use real butter

Recipe: cream cheese brownies

[A huge thank you to Fine Cooking for highlighting use real butter in their newsletter as one of their favorite food blogs. I find myself in truly stellar company. It’s no secret to my readers that Fine Cooking is my favorite cooking magazine and a source of inspiration for urb.]

The excitement never ends over here at urb headquarters, but first… some proof that I am keeping off the streets this summer:

we are back to sunny weather here – great for a ride

or a romp in the high country

the snow is melting fast

kaweah wanted to go for a swim in the icy water

and she did!

See all of that blue sky in the pictures? That’s right. Blue Colorado sky, bright green aspens, dark green pine forests, white snow, and in a few weeks – multitudes of brilliant and colorful wildflowers. This is the place to be and if you sign up for the Food and Light photography workshop, you’ll be here to enjoy Colorado, a fantastic group of fellow food photographers, and all of the great things our sponsors have lined up for us. Speaking of sponsors, I am *really* excited to have the following companies (many of them local) supporting our workshop: Pro Photo Rental, Atlas Purveyors, Culinary School of the Rockies, Izze, Savory Spice Shop Boulder, Chocolove, Stonyfield Farm, New West KnifeWorks, Earthy Delights, and Nations Photo Lab.



And before we dive into the recipe, I’m psyched to be a judge for the Threadcakes Contest which is now live through Monday, August 16, 2010.

What’s Threadcakes? I’m glad you asked! It’s a competition where entrants bake and decorate a cake based on a Threadless t-shirt design. Some of the designs are absolutely stunning – as are the cakes! Here are the rules and you can follow Threadcakes on Twitter @threadcakes. You should go to the Threadcakes website to see last year’s winners. I was totally impressed and I know some of my readers and blogging pals have the talent to bring the smackdown this year. Check it out!

Last week when the weather was decidedly cooler and rainier than it is now, I baked four batches of these brownies for friends, neighbors, visitors, and Jeremy. Ever forget about a recipe for a while and then rediscover it? I actually got this recipe from Jeremy. Okay, I got this recipe from Jeremy’s mom. Jeremy told me these are his grandmother’s cream cheese brownies and he *loves* them. I never knew his maternal grandmother as she had passed away before Jeremy and I met, but I hear many loving and hilarious stories about this wonderful woman.

cream cheese and butter

making the cream cheese batter

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: chocolate-covered candied grapefruit

I have to remind myself that even if a shoot was challenging and disappointing, it doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t keepers. I’ve muddled through my shots from Zion and Bryce. Click the links to see the images on the photo blog. For those of you too lazy to do so, here’s a sneaky peeky:

sunrise over bryce canyon

hoodoos

a mossy waterfall in zion

slot canyon

Even though you weren’t there with me during the shoot, you get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Based on the photos alone, you might have thought we had a fantastic time. That’s kind of how it is with this here recipe, so if you think you might be tempted to make this, please read my words and don’t come back hating me when your kitchen and everything you touch is covered in sticky sugary syrup.

grapefruits

peeling as much pith away as possible

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: profiteroles

Dear loyal readers, stalkers (yeah, I know who you are – don’t think I’m not stalking you right back!), and people who don’t know how they got here: I’m guest posting at Thursday Night Smackdown. I made profiteroles and there is even a Kaweah cameo. So hop on over and give Michelle some comment love because that’s how we roll!

behold the orbs of awesome