What The Heck?

Once again, this has been one of those weeks where I pause...and wonder...what the heck? Is it the moon? The stars? The barometric pressure? Did we lose another planet? Are my chakras in-fighting?

Not that it's been a bad week - no. Just one of those weeks where I go hmmmm, well that's interesting. For example:

- My younger dog, Marcel Verdel Purcell, smelled like cumin, CUMIN, all week long. Distracting, really, because 1) there was no reason for him to smell like cumin as I haven't used the spice recently and 2) I couldn't wait to get home every day to scoop him up and give him a whole bunch of whiffs - being the cumin lover that I am. Damn, he smelled good - as well as inexplicable.

- I drove my car with patience - and found myself thinking "who is this woman driving this car". It was an out-of-car experience, yet I was still driving. Bizarre.

- I agreed with something Bill O'Reilly said on the television. WHAT DID I JUST WRITE? Yeah, I know. I assure you, after I agreed with whatever-it-was - I slapped myself 7 times, donated to the ACLU, showered with an SOS pad, and sent Rosie O'Donnell some flowers.

- I received an anonymous text message stating "Rawh it's the boogy man and i'm gonna eat you :)" - now, personally, given how long the Boogy man has been around - I would have thought he could spell by now AND would know that "I" should be capitalized. I don't mean to split hairs, Boogy, but really - you should also check Wikipedia, where your correct spelling is listed as "Bogeyman", mmkay?

- Someone sat in my lap in a waiting room. I was minding my own business, while guessing at everyone else's, of course - and a gal walks in - walks toward me - angles her ass toward me and proceeds to sit on me. At the same moment that I suck in my breath - she realizes that the chair she chose doesn't exactly feel like a chair - so she squeals and skyrockets off of my lap. She finally whips off her sunglasses (MIGHT have been helpful EARLIER), puts her hand over her mouth in sheer horror, apologizes profusely, and slithers away. You know when someone farts and you're not supposed to laugh? That's how I felt for the next 10 minutes. Tortuous.

So, I thought we needed something reassuring to eat in the household - just to balance all the what-the-heckness. Of course, chocolate always makes our brain cells feel like the rest of the world can just go screw itself - and then couple that with the retro happiness of peanut butter frosting, and well, we're drinkin' the kool-aid of perfect happiness, if only for a just a few stolen moments.



















Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting

Now, these are really about the frosting - more than anything. You want to taste the chocolate - but of course - but the real star here is the topper. I'll warn you, these are rather dangerous to keep around - because they are tasty and creamy and seductive. And, somewhere in your mind - you convince yourself that they're clearly more "healthy" because they contain peanut butter - yes, I know that game, and this little harlot of a brownie will try that number on you - I assure you. So, beware. You can use any old brownie recipe you have in your collection. If you use my brownie recipe, substitute the chocolate chips tossed in at the end of the batter for a cup or two of peanut butter chips (or, just do a plain batter, with no chips at all). Then again, some would say - "never enough chocolate" - so use the chocolate chips if you like, whatever floats your boat, right? Here is the recipe for the frosting:

1 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1 c. creamy peanut butter (not natural peanut butter)
6 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 t salt
1/3 c. heavy cream

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt. Beat on medium low speed until creamy, making sure to scrape down the sides as needed. Add the cream and beat at high speed until mixture is creamy and light. Spread on cooled brownies.