Sour Potatoes

For our family, June and July mean family birthday madness. So, we are basically in BBQ’n, cake eating, white man’s overbite party mode until the second week of July. Yes, we are coming to the close of our annual family party season and though it is always a worthy opponent, I must say, this year, it really gave me a run for my money. It’s like if you’ve ever had that experience of playing in the ocean and swimming out too far and the waves keep crashing over you and for a minute you’re not quite sure which way is up, and you lose your bathing suit a little bit. It’s kinda like that only with parties instead of scary, drowning scenarios. Yeah, it’s exactly like that.

Well, making crépes on Adam’s birthday was like bobbing up and seeing some guy on a fishing boat, about to throw a doughnut and pull me to safety…it gave me the strength to make it through the last two parties of the season.

I, myself, had never ingested a crépe (or is it a crépes, I don’t speak French) so I wasn’t quite sure what all the excitement was about. Now I understand. Crépes are ridiculously delicious. With a plethora of filling choices and the flexibility of swinging both sweet and savory, crépes have become a new favorite food canvas. They can also be used to satisfy your hankering for food of an ethnic nature or fulfill you unmet daily dietary needs. In the mood for some French/Mexican cuisine? Try a Crépes Mexicani. Haven’t had your required serving of veggies (or dairy, for that matter) today? Stuff that French pancake with some cheese and broccoli. There are any number of scrumptious combinations but being of a classical nature myself, I chose to go straight up strawberries and cream and here’s how I went about it…

Strawberry and Cream Cheese Crépes Magnifique

Crépes

• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons water
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 4 cups of fresh strawberries, coarsely chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup sugar

I like to begin with the sauce to give the strawberries plenty of time to release all of that delicious juice. Place berries, sugar, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl and mix gently. Set aside. (By the way, this also works great with other kinds of berries and makes a mean sauce, which our family l-o-v-e-s over ice cream)

Sacre bleu…that’s delicious! Happy Birthday, Adam!!!

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Yahoo, it’s Fourth of July weekend and so I thought I would send you all a little chocolate love. These brownies are the best and somehow our good friends over at King Arthur Flour have managed to make them foolproof, too! I have made these brownies many a time and they have yet to fail me, always a crowd pleaser, they are perhaps the perfect date to take to your holiday BBQ. So when your gazing up into all of those colors bursting in air, shove into your gaping mouth one of these choco-explosions and double your pleasure!

Okay, time to bust out those 9 x 13’s, we got some baking to do!

Best Fudge Brownies Ever

• 1 cup (8 ounces) butter (I use salted)
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (increase to 1 teaspoon if you use unsalted butter)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached All Purpose flour (preferably King Arthur)
• 2 cups (12 oz- bag) chocolate chips

Preheat the over to 350 and lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan.

In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then all the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat briefly, just until it’s hot, but not bubbling; it will become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the butter and sugar a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl.

Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Add the eggs, beating until smooth, then add the flour and chips, beating until well combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the brownies for 28-30 minutes, the brownies should feel set on the edges and in the center. Remove them from the oven and after 5 minutes loosen the edges with a table knife; this helps prevent the brownies from seeking in the middle as they cool. Cool completely before cutting and serving. They say this should yield 2 dozen brownies but I’ve never been able to get more than one dozen out of one batch, I must cut some big brownies! I’ve also been known to schmear a little Cream Cheese Frosting (and maybe a few red, white, and blue stars in honor of the Fourth!) on these guys and I would encourage you to do the same!

Happy 4th of July!

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