Peanut Butter Brownies

My summer vacation is over.  Waaaaaaahhhhhh!

It sure didn't last long. 

D1 already made the journey back to the valley of the sun.   It feels like it was only a few weeks ago when KikukatDad and I went to pick her up in Kailua-Kona.  Shout out to Mr. Dependable for being a great dad and taking her back.  She had lots to do, and she is lucky he was there to help her.  Thanks to a rented minivan, they were able to get her shit out of storage and into her new apartment in one trip (would've taken at 3+ trips with her sedan).  I cannot imagine she would have so much stuff. 

Just like summer vacation, D1s visit didn't last long either.  I know I will see her in 4 months, but it  was nice having her home.  Who else would remind me to clean the house?  Who else would tell me it's too early to drink alcohol at 3:30?  School for her won't start for nearly 2 weeks, but she had recruitment practice and some other things she needed to get rolling.

In all seriousness, I will miss her many talents.  D1 can do all kinds of things once she sets her mind.  This summer, she conquered macarons.  Having never made macarons before, I was shocked at the lengthy and tedious steps to produce a batch of macarons.  I can also attest that a batch of macarons makes a mound of dirty dishes (and extra egg yolks).  I need to start a list of recipes which use just egg yolks or, at least, use more egg yolks than egg whites, so I will know what to do with the egg yolks (other than throw them away).

It took several attempts, but I think D1 perfected the filling.  Initially, the filling she used was just too sweet.  She experimented with different bases and flavorings and came up with a good filling which didn't try to compete with the already-sweet macaron shells.

D1 put her macaron talents to good use.  She made some for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event in July.  I helped her package them and did the clean up.  I also decided that I won't be making any macarons on my own.  I will stick to less fussy snacks. . .with a lot less dishes to wash. 

If you are like me and don''t like having too many dishes to wash, then these peanut butter brownies might be in your wheelhouse.  They are totally unfussy, whip up in no time with ingredients you likely have on hand, and are mega-delicious.  You will also not be left wondering what to do with extra egg yolks.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Peanut Butter Brownies

     1/2 c butter, softened

     1/2 c peanut butter

     3/4 c sugar

     3/4 c brown sugar, packed

     2 eggs

     2 tsp vanilla

     1 c flour

     1 tsp baking powder

     1/4 tsp salt

     1 c chocolate chips

     1/2 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9 x 13" pan with foil (or grease a 9 x 13" pan).  Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.  Set aside.  Cream butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar.  add eggs, one at a time, then add vanilla.  Add in flour mixture a little at a time.  Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.  Spread in prepared pan.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Cut into bars when completely cool.

A few months ago, I purchased a bag of Korean chili pepper powder.  The ingredients are chili pepper and salt.  I use it occasionally and store it in the fridge.  Last week, I discovered another use for the powder.  I've made the notation on the Spicy Soybean post.

It's been a little over a year since my mom passed.  Although I still miss her dearly, I feel like some normalcy and routine have returned to my life.  I'm hoping to post more frequently since I'm cooking more now (I have another mouth to feed during the work week).  Over the past few years, I've become more adept at knitting, something which would have made KikukatMom proud.  While I will continue to share favorite recipes, I hope to also share my knitting triumphs, fails, WIPs and FOs.  

Easy Black Bottom Cupcakes

It's back to the salt mines today.  Ugh.  Fall break never seems to last long enough. 

I spent most of my fall break suffering from TMJ.  I'm sure going to the dentist/oral surgeon would be a smart move, but I can't even think about surgery right now.  This is the first bout of TMJ suffering I'm experiencing.  The Help told me it can take weeks to feel normal again.  It HAS been weeks for me, and the pain has traveled from the area of my ear to my lower jaw.  The pain seems to be getting better, but it has been a slow recovery process.

Having a sore jaw kinda put the damper on eating my favorite snack...potato chips.  I have a large Costco-size bag of Cape Cod chips just calling my name, but I need to hold off.  I did manage to eat regular Lay's potato chips without too much trouble, but Lay's (yellow bag) lacks the satisfying crunch of the Cape Cod chips.  I guess it's apparent why I have TMJ.

On Saturday afternoon, I asked The Help what did we do for the past week.  He said we did chores.  Maybe that's why I didn't want to think about it.  Doing chores suck.

I vaguely recall going to Kona sometime last week.  The trip, which would have been a high point, was marred by a stupid power outage due to a large tree falling on electrical wires.  It was the one day where I was craving Starbuck's lemon pound cake.  Unfortunately, I never got my pound cake because they were unable to ring the register at Starbuck's in Target.  It would have been nice to get my safety check (vehicle inspection) done too, but the car dealership's computer was down, which meant no safety check that day.  A dinner at Monstera would have been nice too, but D2 refused to come with us.  Going to Kona this past weekend was totally out of the question with the Ironman happening on Saturday.

I do clearly recall going to a football game.  The Viks notched another victory, and my thoughts about the worst behaved kids in east Hawaii were validated.  I'm thinking about calling the school and complaining to the principal about players and their girlfriends who created trouble by not abiding by stadium rules.  Several players lied, and one was foolish enough to give me his name, which I cross-referenced with the roster and asked another player.  The girlfriends were another story.  One wanted rules bent for her AND her friends.  While she seemed nice, one of her friends had a sassy attitude and a nasty mouth.  Apparently, she hasn't learned manners yet.  Of course, no rules were bent for them, and they stormed off. 

I couldn't help thinking that I was the idiot for spending my vacation dealing with pilau kids from another school!  That really IS dumb.

One bright spot about my vacation. . .my beloved Huskies upset the Trojans.  Yeah!!!

On my last day of vacation (yesterday), I decided to treat myself (and D2 and The Help) and make dessert so we could end our vacation on a sweet note.  I noticed a brick of cream cheese in the refrigerator, so instead of making plain devil's food cupcakes, I made these cream cheese-filled ones.  They are easy to make, and they don't need any frosting to taste like a million bucks.  If only I could've had a handful of crunchy Cape Cod chips with these. . .

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Easy Black Bottom Cupcakes

     8 oz cream cheese
     1/2 c sugar
     1 egg
     1 c chocolate chips
     1 box devil's food cake mix (preferably the non-pudding type)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake pan(s) with 20-24 paper liners.  Cream together cream cheese and sugar.  Add egg and mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Set aside.  Prepare cake mix according to directions on box.  Fill each cup 1/2 full (a #20 disher works well) with cake batter.  Plop 1 tbsp (a #50 disher works well) of cream cheese mixture on batter in the center of each cup.  Top with more cake mix (#20 disher, half-full or #40 disher).  Bake 22 minutes (or whatever cake mix instructions give as baking time for cupcakes).  Remove from tins and cool completely on wire rack.

Cookie Jar: Crunchy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm here.  I made it.

Prom #1:  Glad it's over.

Prom #2:  Glad it's over.

Takenoko Sushi:  When is the next time?

Prom #1 was a headache and a half.  For many of the students, this was their first formal dance, and since a dinner was provided, it became apparent early on that not all high school juniors have a grasp on proper table manners.  Last weekend, my cousin asked me, "do they know how to dine?".  Now I can officially answer her, "NO".  They have a year to prepare themselves for the senior prom, and if they plan to have prime rib, then the learning curve will be steep.

My main objective was to keep the students safe and contained within the facility.  I'm always amazed at how students look forward to these things, yet the moment they arrive, they want to "go".  And while they are in line, they can't wait to get in, but before the event is over, they are lining up by the door, ready to go.  Amazing.  I'm thankful that everyone who went to the venue also left safely.  We lost nobody along the way.

Prom #2 was D1's last high school prom (as a host).  Bittersweet.  I'm not sure what time she and her friends (2 spent the night) rolled in.  According to The Help, they went for a swim at 3 am.  The water must've been freezing!

We celebrated Uncle Edz' belated birthday at Takenoko Sushi.  The food was delicious.  Upon the advice of a coworker,  Uncle Edz ordered the lobster miso soup.  There was half a lobster floating in the bowl.  Talk about decadent.  The Hamakua mushroom appetizer was also good.  Uncle Edz went the no-fail omakase route, substituting something else for the uni.  I had one of the mini bowls and the baked avocado/crab/scallop.  That was tasty, but its probably not something I'd order again.  You really need to like avocado!  I'm not sure when I'll be lucky enough to get back to Takenoko Sushi again.  What blew my mind was that there was a high school couple sitting next to us at the sushi bar.  They kept ordering things, and I'm sure their bill wasn't much less than mine.  How do these kids do it?

This is the start of another busy week.  A two-day workshop means I'm out of the classroom for two days.  I don't mind learning things at these workshops, but I don't like making substitute plans.  What a pain!  And this workshop requires traveling.  I am so not looking forward to getting up early to catch a plane, only to arrive at the workshop ready to nap.  I thought my days of these early morning flights were behind me.  I'm getting too old for this!

In preparation for the boring workshop ahead of me, I spent a few hours yesterday in the kitchen.  I baked a batch of these cookies.  I will sneak them in to the workshop so I will have something to do. . .eat instead of sleep.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Crunchy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

     1/2 c butter, softened
     1 c sugar
     1 egg
     3/4 c flour
     1/2 tsp baking soda
     1/2 tsp salt
     1 c quick oats
     6 oz (about 1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips
     1/2 c pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg.  Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add to creamed mixture.  Stir in oats, chocolate and nuts until just combined.  Using a #60 disher (about 2 teaspoons), drop onto parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake for 11 minutes.  Allow to remain on baking sheet for 3 minutes after removing from oven.  Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

love the hand face

D1's last prom (as the host). . .it's been fun. . .the seemingly endless stream of girls coming over to test makeup and hair. . .the seemingly endless stream of girls coming over to get ready for the big night. . .cars all over the driveway. . .bags and bags of chips. . .the aroma of hairspray (I think the hairs in my nose were stiff from all the particulate matter in the air). . .

This year, several of the girls were picked up by their dates at my home.  It was a treat to see them all dressed up.  The plan was for us to get a few shots of them outside, then they planned to head down to the park to take pics with another group of friends.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperative anywhere in Hilo, and a frantic D1 asked if The Help could set up a backdrop and lights in the living room.  Talk about rush job!  The Help and I set up everything in record time, and within an hour, The Help was snapping away.  I will definitely miss these moments (the squeeze-ass-assemble-photographic-equipment-quickly-moments notwithstanding).

I PROMise I won't cry

Toaster Oven Food: Brownies

Last week was the first full week of school.  The previous attempt at a full week was thwarted by the arrival of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Iselle.  We finally got to experience a real Friday on our new bell schedule.  All seven periods in the same day makes for a freaking long day, let me tell you!  I think the students hold up better than the adults, but it is still a really long day.  I was beat by the time I got home, and I'm grateful Mr. Dependable picked up the Ds early.

This week's post kinda reflects my energy level. . .very sparse.  I don't even have the energy to bitch about my kids/colleagues/Mr. Dependable/etc.  And I only managed to get one picture of the brownies before they were gobbled up.  In my opinion, these are the best brownies you will ever eat.  They are energy friendly because they can be baked in a toaster oven...no need to fire up the behemoth.  Furthermore, the person who does the dishes will also conserve energy since this is mixed in the same pan used to heat the butter, sugar and water.  Another plus to baking in a square pan is the cooling rate.  These brownies cool faster , making the wait to sink your teeth into these decadent morsels that much shorter.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Energy-Friendly Brownies

     3/4 c flour
     1/4 tsp baking soda
     1/4 tsp salt
     3/4 c sugar
     1/3 c butter
     2 tbsp water
     12 oz (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
     1 tsp vanilla
     2 eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line (with foil) and grease an 8 1/2" or 9" square pan.  In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.  In a medium saucepan, heat sugar, butter, and water, stirring constantly, until mixture boils.  Remove from heat and immediately stir in 1 cup chocolate chips and vanilla.  Using a hand mixer, mix at low speed until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add flour mixture, beating until incorporated.  Stir in remaining chocolate chips.  Spread in prepared pan.  Bake 30-33 minutes until just set.  Cool completely before cutting into 16 squares.

I hope I will have more energy next week for a longer post.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Marble Cake

Another busy week/weekend under my belt.  It would've been nice to see LAMN, but I think we both knew that would be near impossible.  I expected her to be busy, but it turns out that I was busy too. I hope to see her when she comes back again. . .should be in a few weeks.

For the latter half of the work week, I pored over the Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA) report which was prepared by the state after visiting our school. OMG!!!  As a language arts instructor, I am appalled at the way the report was written.  Not only was it fraught with inaccuracies, but the grammar was deplorable.  Is it unrealistic for me to expect better from the state?  And where is the responsible behavior portion?  We always teach the students to research issues properly. . .use factual information. . .be specific when giving feedback. . .cite sources properly.  The state report broke dozens of writing rules.  And don't even get me started on how the bullets were used!

As if the CNA report wasn't enough to keep me busy, I got home late from work on Friday because I had a late afternoon meeting.  My favorite colleague was AWOL for the meeting; no harm, no foul.  The important people showed up and we were productive in taking care of business.  By the time I got home I was too tired to cook so we ended up at Hilo Rice Noodle.  I made the mistake of ordering the beef broccoli chow fun.  Fail.  Don't order that.  The other dishes, salt & pepper squid and Peking ribs, were delicious.

The better part of the weekend was spent grading papers.  Mid-quarter entries will be due soon.  Because I teach primarily seniors, it's imperative that I keep on top of their grades and let the counselor know if they are in jeopardy of not earning credit.  The 1-credit course I teach is a graduation requirement.  While it's not uncommon for seniors to slack off during the last term, they still need to be sure they earn a passing grade for the year.  I have a few students who will be dangerously close to not passing, so its important to notify them early and keep on their tails.

I also managed to sneak in a quick trip to Costco with D1.  We had a nice drive over, and I even let D1 drive part of the way.  I will definitely miss her when she goes off to college, but I need to make it through this learning-to-drive phase first.  I know she will improve with time and practice, but it's still spooky.  Kudos to The Help who took her out for her first official (legal) driving session.  He said he wanted D1 to have a healthy respect for the road, but he didn't intend to go into heart attack alert himself along the way.  I wonder if I was the same way when I practiced my driving.

D1 stayed home this weekend (instead of traveling to Honolulu with Mr. Dependable & Co) to attend the crosstown rival high school's Junior Ball (yes, she had a date. . .didn't go stag. . . finally).  A nice boy invited her.   Bless his heart. . .he really is a nice boy (nice parents too) so I hope she was nice to him.  Before they drove off, the nice boy said, "she is always nice, aunty".  Bullshit!  She was probably twisting his arm when he said that.  Both Ds inherited the mouth and attitude of Mr. Dependable's mom so I'm always worried about what will come out.

D2 went to Honolulu with Mr. Dependable this weekend.  They celebrated a birthday with dinner at Tsukiji Fish Market (I saw pics of them grinding out) and adventure at Podium Raceway.  There was also some kind of duck gathering in Honolulu so they met up with their favorite duck, who was part of the entourage.  What an honor for him. . .being invited to travel home and speak to prospective students.  Seems he is doing very well in Eugene.  I'm sure it wasn't too difficult for D2 to convince her dad to take her to Legend for another plate of beef broccoli cake noodle.  I know the Legend dish is better than what I had on Friday.

I figured I needed some nourishment while doing my grades and prepping for a presentation at UH-Hilo so as soon as I got home from dinner on Friday night, I popped one of these babies into the oven.  I have never tried this recipe using a cake mix other than Duncan Hines; the other cake mixes sold here have pudding in the mix.  From my baking experience, I do notice a difference in the final product when I use Supermoist (Betty Crocker).  For mini cupcakes, it doesn't matter, but for cakes baked in a large pan, I prefer Duncan Hines.  D2 was happy to come home and find this waiting for her.  Like me, she has a major sweet tooth.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Chocolate Cream Cheese Marble Cake

     8 oz cream cheese, softened
     1/2 c sugar
     1/2 c chocolate chips
     1 box (about 18 oz.) Duncan Hines devils food cake mix*
     1 box chocolate instant pudding
     1 c hot water
     3/4 c vegetable oil
     1 tsp vanilla
     5 eggs, divided

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13" pan.  In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and 1 egg.  Beat until smooth.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Set aside.  In a medium glass measuring cup, combine hot water, vegetable oil, and vanilla.  Set aside.  In a medium bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding.  Crack 4 eggs into bowl with cake mix and pudding.  Gradually add liquid while beating slowly.  When all liquid is added, beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.  Pour chocolate batter into prepared pan.  Using a spoon, plop cream cheese mixture over chocolate batter, spacing evenly.  Swirl cream cheese mixture and chocolate batter with the blunt end of a toothpick or the narrow end of a chopstick.  Bake for 55 minutes.  Set on a wire rack to cool completely.
*If you are using a new cake mix with less than 18 oz (about 15 oz.), add 6 tbsp flour to cake mix before proceeding with recipe.

Dear Uncle Al,
     Thank you for all that you've done for me over the years. . .

     -never taking me to Moloka`i (I would've died on the plane ride)
     -catching a`ama crab for me (yum)
     -subbing for me in my early years at HHS (the kids said you were more
          strict than me)
     -imparting your wisdom upon me in the most entertaining and humorous
          way (you gave me "names" to look out for)

     Like me, you were not a Viking by diploma, but it is where you left your
     mark.  I will never forget all the fun times hanging out with you in F-bldg.

     R.I.P. Uncle Al. . .you will be missed.
                                                                         Kikukat

Blond Brownies

Welcome to the first official day of spring break for public schools in Hawaii!  Yay!  Double yay!!  I really needed the break, and I am NOT going in to the office.  I am not going in to the office.  I am not going in to the office.  I need to keep repeating that so it sinks in.

The office needs to find another person to dump on.  I'm not dumb enough to get caught doing all the work, especially on my vacation.  The boss needs to get his shit together.  

Mr. Dependable was supposed to take the Ds on a trip, but he decided to postpone the trip and wait for good prices.  Uh, yeah, when will that happen when kids are on vacation?  Nearly fifty years on this earth and he hasn't figured that one out yet.

During the last break, D2 invited a friend over for a baking session.  They wanted to bake with bacon.  They made chocolate bacon cookies.  Turned out pretty good, at least the first few.  After about a half-dozen, the bacon flavor got really old.  I never thought I'd feel like that.  So far, D2 hasn't extended a baking sesh invite to anyone, but she did ask me if KN could spend the evening.

"KN spending the evening" entails hours of pool play (not sure how much of this will happen with the cold front) and tons of snacking.  Both D2 and KN are big time snackers.  In preparation of KN (or RT, perhaps) coming over, I prepared some blond brownies.  I guess my mind was elsewhere (not at work, thats for sure) because before I realized what I was doing, I added the nuts in the batter.  Both D2 and KN don't care much for nuts, so I guess I'm going to be eating the brownies without any help from them.  Anyone wanna come over for brownies?

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Blond Brownies

     1/2 c butter
     3/4 c sugar
     3/4 c brown sugar
     2 eggs
     2 tsp vanilla
     1 1/2 c flour
     1 tsp baking powder
     1/2 tsp salt
     1 c white chocolate chips
     1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
     2/3 c chopped macadamia nuts or pecans, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13" pan.  Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.  Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Gradually stir flour into butter mixture.  Stir in chips and 1/2 c nuts.  Spread evenly in prepared pan.  Sprinkle remaining nuts evenly over top.  Bake 30 minutes.  Cool completely before cutting into squares or bars.

doing the Captain Morgan

Mr. Sun hasn't been seen for a while here.  In fact, its been freaking cold.  The electric blanket The Help got me for Valentine's Day Boss' Day has come in handy.  The last time I owned an electric blanket was when I was in college.  Speaking of college days, one of my friends from my freshman year, Flo Beck (Anchorage, AK), was known for a potent potable. . .Flo Tea.  Flo Tea was a staple at all the weekend/weeknight parties in her room.  It was Crystal Light iced tea (in those days it only came in 1 variety) spiked with Captain Morgan Spiced Rum.  I made some for my grandfather when I came home for summer vacation after my freshman year, and he loved it.  He said he was happy I was learning a lot of new things in college.

I found this pic on my waterproof camera a few days ago.  It was taken before last week's post (Korean Tofu Salad), and that's probably the last time we saw the sun.  The Ds took advantage of a string of sunny weather days and went for a dip.  After a small battle over who had to get a dead bee out of the water, they decided it was easier to get along with each other than deal with me.  One of their pool play activities was attempting to do the "Captain Morgan".  Where do kids get these ideas?  I don't even buy Captain Morgan!  As a self-described "rum snob", my preferred brands are 10 Cane, Pyrat, and Tommy Bahama.  My current pour, Cross Keys, is also very smooth.

Since we had some time this past weekend (Mr. Dependable said he had to work), The Help got his background and lights set up for a photo sesh with D1.  I enthusiastically helped him with his equipment because it was a treat that there was someone else willing to pose.  It was a great opportunity all around.  The Help got to practice his action shooting skills with his new toy.  D1 got some neat pics, including portrait shots which she can distribute when yearbooks come out since her picture was again left out of the yearbook.  She happened to be away on a Key Club service project when it was her turn to take class yearbook pics.  D1 had a good week.  She was officially notified that she will be Junior class president next school year.

This is my favorite pic from the session.  She doesn't care for it, but I love how her hair is wanging all over the place.  Kinda reminds me of Medusa.

D2 was camera-shy and refused to pose for any pics.