Spinstah

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies
Oh, Joy the Baker. It’s all so delicious and these are no exception. Even when you make the (expensive) mistake of using almond butter instead of peanut butter. The pretzels stay crunchy (for a few days, anyway) and the sea salt on top was a brilliant trick that I am going to try to remember to employ next time I make regular brownies.

Also, her trick of buttering the pan, lining it with parchment, and buttering the parchment was BRILLIANT. After you bake let them cool, then you can pull the entire thing out of  the pan and cut them up directly on the parchment. (If you prefer to remove the parchment first, I recommend having someone come help you peel it off or slide a hard spatula between the parchment and the brownies first to loosen them up. I tried to just lift them up from each corner and that caused mine to crack along the seams where the brownie met the almond butter filling.) The pretzel sticks are fun, but next time I might look for tiny pretzels and then put on my OCD hat and cut them up into tiny brownies that each have a single pretzel. Oh yeah.

Black Bean Pate
This was made for a “Brave New World” themed book club discussion. Kind of a weird thing, really. It wasn’t moist enough to hold together into slices, or to really be dipped. You could probably spread it. It was also kind of bland, at least when made with canned beans. Don’t think I’ll be making this again.

Moroccan Carrot and Goat Cheese Sandwiches
Also for the book club mentioned above. This is from my Gourmet cookbook, which frequently has something perfect for a party or other gathering. Not so much for my day-to-day needs, but it’s a great book to have on your shelf. These are very different, and very good.

Easy Little Bread
I enjoyed the bread I was making from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” last year, but there’s no way I can get it to rise properly in this apartment. So I tried this instead, which has a single, short rise — I sat it on top of the oven while I baked something else, and it rose nicely. Even so, it’s a flat, dense loaf, so if you’re looking for something light and fluffy, keep looking. It’s really yummy, though.

Stir Fried Bok Choy with Soba Noodles
I’ve made this as written, but I also tend to use the sauce from this recipe on other stir fries. I usually wind up adding a little more soy sauce, though.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
This is a lighter mac & cheese that’s really delicious, and perfect for lunch. I modified it by sauteeing the onion with some garlic and two diced andouille smoked chicken sausages. I also threw in two cups of frozen kale instead of the spinach. Really delicious, and the andouille flavor from the sausages carries through the whole thing nicely. I’d definitely recommend something like that with a strong flavor.