Hobbies, Family, & Geekery from a Stay-at-Home Dad
Sixteen Saltines So we’re trying to eat better in this house. It’s been a long time coming and I’ve been waiting for it. I’ve been wanting to get on a better track for a while now but I’ve either strayed or put off an official …Read More….
Due to a lapse in government funding, this blog will not be updated until further notice. Please accept a picture of these awesome Pumpkin Swirled Brownies as consultation for any inconvenience this may cause. Ok, fine. I’m not funded by the government. Can you believe …Read More….
Blink 182 – Whats my age again
I briefly mentioned it once or twice but I guess I’ll reluctantly bring it up again since the bulk of this post has to do with it…
About a month ago, I… I celebrated my 30th birthday.
There, I said it. The big 3-0.
You women tend to think us guys don’t care about the numbers because, well you know, we’re like fine wines and all. But that’s beside the point. Just because we grow awesomer by the day, doesn’t mean we don’t feel hurt when you put a number next to our level of radness. Sometimes I feel (or “act”, as I’m told) like I’m 20, but that parade I’m riding gets torn down when my wife constantly reminds me that I’m 30.
“Hahaha, look, you have grey hair because you’re 30. You’re an old man. Sebastian, tell your father he’s thirty hahaha..”
(Sebastian) “You’re dirty daddy, hahahaha”
Then everyone laughs. Everyone but me. It’s like a short, tight leash on an already domesticated dog.
But hey, I’m not here to talk about all that. It’s not like I cry about it at night…
I’m here to talk about the spoils of my birthday. You already know my mom was awesome enough to pay for a year of hosting for my blog, but in addition to that, she also got a sweet deal on this:
As you may recall on my first and only smoothie post (as of this writing), I said “Until my $20 blender that I don’t even remember buying burns out and dies, don’t expect me to get too invested in this game.” But after some consideration I decided to go back on what I said.
A few reasons why I became so interested was mainly due to the price. It was on a pretty good sale and it is insanely difficult for me to not pay attention to something when it’s on sale (yes, I am a man, and men do that, in case you’re wondering). The price, coupled with the fact that my amazing wife will be giving birth to Mini-Me #2 literally any day now, made me want to be ready for the time when baby food was needed. I really want to go the homemade route for baby food this time around and after some research I saw this can do a pretty good job at it. And lastly, I really wanted to try and start eating more balanced. Like I mentioned, I’m… not as young as I think I am and I’m constantly afraid that’s going to catch up to me one day. I felt like consuming various smoothies which I wouldn’t mind doing would help me get more of the stuff I needed into my body in an easier way.
Oh yeah, and the color. Freaking love the color. One day all my appliances will be that color (the little ones, not like the fridge and stuff).
Considering all of that, it went on my birthday list and was eventually gifted. Thanks again mom!
So what better way to introduce a new kitchen appliance than to put it to use with a recipe?! I’ve been on an almond milk kick as of late and I must say it is somewhat of a secret weapon in smoothies. When I first tried it a couple of weeks ago, it made regular milk taste like water. And that was just the vanilla flavored. Then I tried the chocolate and it was all over.
I’ve been wanting to try almond milk for a while but it wasn’t until I saw this Chocolate Almond Oatmeal Smoothie by Ashton at Something Swanky that I really got a kick in the butt to try it. Strangely enough, when I put this smoothie together, I wasn’t even thinking about Aston’s. But now that I look at it again I guess it was a subconscious thing that they’re fairly similar.
Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Smoothie: subconsciously adapted from Something Swanky
1 each ~ Banana, sliced
2 tablespoons ~ Peanut Butter
½ cup ~ Old Fashioned Oats
2/3 cup ~ Chocolate Almond Milk
½ teaspoon ~ Cinnamon
about 10 ice cubes
Notes:
Don’t quote me on this, but it looks like there is a lot of stuff that is good for you in this smoothie. I like to think that I’m on the right track with eating better in the mornings, what do you think?
Nope, I’m not going to tell you how to make the smoothie since my 3 year old pretty much makes them for me. But, I will share this with you:
It’s an unboxing video!!
The food blogging world may not be familiar with the art of unboxing videos, but where I come from in the video game world, it’s pretty much a given to expect one every time you get something new to show off. The level of our coolness is measured by these vids, no matter how weird my wife looks at me. I always loved doing unboxings for the special editions of games and stuff like that, so I thought it would be cool to do one for the blender and post it on the blog here.
And that’s that. I’ll experiment more with smoothie recipes in the future and I’ll more than likely share my experiences in making homemade baby food when that time comes. Until then, I hope you enjoy this one!
If you’re interested, this version of the Ninja Blender in the Cinnamon Red color is only available exclusively on QVC. It’s a decent price compared to regular stores, and it comes with the.. well, check out the unboxing video if you’re interested. Everything works great. I use the 72 oz pitcher and single serve cups on a daily basis, and the food processor has been put to use rather successfully. Especially considering the price, this has my vote over any of those fancy shmancy $400+ blenders.
About the song: What’s My Age Again? by Blink-182 – I used to LOVE Blink. They were one of my favorite bands growing up and I have nothing but fond memories rocking out with friends listening to them. Every year on my birthday I am guaranteed to listen to this song on repeat. It is off Enema of the State.
Pink – Here Comes The Weekend There are plenty of good things that come out of taking what feels like years to customize your blog the way you want it. One of those things is having a nice chunk of content to blog about when …Read More….
Today, on my son’s Nameday, I’m reminded that 3 years ago I became a Dad. You’d think after 3 years I’d get used to the title, but no, it still makes me step back and reflect. Makes me not only feel blessed, but it also …Read More….
Alright, before you get all googly eyed and start to develop a puddle of drool on your keyboard, let it be known that I do not like these brownies.
When I walked into the kitchen to make them, I had a very different end product in my mind. It consisted of these brownies, topped with salt and a white chocolate butter cream frosting with all sorts of pizzazz on top of them. It was going to be the post that launched me into food blogger stardom! I was going to rule the world!!
[strokes cat, clash of thunder]
But the butter cream failed to turn the color I wanted it to turn, because Heaven forbid the red food coloring I bought for this very purpose actually turned the cream red and not hot freaking pink. This was supposed to be my Valentine’s Day post! I wanted red frosting on my brownies, not hot pink! The butter cream was a flop and it was pretty much downhill from there. I forgot to sprinkle the salt, the rest of the ingredients (which shall remain nameless) sit here unused because of the lack of frosting to stick to. By the time the brownies came out of the oven, I was already over them. As if they asked me to the prom and an hour later I caught them under the bleachers with my bff.
Not right brownies.
Oh, and on top of that, they sit there and mock my sweet tooth! I take pride in my taste for sweet treats. I’ve always said I’m a dessert guy and would be the one to look at the dessert menu at a restaurant before the dinner menu. But these damn brownies and their overflowing goop of caramel that oozes out just by looking at it hard enough made me question myself. They make me feel like I’m one of you normal people when it comes to sweets. I don’t know if it was the time it took to make them that made me weak or that they really are just that sweet. All I know is that I made them so they’re going on the blog.
Don’t get it twisted. If you’re a chocolate and caramel fanatic then these are for you. I thought I loved caramel. But it’s yet another kick to the groin these little demons are giving me while I’m already down.
Brownies from Hell: (slightly adapted from here)
Brownie:
2 sticks ~ Butter
8 oz ~ Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Squares, chopped
1/4 cup ~ Cocoa Powder
1 1/4 cup ~ Sugar
4 each ~ Eggs
1 tablespoon ~ Vanilla Extract
1 1/4 cup ~ Flour
1/2 teaspoon ~ Salt
Caramel Filling:
1 each ~ 14 oz Bag of Caramel Squares
1/3 cup ~ Heavy Cream
Notes:
Ok, enough with the chit chat. Let’s make some cavities:
Now, when it comes to melting chocolate, depending on what I’m making or what it’s for, I’ll either use the microwave or set up a double boiler. I always like using a double boiler because I can control the melting better. I can stir and see exactly how the process is going rather than just wondering how it’s going from the outside of the microwave. To do a double boiler, just get yourself a sauce pan with about 2 inches of water and set it to boil. Then take a bowl, I use glass, and put your chocolate and whatever else you’re melting inside of it, and put the bowl on top of the sauce pan. You want the bottom of the bowl to fit just inside the rim of the pan, and you do not want to water to be touching the bowl. We’re using the indirect heat from the steam to melt the chocolate, not the water. The steam will melt it at a steady enough pace and once it’s done you just take the bowl off and you don’t have to worry about burning or overheating.
But if you’re straight up melting chocolate and nothing else, you’ll want to be careful with water. One drop of water while melting your chocolate can ruin your entire week. If you want more info on that, check this page out since it’s not something we have to worry about right now.
If all of this sounds like too much, you can be lazy and put the chocolate and everything else in a microwave safe bowl and nuke it for 30 second intervals until it’s melted. It’s up to you.
Not because it’s flour and you can make a mess. I really don’t care if you make a mess or not, I’m not going to clean it up. No, stir slowly because you don’t want to over mix it. This is the reason why you always make brownies by hand and never with a stand or hand mixer. If you over mix the flour, you’ll create gluten. And gluten is not something you want in your brownies. They’ll come out cake-like and will be dry and flat as oppose to crumbly and soft.
While that’s baking, let’s work on the bane of my existence: the caramel filling.
If my wife wasn’t pregnant, I totally would’ve spiced this up with some Baileys Irish Cream. I don’t drink, but I know a few things. And one of those things is how happy-happy Baileys gets with caramel. Boy, oh boy…
Judging by how long it takes you to unwrap those hellish little squares, by the time the caramel sauce is done the brownie is probably out of the oven and cooled by now.
Once the brownie and sauce are ready, commence the sensual bonding and getting-it-on music…
Something I forgot to do in all of my excitement at this point, was to salt the caramel. So if you dig salted caramel, go for it. A little sprinkling with a sea salt should do the trick.
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| Leo and Mikey approve. |
You can take it out of the pan using the foil, and just put it on a cooling rack, foil and all, till it cools. But just don’t cut it for at least an hour or two. Why? You just baked caramel sauce at 350°. You might as well have lava in that brownie.
When it’s ready, cut it up and watch it bleed like the heathen it is.
While writing this, I kept thinking on how I was taken aback by the river of caramel that flows in your mouth with each bite. I thought of how I can enjoy these after making them. And it hit me: Put one in a bowl, microwave for like 30 seconds and then plop a couple of scoops of ice cream on there with some chopped nuts…. I think I’d be able to handle that quite well.
Alright, I know I said it was going to be a cookie extravaganza, but don’t get mad at me. It’s not the end of the wor… Well… Let me not go there yet. I’ll save a joke for my next post. You know… Just in …Read More….
Still the first week of the month and I already feel like I’m slacking. I have quite a few holiday goodies to throw your way so I really should get on the ball here. I mean, here I am, a cookie fanatic missing out on …Read More….
Desserts are like mistresses. They are bad for you. So if you are having one, you might as well have two.
I’m a sweet guy. When I go out to eat at a new place, the first thing I do is check out the dessert menu. Ha, did you think I was talking about being nice? Well, that too, but I’m also a sucker for sweets, I can’t help myself. And no matter how much I eat before it, there is always room for dessert. I have no shame in admitting this here, but after a big meal, the server asks if there is any room for dessert, I sometimes have to hold back. But the only reason is I don’t want to embarrass the wife, if it was just me I’d tell that server, “damn straight there’s room! Bring on your finest freezer burnt ice cream and luke warm ‘freshly baked’ brownie!” But no, I show restraint, especially when they come back with, “oh, full huh? [harhar – stupid server laugh]” Dude, you don’t know me…
I’m crazy about a good dessert. I know you can’t really be surprised by having the same cheesecake all the time or a Pizookie, but damn if they don’t make you happy on the inside. I get a little too crazy sometimes though. I feel fairly comfortable with you guys so I’ll go ahead and confess something… Sometimes, when sharing whatever dessert with my wife, I get a little touchy. Like if she takes too much crust off a cheesecake, or if she eats more brownie than ice cream, therefore throwing off the brownie to ice cream ratio that is left when she is done, I go on the offensive. I love my wife, which is why when she does things like that I give a playful jab with my fork or spoon, you know, as a little warning. Sometimes she disregards my subtle hints, so I have to get drastic and move the plate out of her reach and put her on timeout while I fix the imbalance she caused. This in turn leads to her threatening to shove her utensil of choice into whichever part of my body she feels would prove her dominance best. That’s usually when I realize I’ve broken an unwritten law: Taking (most of the time) chocolate away from a woman.
But I digress…
Well here I am, giving it back. With this insanely easy recipe, we don’t have to go out and deal with pissed off servers and overpriced and/or overcooked food. We could stay home, in our underwear, and enjoy our own Molten Chocolate Cake.
Yeah, I said it… Molten… Chocolate… Cake.
Just rolls off the tongue. Like …Lava
Silky, gooey… Chocolate Lava.
Flowing like liquid hot mag-ma.
Ok, I’m done.
It’s one of the most decadent, rich, and visually appealing desserts today. If you’ve never had one before, you should be paraded down a crowded street to be poked and laughed at. Seriously, what have you been doing with your life? Well no matter, there are no more excuses. No more, “It’s too difficult to make” or “I have no kitchen experience”. A 10 year old can probably follow the recipe and make this. So get off it, and get cracking! There’s huge payoffs that come with knowing how to make one of these. Depending on the situation, it’s practically guaranteed praise at dinner parties, or unconditional love and devotion from your significant other or maybe even another date with a special someone (you still have to play your cards right, I can’t do all the work). So just trust me and you can thank me later:
Molten Chocolate Cake (adapted from here)1 cup ~ Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
½ cup (1 stick) ~ Butter, cubed
1 tablespoon ~ Cocoa Powder
1 cup ~ Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon ~ Vanilla Extract
½ teaspoon ~ Cinnamon
2 each ~ Eggs
2 each ~ Egg Yolks
½ cup ~ All-Purpose Flour
Simple stuff, eh? If you want to throw in your favorite liqueur, just replace the Vanilla with what you’d like. This recipe is going to make about 4 individually sized cakes.
I used some ramekins I picked up at Target on clearance and some Soup Crocks that I’ve had for a while now. The recipe filled up the crocks a little less than halfway which is more than enough because they were pretty big around. You can find something cheaper, but this is just to give you an idea. They’re great for entertaining, not to mention the presentation compliments the special feel the cake brings to the table.
Another note before you get unimaginably excited to make this: Molten Lava Cakes usually get their signature lava-ness by taking them out of the oven before they’re fully cooked. This means there is a slight chance the eggs in the batter may cause you to experience the molten lava more than once, if you know what I’m sayin’. If you’re the type to eat your eggs over easy you probably don’t care about stuff like this, but if you’re pregnant or are really cautious about consuming raw eggs, then I’d regretfully skip this one and wait till I can do a safer recipe. Or you can go somewhere else to find one and risk hurting my feelings.
All that said, my wife is allergic to eggs and she was perfectly fine after eating this! So it really is up to you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
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| I added the Cocoa Powder in with the chips because I was feeling frisky |
So you see what I was talking about? Amazing, isn’t it? It looks like a cake, but when you first stab it, the chocolate oozes out as if you just violently murdered it, and you start thinking, “oh no, I killed it, look, it’s dying. It’s losing so much chocolate blood, I’m sorry, cake.” But then you taste it and you’re all like, “OMG, die you unbelievably amazing cake. Die, die ,die. I’m a vampire and want to suck your chocolate blood.”
Oh, don’t act like you don’t vampire roleplay with your food.