Brownies are delightful. There is something wonderful and indulgent about brownies. Brownies need to be rich, chocolate-y and goo-y. No cake like brownies here. If you want cake like brownies, make a cake.
Over the years I’ve search for the perfect brownie recipe, and I always seem to come back to this recipe from David Leibowitz. I’ve tried others, I’ve modified others and I’ve tried my own, but whenever I want really good brownies, I go to this one. But … I may have stumbled onto the best alteration of these brownies possible – caramel. I made caramel sauce right before Christmas and I had a jar full left over in the fridge, just sitting there, taunting me. (just look at the picture – it taunted me every time I opened the fridge looking for kale or potatoes. So caramel brownies it is.
I am also in inherently lazy baker so I shortened a few steps in the recipe. I mixed all the dry ingredients without sifting, then added the wet and just combined. Pour that into the pan and pour on the caramel (about a quarter cup) and swirl it in. That was it. I baked it for a bout 35-40 minutes – I started checking it at 20 minutes, but it really does take much longer than 20-25. (I also used an 8×11 pan lined with foil, but I don’t think it matters much – no matter the size of the pan, I generally end up needing more than 30 minutes to cook the brownies.)
The results – oh my goodness! Talk about a near perfect brownie. These are rich, chocolate-y and goo-y. There is enough caramel in them to taste it, but not so much it overpowers the brownies. I cut them into rather large squares, but that’s ok – I can then “split” a brownie with Bob and feel good that I’m not eating the whole thing. … Or I can just eat the whole thing and call it dinner.
Arthas is doing well. We’ve had a few run-ins with off leash dogs in the last few months, something that is never fun. The last time it ended with Bob scraped up and Arthas limping, but otherwise ok. I know people think its ok to let their dog’s off leash, but really, it isn’t. Poor Arthas is still scared of other dogs and every encounter where ones just run up to him (and attack in two cases) just makes getting him to accept them that much longer of a process. Happily, he is still just fine with the cats and I can say we are almost totally normalized. The kittens can walk right up to him and Arthas just lets it happen. He isn’t going out of his way to be friends, but he isn’t growling for the most part. He does still have his quirks and we are now on trashcan number five in the efforts to keep him out of the trash. So note – dog proof trashcans really aren’t dog proof if the dog in question is highly motivated and somewhat clever.
Tigger is still a great big brother to the two new kittens. He is a grumpy old man in the morning and doesn’t like to be played with before breakfast (and he is not shy about letting Alinea know that) but he is generally very sweet with them. Tigger is still my baby at almost eleven years old and he just keeps on keeping on.
The kittens are growing. I know, that is what they do, but really, they keep growing. They look like cats now with only the occasional hint of kitten, but they still play like kittens. They love to play with each other – which is great for Arthas and Tigger – but Ella has attached herself to Arthas and Alinea goes to Tigger when they want to just hang out. Oh, they sleep together plenty still, but it is interesting to see the dynamics developing.
As for wine, I am still drinking, tasting and taking notes – I just haven’t had time to write them up and post them. In many cases, I forgot to take pictures of the bottles and the glass. So … I will be updating the wine posts soon. I hope.
Sixteen Paws 