Baking with Shane

This is my 13 year old son Shane. When I asked him what he wanted to bake, he immediatly said brownies. This kid is a true chocoholic! Always has been, and I don't see any sign of that changing for a long time. So, we got searching the blogs and came across these Peanut Butter Marbled Brownie from What's Cooking in the Orange Kitchen, I love it when I come across a new blog that I haven't seen before!

Pay no attention to my messy table! :)

This is the only picture that I could get of him, actually making the brownies, although he did make them himself. First you mix the PB mixture, with cream cheese, PB, sugar and a couple of other ingredients, set them aside. Mix the brownie mixture, layer them in the baking dish, swirl with a knife and bake.

Here is the finished product. Delicious, if I do say so myself. We tried one warm, but I have to say that we liked them better once they were completely cooled to room temperature. If you like a gooey brownie, this is one to try!

PB Marbled Brownies:

6 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup Peanut butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 Tbsp milk

1 cup butter or margarine, melted

2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (We used 1/2 cup mini chips)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, egg, and milk until smooth. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Mix in the remaining eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; mix into the batter. Stir in chocolate chips.

4. Remove 1 cup of the batter. Spread the remaining batter into the prepared pan. Spread the peanut butter filling over the top. Drop the reserved chocolate better by teaspoonful over the filling. Using a knife, gently swirl throught the top layers for a marbled effect.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out almost clean. Cool completely, then cut into bars.

Being a beach bum!!

This is where I will be for the next week. Down in the gulf, Seagrove Beach, FL. This picture was from our balcony last year right after it had stormed. Isn't it beautiful? I had never seen a rainbow over the ocean!

Shane will have a great recipe for you on Monday, so make sure that you check back then to see what he made. Hopefully, the scheduling function will work and it will post. Also, don't forget about the Daring Baker's that will post their creation on Wednesday the 29th!

Have a great week, and I am looking forward to see what creations you guys have been working on this week!

Look what came in the mail today....

...my prize pack from Askinosie!! It came with a kilo of chocolate chips, 2 containers of their cocoa and an official hat! I also had a little note from Shawn, and on the back of it a recipe for a chocolate cake! I will definitely have to try it!! What a great surprise for the end of the day! Thanks again!!

The Smile Award :)

My good friend Megan has awarded me with this award, and I am honored. I am sure that you know who she is, but if not go and check her out! She is over at Megan's cookin and will bring a smile to your face with every post! Thanks Megan!

Characteristics for the Smile Award:

1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human)

2. Must love one another

3. Must make mistakes

4. Must learn from others

5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world

6. Must love life

7. Must love kids

These are the rules:

1. The recipient must link back to the awards creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)

2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.

3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.

4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.

5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.

6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.

7. You must thank your giver.

So now, I get to pass this award on to 5 other people to that make me smile!

1.Ley of Cilantro and Lime-She is getting married this weekend and I love her posts. They are not always of food, but just life!

2. CB of I heart Cuppycakes and I heart Food 4 Thought- She really just makes me laugh with each post!

3. Marye of Kettle and Cup- I love how Marye is just honest and open about everything.

4.Tiffany of Lattes and Life- I just actually found her through Marye blog, and I don't know why I haven't found her before now!

5. Megan from My Baking Adventures- We have developed a friendship and I also love to check out her kids blog...pretty much daily!

Tag, your it!

This will be a 2 for 1 special, Sabrina and Alex from Cooking with the Kids tagged Abby for a meme, and Megan from My Baking Adventures tagged me, so here we go...

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

First up, Abby...
*I love to bake.
*I like to go to the beach.
*I want to be a dentist when I grow up.
*I really want a sister.--per mom...not happening
*I have good friends.
*I love to paint.

Now on to April...
*In my dream life, I am a pastry chef in a 5 star restaurant
*I am still surprised at myself for having a blog. When I started this blog, really had no idea what a blog was!
*I have no reservations at all about becoming a total beach bum!
*I love storms, not scary ones, but good ones that has the rolling thunder. It is calming to me for some reason.
*I have close to 1000 candy molds. It is an addiction, sadly...
*Oh, and I am addicted to food magazines.

Now, Abby and I are to tag 6 more people..

Megan from Megan's Cookin
Charlotte from Taylor Loves Chocolate
Mary from Shazam in the Kitchen
Bunny from Bunny's Warm Oven
Katherine from Smoky Mountain Cafe
Stephanie from Stephchows

Doughnut making with Blake

This is my son Blake, and he is 10 years old. For this week of baking with my kids, Blake chose doughnuts. This recipe came from A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman. The description in the book said that these were almost exactly like Krispy Kreme. She was completely right. They taste just like them. The only problem that Blake and I ran into was that this dough was really, really sticky. I used the 5 cups of flour and then needed more. So, alot of our doughnuts looked like fritters and not round. Actually, only 2 or 3 ended up round! But that was ok, they still tasted great and we will try them again.

Mixing the ingredients, before putting on the dough hook...

Oh, and how could I forget this part. Our dough did not rise! I am not sure if my yeast was old or what..but no rising action here with the dough. Oh well, we deep fried them anyways..

After frying them, drain them and then dip them in the butter glaze and you have this...

The verdict? Very good! They didn't last long!

Homemade Franchise-Style Doughnuts

Dough:

1/4 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F)

2 Tbsp rapid-rise yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup shortening

5 cups, approximately, all-purpose flour

Vegetable oil or shortening, for frying

In a mixer bowl, hand-whisk warm water and yeast together and let stand 2-3 minutes to dissolve yeast. Briskly whisk in milk, sugar, salt, and eggs and blend. Add shortening and most of flour and blend. Then knead with a dough hook on low speed only until smooth (it is not necessary to knead this dough a long time.)

Remove dough hook and spray dough lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Cover entire mixer and bowl with a large clear plastic bag. Let dough rise 50-60 minutes or until almost doubled. Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface and gently deflate. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness and , using a doughnut cutter,cut into doughnuts. Cover doughnuts loosely with plastic wrap and let rise 20-40 minutes.

Heat vegetable oil or shortening in a fryer (or wok) to 350 degrees F. Slide in doughnuts, a few at a time, and fry about 1 minute per side. Remove from oil onto a wire rack set over parchment paper.

Creamy Butter Glaze:

1/2 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

4-6 Tbsp hot water

1 ounce semisweet chocolate, melted, optional

For Creamy Butter Glaze:

Melt butter and then whisk it in a medium bowl with powdered sugar,vanilla, and hot water. Smear doughnuts in glaze.

For Chocolate Glaze, if desired, add 1 ounce melted chocolate to one entire recipe of Butter Glaze. Smear doughnuts in chocolate glaze.

Is it true?

I am totally excited! Remember these? Well, the CH staff, just posted the May Cupcake Hero, and guess who was named? You guessed it..me! I have won tons of things from drawings, or bingo, or guessing the correct dessert, but this is the first that I have won from a recipe. Each month a theme is named, and then the CH staff works their butt off to choose a winner. You never really realize what a job it is until you are put in their shoes, or should I say kitchen.

A huge thanks to Laurie, Leigh, Joy, and Tempered Woman for the baking that they do each month and choosing just 1 to declare the Cupcake Hero. There are so many talented bakers in out there! So, now you may be asking, do you get anything other than the pride for this? And for this month the answer is yes! It has been said that I will receiving a prize pack from Askinosie. Unfortunately, I have never used this brand before, so I am super excited about it! If you haven't tried this stuff, I hear that it is the "mac daddy" of all cocoa and get your butt over there and get some for yourself!

Don't forget about July's Cupcake hero hosted by the lovely ladies Clara and Nikki. So, go ahead start thinking Red, White, and Blue!