A Double Martha Day: Breakfast Quinoa and my Favorite Brownies

I have a love/hate relationship with Martha Stewart. Sure she is snooty and out of touch with the real world, but she also has some really great recipes. Today I had the pleasure of making two of Martha's recipes in one day: one new one and one old standby.

A few weeks ago my sister pinned Martha's recipe for Breakfast Quinoa on Pinterest. Being a lover of both quinoa and hot hearty breakfast dishes, I put this on my mental list of things to make soon (and also repinned it on Pinterest). Earlier this week my friend Kelsey wrote about another recipe for breakfast quinoa on her blog, reminding me that this was something I really wanted to try. So, this morning I made Martha's recipe, with two slight modifications. The recipe calls for fresh blueberries and as February isn't the best time to be buying blueberries, I opted to use frozen mixed berries I already had in my freezer. I put them in the fridge to defrost overnight so they would be ready to go in the morning. Martha also recommends whole or lowfat milk and I used skim. I am pleased to report that the breakfast quinoa was very yummy and I most definitely will be making it again. Next time I think I would put a little more cinnamon and add a splash of vanilla. I am looking forward to trying it with different toppings - I think raisins, almonds, bananas, and apples would all complement it well.

Brownies are one of those basic desserts for which all bakers should have a go-to recipe. My go-to is the recipe for Fudgy Chocolate Brownies from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. The recipe is also available on Martha's website. These are really the best brownies I have ever had and they consistently come out wonderfully. The only time I ever bake brownies with a different recipe is when I make peppermint brownies around the holidays. Martha wasn't kidding around when she called them fudgy.  The key to these brownies is making sure you do not overcook them. I made a batch today to take to my triathlon team's board meeting. Unfortunately most people were more enticed by another person's cupcakes, so not many of them were eaten. Their loss if you ask me!  That just leaves more to share at the office.

Super Bowl Special: Pepperoni Pizza Puffs and Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

Being a New Englander, it still hurts to talk about the Super Bowl. But, although I may wish to forget the game, I do have fond memories of the food I ate that day. As my family usually has dinner together on Sunday nights, Super Bowl Sunday is no exception. We all love to eat, so even family members who have no interest in watching the game can get excited about the array of tasty things from which to choose. This year, I decided to contribute one savory and one sweet baked good, pepperoni pizza puffs and chocolate Guinness cupcakes.

The pizza puffs were courtesy of Rachael Ray, with a few minor modifications. I added 1/2 tsp each of dried basil and oregano and a generous pinch of red pepper flakes. Because I hate wasting food, I did not want to buy an entire quart of whole milk just for the 3/4 cup this recipe calls for, so I used a combination of things I had on hand: 1/2 cup skim milk and 1/4 cup heavy cream. I also did not use the fresh basil and red bell pepper....I despise raw bell peppers. The puffs were were quick and easy to make and I would have to say they were a hit. They disappeared pretty quickly from the spread of Super Bowl goodies. Although Rachael recommends dipping them in tomato sauce, we discovered they are also quite tasty dipped in ranch dressing. These might just make a reappearance at next year's party. Hopefully the Patriots will as well.

What better dessert to serve for the Super Bowl than one that contains beer? Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness Cake has become a family favorite in recent years. A couple of years ago I also tried Smitten Kitchen's recipe for Irish Car Bomb cupcakes. These are chocolate Guinness cupcakes filled with Irish whiskey ganache and topped with Baileys buttercream. While tasty, the car bomb cupcakes were a lot of work and really heavy on the booze. Two of my family members are not big on alcohol, so boozy cupcakes would not have been the best choice. So, I decided on a hybrid. I used the Smitten Kitchen cupcake recipe and Nigella's cream cheese frosting recipe. I doubled the frosting recipe, with the exception of the cream. I know from past experience that this frosting is pretty loose, and as I planned to pipe mine onto cupcakes, I needed it to be a little firmer. As expected, the cupcakes were delicious. They were a hit with my family, and my co-workers also enjoyed the leftovers on Monday. What better to ease the pain of the Patriots loss than a cupcake?