Oreo Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

One of my friends at school did something really nice for me, so I decided to make a treat as a thank-you. I found this recipe at Annie's Eats, and since I've never made brownies from scratch before, I gave it a try. Honestly, I thought the cream cheese topping was excellent, but the brownies weren't as good as my Ghiradelli boxed mix:

Photo credit: www.grasscity.com

Here's how the brownies turned out:If you look closely, you can see the chunks of oreos in the brownie itself. That is pretty tasty, I will admit.

Here's the recipe:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter
¾ cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
½ tsp. salt
2 large eggs
¼ cup milk
1½ cups coarsely chopped Oreo cookies
6 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line an 8×8″ baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with Pam.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter and sugar. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt; whisk together to combine. Add the eggs to the pan with the butter-sugar mixture and whisk until combined. Whisk in the milk. Transfer the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Fold in the Oreo pieces. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

In another bowl, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla Beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Drop the cream cheese mixture over the brownie batter in dollops. Use the blade of a knife to gently swirl the cream cheese mixture together with the brownie batter, creating a marble effect.

Bake for about 22-24 minutes (mine required longer, like 30 minutes). Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing and serving.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Another recipe from my mom. You know what that means--it's going to be good. Mom gave me this recipe about 4 years ago when I was in college, and I'm just now getting around to pulling it out of my recipe box. I wish I had done so earlier. This is a nice, healthy dish that I really enjoyed, and so did Jonathan (our resident shrimp lover).

Here's the recipe:
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp. olive oil, plus 1-2 Tbsp.
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 tsp. dried oregano leaves
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
Linguine noodles, cooked (I like whole wheat)

Toss shrimp in a medium bowl with 1 tsp. salt and red pepper flakes. Heat 3 Tbsp. olive oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and saute a minute, toss, and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer shrimp to a plate; set aside. Add onion to same skillet, adding 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil if needed to the pan. Saute until translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the tomatoes and their juices, wine, garlic, and oregano. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Return the shrimp and any accumulated juices to the tomato mixture; toss to coat and cook for 1 minute so that the flavors meld. Stir in the parsley and basil. Season with more salt, to taste, and serve over cooked linguine.

Charleston Trip

For our one-year anniversary, Jonathan and I took a roadtrip, and while we were at it, we visited a few orthodontic residencies, too. We went to Richmond, which was a really cool place, but the highlight of our trip was Charleston. What a beautiful city! I've always heard that it was cool, but I had no idea just how charming and lovely a place it really is. Here's some pictures of the fun:

Us at historic Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor

The real cannons used to defend the fort

Amazing shopping that went for almost 1.5 miles

Ridiculously cute houses everywhere you went (over 90 blocks of them!)

Wonderful cobblestone streets

My absolute favorite thing we did? A carriage tour! I thought it would be lame, but some of the residents at MUSC really recommended it. I have to say, it was AWESOME. We got to ride in a carriage and hear the wonderful history of Charleston, as well as see beautiful houses like this one.

Charleston officially is one of the top 2 favorite cities in America I've visited. What's not to love about it?!

One Year!

Three days ago, Jonathan and I celebrated one year of marriage. We were in Charleston at the time, so today, we thawed out our cake topper for the tradition of eating your top tier on the first anniversary of your wedding. Now, I must admit I was fully expecting the thing to be NASTY. I mean...it's cake that's been frozen a whole year. However, my mom had amazingly wrapped this thing in like 30 layers of Saran Wrap and aluminum foil, and it was miraculously preserved:

It is (not kidding) moist and delicious.

I'll post soon about our trip to Charleston!

I'm done!!!!

This is me turning in my last sterilization bag of junior year. I should look more excited in the picture, but you can blame that on the sheer exhaustion. Here I come, six weeks of summer!