Ooey Gooey Brownie Sundaes

When I made these brownies I was hit with inspiration to make a completely homemade brownie sundae. The great thing about homemade food is that you know where all the ingredients are coming from and everything tastes better. I made some modifications to the ice cream recipe and the fudge sauce recipe because we were out of some of the ingredients. For the ice cream I substituted an extra cup of heavy cream for the 1 cup of whole milk that the original recipe calls for. This made the ice cream extra rich. I also modified some of the steps because we didn't have any vanilla bean so I adapted the sections of the recipe that pertained to that. For the chocolate sauce, we didn't have any light corn syrup or golden syrup on hand so I used light agave nectar.

As you can see in the picture the sundae melted rather quickly (our AC wasn't working!), but I think that it adds to the deliciousness. If  you're like my niece you can add some sprinkles (jimmies!) on top. Though I'm not sure you want to use as many as she does...

Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies

On days when I'm craving a dessert I tend to make these brownies. I think these are the perfect brownie. They are rich and are so chewy that they are like a cross between a piece of fudge and a brownie. Recently I decided to incorporate these brownies with homemade vanilla ice cream and homemade chocolate fudge sauce to make a super rich brownie sundae.

When I find a recipe I like I tend to stick with it for a while, so this I haven't really tried any new ones. Do you tend to stick to the same recipes or are you more adventurous?

Waffles of Insane Greatness

With a recipe name like Waffles of Insane Greatness you can't go wrong. These waffles live up to their name. They are crispy on the outside, but light and fluffy on the inside.  I like to change up how I serve them. Sometimes I just use plain maple syrup, other times I will use blueberry syrup or spread cream cheese on the waffle. The original recipe says you should let the batter rest for 30 minutes before cooking the waffles, but I've never done this and the waffles have come out excellent every time. The only negative point about this recipe is that it makes a small amount of waffles (about five on my waffle iron), so you may want to double the recipe depending on how many people you are feeding.

This is my favorite waffle recipe and I think it is the best waffle recipe out there. Do you have a waffle recipe that you think can beat this one?

Waffles of Insane Greatness

Ingredients

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup cornstarch

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. sugar

½ cup whole milk

½ cup buttermilk

1/3 cup canola oil

1 large egg

¾ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

11.  Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium-sized bowl.

22. In another bowl, add the milk, buttermilk, canola oil, egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk until well combined.

33. Add the flour mixture to the milk mixture. Whisk until the ingredients have combined.

44. Heat your waffle iron. Once it has heated spray the waffle iron with cooking spray before filling the wells with the waffle batter. Cook until the waffles are a light golden brown in color.

Source: Adapted from Annie's Eats

Vegetable Soup/Sopa de vegetais

I’m not a big fan of soup, but on cold days during the winter in New England this soup was always great for warming up.  It's not so cold down south, but sometimes you just need a nice warm soup for dinner. This soup is great because it has a lot of flavors. The broth is tangy, you get some meatiness from the hamburger, and a burst of sweetness from the corn. I like to enjoy a ground chourico sandwich, kind of like a Portuguese tomato soup with grilled cheese. It could even be good enough to make a fan out of the non-soup lovers out there.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies made their rounds on all the major food blogs a while ago, but I’ve posted them here anyway because they’re that good. I have a goal of finding the best recipes for certain foods and this, in my opinion, is the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are chewy, so if you like your cookies crispy you may not be a big fan, but for me they’re just the way I like a cookie.

There’s an unusual method for making these cookies “thick” as it says in the title of the recipe, and at first I found most of the instructions for how you’re meant to make the ball of dough a little confusing. Essentially, you take a ball of dough, separate it into two balls, and then stack the two balls on top of each other and press them back into one ball. It seems counterproductive, but it works. In addition, you can use either light or dark brown sugar with this recipe. I’ve tried the recipe with both and I slightly prefer the light brown sugar, but the dark brown sugar still makes great cookies.

Portuguese Chicken With Spaghetti / Espaguete Com Galinha

This is another dish that makes frequent appearances at the dinner table, particularly because it has been successful with the little picky eaters in the family.  This recipe is different from some of the other  Portuguese chicken with spaghetti recipes out there because it includes potatoes (we like our potatoes) and carrots. If you wanted to change this up you could add other vegetables or some sliced chourico. Of course, I would serve it with a roll for dunking.