So, I don’t typically bake for a few reasons. One, I have a small kitchen and I’m lazy. Baking usually requires a lot of dishes and a lot of mess, which only gets compounded when you have to get creative with where you are putting these dishes. Two, I have no self control–once I bake something I want to eat it all. I’m the type of person that can avoid food temptations if I don’t have any. As soon as I have one bite, it’s all over–I can’t stop. Because I rarely bake, I also don’t have a lot of baking ingredients on hand which also discourages me from baking on a whim.
Caroline over at Coeur de La posted on her facebook page that she was taking a study break to bake some brownies. For some reason, this made me remember the recipe that has been sitting on my fridge for almost a year that I have yet to attempt. I decided that I had to bake some brownies with my recipe from Le Pain Quotidien. They were soooo yummy–nice and gooey, rich but not too rich. I had a moment where I was very disturbed at the amount of butter that went into the brownies, but I quickly got over it when I tasted their chocolatey goodness.
And now for the recipe…for those of you who are wondering how I got my little hands on this, it’s simple–they give out recipe cards with their bill and I happened to score the brownie recipe!
Brownie Recipe
Makes fourteen brownies (*fourteen is the number for big brownies. I had a normal cupcake tin, and it made about 24 brownies*)
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60-64% cacao)
1 cup plus 2 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
5 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups superfine sugar
3 tbsp pastry flour
Roughly chop the chocolate into pieces. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl and add the butter. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until the two ingredients have melted. Mix well and transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 325°. Sift the sugar and flour together, then stir into the chocolate. Add the eggs and mix well. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. The batter will thicken as it stands.
Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers. Spoon 1/4 cup of the batter into each paper-lined cup. Bake 30-35 minutes. The brownies will still be moist when done; they will puff up and fall slightly as they cool.
*note from my experience: maybe it’s because “room temperature” in my apartment is a little cooler than typical, but the batter was THICK. As in almost like caramel–I had to wait for each spoonful to plop into the cups. They tasted just like they should, but don’t be alarmed if the batter is so thick you can barely scoop it!*
Enjoy!
I know I haven’t been posting about the cats as much lately, and I apologize! Poor fellas, haven’t gotten as much camera time lately.
So, quick Stuart story. On Sunday I rounded up all the cat toys and put them in a basket so I could vacuum the floor, and then put the basket on the chair. If you look at the pictures you will notice a growing pile of toys on the floor. Stuart took it upon himself to stand on the chair and drop the toys one by one. Thanks, Stu.
Yup, that time again. More photos from the construction site! It’s really been exciting to see things take shape slowly but surely. This week’s big item was the installation of the angled guardrails between the first and second floors.
The trim and baseboards are also going in rapidly, which exciting. The kitchen is pretty much all installed, minus the appliances and countertops.
On Saturday, I went to Jessi’s baby shower in Santa Cruz. It ended up being a beautiful day (no rain!) for a shower, and we had quite a lovely time between the mimosas, games, and gifts. Congrats again, Jessi! Here are some pictures from the day…
the decor, in nursery colors
the “belly brigade,” as I like to call them
So Brandon sent me the link to this video the other day, and I couldn’t stop cracking up. The technology is amazing–what I wouldn’t give to see Ben jumping at 1000 frames per second! Without further ado, a pedigree commercial, 1000 frames per second.
Well, with Jessi’s baby shower coming up this weekend and only 1, maaaaybe 2 shoots in the future (depending on when baby P decides to arrive), I started getting sentimental about our photoshoots and I decided to take a look back through all the sessions. I also thought it’d just be fun to look at her progress!
It’s that time again! Another week has gone by at the job site, and progress continues. Some of the latest photos…
How amazing is this jigsaw box?
Today was my 5th photoshoot with Jessi. She’s now 32 weeks along–on the home stretch! We picked me up for a shoot in Golden Gate park, around the De Young and the Academy of Sciences. Jessi looks beautiful and radiant, and “baby P” did some shoulder shimmies and tooshie shakes for me today, so that was fun. We got super lucky with the weather–sunny(ish), not too warm, and not windy. Here are some pictures from today…
to see the other photoshoots, click on the links below:
Jessi @ 13 weeks
Jessi @ 17 weeks
Jessi @ 22 weeks
Jessi @ 28 weeks
I have had a weakness for Cadbury Mini Eggs for a long, long time. Starting with my Easter basket when I was little, then through high school when my friend Brenna and I would chow down on them during Chemistry class after lunch. I seriously get SO excited when I see them appear in the store. When I initially tell people of my love for these, they usually think I am referring to the eggs with the “yolk” in them–those are Cadbury Creme Eggs. Big difference. These little morsels of chocolate are so addictive to me and are (thankfully for my waistline) only available once a year, around Easter.
I purchased a bag the other day, had gorged myself on half the bag and then made myself stop. Yesterday in the late afternoon I suddenly remembered “I still have eggs!” I started digging in my bag and…no eggs. I messaged Brenna to tell her of my distress–I felt like an addict. I frantically had torn my bag apart looking for them and found nothing. I started to imagine that maybe I had eaten them in my sleep, because I was retracing my steps in my head from the night before and had no memory of taking the eggs out.
I got home from work and searched around the house. Still nothing. I texted Brenna, telling her the eggs were officially MIA. Then, about 20 minutes later I had a revelation and texted Brenna with the following:
“Just remembered I left them in office desk yesterday to prevent mass consumption.”
Whoops. Apparently I hid that chocolate well.
So, I don’t normally talk about products, etc., but I thought I’d share today about a happy kitty litter customer experience. We started using World’s Best Cat Litter when the boys were little (when they were old enough to get clumping litter). It’s corn-based, natural, and overall we’re happy with it. Recently they changed their packaging and suddenly we were having kitty tracks ALL over the house (I call them “poo paws”). I contacted the company via twitter and asked if they changed their formula with the packaging, because we were having difficulties. Not only did they respond immediately letting me know it was only the packaging that changed, but they asked for the batch number AND sent us a new package of litter from a new batch to compare. I was quite impressed and pleased with the customer service–thanks, World’s Best! You’re still the best at our house. Stuart agrees…well, either that or he’s trying to tell us he is World’s Best Cat…
