Brownies with Coconut Pecan Topping

I'm in love with Brownies. I think if that was the only option for food I'd be just fine. I have been known to eat a whole pan of brownies by myself within a few days. I'm not proud of it, but I make some delicious brownies and I'm in love with them. Just don't tell my husband! ;)

I found this brownie recipe that is SOO simple and is so versatile! I usually just make the recipe as is and call it a day. But sometimes I throw in a cheesecake filling or today I threw on a Coconut Pecan topping. So kinda like German Chocolate cake, but German Chocolate BROWNIES. Yes, delicious.



Brownie Base:
1 c. plus 3 tablespoons butter, cubed
3/4 c. cocoa
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 c. flaked coconut
1 c. pecans, chopped
4 tablespoons corn syrup
4 tablespoons milk

In a saucepan melt butter. Remove from heat then add in cocoa. Let cool while you mix everything else up. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to egg mixture. Stir in vanilla and the cooled chocolate mixture. Mix well. Pour into grease 9x13 pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

While brownies are cooking prepare your topping. Mix the melted butter with the brown sugar. Then add coconut, pecans, corn syrup, and milk and stir well. When the brownies have about 1 minute left pull out of oven and drop spoonfuls of topping on the brownies. Spread evenly. Put your oven on broil and place back in oven for 2-4 minutes or until the topping starts bubbling and browns.

Enjoy with a large glass of milk!

Cafe Rio Pork Salad

I've seen some recipes like this on the internet and I decided to give this a stab. One recipe said to use 16 oz. salsa and the other said to use 14 oz. enchilada sauce. So, I decided I would combine both!

Here's what I did...

Pork
3.5 lbs pork loin
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1 onion
2 garlic cloves

Cut the pork into large chunk crock pot and add water to about half way up the side of the pork.

Cut onion in to 4 pieces and crush garlic and add to crockpot along with seasonings. Cook pork on low for about 6 hours or until tender.

Drain water and remove onions and garlic. Shred pork and return to crock pot.

Sauce
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1/2 c. salsa
3/4 cup Dr. Pepper
1 cup brown sugar

In a bowl mix the enchilada sauce, salsa, soda, and sugar. Add sauce to pork in the crock pot. Cook 1 hour longer.

Cilantro Lime Rice
2 c. rice
4 c. water
Bunch of cilantro
Lime juice

I put my rice and water in the rice cooker and let it do it's magic. Then I cut up the cilantro and put in some lime juice. I have a hard time finding fresh limes here in the Philippines, so I used store bought lime juice. I gave the little plastic lime a few squeezes and it seemed to taste about right.

Ranch Dressing
1 packet hidden valley ranch dressing
1 c. milk
1 c. mayo
2 tomatillos
1 tsp. crushed garlic
¾ bunch fresh cilantro
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. lime juice
salt & pepper

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend well. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Pico/Salsa
6 tomatoes
2 onions
1 jalepeno
2 garlic cloves
salt
1/2 bunch of cilantro

Dice up tomoatoes, onions, jalepeno, and cilantro. Crush your garlic. Add salt and give it a good mix. Let sit for about an hour in the refrigerator.

The grand finale...
First throw a tortilla on a plate, then add your favorite bean(black or pinto). Next add a nice helping of rice. Top that with some pork and pico. Throw on some lettuce and ranch and you got yourself a TASTY salad. You could wrap this up into a burrito as well.

YUMMY!

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

These are my FAVORITE sugar cookies of all time. I have been making these sugar cookies since I was a young girl thanks to my dad. These are his favorite! I love soft sugar cookies and the sour cream with the shortening makes these cookies super soft, almost like cake! Seriously they are the best if you are looking for soft sugar cookies.

What you'll need...

1 c. shortening

2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

4 2/3 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. sour cream

Combine the shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix it up real nice til it looks pretty(light and fluffy).

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. After it's all mixed up, add to shortening and sugar mixture. Beat it until it's all combined. Add your sour cream and mix until you have a delicious looking cookie dough. You may need to add a litte more flour so it looks and feels right.

Next step...REFRIGERATE for 1 hour. I let mine refrigerate for 2 days because I didn't have time to make the actual cookies.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Once the dough has chilled you can start rolling out your cookies! Flour a surface and roll out so it's 1/4 inch thick. Use your favorite cookie cutter or glass cup like I did.

Use a spatula to put the cookies onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Let cool then frost with your favorite frosting. I took the easy way out and used Betty Crocker cream cheese whipped frosting and let me say it sure is tasty! Enjoy!

Makes about 72 cookies. I froze half the cookie dough because we can't eat THAT many cookies in a few days at our house.

Tara 101

This is my attempt to showcase what I love to do! At least 2 or 3 times a week I'm in the kitchen baking something yummy! I'm young and am trying to compile the best recipes possible for my family, so I am always trying a new recipe! Let me know if there's something you would like me to make and I'll do it!