Peanut Butter Fluff Brownies

Within my circle of family and friends I have become the one who always brings the brownies as a dessert.  As my young nieces tell me "Aunt Trish you made the best brownies".  However although no matter where I bring the brownies I get complimented I do have a secret....they are from a box!  Now that I have let the cat out of the bag I will share that I only make Ghiradelli Box Brownies, usually the double chocolate ones.  Lately though I have been trying to use the box mix but improve upon it.  This recipe incorporates fluff and peanut butter.  Anything with peanut butter is a winner in my book!

I had to get a bite...couldn't even wait to take the picture.

Directions:

1 box brownie mix

1 cup fluff

1 cup peanut butter (I used chunky but smooth will work)

Make the box mix of brownies according to the package.  I spray parchment paper with cooking spray and place in baking pan with edges overhanging.  Pour brownie batter into pan.  In a medium bowl place the fluff and peanut butter and microwave for about 20 seconds, just to make it smooth.  Mix the fluff and peanut together a little but not completely.  Place dollops of the mixture on top of the brownies and using a butter knife swirl the mixture around the pan.  Bake according to the box directions.  (I did find that mine took about 8 minutes longer)

As always my husband is willing to be a taste tester!

NYC Bites- Lower East Side

Living on Long Island gives me the opportunity to be a quick train ride into the hustle and bustle of New York City or just a ten minute drive to great beaches.  Lately with the help of some great deals on Livingsocial I have been taking little, hmmm, let's call them food excursions into the city.  This all starting with a food tour of the Lower East Side given by the Sidewalks of New York.  All I have to say about the tour is yum!  We had six tastings from different small eateries.  Some not even big enough for our group to fit into, leaving us tasting our scrumptious treats on the sidewalks.  After a great tour which not only had great food but also included the history of the area, a friend and I decided to take the West Village tour and later the food truck tour.  All fantastic, all with great guides.  If you are visiting NYC or even a local looking for something to do I highly recommend this company. Listed here is the company's website: http://www.sidewalksofny.com/

The Lower East Side tour gave us a glimpse into the rich Jewish heritage of the area.  Some historical places pointed out were the old tenements.  The starting point of this tour was at Yonah Schimmel home of fantastic knishes.

The Knish was one of the best I have ever eaten the picture above shows a quarter of the actual knish they were big. Below at the store is the dumb waiter that they still use to carry the freshly baked knishes upstairs from the kitchen.

Another stop on this tour was to Katz's Deli.  This happens to be the deli in which that famous scene from When Harry Met Sally was filmed.  If you go in there is a sign pointing out where they sat.

Pastrami on Rye at Katz's.  This was by far the best Pastrami I have ever eaten. Go there. Try it.

 At Russ and Daughters we sampled the Rugelach.  They were delicious.

Also on this tour was a stop at the Pickle Guys.....Fantastic pickles that are made in a tiny place by a man with big personality.

This is the interior of the Pickle Guys just barrels of pickles to select.

Kossar's Bialys was also included in this tour.  Bialys always remind me of holidays of my childhood.  If you are unfamiliar with a bialy they are similar to a bagel with the hole in the middle and with some onion on top.

 Three other places we stopped at on this day were: 

 Prosperity Dumplings-  Another hole in the wall take out place that we enjoyed the food at.

 Goodfellas Les - we loved the sausage and smoked mozzarella pizza.

 Doughnut Plant- sadly I do not have a picture from here, but my husband keeps talking about this        place and when and how we can get more.  We sampled the Dulce and chocolate donut. And then we purchased a peanut butter and banana cream donut.  Which without a doubt is the best donut I have ever eaten.

  A happy camper with a pickle and part of a bialy with a smear of cream cheese.  Happy Tasting Everyone!

Simple Fresh Chipotle Chicken Sausage Tacos

Easiest Chipotle Chicken Sausage Tacos

This meal kind of got pieced together but it came out fantastic with great flavor.  For these tacos it really is the super fresh salsa and guacamole that made it all come together.  Again trying to choose healthier protein options I brought home a package of chipotle chicken sausage.  And yet again I got skeptical looks from my meat loving husband.  Earlier in the day I have been out in the vegetable garden and besides a huge bounty of eggplant (which I will have to find recipes to use it all up) there were a few small red bell peppers and a couple more big tomatoes.  Knowing we were going for tacos this evening I decided to try my hand at a homemade salsa.  A quick trip the grocery store for some cilantro (sadly that did not want to grow in our garden) and a jalapeno pepper and we were set.  A few pulses of the food processor later and our kitchen smelt great!

This started after picking a few more tomatoes and a few little bell peppers from the garden probably some of the last ones for this season.  

Salsa:

Two big tomatoes roughly chopped

1 bell pepper

1/2 or 1 jalapeno pepper (depending how spicy you like it)

1 yellow onion roughly chopped

1 handful of cilantro

1 juice of a lime

2 teaspoons of honey

2 teaspoons of cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Quite simply put all ingredients into the food processor and pulse until desired consistency.

Fresh Guacamole: 

One ripe hass avocado pitted and roughly chopped

1/2 lime juiced

approximately tablespoon chopped cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl mash the avocado.  Blend the rest of the ingredients.

Chipotle Chicken Sausage Tacos:

1 package of chipotle chicken sausage chopped(from Fresco or Johnsonville)

1/2 bell pepper cut into thin strips

1/2 scallion finely chopped

1 teaspoon cumin

Crispy taco shells

shredded cheese

In a heated pan of little olive oil cooked chopped chicken sausage until it starts to brown and crisp.  Add cumin and let cook about a minute.  Next add the scallion and bell pepper and cook another 2 minutes.  Heat taco shells on a cookie sheet in a 325 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes.  Place chicken sausage mixture into taco shells, top with fresh salsa, guacamole, and shredded cheese.  

**Easy side: I served my tacos with a side of canned black beans and frozen corn I cooked in a small pot with a sprinkle of cumin and some of the leftover scallion and bell pepper I can chopped for the tacos.  Easy and delish!

Asian Turkey Burger

In an effort to make healthier selections I have been wanting to try ground lean turkey instead of ground beef. However like many I had a resistant husband. When a coupon and a sale inspired me to make the leap. His reaction was "really ground turkey what are you going to do with that?"  I came across what sounded like a great recipe for Asian turkey burgers.  I thought why not let's give it a try. I had a wonderful recipe already for an Asian slaw, this went wonderfully on top of the burger.

The flavors of this burger and the slaw on top complimented each other so well.

My husband's only issue with the burger....I made them a little too fat! Other then that his reaction after being skeptical about the ground turkey was "oh my god that is a good burger!"  He would like to see it again soon on our weekly menu.

Recipe:

Asian Turkey Burger-

Ingredients

     

    For the mayo-

    

    3 tablespoons mayonnaise

    1 tablespoon of Sriracha

    For the burgers-

   

    1 1/2 lbs ground turkey

    1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

    1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro  

    3 cloves minced garlic

    2 scallions, finely chopped

    3 tablespoons soy sauce

    1 tablespoon sesame oil    

    1 tablespoon minced ginger

    1 teaspoon red pepper flake

    Hamburger buns

    For the Asian Slaw-

     1 red or orange bell pepper- thinly sliced

     1 onion (red or yellow)- thinly sliced

     1 carrot- thinly slice or shredded

     2 tablespoons of soy sauce

     1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

     1 teaspoon minced ginger

     1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil

• To make the mayo, mix together the mayonnaise and the Sriracha in a small bowl and set aside.

• Next prepare the slaw so the flavors can blend while the burgers cook.  Mix all the liquid slaw ingredients in a medium bowl.  Toss the sliced vegetables in the sauce and set aside in the fridge.

• Using your hands, mix all the ingredients for the burgers in a large bowl until just incorporated.  Scoop out mixture and form into a patty. Repeat until all the mixture is used.

• Heat a grill pan (or an outdoor grill)   Lightly oil the pan.  Grill the patties about 5 to 7 minutes per side, until well browned on both sides and a meat thermometer reads 165.  

• As burgers finish grilling toast buns on grill.  When buns are ready spread mayo mixture on top of bun.  Burgers can be served with the slaw on top.  If you would rather eat slaw as a side top burgers with tomato and lettuce.  I also topped our burgers with swiss cheese which worked wonderful with the flavors but tasted great without!

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Home Organization- Part 1- Fridge

Recently I over the summer I reached my breaking point with the chaos that had been taking over my fridge.  We are all guilty of it just quickly throwing things wherever there is the smallest of spaces, then forgetting things as they get pushed to the back.  That's when science projects begin to form in the back of your fridge on the mystery leftovers.  For my husband and I there is recent desire to eat healthier and also not to be wasteful.  So yes having the desire and want for a change, however the immediate push to actually do something about it took a little longer.  I think the breaking point for me came when one morning standing barefooted with the door wide open looking for something I reached around looking for my required item, of course as I looked for it I gathered an armful of objects when finally reaching for my found item and a glass jar of tomato sauce inevitably came crashing down around my bare feet.  My kitchen is white tile floors.  Needless to say this was not how I wanted to start my day standing amidst my white floor with tomato sauce toes surrounded by broken glass.

It was a few days later that I headed out to the local dollar store to secure me some baskets to organize my chaos.  So far two weeks or so into my reorganization things are going along swimmingly.  It has made things neater and easier to locate things.  This also lead me to venture into my freezer to stop the onslaught of frozen meat at my head whenever I opened it.  Again two simple baskets costing me all of two dollars has made life so much better!

 Two baskets in the tiny freezer have now made it so much easier to locate things without being hit in the head with frozen meat.

A few baskets in the fridge have corralled smaller items. (yogurts, fruit cups etc..) The green baskets now hold our cheese and deli meats.

Shrimp and Clam Boil

Nothing better on a summer day then a fresh catch meal.  I looked through a few recipes for a few different boils and decided to use bits from a few and this is what came about.  Using some fresh jumbo shrimp and littleneck clams, kielbasa, fresh picked corn, potatoes, and a beer.

Recipe: (served 3)

About 15 jumbo shrimp

About 15 littleneck clams

Two ears of corn (or frozen)

On bottle/can of a lager beer

handful of colorful little potatoes (cut in half or quarters according to size)

1lb of smoked kielbasa (cut in one inch or so pieces)

1 tablesppon of old bay seasoning (more or less to taste)

pinch of cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)

salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil with the bottle of beer, old bay seasoning, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper.  Put the potatoes and corn in the pot and boil about 10 minutes.  Next place the kielbasa in the pot and boil another 7-8 minutes.  Place the clams in and boil another 5 minutes, finally place the shrimp in the pot and boil until the shrimp is pink and potatoes and corn should be tender.  When serving add more seasoing (old bay, salt/pepper to taste) serve with toasted garlic bread.

1st Anniversary Gift

As my first wedding anniversary approached I was racking my brain for a gift idea that would stick to the paper theme. I had seen suggestions for photo albums, concert tickets, etc... However we just returned from a Caribbean cruise and we have concert tickets for the end if the summer. So I came up with the idea of a "date night idea book". I put together a binder with lots of different ideas for possible date nights. There are enough ideas to last for date once a week for a year. Ranging from silly nights at home to nights out on the town or full day trips. I found tons of ideas from the website http://www.thedatingdivas.com a wonderful resource for couples!

Very simply I found a nice binder to hold everything in...

Part of the collection included quiz books on how well you know your spouse good for a night in.  Also good for a nice in is the Lovers' Massage Book!  All found on Amazon.

 I added dividers so that I could group the ideas my sections were: A night out on the town, A night at home, I challenge you, Coupons, Advertisements (for me to place clippings from the paper etc..)

I am such the coupon clipper so this will help keep them organized when needed for a night out.

I hope this is helpful for a unique first anniversary "paper" gift.

For our anniversary we spent the day out east on Long Island, NY.  We drove out to Montauk Point, walked around the village, then made our way home stopping at a farmer's market in Amagansett, and stopping for a picnic at a winery or two in the Hamptons.  All in all is was a wonderful day with just the two of us!