11 years of adventure, many more to come.

Somewhere along the line our family became one of those National Park Families... where we plan trips all through the year to go see the beautiful places our country. Climb all the mountains, see all the views, eat snacks in the most beautiful places. When it came to a birthday day for our new 11-year-old - he said "National Park Cake!" What does that mean? Mountains! Trees! A Sign! Oof... we looked online and found some pallet painted cakes and I decided I could probably give that a try. Then we saw an ad for a cake topper that looked like a national park sign. Well for sure I could make that happen on my new laser cutter!
The day before the party I had the birthday boy help me draw mountains with a toothpick and he helped design it. We added some grass to the top and added the sign the day of. It turned out amazing. Pair that with green and blue tablecloths, blue and white balloons taped to my ceiling for clouds and sky (I told them I just didn't want tape on the ceiling - we had tape on the ceiling), and bear plates with tree napkins... it was quite the adventure birthday! I love it went a plan works. The kid requested yellow cake, which I made and added a vanilla pudding mix to it, strawberry buttercream frosting, and vanilla for the rest of the frosting. This may have been the first year he actually ate some of the cake and enjoyed it! We win! Happy 11th Birthday Nicholas Warren! I can't wait to have more adventures.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature (3 sticks)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 - 4 Tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 oz Freeze Dried Strawberries - ground into powder
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, using the paddle or whisk attachment whip butter on medium-high speed (if using whisk attachment whip on high speed) until nearly white and very fluffy, about 7 - 8 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add in powdered sugar, heavy cream, strawberry powder, and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until blended, then increase speed to medium and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 - 6 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Immediately spread over cooled cake or cupcakes.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature (3 sticks)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 - 4 Tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, using the paddle or whisk attachment whip butter on medium-high speed (if using whisk attachment whip on high speed) until nearly white and very fluffy, about 7 - 8 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add in powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until blended, then increase speed to medium and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 - 6 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Immediately spread over cooled cake or cupcakes.

Brownies and Cookies - all together in one bite

I've made brookie cookies before but not all in one pan, these were much easier. I mean sure you make a bunch if mini cookies but it's with melted butter, melted butter is easier than softened. Especially if your kitchen is so cold because we live somewhere that the air hurts our faces. This recipes makes a nice 8 x 8 pan of bars, they cut into small bite sized bars. I baked these and let them sit overnight before I cut them. That way they setup and didn't run all over the place. These bars were a hit. Not just brownies but cookies too! All in one bite.

Brookies Brownies
Cookie dough:
⅓ cup (75g) unsalted butter, just melted
⅓ cup (70g) packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoon (25g) granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
heaping ¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (85g) dark chocolate chips. plus extra for topping
Brownie Batter:
5 oz (142g) bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa), coarsely chopped
6 tablespoon (84g) unsalted butter
2 large eggs at room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup (50g) all-purpose flour

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch square metal baking pan with parchment paper leaving a 2-inch overhang at each side and secure the sides down on the edge of the pan with ¾-inch binder clips. See notes on the last step for baking in a 9-inch pan.
Make the cookie dough. Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stovetop until it is JUST melted so it is still pale yellow and creamy-looking. Basically, gently melt it until there is still some solid butter left and then stir off the heat until the residual heat gently melts the remaining solid butter. Combine melted butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl and mix to combine. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla. Sprinkle in flour, baking soda and salt and fold it in. Fold in chocolate chips.
Roll cookie dough into about 18 small balls, transfer them to a lined plate or tray, cover and refrigerate while you make the brownie batter.
Make the brownie batter. Combine chocolate and butter in a saucepan over very low heat and stir constantly until melted and smooth, or melt in the microwave at 50% power in short bursts with frequent stirring.
Combine eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl and whisk until pale and thick. Beat in warm melted chocolate mixture. Sprinkle flour over the mixture and fold it in until evenly combined.
Scrape about half of the brownie batter into prepared pan and spread it out evenly using a small offset spatula. Flatten half (9) of the chilled dough balls into discs and lay them over the batter in three rows of three. Spread remaining brownie batter on top to cover the cookie dough, and then place remaining flattened dough balls over top. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 325°F and bake for another 15-20 minutes until a skewer comes out with a few moist stick crumbs attached.

Baking steak and not cookies

Things I don't like cooking, meat. I'm just not good at it, let alone great. I had steak on the menu, and the grill was frozen shut... so that meant it was up to me to figure out how to get that cooked in the house. Blech... I found this oven baked steak recipe; it seemed workable. It actually worked out very well. Did I get a great crust on it? Nope, but did it cook to a decent doneness and taste pretty good? Sure! Did everyone eat it? Sure did. Did they even eat the leftovers? They did. Guess what? I made steak! Will I do it again any time soon? Probably not, seems like a job for not me. I'll keep working on cookies and bars. So, if you too need help in the meat cooking department - here you go!

Oven Baked Steak Recipe
Ingredients
24 ounces boneless ribeye steaks 2 (1-inch thick) steaks
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2-4 sprigs fresh thyme optional
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (¼ stick), plus more for serving

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Rub both sides of each steak with olive oil. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
24 ounces boneless ribeye steaks,1 tablespoon olive oil, Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once it is very hot, add in the steaks. Sear for 1-2 minutes or until you get a nice crust. The hotter the pan, the faster the crust will form.
Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes on the second side.
Remove from the heat and top each steak with a tablespoon of butter. Add the thyme to the pan.
2-4 sprigs fresh thyme,2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Bake for 10-15 minutes, until desired temperature is achieved.
Let the steaks rest for 5-10 minutes before serving with more butter.

All the flowers....

When all the things pile up on one night and you need to be in more than one place at a time - and bake for two things that are happening at once, you pick a known winner... Monster Cookies. Dump all good things into the bowl add more good things, scoop them out and out come great cookies! But why does everything pile up? Legit we had to be at two different events at one time and really four people needed to be in four different places. But we made it work, we had all the baked goods where they needed to be and oh there was snow too... Surprise snow because that's all we get this winter, endless snow - then cold. I'm ready for warmth and sunshine and flowers! ALL the flowers. Let's plan better huh? Fewer things, fewer places, fewer things... but all the flowers....

Monster Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup (120g) all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cornstarch
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ cup (115-124g) old fashion rolled oats
½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (107g) brown sugar
½ cup (99g) granulated sugar
½ cup (135g) creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (210g) mini m&ms
1 cup (170g) chocolate chips

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350º F. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, and oats. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar with an electric mixer, for 1-2 minutes. Add in the creamy peanut butter, vanilla and egg, beat again.
Gradually add in the dry ingredients, mixing on low or by hand just until combined. Add in the mini M&Ms and chocolate chips, mix by hand. The dough will be thick.
Use a cookie scoop to form dough balls and place them on a silicone mat lined baking sheet. Press additional m&ms and chocolate chips onto the outside of the balls if desired. I used a 2 Tbsp/1 oz scoop for average sized cookies and a 4 Tbsp/2 oz scoop for extra large cookies.
Bake the 2 Tbsp/1 oz size dough balls for 10-13 minutes, bake the 4 Tbsp/2 oz size dough balls for 13-15 minutes or until the edges begin to just turn golden. They will look slightly undercooked, but will continue cooking once removed from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet.

Screenshots saved make great treats

Once upon a time I saw a video online of someone making this recipe. They tossed the recipe card up on the screen, I took a screen shot and decided some day I'd make them. That day was last Saturday. Sometimes you just need a baking challenge and that was mine. Turns out these are really easy to make. The dough came together very easily and while I wasn't sure how to form the 12-in roll, I figured it out, flattened them too. They really spread out way more than I thought they would - but cutting them apart was easy with a bench scrapper. I suppose you could use a pizza cutter too but the bench scrapper was easy, I sprayed it with a little vegetable oil and it worked well. Add the drizzle of almond icing when they are cool and these are great.

Scandinavian Almond Bars
Ingredients
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
Milk
½ cup sliced almonds, coarsely chopped

Almond Icing
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
½ teaspoon almond extract
Enough milk (3 to 4 teaspoons) to make icing of drizzling consistency

Directions
Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large mixer bowl beat butter or margarine until softened. Add sugar and beat till fluffy. Add egg and almond extract and beat well. Add flour mixture and beat till well mixed.
Divide dough into fourths. Form each into a 12-inch roll. Place two rolls 4 to 5 Inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten till 3 inches wide. Repeat with remaining rolls.
Brush fattened rolls with milk and sprinkle with almonds. Bake in a 325° oven for 12 to 14 minutes or till edges are lightly browned. While cookies are still warm, cut them crosswise at a diagonal Into 1-Inch strips. Cool. Drizzle with Almond Icing.