Tableside Treats: Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

A few weeks ago, my boss had a baby shower at work (and now has a beautiful baby girl!) and due to me going on vacation, I didn't get the chance to throw into the pot to get her a gift. So, to make up for it, I offered to supply some treats.

Now, since I joined Pinterest, I went scanning all my favorite cooking blogs to save the recipes I wanted to make in one convenient area, so when it came time to decide what to make, I went scanning my "dessert" pins and found THESE.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
Recipe from Baked Perfection
Makes ~40 mini-brownies

1 box of your favorite brownie mix
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease 40 mini-muffin cups. (Grease liberally, as these WILL stick if not. PAM works great here.)

Prepare boxed brownie mix as directed. Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups (about 1 heaping teaspoon). Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top is set and a toothpick inserted into center comes out slightly wet. After brownies are out of the oven, wait for centers to fall. This will happen upon cooling. If not then tap the centers with the back of a teaspoon to make a hole for the peanut butter. (I ended up needing to use the teaspoon and it worked great)

Place peanut butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds then stir. While brownies are still warm spoon about half a teaspoon of peanut butter into the center of each brownie. Top with semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Cool completely in pan.

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These are heaven in bite-sized form. They're like Reese's Cups if Reese's Cups were made of brownies instead of chocolate. So good, they do not last. I went to work the day of the party with 36. I came home with two. TWO! The entire batch of 39 didn't last more than 24 hours. Not even the s'mores cookies were that popular (although I admit I didn't take them all in on one day). My own mother's made two batches for various events, and she said that both batches were gone by the time she managed to get to them. If you make this, be 100% sure to save a few JUST for you! And I don't need to tell you guys how perfect these are for a game night snack. They're a clean finger food, so just put them on a platter or in a bowl once they're cooled and you're good to go!

Happy rolling (and baking!)

I've Got BAAAAAALLS OF CAAAAAAKE

Ravi here.

Today, I get to talk to you about BAAAAAAALLS OF CAAAAAAAAKE. Okay okay enough of the Duke (for now). I recently tried this delicious cake ball recipe.

UNFORTUNATELY, I was too busy prepping for the party to take pictures, and then I was a little too drunk DURING the party to remember to take pictures. The partygoers ate them all. They also ate all the jelly shots.

Anyway, how to prep this delightfully simple recipe:
1)Bake a cake according to package directions
2)Crumble cake while still warm (not hot, you'll burn yourself, I learned the hard way) into a bowl
3)Mix the crumbled cake with a package of frosting
4)Form the mixture into balls
5)Dip into confectioners coating

I had to do a last minute substitute for 5... I melted some semisweet baking chocolate and drizzled that over the balls. Didn't seem to faze anyone!

REMEMBER! These little buggers are powerful. Sugar highs may be a side effect.

Happy Rolling!

Tuesday Tasties: Rosemary Bread!

Ravi here.

Little-known fact: there is a very soft spot in my heart for rosemary.  It is a delicious herb.  So delicious, in fact, there is a rosemary bush on our patio that provides me with a supply that I can never deplete.

Yes.  My love runs THAT deep.

Today, I'm going to share with you a recipe that has always been a big hit with family and friends... when I feel like sharing my precious.  I present to you: rosemary bread!

I first came across this recipe while looking for a rosemary-based side dish for a romantic dinner that I was helping a friend plan and cook for his girlfriend.  The link to the recipe is here.  I really can't explain it any better than they did, so I'm going to refrain from posting the whole thing.

Fair warning: it is a fairly dense loaf.

Happy Eating and Rolling!

Geek Eats: Easy Pizza

This weekend, with Matt and Bryan over, we decided to try a new Mediterranean restaurant nearby. I scanned the menu, but being addicted to a specific Mediterranean restaurant below my office, I didn't want to compete with my "usual," which was closed on Sundays. So as I scanned the menu, trying to find something that appealed to me, something in the "appetizer" menu caught my eye. It read: 7" Pita Pizza. My major Mediterranean addiction is pita bread; I like pizza. Jackpot.

We arrive home, I open my pizza, and it's perfect: pepperoni, finely diced onions and thick, gooey mozzarella cheese, if there's any tomato sauce at all it's very, very light handed. Considering this place is right next to a local pizza parlor, I didn't know what to expect, but I'm in love! And it gave me a great idea for future dinners, too. DM and I love pizza, but we usually get it frozen. In fact, I've got a frozen flatbread right next to me for lunch (and I'm wishing it were another from the Mediterranean place). When you find recipes to make your own, they usually involve a several-hour-long process to make the dough, directions for the sauce, basically telling you how to make everything but the meats from scratch. As a working woman, when I get home, the last thing I usually want to do is dig into dough and process some tomatoes. But you know, it made me realize, there are actually a lot of things you can use as a base to replace the dough and make an easy pizza, and because of their sizes, you can often personalize them to your guests and players!

- Bagels and english muffins have the benefit of being small enough you can use a toaster oven to make these versus heating up a full-size oven and you get two servings for each bagel or muffin.
- Pita bread's practically a pre-made flatbread or personal pan pizza dough. Use a very light hand with tomato sauce or even go with a garlic sauce (butter or cream) for a white pizza versus tomato based and just melt the cheese to crisp up the pita for a soft but not soggy pizza.
- Crescent roll dough (see Pizza Roll-ups)
- Tortillas make an amazing Mexican pizza. Fry 2 tortillas in a pan with oil until crisp. Top one tortilla with seasoned beef and refried beans, then cover them with the other tortilla. Spread cheese on top of the second tortilla, pop in the oven for a few minutes until the beans are warmed up and the cheese melted. Top with lettuce, salsa, sour cream, or any other desired cold toppings and serve.

While the Mexican pizza is best for small parties or a regular dinner, the other four options give you quick and easy alternatives to ordering pizza or pulling a frozen one out of the fridge when you've got a group to serve. If you've got an easy alternative single-serving pizza crust that I didn't mention (specifically easy because I've seen a potato crust pizza, but that's not quick or easy in the least), feel free to let me know in the comments. Otherwise, enjoy! 

Happy rolling

Tableside Treats: Party Edition

Well, readers, I promised you an awesome spread of gaming food from a party menu, and you're going to get it! While I didn't finish everything I wanted make for my party, I got most of it done, and at the end of the day, most of it was gone! I also had multiple requests for the recipes, so I can safely say the entire spread was well-accepted. All of these recipes will be gone in one or two bites, but make enough to fill up a bunch of hungry gamers.
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First off, a classic.
Pigs in a Blanket
1 package cocktail weiners
1-2 Pillsbury crescent roll dough

Open and roll out the crescent roll dough.
Cut it into strips and roll each strip around a cocktail weiner.
Bake according to Pillsbury directions for the dough.

These were the first dish gone. Kids and adults alike kept grabbing one to munch on. Better than hotdogs, I think. These don't even NEED toppings and condiments, which makes them great for serving at a game.
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Another classic in the lineup:
Deviled Eggs
Recipe From Here
12 large eggs
2 whole sweet pickles
6 tbsp mayonnaise
4 tsp sweet pickle relish
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp prepared horseradish
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
paprika powder

Remove eggs from refrigerator for an hour.
Place eggs into a large pot of warm water.
Bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes MAX.
Turn off heat leaving pot on the burner for 12 minutes.
Remove shells and cut eggs in half lengthwise.
Remove and mash yolks.
Finely dice two 3 inch sweet whole pickles
Mix yolks, diced pickles, and all other ingredients.
Place mix in a plastic bag, cut off a corner and fill eggs.
Lightly dust with Paprika powder.

This recipe makes perfect yolks, beautifully yellow, and they pop right out of the egg. This was the second emptied platter, and I made double this recipe! Not everyone likes eggs, mayo, or sweet pickles, though (DM, not a fan of any of the above), so make sure your friends are fans before putting all the time into shelling the eggs.
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And finally, a new favorite from my recipe buddy, Cat!
Turkey Butlers / Turkey Cigars / Smoked Turkey Rolls
1/2 cup butter, melted and allowed to cool at room temp
1/4 lbs shaved (thin sliced) smoked deli turkey
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/4 cup sweet minced onion
1/4 cup mayo
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 loaf white bread
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350.
Line a baking sheet with nonstick foil.
Chop shaved turkey and place in a medium bowl. Add cream cheese, onion, mayo, worcestershire, and mustard. Using a fork, mix and mash well.
Trim crusts off bread slices.
Place six slices at a time in between two sheets of plastic wrap and roll over them with a rolling pin until 1/8th thick.
Spread cheese and turkey mix on flattened bread slices.
Roll slices into a cigar shape. (I ate one at this stage because it wouldn't fit on the baking sheet, and it's just as good for serving here as when completed!)
Dip ends into the butter mix (for taste and to seal them).
Place seam-side down on baking sheet.
Sprinkle with the parm cheese.
Bake 15-20 minutes until golden.

Baked or not, these are amazing. The flavor of the turkey and cream cheese, plus the crunch of the onions makes this a winner. Rolling them up makes them into a sandwich you can easily eat with one hand, leaving the other free to roll a save against deliciousness (hint: you will fail. The Turkey Butler's Taste rating is too high.)
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Sadly, I have 0 pictures of these foods due to my miscalculating the time to make them, running late, and not thinking about it after setting everything up. When I make these again (and I will, you can count on that), I'll be sure to update with pictures.

Happy rolling (and eating!)

Good Food Blogs

I'm gonna be straight up: I had a dish planned for today. I did not, however, get to the grocery store to get the ingredients. That's gonna have to wait and be my next update. So, in place of a recipe today, I'm putting out a few links to some of my favorite food blogs.

Baked Perfection
A baking blog you may recognize the name of - this is the blog I linked for the s'mores cookies recipe! Risa, the blog's creator, has about three years worth of delicious-looking recipes to scour through with sweets to satisfy any craving or fit any occasion. It's one of my most recent additions to my blog list, but I expect you'll see other recipes from there on here as I practice more with my baking skills.

Cake Wrecks
How many times have you gone to the grocery store or the mall, scanned the cake (or cookie cake, at the mall) rack, and seen utter messes, egregious misspellings, multiple cupcakes squished together in an attempt to shape them into a recognizable form, or brown icing plopped down in a way that makes it look like, well, not icing, to say the least? Cake Wrecks, a humor blog, brings these delicious disasters to the world's attention. Any professionally sold cake is free game to this blog: the more disastrous, the better! At the very least, if you're planning on ordering a cake from a bakery soon, give Cake Wrecks a look. Because if the baker asks if you want anything on top, be sure not to answer "I want sprinkles." 

Hudocks to Haddocks: The Life, Times and Food
A general life blog run by a friend of mine who has a knack for 1) throwing amazing parties and 2) cooking! Many of the recipes she's posted on her blog are in my cookbook compilation, and making these recipes has pushed me outside of my comfort zone of cooking to put something new and regularly delicious on the plate. Some of DM and my favorites include the Creamy Taco Mac and the Broccoli and Shrimp Scampi Pasta. Not all of the recipes will work well around a gaming table, but they'll be hits around the dinner table!

Happy rolling!

Nerdy Nibbles: S'mores Cookies

Let me ask you a question: Who DOESN'T like S'mores? The ooey, gooey, melty, crunchy marshmallow-roasted-on-a-stick-between-two-graham-crackers-with-chocolate goodness is one of my childhood favorites, and something I haven't been able to have for years. Honestly, when you go to the grocery store and do your weekly shopping, how often do you think, "Hm, I should get some marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars and make s'mores"? For me, not often. In any event, most nerdy pursuits don't usually take you anywhere near a campfire, and s'mores are too messy to try and use as table treats. Or at least, they are when you leave them as normal s'mores. When you make them into something else, though...

Introducing the S'mores cookie! Soft, chewy, buttery melt-in-your mouth deliciousness. I was linked to these on the blog Baked Perfection by a friend and fell in love. I knew these were going to be my next entry, and, coincidentally, my first ever real, honest-to-goodness baking adventure. I have never in my life made real cookies. These were a triumph!

At their base, these are chocolate chip cookies with graham cracker crumbs in the dough. During the last few minutes in the oven, they're topped with marshmallows and chopped Hershey bars. They're surprisingly simple to make and they're good as both mini-cookies and full-sized ones. The recipe makes around 4 dozen - I made 30 mini-cookies and 18 large ones.

S'mores Cookies (from Baked Perfection)

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash of cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups miniature chocolate chips (regular sized chocolate chips work too, I found out accidentally)
• 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
• 2-3 Hershey bars, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon. In a second larger bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly beat in the flour and graham cracker mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop in balls onto either ungreased cookie sheet or cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. (I used the foil.)

Bake for 8 minutes and carefully remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of Hershey bar into each cookie. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes until fully cooked. Let cool and enjoy! Share with friends if you can...

Happy rolling (and baking!)

(This recipe shared on Sweet As Sugar Cookies)

Nerdy Nibbles: Cooking with Comics

One thing I love about webcomics is how often artists will band together for a cause. Almost every major disaster the past few years has been met with fundraising by webcomics, and collaboration events have sprung up for countless charities. Sometimes the artists will draw comics together for an extended period of time like a telethon. Sometimes they'll make posters or exclusive content for donators. And occasionally, you'll get something really unique.

If you couldn't tell from the banner, what we have here is a cookbook, which is why I'm talking about it today. Each recipe in the cookbook is in comic format, drawn by many webcomic artists both new and old with characters familiar to fan of their series, including several that I'm a fan of currently. From breakfast to dinner, the cookbook professes to have 50+ recipes and 90 full-color pages worthy of drooling over. And the greatest part? The proceeds from purchasing this collection of recipes will go towards feeding hungry families by supporting regional food banks!

Right now, it's available for preorder here and should be available at the end of the month. For now, it will primarily be available for purchase on the website, but if you're in the Chicago area, the first printing will be available at Chicago's Comic & Entertainment Expo March 18th-20th. According to Kurt from TGT Media, the proceeds from this event will go towards Chicago's regional food banks, and plans are being made to expand to other regions in the USA and Canada. You may also be able to find it later in your local comic book shop or other retailers.

I love comics, I love cooking, and I love supporting good causes. I can guarantee this cookbook will find its way onto my shelf, and I hope you'll consider supporting the Canadian and American National Food Banks, webcomic artist collaborations, and good food by picking up a copy for yourself.

Happy rolling!

Nerdy Nibbles - No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Still working on that name...Any opinions on which you like most? I've set up a poll on the right side of the blog for you to pick your favorite. We're having a hard time deciding, so we're taking our readers' opinion into account.

So! I feel officially like a blogger now. I realized yesterday "Oh wait! It's my day to update, and I don't have a food to post!" Scramble maneuvers initiated, a grocery store quest activated, and I came out the other end with cookies. You get cookies today for being good readers! And I've officially done something just to make a blog post about it. Yes, I may be a little crazy.

I've heard of No-Bake cookies before, but I've never made them. Heck, the Oreo Truffles were the most complicated dessert I had ever made. Well, maybe they still are. This cookie recipe is easy as pie (easier I guess. I've never made pie) and sure to delight your friends. I'd say they're healthy tableside treats, but I think the 2 cups of sugar counteracts that.

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

(picture goes here)

• 1 stick or 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 tablespoons cocoa
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the first 4 ingredients to a boil. Boil continuously for one minute while stirring occasionally.
2. Add the last three ingredients and mix well.
3. Using a cookie scoop, ice cream scoop, or spoon, drop dollops of the mixture onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. (to keep the baking sheet clean, double up on the parchment paper. The oils will leak through the parchment paper.
4. Let them harder, and they're good to go! You can also freeze or refridgerate them well.

Optionally, you can add a few other things - raisins, coconut, caramel, whatever you like with your chocolate, peanut butter and oatmeal. This recipe makes between 15 to 24 cookies depending on how large you want them to be. Whatever the size, they're delicious!

Geek Eats - Pizza Roll-ups

Let me start with a simple question: aside from people with most unfortunate allergies, who DOESN'T like pizza? It's the perfect food - bread, meat, cheese, veggies, you can put whatever you want on it and call it a meal. It's also a great thing to serve in a group. Homemade, frozen or delivered, you can guarantee there won't be many leftovers. Today's recipe from me is a twist on homemade pizza that's even easier to share.

From my friend at A Presley in the Land of the Delta Blues, we have Pizza Roll-ups.

• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
• 1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls

1. In large skillet, cook beef; drain. Remove from heat. Add tomato sauce, cheese and oregano.
2. Separate crescent dough into 8 rectangles, pinching seams together. Place about 3 tbsp of meat mixture along on side of each rectangle. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Cut each roll into 3 pieces.
3. Place seams side down 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 15 min. or until golden brown.

It's not the easiest recipe to work with. It's messy, it only calls for 1/2lb of ground beef when most pre-packaged meat is 1lb, and don't get me started on trying to work with the dough after it warms up. But it's good, and it leaves plenty of space for experimentation! Replace the ground beef with pepperoni or sausage for a real pizza taste. Brush the crescent roll dough with garlic butter for garlic bread pizza. Add a wider variety of spices. Just be careful not to overcook the rolls. That was my minor hiccup with trying this recipe - not enough spice and slightly overcooked biscuits.When it's done, though, you have a delicious set of homemade pizza rolls for friends (and you, if you get any before they're all gone!) to share!

(We're...still working on the name for Tuesdays.)

Happy rolling!

Tuesday Food Day (Name still in discussion) - Now Edible!

Good news, bad news, readers. The bad news, we still don't have a name for our Tuesday special yet. The good news, you won't be reading about a hot mess of a meal this week. I'm starting us off with an easy snack that's perfect for around a gaming table.

There are some snackfoods that are undoubtedly "gamer fuel". Anything cheesy, crunchy, sugary, or overall unhealthy is welcome around the table, including but not limited to: Cheetos, Doritos, Cheez-Its, beef jerky, pizza, and countless sweets. What I would like to do with this segment is introduce both new gaming foods and new ways to cook with old favorites.

Oreos are always on the top 10 lists of gaming foods (or at least, on two of the three I found with a Google search.) They're delicious, crunchy, perfect alone or with milk, and a normal bag can last a gaming group, well, let's be honest, a few minutes. Allow me to introduce the Oreo Truffle, better known as chocolate-covered deliciousness. I was introduced to them from my friend at Hudocks to Haddocks: The Life, Times and Food, made a batch for Christmas, and was promptly ordered to make more. The recipe is easy, and any fan of Oreos and chocolate should love it!

Oreo Truffles

• 1 package Oreo cookies, regular
• 8oz (1 container) Philidelphia cream cheese, softened
• 2 bags of semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

1. Take 6 of the cookies, finely crush them, and set aside.

2. Take the rest of the cookies and finely crush them.
3. Mix the crushed cookies and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 1-inch balls. After this, stick them in the freezer for a little bit so that they harden. It makes it easier when it comes to dipping.
4. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and dip the balls in the melted chocolate. Place the balls on a wax-covered baking sheet and then sprinkle with the crumbs that were set aside.
5. Refrigerate until firm & ready to serve!

This makes about 40 truffles. It's easy to cut the recipe in half if you don't need that many. Twenty lasted DM and I a week, but then we were holding back! We don't have a food processor, so I instead used a rolling pin and some ziploc bags to crush up the cookies. Reviews of this recipe have been:
"F*ing delicious!" - DM
"I need this recipe. Also, be glad you're married, otherwise we'd be going somewhere that gay marriage is allowed so you can make me more of these forever." - Indeah's coworker #1
"The best chocolate treat I've had in years!" - Indeah's coworker #2

So if Oreos tickle your tummy in good ways, head to your kitchen and give these a try for your next game night! You won't regret it.

Happy rolling! (and eating!)

Returning To Your Regularly Scheduled Programming OR The Beginning Of Tuesday Tasties

Ravi here.

Thanks for your patience, as we've had life happen to us in particularly painful ways the last few months or so. I have made a full recovery and plan on posting regularly... however, Indeah and I still need to discuss an actual schedule to stick to. Perhaps one day a week dedicated to stories, or interviews, tasties, etc. I promise to keep the alcoholic recipes to no more than 50% of total recipe volume. Because I know Indeah will kill me otherwise. Your liver may beat me to it.

In other news, I fought that same demon from last time (the biggest mistake one), and WON. Take that, foppish demon dude.

...you know what. I'm officially declaring Tuesday Tasties. (Please don't kill me Indeah) Every Tuesday (assuming I'm still living), I'm going to post a recipe or edible product (or Indeah can, if she likes this). I like food. Count me in.

Today, because I have effectively just made something up and have already promised to keep alcoholic content to 50% or lower, I will be providing a silly recipe that I have every intention of force-feeding to my friends because it is all the worst stereotypes of gamer grub in one fell swoop. Behold, courtesy of ramenlicious.com: Doritos Ramen Salad.

Because I know some of you are gonna just jump over that without even clicking, you at least need to see this picture.


YUMMY. Oh dear GOD! What the hell IS that?!

Hopefully, next week, I'll have the results of the taste tests. I predict dead friends, or stomach pumps.

Happy Rolling!