use real butter

This evening we heard a loud thumping in the house. Jeremy and I looked at one another wondering what had broken. Then we heard it again and realized it was the front door. Brita, Lars, and one of Brita’s friends came over tonight to yodel for us! They’re all too short to reach the bell, so they knock loudly. It was the funniest thing ever. The kids were in such a goofy mood and the yodeling sounded more like high pitched squealing, but everyone was enjoying it.

way better than christmas carolers

What they didn’t know was that upstairs in the kitchen, I was conducting an experiment… The Brownie Experiment. I typically make one recipe of brownies – cream cheese brownies. But up here they tend to do weird things. I did some research over the weekend on this. They are classified as cakey brownies. Cakes and cookies have the most serious issues at elevation. There are two other types of brownies: fudgy and chewy. I decided to make one of each for comparison and to warm the house a bit.

they don’t look all that different except for the surface

**Jump for more butter**

I’d like to rant (again) about something (else) that annoys (the crap out of) me. Coffee. That’s right. I don’t drink it, although I’ve been known to serve it. What the hell is the deal with people who not only drink coffee, but feel the need to transport it every damn place they go – as if it were an oxygen tank, an IV, or a kidney dialysis machine? You see people walking around with these wasteful paper cups of coffee they bought from Starsucks, Pete’s, Noah’s, and because they can’t handle how HOT the drink is, they have to add those little brown recycled paper holders around the cup. Next thing you know, they will have little wheels and handles installed so you don’t even have to hold it, but drag it along behind you. I can cut a little slack to those who use their own mug, thermos, whatever your vessel. But it produces 1) a lot of trash 2) a lot of litterbugs and 3) the notion that this is acceptable social public behavior.

What brings me to this tirade against coffee is my dear partner of 13+ years who dribbled coffee from our kitchen, down the stairs, out the door, into the garage, onto his jacket, and on our car’s backseat this morning. I followed the trail getting angrier and angrier until I found him to tell him he was making a mess. He glanced down at his no-longer-air-tight travel mug with confusion. Of course there was sugar in it. More than half the population can’t seem to stomach the stuff without enough sugar and cream to make it the equivalent of MELTED COFFEE ICE CREAM. I went back to the house to clean it up, but Kaweah beat me to it.

We indulged in a little booze-n-chocolate tonight. I got these lovely chocolate cups over the holidays and decided it was high time to bust them out. You serve them with girl booze like Kahlua or Baileys. I guess you can also pipe whipped cream or mousse into them, but you don’t get the same effect.

it’s like an edible chocolate over-sized thimble

…with girl booze

We were a pathetic bunch of sots this afternoon at work. We were all feeling tired. We were all feeling hungry. Jeff came by and offered us caffeinated mints which didn’t do much but give us tired fresh breath. I worked out which totally woke me up for the duration of the workout, but I felt tired again when I got back to my desk.

“I’m going to make something chocolaty to bring into work tomorrow!” I announced to my cube farm.
“Mmmmm, chocolaty…” was the response from over the wall.

I got excited thinking about baking something chocolaty because I like working with chocolate. But wait, I have ingredients for key lime cheesecake in my fridge as well. A miscalculation on my part with far too many dinners to keep track of left me with an extra dessert.

“Key lime cheesecake or brownies?!” I shouted.
“I like cheesecake.”
“Brownies are easier to share with several people.”
“Chocolate!!!!”
“Please stop talking about this, you are killing me.”

**Jump for more butter**