Last weekend I was asked to bring dessert to a party and I had neither the time, money nor inclination to make much of an effort.
So I dredged out of my memory an old ruse I had used before and was amazed at how good they were. Brownie cookies. Cookies out of a doctored box of brownie mix.

They are really cheap – a box of mix makes a ton of cookies – or at least several dozen and costs about $2, plus the trivial cost of the rest of the ingredients. Best of all they make a grown-up kind of cookie. Mildly chocolaty, moist, crisp at the edges yet chewy in the middle, not overly sweet, and rather versatile, (more about that later). Don’t use the recipe on the box. Here’s the technique:

Brownie Cookies

1 large box fudge brownie mix. Brand doesn’t matter but should run about 19-21 oz
2 large eggs lightly beaten
1/4 cup oil (not olive – I used canola)
3 TB water – may need a drop more or not
1/4 cup flour (essential)

• Preheat oven to 350
• Dump everything together in a large bowl. Mix until smooth. If it has some dry mix still, add a tiny drop more water. Dough will be like a thickish, stretchy batter – not clumpy like regular cookie double. That’s fine
• Line flat cookie sheet with baking (parchment) paper. You can get this at any grocery store where they have foil and plastic wrap, or sometimes in the baking or even the gadgets aisle.
• With a teaspoon drop a 1/2 dollar sized dollop of mix. It will spread after a minute into a nice circle. These cookies REALLY spread in the oven so give them room.
• Bake about 10 minutes until edges are very slightly browner than the rest of the cookie. That may not happen but 10 or 11 minutes seems about right.
• When they come out of the over let them sit a moment on the cookie sheet to firm as they will be delicate, and then carefully remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

They make a prefect round flattish circle and have a very flat bottom. This makes them good to eat but also good to fill! Make your own Oreos with vanilla icing (canned or your own) between the cookies, or even better, ice cream sandwiches. Just put a small scoop of ice cream between two cookies and freeze on a sheet until firm!

-This is a guest blog by longtime fudder MHF. Thanks mom!

…and I am not talking about that silly doll from the 80’s either. I was down in Southeastern Virginia last weekend and stumbled across an amazing farm with HUGE produce selection. They had fresh strawberries picked right off their farm, and I felt compelled to pick up a quart without an idea of what to do with them.
I got home, stared at the berries for a bit, and realized that it was time to crank out my moms favorite Strawberry Shortcake recipe – it’s easy, fresh and takes only 10 minutes to put together:
Enjoy:
The What:
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
¾ cup milk
¼ cup butter
The How:

• Mix dry ingredients, sift twice, work in butter with tips of fingers, and add milk gradually.
• Toss on floured board, divide in two parts.
• Pat, roll out, and bake twelve minutes in a hot oven in buttered Washington pie or round layer cake tins.
• Split, and spread with butter.
• Sweeten strawberries to taste, place on back of range until warmed, crush slightly, and put between and on top of Short Cakes

One of the smartest things I ever did was convince six of my closest friends, all of whom know much more about food and wine than I do, into coming over to make dinner one night about a year ago. Rather than preparing dishes in advance, everyone brought their own ingredients and we all cooked together. (This was mostly a selfish move on my part–I wanted to learn how to make these dishes, not just eat them, but it turns out that cooking together is so much more fun anyway. Plus, you have help when you need it, and freshly prepared food when you sit down to eat.)
Anyway, that’s my Supper Club. I’ll be talking about it a lot. There are ten of us now, and usually three of us bring wine and champagne, while the rest of us take care of the food. Our most recent theme was Spanish foods, which are especially lovely when eaten on the patio on a warm April night. Some sample recipes:
Wendy’s Patatas Bravas (Fierce Potatoes)
2 lbs potatoes
Half a large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
olive oil
2 or 3 tablespoons paprika
3 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 red or green chile, diced
Spanish thyme
Boil whole potatoes for 15 minutes. Drain and cool. Dice into 1″-1.5″ pieces. Fry, or “oven fry” until crispy, or until you’re sick of waiting for the potatoes.
In a saucepan over medium high heat, saute onion and one clove of garlic in a smidgeon of olive oil. When they’re translucent and sticky, add paprika and stir and cook for a minute or so, until it starts looking like paste. Red paste. Mmmm. Add tomatoes and chile and Spanish thyme, and cook until the tomatoes have broken down (if you have a stick blender with you, this takes less time). Taste. Add more paprika if you have it and want to. Hold over low heat until ready to serve.
Either toss to combine potatoes and sauce, or pour sauce over individual portions of potatoes. Great served with a garlicky aioli to take away some of the heat.
Karen’s Chorizo with Figs
1 lb chorizo
Half a large onion
2 cloves garlic
Splash olive oil
1/2 c red wine
1/2 c red wine vinegar
1/2 c sugar
cinnamon
cloves
1 cup dried figs
Chop up chorizo into 1-inch sections, slice onion lengthwise, and chop up garlic. Heat up olive oil in a saucepan, add the chorizo, onions, and garlic, and sautee it until the garlic is golden brown. Add red wine, red wine vinegar, sugar, three shakes of cinnamon, and a pinch of cloves. Stir it up all, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for thirty minutes. While it’s simmering, roast figs in the oven (I brushed them with olive oil and put them in at 400 degrees, then drank cava until Wendy finally told me take them out already. Maybe five minutes?), and right before serving, stir the figs into the chorizo. This is smoky and spicy and sweet.
Kristen’s Sangria
3 bottles Spanish red wine (the wine guy at Whole Foods on P St has some great recommendations)
2 cups lemon-lime seltzer
juice of two oranges
juice of one lemon
juice of one lime
1/2 cup triple sec
two apples, cut up into small bites
one lemon, same
one lime, same
one orange, same
Combine everything, add sugar to taste, stir, and let sit in the fridge for hours. Add one basket of strawberries, cut up into small bites, just before serving, so they don’t get too mushy. Add some cava if you want to lighten it up.
This is a guest entry from Karen over at jitterbugparfum.livejournal.com. Thanks, Karen!