slutty brownie

212:365 slutty brownie

vanilla bean ice cream and salted caramel additions make this the sluttiest brownie, right?

i present to you all a triple layered concoction of dessert insanity. chocolate chip cookies? love.  reese's pb cups? love. brownies? love. i mean what's not to love? this is an intense amount of sugar for those days when you just feel like being a ridiculous glutton. i added vanilla bean ice cream and salted caramel just to make it extra outrageous. you guys know the website This Is Why You're Fat? this cookie/brownie concoction is meant for that site. i actually don't suggest anybody make this because if you do, i'd be responsible for inducing diabetes into your lives. and i don't like responsibility.

my friend: can we make these?

me: absolutely!

my friend: what kind of brownie mix and cookie mix should i buy?

me: oh hell no, i do NOT do boxed. we're doing this right. 

chocolate chip cookie layer

reese's pb cups, pb oreos and pb easter eggs only bc we ran out of the other stuff. haha!

brownie layer

slutty brownies

ingredients:

for cookie layer: 

- 1/2 c unsalted butter at room temp

- 1/4 c brown sugar

- 3/4 c white sugar

- 1 egg 

- 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 1/4 c flour

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1 c semi sweet chocolate chips

for brownie layer:

- 10 tbs unsalted butter

- 1 1/4 c white sugar

- 3/4 c cocoa powder

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 large eggs

- 1/2 c flour

for middle layer:

Reese's peanut butter cups or oreos to fill

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. line a 9x9 baking pan with foil and butter the foil

3. cookie layer: cream together butter, white sugar and brown sugar. mix in eggs and vanilla until fully incorporated. add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and mix until just evenly incorporated. stir in chocolate chip cookies.

4. evenly press cookie batter into the bottom of the baking dish

5. line cookie batter with Reese's or Oreos

6. brownie layer: melt butter in microwave. mix in cocoa powder and sugar. add salt, vanilla and eggs until fully combined. add flour and mix until just incorporated. 

7. pour brownie batter over cookie/oreo layer and evenly distribute 

8. bake for approx. 40 mins, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean

9. serve with ice cream

this is sure to put you in a diabetic coma

211:365 #accidentalawesome

211:365 #accidentalawesome

after having posted this picture, a friend of mine pointed out that the pole including it's banner looks like an arrow going into the heart. she thought that i purposely angled the photo to include it. but truth be told, i just wanted the sides of the heart to follow the lengths of the corner. accidentally awesome!

neuroticies

-while i do it nearly every day, i despise drinking out of water bottles. i always feel like i'm going to gulp down too much and choke. preference, glass and a straw. i feel the same way about bok choy. every time i eat it (which is now never) i feel as though my life is about to end due to suffocation.

-little things clumped together creep me out. like the seeds on the back of rose leaves. so much so that i just, legit, shuddered at the thought of them. (and then i did it again after rereading that sentence.) or a bag of chia seeds. eff they're so gross looking! oh, or when clouds evenly disperse across the sky. don't know what i mean? take a look at this picture. doesn't freak you out? well i'm nearly shaking in my pants over here after looking at that image. yeah, it's a totally normal thing to be afraid of lots of little things. this is what i'm told...by myself, to myself anyway.

-true, i dip things in ketchup. but the moment i'm done, the idea of the ketchup sitting on the plate makes me feel sick. not in the literal sense. just in the oh-what-the-hell-that-smell-is-disgusting-sense. i'm not sure what it is. but if someone leaves a plate with it in the kitchen sink, i want to hurl. maybe i have an aversion to ketchup in general though because one of my locker mates at work has left a packet of ketchup in the locker and i hid it in the back so that i wouldn't see it.

207:365 drip

207:365 drip

Ritual  is one of my favorite coffee spots, along with Blue Bottle, Philz and Sightglass. unfortunately today i had an iced coffee and it was not very good. but their mochas and lattes are always on point.  

hipster people getting hipster coffee

206:365 i come bearing cream puffs

206:365 i come bearing cream puffs

yeah...at every opportunity possible i surround myself with desserts. this day i used visiting Libby, Jeff and Tuki as an excuse to need to buy cream puffs. guests should bring gifts, right? right? 

Libby: thanks for bringing those for us, that's so sweet of you. i was actually craving those.

me (in panic at the idea of not eating one): ummm just FYI one of those is mine. 

205:365 bench

205:365 bench

i always pass this bench whenever i run down Great Highway and i've always thought it was cool. it's in someone's front yard, so i hope they didn't catch me crouched down by their bench lookin all stalker.

girls in LA

Eva, Kris and i

i love getaways with the girls! Kris, Eva and i took a trip to LA this weekend. Eva had a wedding to attend and we turned it into a road trip. we left on friday night at 4am and got to our destination around 10:30am. once in San Juan Capistrano (where the wedding was), we decided to get some brunch at Bonjour Cafe. 

at Bonjour Cafe

probably one of the better french toasts i've had. 

we got nostalgic and picked up some Ring Pops. remember these? they were so much fun!

we get geeky. 

like, really geeky. my Special Friend proposed to me! why do i call her my SF? once upon a time, before they were engaged, Kris' sister's boyfriend was known as her "special friend." years later, one christmas or thanksgiving or whatever her mom introduced me to some family members as "Kristina's special friend." by logic, if a boyfriend=special friend and regina=special friend, then we must be way more than just regular friends in her mom's eyes. lol!! we're some silly fools!

while Eva was at the wedding, we met up with AJ and his girlfriend, Michelle, for dinner at The Hat. i can't even remember the last time i saw AJ. we know him from Cameron House, where we were all summer camp leaders. we also used to hang out with our peers in a group called SACRED. oh the days of "club" and CH. sometimes i really miss those times. not everybody has the opportunity to be involved in a youth group like that and i'm lucky to have been able to experience that with such great people. we all used to be so involved in each other's lives but that's vastly changed over the last decade. anyhow, it was fun catching up and reminiscing. plus, his girlfriend seems pretty great (thumbs up, AJ!!).

okay, can i just point out my stupid little faux bang? that's my baby hair or "new hair" growing in and it's at an odd length where it seems like i tried to cut bangs and just gave up. it looks dumb.

 also, note to self: Reg, that shirt makes you look like enormous. do not wear that again!

pastrami dip. gigantic.

chili cheese fries with pastrami. holy hell this was incredibly big. between four people we barely made a dent in this dish!

me, Kris, Michelle, AJ

AJ bought us egg tarts and buns from some place called 85. these were really good! the bun, filled with custard, was really light and oh so very good! (thanks, AJ, that was really sweet of you! and it was extra nice of you to get some for Eva as well considering you've never met her before!)

the next day we ventured to The Do Over, an outdoor party thrown on sundays. 

my gorgeous cousin!!!

my lovely Special Friend!

they sold carafes of sangria. holy hell those were $30/each. after our initial drinks our tab was $212 for three people, wtfffffff!!!

fun! at a slight drunk even before starting the carafes. oh man....

the girl at the taco stand sounded like an idiot, but maybe that's just the Los-Angeles-valley-girl sound. "umm they're three dollar te-cos." these tacos were pretty fantastic, btw.

Eva got quarantined and we came to find her and keep her company.

after drunken debauchery, we somehow managed to make our way over to Roscoe's for chicken and waffles. 

waiting. 

203:365 yahoo

kris: i want a Yahoo

me: you mean a yoohoo?

kris: no, a Yahoo

the Obama

long story short, Kris lingered over the table and ate approx 1/2 a chicken wing, got up and said "i'll be sleeping by the car," walked away (during which time she paid for our bill. thank you very much, Kris!) and got lost. and before you think i'm a shitty friend, know that i offered her my keys but she refused. we quickly ate our food and went on a wild goose chase finding her ass. found it, and went for ice cream sandwiches.

204:365 milk

ice cream sandwiched between french macarons at Milk!!! SO. DAMN. GOOD!!

while i was enamored by the ice cream sandwiches and making my way to view them in their display, i tripped over someone's foot. it happened to be that of Bobby Lee whom you may have seen on Chelsea Lately. 

thai tea, grasshopper, salted caramel and coffee toffee. 

i truly wish we had a Milk in SF. again, so damn good!

the next day we just roamed around Santa Monica a bit before heading home. 

lunch at Blue Plate Oysterette where we ordered way. too. much. food., as always.

clam chowder

lobster mac n cheese

3 lobster rolls, please!

fun!

202:365 ferris wheel

202:365 ferris wheel

pretty things.

dinner with the Roomies

meet Natasha and Fern (and myself, lookin like a hot mess). as you can see, we are a multicultural roommate situation. we have yellow, white and brown representatives in the house. a good mix of culture, though we're all super Americanized. i mean just look at Fern, he's got on a pink v-neck sweater with a matching plaid button-up underneath. that's pretty far from what i'd consider your stereotypic Mexican. 

anyhow, we decided to have a Roomie dinner so that everybody in the house knew each other for comfort sake. Natasha is my coworker and Fern i've known since freshman year of high school, so i already know the both of them pretty well. but i think it's necessary that they know a bit more about each other aside from their names so that it's not bizarre when they pass the stranger living in the house. just imagine an awkward meeting of the eyes when they both reach for what they think is their banana. i'd like to avoid that and would prefer a non-awkward household. so dinner was the remedy.

enter Wayfare Tavern, a restaurant owned by celebrity chef Tyler Florence. 

201:365 popover!

the best popovers ever! in an episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate  Tyler Florence said he'd had the best popovers at BLT Steak. i had the opportunity to eat the popovers at BLT Steak and they are pretty damn good, so when i heard that he was substituting popovers for your typical bread basket, i was all over that. light, airy, croissant-like yet with a slight chew, these are my favorite form of bread ever!

steak tartare- very good!

their version of poutine- dare i say it, the meat to french fry ratio was almost overwhelming. while i love short rib, i felt it needed more starch to balance it out. 

halibut with kale, corn and truffle. along with corn fritters. i really enjoyed this dish and it was excellent as leftovers the next day as well. 

strawberry rhubarb tart- not at ALL what i expected. this was obviously a deconstructed version. the blob on the side is a custard that's been bruleed. when you eat all of the components together it tastes just like a strawberry rhubarb tart, however i think i would have preferred it with a crust. 

carrot cake- a bit too dense and sweet for my liking. the carrot sorbet was cool but nothing i'd ever want to eat by the spoonful.

driving rants

-if your car suddenly feels like it's got a hydraulics system, know that it's your tires rolling over the lane division bumps. if your car always feels like it's got a hydraulics system then i'll bet that in preschool you couldn't color inside the lines either.

- while changing lanes, if you linger over the dotted line, you THINK you're being cautious but you are in fact upping your chances of me or someone else slamming into your dumbass by one hundred million percent. partially because now you're in two lanes for an unnecessarily elongated period of time and partially because i want to harm you.

-if you're going to cut me off or sneak into my lane really quick because you're a dick who needed to make a right hand turn at the very last moment possible, please, give me a little "thanks" or "sorry" wave. at that point, i ain't mad atcha. but if you don't, then you remain an ass wad forever after.

-motorcyclists, f*ck you in general.

199:365 Transamerica

199:365 Transamerica and likely a finger blur. 

whoops!!

a night with Ize and Aziz

the girl who took this pic thought it'd be cool to take it with the stage in the backround but there was no need for that. so i present to you an off center photo of the lovely Ize and i.

one of my favorite things to do is to watch stand-up comedy. i mean, who doesn't love laughter? i know! people who's lives i don't want to involve myself in, that's who! last night i took Ize to be my date to watch Aziz Ansari do his stage thing. she absolutely loves laughter and in fact, at dinner we cheers'd to "comedy." she was the perfect date for the night. plus i love her to pieces, so there's also that! 

i don't know if you guys have seen him on Parks and Recreation, but this guy is hysterical! also, his stand-up style and topic choices are relatable to most people so the show has a nice flow to it. i find that when comedians get too political or focus on subjects that are too specific they lose the audience's attention for moments throughout the show. i can't stand a stand-up routine that seems scattered and only partially funny. during Aziz' (is it Aziz'? Aziz's? someone clarify please!) routine i found myself with a smile plastered over my face for two hours straight. it's a good thing Ize and i have hearty laughs, because this routine was cause for some serious guffaws! 

200:365 Aziz

Aziz told the audience to take all the pictures they pleased at the beginning of the show so as not to distract him too much during the show itself. "go ahead and use your instagram or hipstamatics and make me look like i was funny in the 70's" LOL!!! 

prior to heading to the show we grabbed a bite at Bottle Cap. the food there is pretty good but i don't really dig it's digs. somehow the place is missing something. or it just doesn't have a restaurant feel to it. nonetheless, i like the food there so i continue to go. 

blt sliders. pork belly sliders. yum!

fried chicken thighs. juicy and flavorful with a dill aioli. good stuff.

mac n cheese. nothing to write home about but still satisfying.

banana cream pie with salted caramel and peanut brittle. hella yum, yo!

what a good night!