{scissor variations}

at the thrift store [as of late]

 

 

 

the thrift store is being a little kinder to me these days

 

{no.44} interlude

 

 

" Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed. "

walt whitman

 n

 

i saw it on the internets [food]

 

 
 

one of the things my mother baked regularly was brownies. excellent brownies. i don't think i realized how excellent they were until i left home. 

  

  

a few days ago i found myself writing down a brownie recipe from a new-to-me blog.

what attracted me to this recipe was that i had seen the same Bobby Flay Throwdown episode several years ago that the cook spoke about and i had also found myself inspired by the show--at the time, within minutes of the show ending, it sent me off in a googling frenzy looking for a similar recipe that i could duplicate.  

 

these brownies are really nice. lovely in fact. super rich. somewhat decadent.

and oh-so-good.

  

 
 

i followed the recipe exactly except i melted some butter, measured out a 1/2 cup (in place of the 1/2 cup of oil) and let it cool slightly before adding it to the eggs (be sure + measure your melted butter. if you decide to go that route).  

i whipped up a batch of my mom's chocolate icing. then i went searching for a goat cheese icing recipe and found a goat cheese/cream cheese combo--heavenly.

 

 
 

i used an oversize rosette piping tip, then slightly pushed down before lifting up the piping bag to give it sort off a squished ruffly look (official technical term). 
 

goat cheese brownie recipe from here (her food photos are beautiful + i will be making this pronto!)

goat + cream cheese icing recipe from here (i omitted the orange zest this go round, but would definitely add it when using for a future recipe)

 

These brownies are a variation on the popular 90's chocolate cream cheese brownies. they have a nice tanginess to them + if you want to put them over the top i highly recommened frosting them with a full layer of chocolate icing with rosettes of goat cream cheese icing (+ omit the sprinkling of sea salt).

i dare say you won't regret it.

 

n

 

 

how to make rectangular baking cups

 

 

 
 
 
 

1.    find a small container or dish that has a solid rectangular bottom or end

2.    take your round cupcake liner + place on top. try and center it for best results.

3.    push the liner down over the rectangle shape + using your finger follow around the edges to lightly crease it + then smooth it downward loosely molding it around the shape of the object--but not so much that you remove the fluted indentations.

 [of course you can make square or oval shapes as well using other objects]

taking a few seconds to do this makes it so much easier than trying to squish a square or rectangle shaped baked good into a round baking liner

 

 if you are making up a special "snack" box for a wedding these work great for creating sections for all of the little bits and pieces---crackers, nuts, chocolates.

 

 
 

 

n

 

ms.typepad

 

 

dear

 

 
 

in pursuit of the weekend

 

 

"develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. forget yourself."

 Henry Miller

 

paper preserves

 

 

my glass gallon jar where i keep paper scraps and damaged ephemera to use for smaller paper projects like making pin back buttons, punching out shapes for tags + cards or making wee bow ties.

 

sunny day sorting

 

 

{no.43} interlude

 

 
 
 

 a peek inside....lest you think i keep French cocoa powder in my office.

although admittedly that doesn't sound that far fetched to me.