Of Valentines and Mardi Gras

I made these sweet little flower headbands for my girls for V-day.  One for Hope and one for Lauren (Drew's girlfriend).  They were fun to make and fun to give.  I love my girls! 

My "steady" Valentine brought home Gerbera daisies.  Yay!  He knows these bright cuties will make me smile!  After the miserably cold winter we've had (at least by south LA standards), we needed something bright and cheery and springy.  Thankfully we've warmed up nicely into the mid-'70s for the past few days, but I'm still not convinced spring is here to stay...

Last Monday was a quirky Valentine's Day, to be sure!  Quirky, and fun. 

At the last minute (like Sunday afternoon) I heard about a performance of The Vagina Monologues at the Little Theater, which was a fundraiser for an organization that works to stop human trafficking.  I've never seen the show, and couldn't resist, especially for a good cause.  My hubby, who secretly loves all things theater, politely declined this offering.  He said he somehow couldn't bring himself to imagine "them talking to one another."  I told him "monologue" meant one talks at a time.  He still wasn't signing on, but he encouraged me to go and make it a girl's night -- so I did.  A multi-generational girl's night, actually.  My daughter and my mom "came to town" and off we went, not knowing quite what to expect.  It was truly an experience!  Funny, provocative, poignant, and thought-provoking.  What a different Valentine's Day! 

Now we're gearing up for Mardi Gras. 

No, we don't do President's Day in the deep south.  Everyone except the postal workers had a regular work day today.  We're saving up our time off for the Fat Tuesday brouhaha.  And a grand shindig it will be!  It's actually started already.  Hope's been to her Mardi Gras ball (a big group of friends she went to high school with get together as a sort of annual reunion), we've knocked out a couple of king cakes, and we all trooped downtown Saturday night for the first night parade of the season.  The weather was perfect, and lots of families turned out along the parade route.  We caught a bunch of beads, enjoyed the bands and the drill teams, ran into some old friends, and had fun people-watching, especially all the kids.  And there's lots more where that came from! 

Y'all stay tuned for some Mardi Gras pix...

CHOCOLATE is Grand!

MMMMmmmmmm.....now, THAT will make your mouth water!

These are the very BEST brownies I have EVER eaten, and believe me, I have eaten a few in my day. 

I made the ones above (yeah, I ate most of them too, ok; so what??) and they look almost as good as they did in the magazine, dontcha think?

 (I would like to thank my pals Sally and Michael V. for inspiring me to photograph my cooking...I'm not in your league yet, guys, but this is a good start, huh?!)

We're not sure how this magazine made its way to our house, but it was addressed to Drew.  Methinks he's been spending a tad too much of his take-home pay at the local speciality cooking stores.  They don't realize that he's getting near slave wages in that fancy-schmancy French restaurant in the toney part of town; apparently he doesn't either, by the way he shops.  Ah well, reality always hits....

Anyway, fate brought us this heavenly brownie recipe, and I wanted to share it, but I haven't had time to read up in my "Blogging For Dummies" book to learn exactly how to properly post and cite a recipe that has previously been published, so I googled the link for anyone who'd be interested.  And here it is: 
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/02/cocoa_brownies_with_browned_butter_and_walnuts

(ok y'all-who-know-how-to-do-this-stuff, if this is not cool, will somebody please let me know so I can change it?  thx)

Here are my "brownie tips" for this recipe:  (1) Do not, I repeat DO NOT let the cooking time on this recipe put you off.  Yes, I know it says 5 hours.  I guess they are including the full recommended cooling time.  Silly people.  Who ever heard of letting brownies cool??  (2)  Be prepared:  this recipe makes one of those half-size batches.  Between Drew (who inherited my sweet tooth, God love him) and me, they didn't last very long at our house (even with my yukky cold) so you might consider doubling it.  (3) DO line the pan with aluminum foil the way the recipe directs.  Sometimes I'll skip stuff like that (and the cooling time), but truthfully, both of those steps are the secrets to making the brownies cut so well and look so pretty.  Maybe some people plan ahead and allow for speed bumps like extra prep steps or cooling time; I couldn't tell you about that.  As long as they're fully baked, hot, and chocolate, I'm good. 

Hmmmm....just typing about these brownies is making me crave them....I'm thinking we might need a brownie encore for V-Day.  Yeah, yeah, I know:  might as well spread these babies on my hips and thighs since that's right where they're headed, but trust me on this:  they are sooooo chocolately delicious, they're worth it! 

Y'all let me know what you think!  And have a grand Valentine's Day! 

Angela