Pumpkin and Spice

My hair has, at various points, been about every color known to Lady Clairol- red, auburn, strawberry blonde, light brown, dark brown, purple, black, and even platinum blonde. You'd think I'd be able to answer with some authority the age old question, "Do blondes have more fun?" Well, I don't know about that... but I do know that you'll have fun (blonde or not) baking and eating these blondies!

As you probably know, blondies are moist, butterscotch-flavored, cake-like bar cookies. As yummy as blondies are, they still tend to play second fiddle to their ooey-gooey chocolate cousin, the brownie. No more! My blondies are a cross between a traditional blondie and a chocolate chip cookie. Moist blondie, flavored with vanilla and plenty of dark brown sugar, and jam-packed with every sort of chocolate imaginable- dark, milk, white and semi-sweet! To keep the sweetness from being too overwhelming, I use the largest proportion of the dark chocolates, and add a "secret" ingredient- coarse sea salt. Since the salt is a little chunky, it doesn't fully dissolve into the batter, so as you eat the blondies, you occasionally get a little pop of salt! I don't know about you, but I love the contrast of a little salt to the sweetness of chocolate.

Hi! Remember me? I know I've been a bit negligent the past two weeks, but, well, a girl deserves a little vacation every now and then, doesn't she? Being back home in Florida has been wonderful! The weather has been fabulous- high 70s/low 80s, sunshine, cool breezes... a perfect "welcome home" present! While I have been doing my fair share of relaxing- enjoying my time with Kyle, grilling by the pool, sipping froufy tropical drinks on the beach, going out with friends and otherwise making the most of being home- I have also been busy updating the ol' resume (everyone's favorite activity) and starting my job search. It's been a little rough going, but I keep telling myself I haven't been looking for too long, so I'm trying to stay positive about things.

I've also been taking full advantage of being back in my kitchen, baking and cooking up a storm. I've made so many things in the past two weeks that it was hard to decide what to share with you first. After some thought, I decided to start with a simple favorite- my basic brownies. This is my go-to brownie recipe. It's easy, decadent and they come out perfect everytime. These brownies are the result of much experiementation and are exactly what I like in a brownie- soft, cakey and a little chewy, with a glossy, crackly top. They are a little darker and more bittersweet than many brownies, with an almost espresso-like flavor. They're perfect with a cup of coffee (and a scoop of ice cream... if you're into that kinda thing...)

I was really looking forward to going to work today. I always like work, but I was genuinely excited about my shift today. Why? Because I was going to get to make one of my favorite things to make... Marshmallows!

One of the desserts we're featuring this week is a S'mores tart- a graham cracker crust with a dark chocolate filling and a layer of marshmallow. Last night, D was grumbling that we were going to have to make marshmallow to top the tarts with tonight. I immediately perked up. "Oooooh, really?! I love making marshmallows!"

I'm a little excited, because this week, the restaurant is going to be featuring a dessert I came up with. It's creamy, rich, indulgent and features everyone's favorite childhood treat- Oreo cookies! What is it? Cookies and cream cheesecake! I know, yum, right?

A chocolate cookie crust, vanilla cheesecake with Oreo cookies mixed in, topped with dark chocolate ganache and garnished with white chocolate-Oreo bark. Of course, C, my supervisor and I had to sample it. You, know, for quality purposes...

This weekend, there were two banquets at work. That meant it was a busy, busy, busy weekend for me!

Yesterday, I was in early, which meant I was in charge of all of the breads for Saturday's banquet. The bread baskets were going to feature the resort's signature sourdough bread and one other kind. Since the second bread hadn't been specified in the banquet order, I got to choose the type of bread I got to make for the second one! I know it sounds silly, but I was really stoked about getting to choose which bread to make for the banquet. I flipped through the big, thick, notebook o' bread recipes (it's one of those 3" ring notebooks, filled with recipes) and selected onion bread. It looked so good- a soft bread, mostly white, with a touch of whole wheat, gobs of finely minced onions, garlic, and poppy seeds. Yum! The kitchen chef had also requested rye baguettes to be used for canapes. So, I made 11 loaves of sourdough, 15 loaves of onion bread and 15 rye baguettes. While my breads were proofing, I made two starters for Sunday's breads. I also rolled out more (!) chocolate tart dough and made ganache filling for the chocolate noir tarte for Sunday.