New Light

My father came over to do some electrical work (although it seems that an electrician never wants to do that) this week. Our chandelier is up in the dining room and a couple of other things were fixed. My mother and grandmother tagged along to have dinner. I prepared Cornish hens, pasta salad, and grilled zucchini. We even moved the patio table and chairs into the sun porch so we could eat "outside" (the deck was being stained so we couldn't eat there). We're all set up to eat and it starts to downpour.We stayed in the sun porch, but my grandmother came inside to eat at the kitchen island. She was a little to nervous to eat with the thunder and lightening!
Quick update: One more master's class down, one to go. Deck is stained, posts are fixed. Flamingo room is slowly being painted. It's been a busy week. We ventured out today to find some furniture to fill this new house. Unfortunately, we were less than impressed with the selection. We either couldn't find what we wanted or it wasn't available in the color we wanted. Disappointing, but it was a good way to price out furniture.
Our friend Nick, who has been working in Korea for the past two years, convinced me to try a Korean dessert on Friday. It's called Red Bean Ice Cream. It looks like an ice cream Popsicle and has chunks of red beans in it. Texturally, I did not enjoy it. However, I have some issues with things that are creamy (yogurt, pudding, cream filling, and cooked beans). It was sweet in a way, but not like our ice cream here in the US. I only had about four bites, but I tried it. Needless to say, that is not the recipe this week, sorry Nick!


Cookies and Cream Brownies
from bluebonnetsandbrownies.com

Brownie batter (use your favorite recipe or a mix)


20 Cookies and Cream Hershey Kisses
15 Oreos
1/2 stick salted butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1-2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar






Preheat oven according to brownie directions. Spray a 9 x 13 pan (or 8 x 8 if you want them thicker) with nonstick cooking spray. Roughly chop Hershey Kisses and 10 of the Oreos.











Fold into the brownie batter and pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until brownies are set and place on a cooling rack until completely cooled.











In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla on medium speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat on low until just mixed. Add one tablespoon of heavy cream and beat on high for one minute.

Crush remaining 5 Oreos and fold into frosting. If frosting is too thick, add another tablespoon of cream.
Spread frosting on brownies.