Why am I always the last to know?

I just saw that today is National Brownie Day. Why am I always caught unprepared for these important occasions?

Well I may not have a fresh batch of brownies to show you but I've made plenty of brownies during my blogging career. Let's recap.

Brownie Buttons:



Brownies from King Arthur:



Chocolate Chip Brownies (I've made these many, many times. I've added sprinkles and Christmas Kissables to the top for the holidays):



Chocolate Mint Brownies:



Chocomallow Brownies:



Fudge Brownies:



Fudge Frosted Brownies:



Glazed Chocolate Chip Brownies (my son's favorite brownies):



Rick Katz’s Brownies for Julia:



Sweet Potato Brownies:



Very Chocolate Brownies:



I think you can see two things here. One, I really like brownies and two, I can't take a good picture of a brownie to save my life.

Some recipes from Domino Sugar

I was contacted by Domino sugar and offered a gift card to buy ingredients in order to make something from the Domino website. I took a quick gander and decided that wouldn't be a problem at all. They have lots of great recipes on there now but gosh, I bet their site will just grow and grow. I mean, they have such few limits with sugar as their product.

I have to admit that I will often buy store-brand baking ingredients but when I do my holiday baking, I usually reach for brand names and for sugars that means Domino. If I'm going to the trouble of baking all those treats for my friends and family, I want to use the best ingredients. Is there any difference between Domino sugar and other brands? Well, I've never come across lumps in my Domino sugar - I can't say that for the store brands. That's just my own personal experience.

So what did I make? Well, strangely enough, even though I usually follow recipes as closely as possible, I played around a little bit here.

I combined the design idea of Peanut Butter Reindeer Cupcakes with the recipe for Chocolate Sugar Cookies and made Reindeer Cookies. Since my son can't eat M&Ms (due to his peanut allergy) I used Sixlets for the eyes and nose. Sixlets aren't as sturdy in the oven as M&Ms and melted quite a bit but I think they're still cute.



They were so cute, I couldn't settle on just one picture.



I don't like to make cute cookies just for the sake of being cute. These were also delicious. I wasn't sure if the pretzels would work here but it tastes like eating chocolate-covered pretzels when you eat that part of the cookie. I'd also like to note that I rolled the cookie dough out between sheets of parchment paper which is one of the most awesome baking tricks I've ever learned and I like to pass it along whenever I can.

I also made some Drop Sugar Cookies. I was intrigued by the combination of oil and butter and the use of cream of tartar instead of baking powder or baking soda. I added some green food coloring to the cookies - I usually do that with any sugar cookie at Christmas. These had a nice crispy texture around the outside with a soft, chewiness in the center. I liked them with just the sugar on top but alternatively, these could be frosted.



But the very first thing I made was this Peppermint Swirl Fudge Cake. I opted to top it with vanilla candy coating instead of the chocolate glaze, just because. I used chopped up candy canes and candy cane kisses on the top. I added a bit of green food coloring to intensify the green in the peppermint cake batter. I just wish I had something green on the top too - next time I'll get the candy canes that have both green and red.

I love how we spend the holidays now but someday I hope I get a chance to host my own Christmas gathering so I could put a gorgeous cake like this out for my guests.




It wasn't just pretty, it tasted great too. The cream cheese gave it a nice texture. It wasn't too minty like I've found some peppermint-flavored recipes to be - the level of mint was just right for my taste.



Although, I'm not a Tweeter myself, some of you might be interested in one of Domino's programs to fight hunger. Basically for each time that #NoKidHungry is mentioned in a tweet, Domino®/C&H® Sugar will donate $1 to the Share Our Strength® organization. They're going to donate up to a maximum of $10,000.

I'm excited to do even more holiday baking now. Thanks to Domino for getting me started.

Question of the Day: What plans do you have for holiday baking this year?

I'm all out of sorts

Pollo Guisado
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Copyright 2008

2 pounds boneless chicken thighs
3 tomatoes, diced I used canned tomatoes
2 ounces canned chipotle sauce I used chipotle powder
1/4 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 tablespoon ground cumin
1/4 tablespoon ground black pepper
1/4 tablespoon salt
1 cup water water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, diced

Boil the chicken for 25 minutes or until cooked. Set aside.

In a blender combine the tomatoes, chipotle sauce, garlic, cumin, pepper, salt and add water and blend for a few seconds.

In a saucepan add the vegetable oil and onions and cook for 3 minutes or until the onions turn golden.

Add the chipotle mixture and the chicken to the saucepan with the onions and cook over medium heat 15 minutes.
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I was pretty loosey-goosey with this recipe. I only had about a pound of chicken so I eyeballed everything else. It was good, not a showstopper but maybe it would have been if I followed the recipe to the letter. I'm sure these tacos would have been better if I had better, fresher taco shells.

So I decided to make pizza dough last night for the first time in I don't know how long. We've been getting take-out or I've been cheating using Pillsbury pizza crust (hey, I like it) but I thought it was time to tighten our purse strings and go back to making the dough from scratch.

I followed a recipe I had written down, that I used to use almost every week but I ended up adding a lot of flour and it still wasn't enough - I ended up with a sticky mess. I have no idea what went wrong. Maybe my scale was off. Hopefully it will be edible. I can't believe that I lost my touch.

The wheels are in motion for my son's 6th birthday, 2 weeks after Christmas. That is a crappy time to have to plan a birthday party. Not only am I juggling Christmas planning with birthday planning, I have the added stress of worrying about the weather since it's January and it snows a lot in January AND I have no idea how many kids will come. In preschool, I had a general idea but this is an entire different group of kids. I can't wait until the second week of January when I can relax!

Question of the Day: Do prefer soft tacos or hard tacos?

More chicken thighs

Smoky Paprika Chicken Thighs
Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes Volume 2 Copyright 2006

1 tablespoon smoked paprika or paprika
1 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon black pepper
3 pounds chicken thighs, skinned I used boneless, skinless thighs, cut-up into smaller pieces
½ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 8-ounce carton light dairy sour cream
2 tablespoons cornstarch

In a small bowl stir together paprika, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Sprinkle evenly over chicken thighs; rub in with your fingers. Place chicken in a 4 ½- to 5 ½-quart slow cooker.

In another small bowl whisk together the tomato paste and chicken broth. Pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or in high-heat setting for 3 to 3 ½ hours. Transfer chicken to a serving platter, reserving cooking juices in slow cooker. Cover chicken with foil to keep warm.

If using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting. For sauce, in a small bowl stir together sour cream and cornstarch; whisk into cooking juices in slow cooker until smooth. Cover and cook about 15 minutes more or until slightly thickened. Spoon sauce over chicken.

Per serving: 164 cal, 6g fat, 90mg chol, 439 mg sodium, 5g carbs, 0g fiber, 21g pro
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I had some smoked paprika so this recipe caught my eye. It wasn't the prettiest recipe but it had good flavor. I chose to serve it over orzo even though I really craved spaetzle. There just wasn't time to make spaetzle.

I will add this to my round-up of boneless, skinless chicken thigh recipes.

It's that time of year where I fall apart. I always get overwhelmed by the holidays no matter how much I try not to. Some things just don't help - the alternator on my 2-year old car died Friday. So don't be surprised if posting is a bit sporadic but I have to prioritize.

Question of the Day: Are you ready for the holidays?

A blast from my past

Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches
Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2000 Copyright 1999

1/2 cup canola oil you definitely do not need that much oil but I would use 1-2 tablespoons
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/2 pounds)
4 hard rolls or croissants
1 cup finely shredded lettuce
8 tomato slices
4 green pepper rings I skipped this
1/4 cup mayonnaise, optional

In a blender, combine the first six ingredients; cover and process until smooth. I just mixed it together. Reserve 1/4 cup. Pour remaining sauce into a large resealable plastic bag. Add chicken; seal and refrigerate overnight.

Drain and discard marinade from chicken. Broil chicken 4 in. from the heat for 5 minutes per side or until a meat thermometer reads 170°. I used my Griddler.

On bottom half of each roll or croissant, layer lettuce, tomatoes, chicken and green pepper. Drizzle with reserved sauce; spread with mayonnaise if desired. Replace tops.

Yield: 4 servings
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I can remember when a grilled chicken sandwich was something exciting to see on a menu. Thanks to Susan Powter, the 80s were all about avoiding fat and before the grilled chicken sandwich started appearing on menus, we mainly had burgers, hot dogs and breaded fried chicken to eat on buns. I remember when a place in the food court at the Gallery in Philly started serving a grilled chicken sandwich and I was so happy even though it was actually quite boring when I think about it now.

Eventually everyone was serving grilled chicken sandwiches and eventually they just fell off my radar all together, I got so bored with them. I still made grilled chicken breast but with our attention turned from fat to carbs, I didn't turn them into sandwiches anymore. I guess I was feeling nostalgic last week and I was also looking for a quick sandwich idea for dinner so I went retro and put the grilled chicken on buns.

The marinade gave the chicken great flavor - much better than I used to get at the food court. It was a nice change from burgers.

Question of the Day: Did you get caught up in the fat-free craze?