I smlove you

Ok, I'm not sure what the technical defintion of smlove is, but it tastes good. In my last post, I was testing out different brownie ideas for the NARN brownie bakeoff that took place yesterday. The Wayward Cafe was nice enough to let NARN use their space to host the event. I'll blog later on what I ate there beforehand.

I decided to take all of the toppings from the Chocolate Smlove Pie from Veganomicon and put it on top of a brownie - peanut butter caramel, maple glazed pecans and chocolate drizzle. This was a good move because I won :). Though, really, I feel like a cheater because Isa and Terry deserve the credit for coming up w/ a great recipe. We all know that they rock!

Since brownies are really messy to cut up - even if they are plain, I cut them up first and then put the layers of topping on.


There were lots of awesome brownies at the bakeoff. I took some pics early on, but as usual, I spaced taking pics after that.

I saw Yasmin there, but didn't get a chance to talk to her other than saying hi.

Minty Brownies w/ cute sprinkles - I'm a sucker for sprinkles. yum.

Voodoo Brownies. these had some kick to them that snuck up on you. delicious!
Raw Brownies
Scones - she can't find her secret ingredient in the store anymore, so she made scones. Which was a nice break from all the chocolate :) ~~~~~

NARN also had an auction this weekend. I made marble cupcakes from V'con and lemon gem cupcakes from VWAV. I tweaked the lemon frosting recipe so that it was edging towards being super lemon. Lemon is pictured below.

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I've been eating out a tad bit more lately, so you should be seeing some restaurant reviews soon...

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Poor Kobie just can't catch a break lately.

1. He is being treated by a dermatologist for his hair issues.

2. He is also scheduled to have some more big lumps removed. I would let him keep his lumps (rather than going through surgery), but unfortunately they are getting big and they are not in comfy spots. I think he knows they will be removed because everybody (vets, me, Andy) keeps touching them. Kobie is not stupid, ya know.

3. To top that off, he started limping yesterday. I took him to the vet today and it turns out that he somehow sprained his shoulder muscles on one side.

He's not very happy because with these issues come restrictions. He is being penned into the living room to restrict walking around too much. He can't go outside and lay around because the dermatologist said he has to avoid being wet. He's really going to hate the twice daily bandage changes when he has his surgery.

I'm hoping that after all this drama, he can have settle into a great summer with lots of barking and running around.

Until then, Mr. Kobie, you will have to sleep on your bed or the couch and not the stairs. (yes, that's his tongue)

Letting it all hang out

Calling all Seattleites! NARN is hosting a brownie baking contest this weekend. $10 to be a judge (aka stuff your face w/ brownies).

When: Sunday, Feb 8th @ 4:00pm
Where: Wayward Cafe (901 NE 55th St, U-District)

I've got something else in the works, but thought I'd tempt you with some cheeZecake brownies. For the cheezecake part, I used the recipe from Philadelphia cream cheese, but subbed in toffutti for the cheeZe and Ener'g egg replacer for the egg. I also added in some vanilla. They tasted ok. I'd make them again.

Since I suck at making brownies, I used a mix, "Ooey Gooey Chocolatey Chewy Brownies" by the Craving's Place. It has huge pieces of chocolate that stay melty. You can see one on top of the brownie below.

PS. if you can't make it, the night before they are having an auction. I'll be baking something for that too.

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Cooking classes have started up again at PCC. The first class that I took was a bread baking class taught by George de Pasquale from the Essential Baking Company. Not only did he know his stuff backwards, forwards, upside down and sideways, but he was really funny.

He smacked down lots of myths and BS about baking bread w/ a starter. He showed us how to bake artesian crusty bread, baker's math and how to wield a spray bottle. Very cool. If you live in the Seattle area, TAKE THIS CLASS!!!!

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Ever seen a greyhound hoozit? I have. You don't really have a choice when it's displayed for all to see for long periods of time (just in case you didn't notice right away).