back to reality . . . [sigh]

Spring break is over, and we've had one very busy week back at school and in the clinic.  It's not hard to tell that everyone is feeling the crunch and starting to wonder how to accomplish everything before the end of May. 


After a week of being apart and then diving right back into the thick of clinic, we decided a girls' night was in order.  Two and a half hours of good food, good wine, and most importantly, great friends at Bhan Thai last night. 

Ashley and Candice

You never know what was so funny ...

...but it must have been great, because Candice is caught up in it, too!

All in all a fabulous night.  They were vacuuming when we left.  Yes, that's how long we were there.  Michelle and I really were there, too, but somehow in all of the talking, laughing and storytelling I did not get a picture of all of us.  Oh well, fun is much more important than pictures. 

Tonight was another fun night at Jeni and Nate's couples shower!  The shower was at the Gambills and was so much fun.  The guys were already out back with cornhole in full swing when I arrived.  Us girls stayed inside most of the night catching up on all things wedding and baby (little mr. gambill will be here in May). 

Jessica (with a precious baby bump), Clair, me, Jeni, Katie, and Alison

Horrible of me, but in typical fashion I didn't take many pictures.  Beggars cannot be choosers.

Jeni's parents came into town for the shower, and it was great to catch up with her parents, whom I hadn't seen since the fall.  Apparently Mr. Hall dominated cornhole all night long!  We had a great time celebrating the upcoming Hall/Hill wedding.  Best wishes to Jeni and Nate!

my precious friends -- I am so blessed!

After two nights of fun with friends, it is back to the grind tomorrow after church -- and a long afternoon of lab work.  Summer, come quickly.  Happy weekend, everyone!

deep, dark, and decadent

This month's Martha Stewart Living may have been my favorite ever, and here's why -- an article titled "Top Chocolate Desserts".  Yes, please. 

The whole issue was "the best" of this-and-that, but the double-chocolate brownies caught my attention.  First, I should say that when I was little, boxes in the pantry were for cereal, Wheat Thins, and animal crackers (you know, the ones that came in the circus box with a little string?), NOT cake mixes, brownie mixes, or anything of the like.  I didn't even know what Hamburger Helper WAS (or that there was such a thing) until 6th grade when I spent the night at a friend's house.  Basically, my mom (and every other woman in my family) is queen of the kitchen, so it's just in my blood to bake from scratch.  And it really is better, I promise. 

I have go-to recipes for most things, but the perfect brownie recipe has eluded me.  Plus, I am a fan of a good, fudgy, dense brownie; I don't go for the cake-y hybrids.  Okay, if you twist my arm I will definitely eat them.  Happily.  But I wanted an honest-to-goodness chocolate brownie recipe with the shiny, sugar-y top.  So to celebrate the beginning of spring break, I tested the double-chocolate brownies in the April issue of MSL.

Okay, enough of that.  Here is Martha's delicious recipe, with selected pictures.  One day I will learn to take a picture of every step.

You'll need:
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into large pieces
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I didn't have any bittersweet since this was an on-the-whim project, so I used 4 oz unsweetened and 2 oz semi-sweet.  It was a great balance!)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted
Martha says:  [to add crunch to the brownies, stir 1/2 cup of walnuts or pecans into the batter.]
(I also added about 1 tsp vanilla)

I also added my own little twist because I'm a cream cheese nut (and it just sounded good at the time!):
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 oz cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving a slight overhang on all sides. (The overhang will be your handles later.)

Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring until smooth.  People always think this is going to be scary/difficult/whatever, but it is so easy!!  Just make sure your bowl is heatproof! At Christmas I broke a bowl of Mom's because it looked almost identical to a Pyrex bowl that I have -- turns out it shattered right into the pot with a horrific "CRACK!"  We had a good laugh, cleaned up the glass, and started over.

Remove from heat, and whisk in sugar.

(this is where the pictures become somewhat, um, irregular.)

Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time, until combined.

(I also added the vanilla, about a teaspoon) 

Whisk in cocoa and salt. 

Fold in flour until well combined.

Add walnuts or pecans here if you're using them.  While I love nuts in my brownies, I was feeling something a little different when I made these: cream cheese filling.  (yay!)  Just use a mixer (a hand mixer will work just fine) to beat the cream cheese a little.  Add the sugar until the two are fluffy, then add the egg and vanilla.  The mixture should be smooth. 

This mixture is also great for making cookie bars -- just use your favorite chocolate chip (or other) cookie recipe, put half in the bottom of the pan, pour the cream cheese mixture over the dough, and top with the rest of the cookie dough.  Delicious!

Pour [brownie] batter into pan.

I then poured the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie batter and used a knife to swirl it.

When I make these with cream cheese again I'll probably use the cookie technique - half of the batter, cream cheese mixture, half of the batter.  The batter was so dense the cream cheese mixture didn't really settle.  Oh, well, still yummy.

Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes.  Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. 

Lift brownies from pan using parchment paper.  Remove parchment and transfer to wire rack.  Let cool completely; cut into 9 squares.

I don't have a picture of this...I was too busy enjoying the chocolate overload.  So good.  Definitely a keeper recipe!

. . . catching up . . . kind of!

Long time, no post!!

Well school and clinic have been crazy lately!!  A few highlights from the last 3 weeks: 

• my sweet friend Ashley interviewed AND was accepted to dental school!  I'm soooo excited to have her here next year!
• Dad came over to see Jersey Boys with me.  It was a GREAT show!  We went to the Beauty Shop beforehand -- Dad admitted about halfway through dinner that he'd asked Mom if it was a "sissy" restaurant, but I think he was pleasantly surprised.
• I passed a perio competency exam!!  This probably seems minor to all non-dental school people, but perio comps are a big deal.  For real.  My hand hasn't been that sore since I was a D1, I had to instrument away so much calculus.
• Mom and Dad came over on a whim to buy a Wii.  They took me to Fresh Slices and I ran into Kendall, Kari, and ate sweet potato fries.  A gooooood Saturday.  (side note - they now have the Fit & balance board - apparently I'm "unbalanced".  I did not need Wii to tell me that, but it is so much fun.) 
• Ashley (different than before, a friend from school) came over to bake her boyfriend a birthday cake!  Lots of fun baking with friends.  (and it was a huge success - he loved his German Chocolate b-day cake!)
• MORE BAKING! Made a to-die-for cake for Mom's birthday - the chocolate blackout cake from Sweet Serendipity (the cookbook from the restaurant Serendipity 3 in New York, NY).  Seriously.  Make the cake, then invite 15 of your closest friends over to help you eat it.  Maybe you will eat it all.  Maybe.
• Tonight I had a fun sushi date with Kathryn.  Good food, good fellowship, and a great friend!  (and happy birthday, Lauren, who we also saw while we were there!)

And lastly, I'm without my sweet puppy this week.  When I went home to surprise Mom Sunday, she offered to keep Sooie this week so I wouldn't have to come back to drop her off Saturday before my DC trip.  It's nice to be able to stay at school for 11 hours straight and get things accomplished, but it's sad to not have that enthusiastic greeting when I open the door.  Funny how attached we get to animals. 

Whew!  So there are the high points of the craziness.  I'm sure it will stay this busy until the end of the year.  Sure does make time fly!