Let's not talk about how it's not even 11:00 in the morning and I've already caught myself eating cookie dough. Let's also not talk about how I wore the same sweatpants outfit (Sweatfit? TM Pending) 2 days in a row this week. Instead let's talk about how it's the weekend, and it's just barely starting to feel like fall over here in Southern California, and I'm just trying to make up for lost time.

Let's also talk about spiced apples smothered with browned butter crumbles and baked up into cobbler. It's way more important.

Browned butter is definitely my favorite kitchen trick. Plain butter is slowly cooked to a brown color, giving it a caramel-y, nutty flavor/magical qualities. It's a real life Pretty Woman situation, right there in your kitchen.

When I first learned that you could brown butter, I was instantly obsessed. I put browned butter in any recipe I could get my hands on. Cookies, caramel corn, cake, banana bread, you name it.  I was like Oprah on her Favorite Things episode, except instead of handing out cashmere sweaters, I was throwing browned butter into everything.

My absolute favorite place to shove browned butter is cobbler (and consequently, my favorite place to shove cobbler is my face.)... ( I don't know.)


Let's talk about apples for a second. You can't just throw any old apples into your baked goods and expect good results. For baked goods, I recommend a tart apple, like a granny smith, or a pink lady, or a honeycrisp (if you are fancy and/or are cooking for the queen). For my apple crisp, I stuck with granny smith, which are typically the cheapest of the three. They baked up perfectly.

Also, be sure to serve your cobbler with a good vanilla ice cream. It's the weekend. You deserve it.


Also, just as a tip, this crumble topping works great with a lot of fruits. I've used it to cover peaches and all sorts of berries (although I usually take out the cinnamon when I cook with berries). You can definitely play around with the fruit. I've been thinking about throwing it over some pears or pumpkin, but that's just between you and me.

I learned a lot of important stuff in college.

Like, how you don't mess around with your boxed mac and cheeses. You get Kraft, or you wallow in regret. I mean, really. Have some self-respect.

I also learned that you can survive about three days eating only vending machine bagels for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Also, if you don't match your socks, no one will know, unless you have to go through airport security.




I also learned about brownie mix in college. I had never heard of it before. Like, it never occurred to me that people didn't make brownies from scratch. Then one day my freshman year, one of my roommates was all "let's make brownies" and one of my other roommates was like "great, here's a brownie mix" and I just sat there in a carb-induced wonder.

And while a good brownie-mix-brownie is an important staple in anyone's diet, the reason I never had a brownie-mix-brownie was because my angelic mother believes deeply in the importance of making your brownies from scratch.


My mother, the patron saint of chocolate, has a birthday on Saturday, and I figure there is no better way to honor her 30th birthday, than by doing the very thing that she would want us all to do to celebrate: devouring a pan of her favorite warm, chocolatey brownies.




These brownies are in-your-face rich, so obviously my mom would recommend that you put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. For balance.

You'll also want to serve these brownies warm, if you know what's good for you. (But they are also perfect served cold for breakfast the next morning.) (Just kidding, don't be like me.)

Also, for those of you who like to take sides in the great fudgy brownie vs. cakey brownie debate, you'll want to know that these brownies are definitely on the fudgy side, with just enough cakeyness, and a perfect amount of crumbly on top. I don't know. Is everyone happy?

The best/worst part about these brownies is that they are so easy to make. I mean, you most likely already have the ingredients in your pantry. Plus, for those of you who are as lazy as me, you can make these brownies in one pot (if you use a large pot). That means only one pot to clean. There is really nothing to stop you.




Before I go, I have to wish happy birthday to the woman who taught me to be brave and to be kind. But most importantly, happy birthday to the woman who taught me how to cook. You are so loved Mama!


Perfect Brownies

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (you can use chocolate chips, no problem)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9X9 pan. You can use a 9X13 pan, but your brownies will be thin and you'll need to reduce the cooking time.

In a medium saucepan, melt your butter over low heat, remove from heat. Whisk in sugar. Add vanilla. let your butter cool slightly before adding your eggs (otherwise you'll end up with scrambled eggs). Whisk everything together. If your pan is large enough, you can add the flour, cocoa, and salt right to the pan. If not, mix your dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl and add your butter mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in chocolate.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until a fork in the middle comes out clean.

I like to lovingly think of this post as the blog post where I show you all that I can do more mature/grown up recipes than cookies or sprinkles-dumped-on-things. Sort of like when Zac Efron did the movie 17 Again, or Harry Potter did that weird play with the horse.



Anyways, let's talk poultry. More specifically, brined poultry.


A brine is a salt+water concoction that will make all your poultry dreams come true. Brines add a little salt and sass to your chicken, and a whole-heck-of-a-lot of tenderness. The most important thing is that you let your chicken brine long enough for the osmosis/science to happen.

I first read about this brine in the New York Times. It was originally inspired by a brine that was made with the discarded liquid from feta cheese. I'm going to go right on ahead and assume that none of you have access to buckets full of feta cheese liquid, so instead, we're going to blend up feta cheese with some water, and seasonings, and let that chicken sit in there for at least 24 hours.

With any brine, you'll still need to season your chicken. For our brine we're going to use salt, pepper, and oregano. We're also going to drizzle olive oil all over, and use chicken with skins. Because it's what's best for everyone. That's why.




My favorite thing about this chicken is that it's pretty versatile. The first time I made it, I threw some chopped up potatoes in the roasting pan. They soaked up some of the juices and had the most amazing flavor. I'm still brainstorming a way to make gravy out of the juices and pair it with some sort of feta mashed potato concoction. I'll get back to you on that one.

This time around, I threw my chicken with some veggies, yogurt, and pita Greek style. The feta is what really ties this chicken altogether.

You can also serve this chicken shredded up on a salad, or maybe even in some sort of Mediterranean sandwich with hummus or whatever. It's a real you-do-you type of situation. Just make sure you have lots of feta on the side. It's the right thing to do.





P.S. Have you been listening to the new Beyonce song? We have been listening to it on repeat over here. And by we, I mean James. And by James, I mean me.



Feta Brined Chicken
Adapted from The New York Times

3-4 chicken breasts, skins on (I've also used thighs or a whole cut up chicken before. The brine will work great no matter what, you'll just have to adjust cooking times accordingly)

2 oz. feta cheese plus more for sprinkling
3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, seperated
2 tablespoons cracked black pepper, seperated
2 tablespoons Oregano, seperated
1 lemon (optional for serving)
Olive Oil

Blend 2 oz. feta, salt, 1 T and water. Don't think you can outsmart the system and just mix the cheese really well, you really need to blend it. Place chicken and brine in large ziploc bag (I recommend putting your zipped up bag in a large bowl to catch any drips). Let sit overnight.

An hour before roasting, remove from brine (discard brine) and let sit on a paper towel+plate for about an hour. This lets the chicken come up to room temp. which will help it cook more evenly and get that glorious skin nice and crispy.

Preheat your oven to 450 F. Drizzle chicken with olive oil and rub with remaining salt, pepper, and oregano. Roast until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Basting at least once. My chicken breasts were a little larger, they took about 25 minutes. Yours may take more or less time depending on size.

Let your chicken rest at least 15 minutes before diving in. Serve with lots of feta. I recommend mixing some feta into the juices that run off and serving that like a sauce. So good.

I know, I know. That's like a million things in one food item. But hear me out on this one. When James and I lived in Washington DC, one of our favorite places to eat was a little BBQ joint called Fat Pete's. Our first time there, I ordered the poblano and goat cheese hush puppies with apple cinnamon honey butter. Typically in these types of situations, I'm pretty good at sharing food, but not with those dang hush puppies. I remember being so reluctant to let James have even one of them. I went there a few weeks later with my brother, basically just to get the hush puppies. Before even entering the restaurant, I advised him to order himself some hush puppies, and warned him that I would not be sharing any of mine. None of 'em. He was just going to have to deal with it.



That's what those hush puppies turned me into. A monster.

James and I now live on the other side of the country, and as much as I wish I had the money to fly back to Fat Pete's and partake of hush puppies whenever my heart desires, I don't.Which brings us to today's recipe.

Hush puppies are basically fried cornbread. I don't have a deep fat frier, nor do I have the bravery to keep one of those devils in my house. So we're just sticking to the basics. Peppers, cheese, batter, butter. Just your basic cornbread, with a little extra.



I was born and raised in Minnesota, therefore I'm typically afraid of peppers that are any spicier than a bell pepper. But Google promised me that these poblanos were somewhere in between a jalepeno and a bell pepper. Courage, my friends. That's all it takes.

For the longest time I've had this dream of mixing my favorite childhood lemon bar with some berries, just to see what would happen.


When I first tried making these bars, I went the blackberry route. Blackberries are tart and sassy and have a beautiful color. Turns out blackberries are also divas. I don't know. I don't want to talk about it.

The next morning I awoke with a resolve to make my vision come to life. You may call it "way too many lemon bars for a 48 hour time period." I call it redemption.



That's when I sought out the advice of the Grandmother Willow of recipes. The queen of dinner parties.  The one and only.  The Ina Garten.




Together, Ina and I created these blueberry lemon bars. And by together, I mean that I threw some blueberries into Ina's flawless lemon bar recipe that I found on the internet. I know, totally reckless and irresponsible.




These lemon bars are everything. The crust is shortbread basically a bed of sweetened butter. The lemon custard is tangy and sweet and totally ready to party. The blueberries grace these bars like a Ludacris feature in a hip hop song. They take your typical one note lemon bars and add something fresh and sweet. The powdered sugar is just an evolutionary way to kill off people who tend to inhale when they eat.



These bars are perfect for those of you who will let go of summer when it's ripped from your cold dead hands. These bars have summer written all over them.

Blueberry Lemon Bars

Adapted from Ina Garten, Patron Saint of Bruschetta

For the Crust:
2 sticks of butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt

For the Filling:
6 extra-large eggs
3 cups sugar
Zest from 2 lemons (about 2 tablespoons)
Juice from 4-5 lemons (about 1 cup)
1 cup flour
8 oz blueberries
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Cream the butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Add 2 cups flour and salt and mix until just combined. Dump onto well greased 9X13 inch pan and press with floured hands until flattened. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until just brown around the edges.

While your crust is baking, whisk together eggs, 3 cups sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1 cup flour.

In a separate bowl, toss blueberries with cornstarch.

Pour lemon filling over baked crust. Pour in blueberries. They should float to the top. Make sure they are spread evenly. Bake in the oven for 30-35 more minutes until filling is set.

Let cool completely (in the fridge is best) before sprinkling with powdered sugar.

As a teenager, I learned pretty quickly that food was my strongest social skill. I've always loved baking, and people tend to warm up to you pretty quickly if you show up with baked goods.

Let me give you a little bit of background on these cookies. I'm not going to say that I wasn't cool in high school, but I am going to say that I once went through a phase where I wore knee-length skirts over boot cut jeans, and let you infer the rest. Anyways, one day, I showed up for a school function with these chocolate chip cookies, and somehow, they became a thing. Like a big thing. Probably the only big thing that happened to me in high school. I got all sorts of requests for these cookies.They would get devoured within seconds whenever they showed up anywhere. These cookies made me at least sort of cool. I made a lot of friends with these cookies.


These cookies. They are everything your dream chocolate chip cookie is. They are soft in the middle, chewy on the edges. They are sweet and salty and vanilla-y. They are blow-your-mind-good and so easy to make.
 



With the school year around the corner, I wanted to share a few things that I wish high-school-Catherine had known. More importantly, I wanted to share my cookie recipe, because somewhere out there, there is a girl wearing a homemade dinosaur print t-shirt who is about to start high school and I want to give her a little leg up (and because we all need a little help being more cool.)

9 Things I Wish I Had Known in High School: