ice cream fridays anyone?

on friday chad and i cooked home made hot fudge to put on an ice cream friday for chad and to put in a hot fudge milk shake for me! it was pretty delicious. you know, hot fudge shakes taste totally different than plain old chocolate milk shakes. if you're not privy to these kinds of things then, well, i feel bad for you. but, i'm here to deliver the good news: you can discover the goodness of your own home-made hot fudge shake any time! that's right, in your very own kitchen! all you need is:

vanilla ice cream

for sauce: 2c. sugar
1c. brown sugar
1c. cocoa
2 Tb. flour
1/4c. butter
1 1/5 c. water

mix all dry ingredients together, then add butter and water. simmer while stirring for about 4 min. then serve over ice cream or in blender for shake. serves 12.

p.s. if you didn't notice, this recipe serves 12 so chad and i cut it in half and had left overs. it's always the best on the first day, so take into consideration how much you need!

p.p.s. for an even more super shake, add malt to make it a hot fudge malt. this my friends is my absolute favorite. i wasn't able to do it because we didn't have malt-i cried (almost).

the hot fudge

the hot fudge on a banana. who doesn't love a chocolaty banana?

shake preparation

the goodness revealed. it was so delicious!

brownies

i don't know what's gotten into me; but ever since i made those statements about not being a baker, i've been baking! it turns out, even though i've been baking, that doesn't make me a baker. so, the statements weren't completely false! i decided to make brownies the other day-even though it called for two sticks of butter and i know my body's not gonna like that. of course i went ahead and did it anyway. well, the pan i had was already being used to cook our dinner, so i decided it would be perfect to make little individuals using the cupcake thingy. when i made that decision i knew that the brownies would only have to bake for half the time. but, as expected, i forgot about them. they over cooked. therefore, even though they look delicious, they turned out to be dry. imagine trying to swallow a mouthful of sand. need i say more? see the damage below

doing good

doing gooddoing good

looking good

they weren't good, so we drank this bottle along with some leftover vodka instead. i must be getting old because my hangover comes almost immediately after my last sip. a little alcohol effects me a lot these days~in a bad way:(

baking binge!

so, i know i said that i don't consider myself a baker, and that's still a true statement-i think. except for last night when i made angel food cake to enjoy with the deliciously ripe strawberries and whip cream in the fridge. i think i may be on a baking binge! strawberry short cake is my absolute favorite kind of cake. though it's more of a summer delight, it's what i always chose to have on my birthday (in december). i love it and i have to say, it was as delectable!

my plate

chad's plate

banana bread

this was only my second attempt at baking banana bread. i've never considered myself a baker of sorts, and don't usually have the inkling to mix up dough and utilize my oven. but, there are those accasions when the bananas in the basket have crept just past their ripe status and into the relm of black and icky. at our house we go through fruits and veggies like monkeys, so this is rarely a problem. the first time i made banana bread was a couple months ago, and it was dense and dry. chad told me it was delicious-bless his heart- but i know the truth. it was like eating sugared cotton balls. this time, though, was much better. i added an extra banana for more moisture and it turned out beautifully! delicious!

why do the banana chunks turn purple?