Amazing Brownies

This is a truly amazing brownie recipe. Very rich and chocolatey. I've been meaning to post the recipe for a while but I keep forgetting. It kind of has weird measurements...

2 1/4 sticks of butter or margarine (about 1 cup + 2 tbsp)

2 1/4 cups sugar

5 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup + 1 tbsp flour

3/4 cup + 1 tbsp cocoa

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

(Optional 3/4 cup nuts or 1/2 cup other flavoured chips, ie white chocolate, butterscotch or peanut butter)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper and then spray with PAM. In a saucepan melt together butter and sugar, until butter is completely melted. Allow to cool slightly, then transfer to mixing bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Add flour, cocoa and salt. Stir gently until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Bake for 35 min. Cool completely before cutting. 

Barbie Cake

I made this for my roommate's birthday this year. She helped me make it and we had a lot of fun.

 

I always thought the barbie in the cake looked a bit too much like it belonged on Cake Wrecks. But this one ended up looking alright. 

 

Structural integrity issues aside...

 We also originally didn't have enough cake... some improvisation with cake scraps occurred.

 All done!

 My roommate's party was 'Burgers on the Beach' so here is Barbie on the beach!

 Glamour shot!

SkyWeb NEXT Cake

I made this cake to celebrate the end of a major project at our office. It's the company logo with the project name.

Bacon Spaghetti

This is a classic in our house. I definitely prefer it over beef spaghetti... by a lot! 

6 slices bacon (half a package-ish)

1 onion, finely chopped

Fresh mushrooms, chopped

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp basil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can (391 ml) tomato sauce

Spaghetti noodles (for 4 people)

Chop bacon into small pieces and then fry. In a medium pot, fry onion. Add mushrooms and spices and fry. Add bacon and tomato sauce, simmer as the noodles cook. Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions. 

Serve sauce over noodles with parmesan cheese. 

Butter Chicken

Last November I went to India for a business trip. It was amazing! It was cool to experience a new culture and, of course, new food. A few months after I got home I decided I wanted to try some new food and so I decided to hunt for some good Indian recipes. I know that butter chicken isn't 'real Indian food' but that's what I tried first. So here's my recipe, which is actually a combination of many other recipes. 

2-3 chicken breasts

1 onion

2 cloves garlic (I use about a teaspoon pre-minced garlic from a jar)

1 can diced tomatoes (large can)

1 can coconut milk 

1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp garam masala 

1 tsp curry powder

(Spice amounts are estimates, change to your own preferences)

Rice or Indian bread (such as naan or chapati) as a side

Chop up chicken breasts into small pieces and fry in a wok or other large pan with high sides. 

Chop up onion and garlic. Add to cooked chicken and fry. 

When onions are soft, add the spices to the pan and fry for a minute or so. 

Purée the tomatoes using a hand blender or food processor. Pour puréed tomatoes into chicken/onion/spice mixture. Pour coconut milk in and stir. 

Simmer for 15-20 min. While it is simmering cook rice or bread. 

Serve by pouring sauce over rice or with bread. 

UCM Grad Cake 2013

For the third year in a row, I made the grad cake for my church. Grad was in April... but I'm posting the cake now. Oops...

I wanted it to be a three tiered cake... but I had some structural integrity issues. So it ended up being a two tiered cake with an extra cake off to the side.

 

Covered in grad hats of course!

Panda Cake!

I made this cake for my summer roommate's birthday. She loves animals and all things cute. And her boyfriend told me panda's were her favourite.

Isn't he so cute? I think its the cutest cake I've made. It was hard to cut him up and eat him.