It's Been a Long, Long Time... (or) The First Thanksgiving

Wow. What a whirlwind fall it has been. Job market stuff, teaching courses, working on the dissertation, trying to cook, not being very successful, obviously. I think Ophelia has shunned me, and is now looking to outsource herself to try to save her job. The guilt abounds.

Anyway, a by-product of the busy that is the fall this year, I decided not to head home for Thanksgiving. This is the first Thanksgiving in 30 years that I have not been home with my family. Boy, do I miss them. Right about now, I would be at my brother's house, rocking out to some Rock Band, or watching he and my cousin-in-law duel it out on some game that I completely don't understand but is very entertaining to watch. Or, we'd be playing some game called "Killer Bunnies" or something of the sort. I'd be getting my ass kicked, but loving it, because there is nothing quite like hanging out with my crazy awesome family.

This is not to say that Thanksgiving here isn't going to be freaking amazing. I get to spend time with some great friends. Plus, K&P's dog B is awesome, and I love hanging out with him. So, it will be a great day. K & P are smoking a turkey, making potatoes, rolls and salad (YUM and YUM), so I am in charge of stuffing, veggies, pies. As you can see from the pictures above, I'm on it. It's the night before Thanksgiving, and I have a pie, shortbread (yes, apparently the Scottish got in on the Thanksgiving act), cornbread (for stuffing), and stuffing bread cut up, ready to be made tomorrow. In true Hathaway fashion, I freaked out and worried that I wasn't going to have enough to feed everyone, so went a little overboard with the stuffing bread. However, this stuffing bread is the shiz. I got it from Great Harvest Bread Co. It was a hoot, actually -- I went in once Tuesday and bought a bunch of stuff, and then had to come back for the stuffing bread when it came out of the oven at 1. We got there around 1:10, and I got 3 of the last 8 loaves. Apparently, people are serious about this stuff. I'm stoked to try it. I had my aunt send me her recipe. We'll see what happens. KSH is coming over to help cook in the morning, so I had better get to bed. I just had to post, since it had been so long. Will take more pics tomorrow during the creation process.

Oh, the chocolate pictures are Martha Stewart's brownies. They are awesome. Sometimes, though, I want to forgo the brownies and drink the melted chocolate. Is that normal?

"Call Me" Blondie Brownies, or She Was What We Called a Suicide Blonde Maple Blondies

Well, as I am wont to do, at about 10:15 tonight I decided I wanted to bake something. I surfed the net for a bit, and found a recipe for Blondie brownies. Now, that spurred me to want my favorite dessert -- Applebees' Maple Blondie Brownie. I have no words to describe that dessert. My friend Janelle and I were having birthday lunch at the Applebees in the mall in Rochester, MN the first time I had that dessert. We'd had a Mucho Margarita fest, which commenced in a new sport (drunk shopping), which I only participated in once. I was, however, very good at this particular sport. My bank account didn't appreciate my greatness, however. Anyway, back to the story about the Maple Blondie. Janelle and I were known for enjoying food, so we went for it. The cold vanilla ice cream mixed with the creamy maple butter sauce with the decadent blondie was almost too much to handle. It's really the only other thing I remember about that day, thanks to the margaritas. I know Janelle and I had a good time, we always did, and the taste of that Blondie has stuck with me since that moment in 1998.

As you can see from the pictures, I decided to try to tackle it. I took some pictures of Ophelia, but she wasn't cooperating tonight. Sometimes, a star just won't be photographed. She might also be angry with me about a failed roll attempt yesterday, in which I had to throw some dough away that she worked very hard on. I apologized, but it might take a day or two. I don't blame her, I was pretty mad myself.

So, anyway, hoping I would come through for myself, I went hunting for white chocolate chips. In all my foresight, I had stocked some. I must have known this night was coming. And thus, the baking commenced.

Blondies:

1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp. vanilla

1/4 c. chocolate chips

Cream together wet ingredients. Sift together dry. Combine the two together and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Press into 8x8 greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cut while warm.

Maple Butter Sauce (yes, of course this is low calorie -- do I make anything that's not?)
1/4 c. unsalted butter
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1/4 c. sweetened condensed milk
1/4 c. white chocolate chips
1 tsp. salt
Maple Flavoring to taste

Melt first three ingredients in sauce pan, but do not boil. Once combined/melted, add in chocolate chips, maple flavoring and salt, off heat, and allow to melt. Serve hot over blondies.

And, now both Debbie Harry and Saul Bellow's heads are spinning around as I type. Enjoy!