THE Fudge Brownies

oh yes, please.

Back in the days of gestational diabetes, I think I dreamed about these brownies.  I have the most fond memories of eating them at my best friend Kelly's house,  coupled with a generous serving of vanilla ice-cream. Mine never quite turn out looking as pretty, but the fudge sauce that sits atop the brownies makes up for it.

1 box of brownie mix (follow the directions on the box). One of these days, I'll try my own batch of homemade brownies. I happen to have it on good authority that The Pioneer Woman's Mocha Brownies are pretty amazing.

Fudge Topping:

One stick butter

4 TBSP cocoa powder

6 TBSP milk

1 box confectioner’s sugar

Melt one stick of butter over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and milk. Bring to a boil. Add the powdered sugar. Stir and remove from heat.

Pour the hot fudge topping over the brownies. Allow the fudge to set, and then serve with vanilla ice cream.

Note: I usually put the pan of cooled brownies in the fridge to help set the fudge sauce. Or, we love to heat them really hot and gooey before the fudge has fully set.


Recipe from Kelly Ashburn

Strawberry Shortcake with 1/4 mile high biscuits...

one good morning.

many, many good berries! 

... a post dinner surprise for my honey.

Inspiration for the dish: Sam's "not-so-subtle" hints about his love for strawberry shortcake, a sudden burst of energy, and a minute to myself.

Here's my adaptation on the berries...

The Doctored Berries:
Strawberries
1/3 c sugar
1 TBSP lemon juice
and then, more sugar to taste!

Allow the berries to just sit in the juices for a good little while, so you can get the biscuits going and tend to the whipped cream.

Biscuits:
In Look and Cook, these biscuits are referred to as "Mile-High." However, as you can see in the picture, my poor pitiful biscuits don't quite measure up. I cut the recipe in half and then rolled out my dough far, far too thin to make enough biscuits. Stroke of genius on my part, especially when I realized that I only needed half an egg. yikes!

3 cups flour
1 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 c milk

Preheat oven to 450. Sift the dry ingredients into a big bowl. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, mix the butter in until the combination of ingredients is thoroughly incorporated. In a separate bowl, combine the egg and milk before adding it to the dry ingredients. Mix only until the contents will hold together well enough to form a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough lightly 15 times. Here's where I went wrong. The original recipe directs you to roll the dough out to 3/4 inches before cutting biscuits. So take your pick. Mile-High or 1/4 mile-high biscuits! Place the cut biscuits (I used a drinking glass) onto an un-greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Whipped Cream:
1 c whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 TBSP powdered sugar

I found the homemade whipped cream recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whipped-cream/, though I must confess that I may have been a little heavy-handed with the powdered sugar. Let's just say that no one minded.

The Recipe Source:

 http://www.amazon.com/Look-Cook-A-Cookbook-Children/dp/1584793589