Brunettes

Here, in this distant European land, we all yearn for a sweet American treat. However, our brownie mixes have my now run out, and some necessary supplies for brownies we don't have. I mourned this loss for about a week before deciding that something needed to be done.

I then looked up a blondie recipe, as an alternate option and we've been enjoying the results of the subsequent find ever since. But we don't call them "blondies." Our brown sugar is very dark, and so our "blondes" are almost as dark as brownies. We call them "brunettes," a name which Sadie thought of for them.

Yum.

Blondies Recipe

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INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup of butter, melted
• 1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup of butterscotch chips (chopped walnuts and chocolate chips are equally tasty)

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan. Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.

2 Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.

3 Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together. Add the butterscotch chips or other mix-ins.

4 Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve.

AppelTaart

About a week ago, my family made an appel taart. I am not much for apples, and Sadie got to posting about it before me, but it was a very fun experiance.


I just that you'd like to know.



For her post, check out http://www.sadieruth.blogspot.nl/2012/10/making-appeltaart.html.

Cheese Sauce Recipe

I really don't enjoy spaghetti very much anymore. It was one of the only things we knew how to make in the first month or so, so Ella is the only one who really enjoys it anymore. So I made a delicious cheese sauce to have instead of tomato sauce. 

You can find the recipe here.

(P.S add salt and pepper to taste)

A Perfect Trio

I love dinner. The family sits around the table, you eat delicious food- that is my idea of cozy! Tonight for dinner we're having the perfect trio. I don't know if there is anything you can aim for above perfection, but this reaches that goal! We're having:

• My Grandma (and now my mom's) 60-minute rolls. 
• Creamy Rice Pudding
• Chicken with Rosemary and Veggies

Yum, Yum, Yum! The rolls are a secret, so I can't point you onward to the recipe, but the rice pudding recipe isn't ours, so its fair game!

For the full recipe, check out this link!

It probably would be odd to repeat the "yum's" so I'll just express my deepest adoration for this yummy (sorry) meal.

 I love soup.

I especially love this soup, which we are having for dinner.

It is fantastic.

It is marvelous.

I love it.

How to I meet it? Well, it started when we went to Austria. I've been told many, many times by angry family members that I like very a very small collection of food. This food was the only food I liked in Austria- which means it has to be delicious if I like it!

(Try it with bread!)

-M.S

A New Discovery

There are a lot of things that I love in life.

Books.

Food.

A well spun ball of yarn.

And also, Starbucks. Back in America, my mom went there on occasion. We loved Starbucks.  But then we moved to Europe and although there are Starbucks in major cities like Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris, we don't get to Starbucks very often.

For our summer vacation, we went to Austria. We lived on bread, fruit, and other fresh food. We adored it and almost started crying when we had to leave. But we stopped in Munich, Germany on the way home and there was was a Starbucks!  And it was at this particular Starbucks, that I fell in love.  Never in my life had I conceived of such a delicious and comforting beverage . . .a steamed milk with almond flavoring.

Wow! I spent the next week, while my dearly beloved grandparents were here, dreaming of that wonderful drink.  Eventually the gears clicked in my head and I realized that we already had in our possession an espresso machine capable of steaming milk and therefore all I needed was almond flavoring.

I was, meanwhile, coming to appreciate tea as well.  While out birthday shopping with Grandma, we stumbled into a lovely tea shop and there on the shelf I saw it: almond flavoring.  I nearly cried with joy. and we studied our options.

For 20 Euros, there was a large bottle which probably would be unable to fit in any of our cupboards. For 6 Euros I found a delightful little bottle which we ended up buying.  I went home with my treasure, delighted, and willingly shared it with my family and friends.  However, I had forgotten that sharing one's syrup freely also causes the bottle to drain quickly, and I found myself with enough for one more cup, which I have been saving for my birthday.

However, I found an amazing recipe for the syrup, and I can say with certainty that it works. I love it.

Recipe:

1 cup sugar (brown, white, or half n half) 

1/2 cup water

 almond extract 

Directions: 

1 In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water and bring to a rolling boil. Stir to prevent scorching. 

2 Remove from heat. Cool slightly and stir in extract to desired strength, starting with 1/2 teaspoons 

3 Store in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

(This recipe belongs to this website. I do NOT claim ownership!!!!)

My All-Time Favorite Soup Recipe

Hello! This soup brought us through some very tough times- sickness, health, depression- but even now, a night where we are all perfectly fine, we are still eating it. If I had any skill in lying or indecency   as to do it, I certainly would and say that this recipe was my own, or at least a family recipe, but now, you can find this delicious soup recipe here.

Enjoy!