First off Groundhog Day is tomorrow! I’m hoping for 6 more weeks of Winter…with snow.

It’s February…ahhhhh. Slow down time, slow down.

Crazy Cocker Spaniel gained four pounds in 2 months. She is on a diet. She is very, very pissed off about that. It leads her to eat any and all things she finds on the floor. Mmmm lint, the breakfast of champions.

I should not drink a Red Bull at midnight and expect not to be wide awake at 4am.

I went to an old stomping ground for one of my favorite treats…deep fried tater tots. They still had those but changed the whole menu (not for the better) and now served the tots with this very gross Organic Ketchup. No, no, no. Deep fried food deserves high fructose corn syrup! Highly upsetting and apparently if I ever go back I must bring my own condiments now.

I won $8 in the lottery. My time is coming I feel it.

It’s amazing when you clean and organize things how many missing things get found.

And lastly Happy Birthday to my BFF!!! That’s his birthday cheesecake there. It’s an S’mores Cheesecake that I found in my Bon Appetit file a while back and have just been holding on to it as it does take a little effort. But for someone’s birthday you should probably put in a little effort. It’s not so much hard as it is just multi steps and you need to plan ahead.

S’mores Cheesecake

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 9-10 whole crackers)
3 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
9 oz milk chocolate, chopped
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
3 large egg, at room temperature

Topping
1 cup sugar
2 large egg whites
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 large marshmallows, cut into quarters with wet kitchen scissors
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Pour the melted butter over the mixture and stir until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Press into an even layer in the bottom of the prepared springform pan. Bake for 12 minutes, or until set. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F.

To make the filling: Add the chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30 second intervals at 50% power, stirring in between each interval, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Cool until just barely lukewarm, stirring occasionally.

Combine the cream cheese, sugar, and salt in the bowl of your food processor and pulse until smooth. With the machine running, pour the heavy cream through feed tube and process just until blended. Again, with the machine running, add the melted chocolate and then the eggs, one at a time, blending and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition until the mixture is smooth. Pour the batter over the cooled crust.

Bake for about 55 minutes, or until the outer edge is slightly puffed and the center is barely set (the center will jiggle slightly when the pan is gently shaken). Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Run a small sharp knife around the cake to loosen it from the pan. Let cool slightly then refrigerate for at least 8 hours. (I left mine uncovered in the fridge until it was cold, then used plastic wrap to cover the pan.)

To make the topping: In a large metal bowl (I used the bowl for my stand mixer), combine the sugar, egg whites, water, cream of tartar and salt. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan and add the marshmallows; let stand for a few minutes until the marshmallows soften. Place the bowl back over the pan of simmering water and beat the topping with a hand mixer for 4-5 minutes, or until stiff, shiny peaks form. Beat in the vanilla.

Let the topping cool just slightly (don’t wait too long or it’ll set and you won’t be able to spread it). Meanwhile, remove the sides of the pan from the cheesecake. Transfer the topping onto the cheesecake; use a spatula to spread it to the edges. Let stand for about 15 minutes, or until set. Use a kitchen torch to toast the topping lightly. (You could also do this under your broiler but keep a VERY close eye on it, it’ll go from brown to burnt quickly.) Transfer the cheesecake to the fridge and chill well before serving.

Source: Bon Appetit 2008

I must have missed the memo that said it was email Peabody questions week. Holy cow. I am used to getting quite a bit of email but this week must have been REALLY slow at people’s work. None of them really hate mail either (so refreshing ) but some definitely quirky ones. So let’s answer a few shall we:

We will start with my favorite question which won’t be addressed but was too interesting not to post:

“I was just wondering if you were getting laid yet? If not, my brother’s roommate is a super nice guy with a good job. He loves the food I make for them from your website and says he finds you attractive. We live in the Seattle area. If you are interested, I can give you his info”.

Wow. That is all.

“What is your biggest pet peeve?”

Well that’s kind of hard to say as it really changes daily depending on my mood. But since it’s the beginning of the year I have to say all the low carb people. I realize you lose weight doing it. I watch many a friend lose doing it. And many a friend gains it all back once they go back to carbs. Why not just pick something that will allow you to fit a fun sized Skittles pack a couple times into your week? The only friends that I have that have ever lost weight and truly keptit off were people who had a very realistic timeline (the Biggest Loser has really made people have an F-ed up view of how much weight you should lose in a week) and kept all of their favorite foods in their diet throughout their diet.

Oh and the other one is cryptic people on Facebook who do things like everyone send good vibes my world is coming to an end…and then never answer you when you ask what is up. Just a bunch of drama llama attention whores.

“Whatever happened to your friend that was dating the much older guy?”

For those not familiar with what this reader was talking about go here. The answer is happily that they are still together. Her family has come around now as they realize that he was not just some creeper older guy trying to be with a younger gal. They have a house together and spend their free time playing hockey together.

“I follow you on Pinterest and have to say that you are way more girly than I would think of a hockey player to be.”

This was really more of a statement than a question but I will address it nonetheless. While I am often in a hoodie and jeans due to my large amount of time spent at hockey rinks, I do love to dress girly. I love Anthropolgie (the store) and anything that has a bow on it. I’m a big sucker for a bow, which is maybe why I love Hello Kitty so much (I own Hello Kitty Vans). When I taught school I was the one in ruffled skirts and heels. And my favorite color is pink.

“Do you floss?”

Only when food is stuck. I’m bad I know.

“Do you miss your kitchen you had when you were married?”

Oh my goodness yes. I miss the counter space and cupboards alone. And I miss cooking with gas big time. I miss the whole house in general. I’m very much a homebody so I miss having a home so to speak. I can’t actually bring myself to look at photos of my house even after all this time. And knowing I probably won’t be in a house of my own for a very long time, if ever, is a little sad to be honest.

Well enough with that, let’s talk cupcakes. Lucky for me one of the good parts about going to Physical Therapy is that I have people to bring snacks to. I asked if they would like any treats and I got a very large yes! So yay! These are basically devils food cupcakes with a banana added to them with a yummy fudge frosting. I went with minis because I was giving them to several people…plus people don’t feel so guilty when they are bite size.

And one last reader question: “You always call yourself lazy yet you seem to always be doing something, baking takes time. Are you really lazy?” Yes. Yes I am. I am so lazy that instead of taking down the Christmas tree I just threw new ornaments on there and called it a Valentine’s Tree. I’m considering a Spring one next.

Chocolate Banana Mini Cupcakes with Fudgy Salted Caramel Frosting

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 super crazy ripe banana, mashed
12 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
9 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted (use a double boiler)
2 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour two muffin pans (hold 24 cupcakes each).

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

In a separate small bowl, beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored, about 2 minutes. Add the beaten yolks to the butter mixture and beat well.

Add the chocolate, mixing until well incorporated.

Add the banana and beat well, until fully incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

In a separate small bowl, beat the egg whites on the high speed of an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold into the batter. Divide the batter among the prepared pans.

Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until cupcakes spring back when you touch them. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

Fudgy Salted Caramel Frosting

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
5 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup salted caramel sauce (I used Trader Joe’s)
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Chop chocolates and transfer into a heat proof bowl. Add caramel sauce.

Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, pour cream over the chocolate and caramel.

Let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined.

Add butter and vanilla and stir until combined.

Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixture and let cool for 10 minutes.

Sift powdered sugar into the mixture and beat until combined. Add more sugar if needed.

Continue to beat with an electric mixer until lighter in color and creamy.

There is nothing to make you feel more uncoordinated than playing video games with kids. I had an 8 year old desperately wanting to play Halo with me. I informed him that I was no good at playing Halo. That was putting it mildly. Being 8 an optimistic he didn’t seem to take me all that serious and assured me that he could do what others had not been able to before, he would teach me Halo.

I was already down and out staring at my little pink Xbox controller (yes, mine is pink) while he quickly went over what each button did and then listed the exceptions, which there seemed to be many of. I think at this point I was mostly blinking when I was informed just follow my guy and I’ll tell you what to do.

You think that would have been easy? Just follow his guy. Sure. Yeah, not so much. I couldn’t get my up and down right. I would move when I was supposed to be looking. And then the next thing you know I was somehow on fire. To which he was in awe that I was on fire since we hadn’t even gone against any enemy yet. Yes, my inadequate video game skills were shining through and through. Once I was brought back to life again and once I stopped laughing I attempted to follow him again. Which usually ended up with a whole lot of “no, up, you are looking down” and “where did you go?”

I never did end up getting to the point of actually going against an enemy. After 15 minutes of being completely lost and somehow setting myself on fire the oven timer went off and a 13 year came to my rescue and actually played the game how you are supposed to play it. I’m not giving up yet. I don’t think the 8 year old is going to let me. Next time I am just hoping to not catch on fire.

After a long day of being reminded you are old there is nothing better than chocolate. A few years ago I joined a group called Tuesdays with Dorie that my friend Laurie started. They finally reached the end of the book (it’s a big book and one you should own if you are a baker) and that got me thinking about some of the things I have made from that book. One was a chocolate chip topped brownie. Thought I would throw in left over Nutter Butters and add a few peanut butter chips and some peanut butter to the mix. Almost made me forget I suck at Halo. Almost.

Ghetto Chocolate Chip Topped Nutter Butter Brownie Bars

For the brownie layer:

9 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 ounces unsalted butter, cut into pieces (melt quicker that way)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
30 Nutter Butter Cookies

For the cookie layer:

1 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
10 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 TBSP peanut butter, I used Jif
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup milk chocolate chips
¾ cup peanut butter chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan, line it with wax or parchment paper and butter the paper. Put the pan on a baking sheet.

For the Brownie Batter: Put chocolate and the butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Heat just until the ingredients are melted, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until pale.

Beat in the salt and vanilla extract. Reduce the speed to low, and mix in the melted chocolate and butter, mixing only until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then, still on low speed, add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the batter.

Pour brownie batter into prepared pan. Place Nutter Butter Cookies close to each other but not overlapping (cut some in half if need be to make fit) until the brownie batter is covered in Nutter Butters.

Clean the mixer bowl to use again for the cookie dough.

For the Cookie Dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.

One at a time, add the egg and the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the dough. Mix in the chocolate and peanut butter chips.

Drop the cookie dough by spoonfuls over the brownie batter with Nutter Butters and, using a spatula and a light touch, spread it evenly over the batter.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the cookie top is deep golden brown and firm and a thin knife inserted into the brownie layer comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocolate. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

When the bars are completely cool, carefully run a knife between the sides of the pan and the brownies, then invert them onto another rack, remove the paper and turn right side up onto a cutting board. Cut into bars about 2 inches by 1 inch.

Adapted from Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan

I don’t think best friends work for most adults. I don’t really think they work all that well for kids either but right now I am focusing on the adults. A friend of mine basically started a discussion on how we don’t really have best friends. Most of us had concluded that we had someone we called our best friend but they were back from college or even high school days and in reality knew very little about what was actually going on in our day to day lives. And we all concluded that no one we know lived like a Friends episode.

I have this too. The female that most people assume is my best friend still lives in Phoenix. I probably speak to her physically on the phone maybe once a year and we text maybe a few times a month. How is it that this person is expected to be my best friend? It’s a good question and the one that we have been mulling over.

I think one thing that comes into play is that people end up marrying their best friend kind of thing. When you used to run and tell your best female friend all your stuff you find yourself telling your spouse instead…unless of course you are complaining about your spouse. But in some ways that spot gets filled. And while when you were single your girlfriends were there for you, it all really changes when you are in a relationship. And this is why for adults the concept doesn’t work all that well.

It doesn’t work well for kids just for the fact that it just causes super drama. Girls get upset about being left out. Or thinking they were someone’s best friend only to find out that they weren’t when they see them wearing the other half of the BFF forever necklace.

What about you? Do you have a best friend? Or do you have a collection of close friends? And if you do have a best friend are they the same sex as you? If you read the blog you know that most of my friends are guys. Though I do have female friends as well, I just tend to hang with the guys much more.

If you don’t have any friends and want to make some, maybe you should make some bread pudding. Nothing says be my friend like carby-sugary-comforting bread pudding. I used Hawaiian rolls because they are sweeter and just all around awesome but you can use regular dinner rolls. Since the orange and chocolate chip loaf went over so well a while back I thought I would make it into bread pudding form. Glad I did. Share it with a friend today.

Orange-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

1 (12 pack) package King’s Hawaiian Rolls (or dinner rolls), on the stale side, torn into pieces

1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup orange juice concentrate
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease a 8-x-8-inch pan.

Place bread pieces into pan to cover bottom.

Mix the egg s, egg yolk, sugar, orange juice concentrate and salt in a large bowl. Then stir in the heavy cream and milk. Whisk until fully incorporated.

Pour the custard over the bread layer. Press down the bread pieces until the bread is soaked with the custard. Sprinkle ½ the chocolate chips.

Make another layer of bread. Pour custard over second bread layer. Repeat as many times as you have ingredients and room. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips.

You will most likely have extra custard depending on how stale your bread is. Don’t feel like you have to use all the custard.

Place pan into another pan that will hold a water bath. Bake the bread pudding for 45-55 minutes until golden on top, and custard isn’t running in the middle. Cool 10 minutes and serve warm with orange toffee sauce.

Orange Toffee Sauce
2 TBSP orange juice concentrate
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup whipping cream

Stir brown sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes.

Add cream and orange juice concentrate and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Serve over bread pudding warm.