Slutty Brownies

{Slutty brownies and Essie "As gold as it gets"}

I know. I know... The title of this post sounds like a horrible frat party... but bare with me.

Two things: (1) I am starting to be able to drink martinis like water - delicious olive water. This may or may not be good. (2) I forgot how much I love Oreos (sometimes with peanut butter, like LiLo in The Parent Trap)... but I digress.

This weekend in lieu of a cake for my Dad's 55th birthday, my sister (our little baker) decided to make "Slutty Brownies." This is how it works in our family in terms of preparing holiday meals: I am a competent baker and she is a more-than-competent cook, but she is definitely the baker extraordinaire in terms of creativity while I like to "wing it" with savory dishes. Together, we'd make a perfect team on Top Chef... or Chopped... or The Next Food Network Star... but I digress, again.

Funny side note: my dad used to get my sister and I to drink our milk by feeding us cookies. So cool but it's amazing neither of us is obese.

Here's why these brownies are slutty (according to my soon-to-be-21-year-old sister): they're super easy to make, and you can shove a lot of stuff in them. Appropriate for our father's birthday? Absolutely. Here's how you make them:

Get Baked (Goods, that is)

{Best Cookbooks for Baked Goods}

Since trying to minimize my intake of complex carbohydrates, the cravings have started, and Pinterest is not helping the temptation. Today I came across this article on Bakerella which counts down the top cookbooks that you need to read if you love sweets. Oddly enough, I don't usually crave sweets (until I cut them out of my life completely).

I have to admit the ones that I'm looking forward to reading the most are Les Petits Macarons and Tartine Bread - but there I go again, showing off with my obsession with France. So go on - get baked (goods).

Brie and Jam Pastry Pockets

{Brie and jam pastry puffs workstation where brie was prematurely consumed}

Since it's the first day of March, I am going to make an outlandish wish that we ditch the green beer and dedicate this month solely to cheese. I ask you this: have you ever had something that tasted so right that it was almost wrong? How about combining five (yes, only five) of the most sinfully delicious ingredients together to create a whole new level of Deliciousity? Yes, I created a new word to describe these little pockets of wonderful. It should be against the law to layer brie, puffed pastry, jam, eggs and sugar together, throw it in the oven, and consume it in one day.