It's a brownie weekend!

This has truly been a brownie-filled weekend! In the last 36 hours, I've made two batches of brownies, one that was awesome and one that was a flop.

Yesterday, John and I headed to Greensgrow Farm to pick up some yummy local goodies. We got a dozen of local eggs (clearly we've dipped into them), some leeks (some used in recipe below), cremini mushrooms, an onion, and some asparagus (side dish to our dinner tonight). There was so much more we could have gotten, but we only got a few things and in total, they were less than $12. Tasty, local, and resonable?! I'll take it! Yes, I am paying a bit more for local produce, but I happily do so.

Yummmmmm!

Speaking of the leeks, I searched tastespotting.com (where I spend way too much of my free time) for a leek recipe for dinner and chose a pasta with caramelized leek and feta cream sauce dish (link). The recipe did not exactly turn out as it was supposed to; the feta never really melted enough to be a sauce. If anyone makes this or if I make this again, I'd definitely add 1 cup of chicken stock or pasta water to the pan instead of the little splash requested. It was a bit dry of a pasta dish, but golly, it tasted good (especially the caramelized leeks...to die for). 

Such a pretty picture (obviously taken by the original blogger
and not moi)

Back to the main point of this post: brownies. John and I headed to tailgate the Phillies v. Rangers game yesterday with his friends, so I had to bring some fudge-tastic brownies. When it comes to brownies, I will choose fudgey ones over cakey ones any day. I toasted some almonds and tossed them into the batter and they turned out so great. I also added my (not so) secret ingredient, which I add to nearly every brownie recipe: cinnamon. It adds depth to them and makes them have a warm flavor. 

Nutty, fudgey brownies galore

Not content with baking just once this weekend, I wanted to bake something after dinner tonight. I originally bought some double stuff Oreos to for another recipe, but decided that Oreo Brownies sounded like the perfect thing to make. They took nearly no time to make and in the blink of an eye, they were out of the oven. I did not have the called-for unsweetened chocolate, so I used oil and cocoa (done this about a thousand times without fail). I think this was part of the downfall of the recipe. The brownies came out pretty, but definitely cakey and there wasn't much depth in flavor. I did also omit cinnamon, but I'm really bummed they did not work out. They're not bad, but not worth bringing in to work (my original game plan). 

If only I knew they wouldn't be so yummy, I wouldn't be cheesing so much.
I also clearly need more sleep.

So my brownie recipe success this weekend has been 50%, but luckily, I know why they weren't great and can tweak it for the future. Overall, it's been a food-filled weekend and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D