. 5min. Mixture should be cool but not set, chunky when mixed is okay.
6. Pour gelatin over the cream cheese mixture. (At this time I had extra slices of strawberries cut, so I covered the top with them for garnish.) Refrigerate until serving time.

To serve, cut slices and serve with whipped topping.

Alex vs. Chicken

Last week Alex and I finally got around to breaking down a whole chicken. I'd learned how in cooking class, but hadn't gotten a chance to do it on my own. ...And actually I still haven't. Alex did it. =) I supervised. It went very well, Alex did an excellent job. We cooked up the chicken breasts and froze the rest for another day. Tula really wanted in on the action...



She nearly climbed up the cabinets for a mouthful of chicken. But all she got was a crinkle ball and a cat treat to go away. =)

Now I just need to find some recipes for different chicken pieces...

Banana Bread??

In the last couple weeks I've tried three different banana bread recipes. The first time the bananas weren't overly ripe so the bread was a little dry. I know banana bread still is bread and bread is dry, but it just wasn't the texture I was looking for. I had a little more luck the second and third times with super ripe bananas, but still not exactly what I was looking for. I undercooked one loaf by accident, it was more moist, but not really in a good way, more gummy than anything else. Either way, none of the loaves were bad, they just weren't exactly what I was looking for. None of them tasted like mom's.

And then I realized: I'm not remembering mom's banana bread. (Does she even make banana bread?) I'm thinking of ZUCCHINI BREAD! Well, that explains that. Banana bread does not equal zucchini bread.

Can't wait for zucchini season!

I'm Engaged!!

Okay, yes, this is completely unrelated to food in any way (okay maybe in a small way), but I wanted to share big personal news:

I'M ENGAGED!!!
This relates to food in a small way: updates on wedding/reception food, coming soon [but not too soon]!! =)



We celebrated at Rat's Restaurant (website). It was almost as fabulous as my ring. ;)