RASPBERRY TRUFFLE BROWNIES ~ BLOG 365.84

Rich dark and delectable chocolate scratch-made brownies with a layer of creamy raspberry truffle topping. These are SUPER rich! A small square goes a long way.

RASPBERRY TRUFFLE BROWNIES
BROWNIES
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 LARGE eggs
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee crystals
2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup AP flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate chips over low heat until melted and blended well. Cool 15 minutes.
  • Dissolve the coffee crystals in the water. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, beat the eggs and brown sugar together until blended.
  • Add coffee mixture and melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, mixing well.
  • Sift together the baking powder and flour into the chocolate mixture, mixing until incorporated.
  • Spread batter into a well greased 9×9-inch or 8×8-inch baking pan.
  • Bake at 350℉ 30 to 35 minutes until the brownies are set.
  • Cool completely.

RASPBERRY TRUFFLE FILLING
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 ounces package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup seedless red raspberry jam

  • In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate chips. Cool 30 minutes.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat softened cream cheese 1 to 2 minutes until fluffy.
  • Add powdered sugar and raspberry jam, beating until JUST combined.
  • Stir in melted chocolate until well combined.
  • Spread filling evenly over the cooled brownies.

CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE
1/8 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon shortening

  • Place chocolate chips and shortening in a small zip-top plastic bag.
  • Seal the bag and set the bag in a bowl of warm water to soften the chocolate.
  • Gently knead the chocolate with your fingers until melted and smooth, placing back in the warm water for a minute or two as needed.
  • Snip a very small hole in the corner of the plastic bag.
  • Drizzle chocolate over the truffle filling.

NOTE: These are extremely rich so I usually skip the drizzle unless I’m taking them to an event.

 

  • Chill brownies before cutting.
  • Cut into small 1 inch squares to serve.
  • Store brownies in the refrigerator.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY, MENU & RECIPES week 12 of 2025 ~ BLOG 365.83

Be sure to join Happy Homemaker Monday with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

LAST WEEK RECAPPED

WHEW, am I glad last week is over! I know I missed getting by to see most of you, but I REALLY didn’t have a minute to myself. I promise to get by this week.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent dealing with the shopping and prep to lay in the necessary ingredients for the 3 day CRIBBAGE Tournament being held at the Eagles. They rent the hall from us, but my girlfriend and I do all the meals for all 3 days for 50+ people. I spent ALL day Thursday preparing the soups, breakfast bakes and biscuits for our Friday meals. On Friday, while we were working, Annette’s hubby smoked all the pork to be pulled for the Saturday sandwiches and she prepped the baked beans between breakfast and lunch. I did the dessert baking.

Our days begin at 6AM and this particular event also fell on my auxiliary dinner night on Friday so I had an extra event to plan and work. Friday I left home at 530AM to go to the Eagles and didn’t leave there until almost 9PM to come back home and still managed to do over 23,000 steps.

Then I had to be back at 6AM Saturday to start all over! On Sunday morning when we arrived we found the kitchen refrigerator died during the night. Fortunately our middle name is PIVOT so we emptied the fridge and moved it outside while moving our storage room fridge to the kitchen. Unfortunately we had to throw out most everything which will only make this week’s shopping so much more!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

“The Northwest will stay soggy as multiple systems take aim mid-to-late week. Here’s what we’re watching this week.” This is never the way I want a weather report to start.

Yesterday was pretty nice, today and tomorrow are supposed to be great with highs even closing in on 70, BUT (and there is ALWAYS a BUT at this time of year) Wednesday brings back the cooler temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s and you guessed it, MORE rain!

TO DO LIST, APPOINTMENTS & PROJECTS

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY, CLEANING, GROCERIES & ERRANDS Desperately need groceries today and to do a deep clean this week after all the food prep for last week’s cribbage tournament and auxiliary fundraiser dinner. And tonight is meeting night that I HAVE to be at.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I so very seriously need to get re-organized and do a plan for the next month.

DVR/TV TIME

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • STREAMING We have been re-watching GILMORE GIRLS late at night
  • CABLE TOURNAMENT of CHAMPIONS, SPRING BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP and I will need to empty the DVR soon before the spring season begins in earnest.

READING TIME

Who had time this week?

FUNNIES

MENU PLANS

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀
3/24 MONDAY
3/25 TUESDAY
3/26 WEDNESDAY
3/27 THURSDAY
3/28 FRIDAY
3/29 SATURDAY
3/30 SUNDAY
DINNER
I cleaned out the fridge last night and found enough leftovers for 3 nights 😀
OUT
 CORN/YOYO
CORN/YOYO
 OUT
 ASPARAGUS CHEDDAR CASSEROLE with PAN SEARED CHICKEN
 CHICKEN in COCONUT PEANUT SAUCE
DESSERT
 
GRAN’S old fashioned CARROT CAKE with DRUNKEN RAISINS
 

FAVORITE PHOTOS FROM THE CAMERA

The sun actually came out late yesterday afternoon and as you can see the water is beginning to recede and is beginning to look normal again under one of my favorite bridges. The Rochester one lane bridge is over 100 years old and one of my favorite routes to a favorite dive tavern that’s equally as old 🙂

INSPIRATIONS

LIFE TIP

HOMEMAKING / COOKING TIP

RECIPES COMING UP THIS WEEK

  • RASPBERRY TRUFFLE BROWNIES
  • PRETTY IN PINK TRES LECHES CAKE
  • ITALIAN PASTA with SAUSAGE in CREAMY SPINACH, GARLIC and WHITE WINE SAUCE

RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

BRAISED BALSAMIC CHICKEN & MASHED CARROTS ~ BLOG 365.79

BRAISED BALSAMIC CHICKEN
4-6 8 ounce skinless, boneless chicken breasts
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons avocado oil
1 carrot, FINELY diced
1 LARGE onion, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, FINELY minced
14.5 ounces can fire roasted tomatoes with juices
1/2 cup QUALITY balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons QUALITY Italian seasoning
1-2 cups FRESH baby spinach
Parmesan cheese, for garnish

  • Generously season chicken breasts with FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
  • Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.
  • Add carrots, onions and garlic, sauteing 2-3 minutes until soft. Transfer to a bowl.
  • Add chicken to skillet, sauteing 4 minutes per side until browned.
  • Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
  • Return onion mixture to the skillet.
  • Top with the tomatoes, their juices and the balsamic vinegar. Simmer 5 minutes.
  • Stir in spinach leaves, sauteing until wilted.
  • Top with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

MASHED CARROTS

2 pounds carrots, peeled and rustic cut
4 tablespoons butter, cubed
2 tablespoons QUALITY honey or HOT honey for more spice
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper

  • Place carrots in a steamer basket over 2 inches of water.
  • Cover and steam 20 minutes over medium high heat until tender.
  • Drain the carrots and transfer to a food processor. Process until chunks are smooth, but not totally pureed.
  • Add the butter, honey, salt and pepper. Pulse until well mixed and keep warm.

FLOOD UPDATE ~ BLOG 365.78B

Flood waters have receded thankfully, but it’s still raining and EVERYTHING is water logged, slimey and drenched, as well as saturated from the SUPER wet winter.We went from a normal rain event to flooding and snow within a VERY short time!!!

I was able to get a few pictures during a short break between storms and there are still many storms piling up to drop more rain and snow, but for now clean up has begun and things are returning to “normal”, whatever that is!

Normally a lazy creek, NOT a river.

Normally a green grassy area. The road behind it collapsed and was replaced yesterday.
It happened so fast that many businesses didn’t sand bag soon enough. And sump pumps couldn’t keep up. Even if they had, there was no where to pump to 🙁
Thankfully the river crested several hours before this. While it was a record high it was NOT THE record high from many years ago.
We don’t normally have a river behind the house. Storm drain are under there somewhere, but at capacity.

SPICY CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS ~ BLOG 365.77

SPICY CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS serves 4

FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
4 tablespoons butter
3 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon BETTER THAN BOUILLON chili base
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1 onion, chopped
2 LARGE carrots, halved and sliced
3 stalks celery, halved and sliced
2 tablespoons WONDRA flour or cornstarch
2 cups rotisserie chicken pieces
1 cup frozen peas

  • Melt butter in large stock pot.
  • Add onions, carrots and celery pieces.
  • Season to taste with FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
  • Sauté 5-10 minutes until softened and beginning to caramelize.
  • Whisk chili base and champagne vinegar into broth.
  • Add broth and peas to veggies.
  • Simmer 20-30 minutes.
  • Remove 1/2 cup of the broth and whisk flour or cornstarch into it until smooth. Add mixture back into stock pot stirring until well blended.
  • Fold in chicken pieces and simmer 5-10 minutes more.

DUMPLINGS
2/3 cup biscuit baking mix
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk

  • Whisk together the baking mix and cornmeal.
  • Fold in grated cheese until well blended.
  • Add milk, stirring to form a shaggy dough.
  • Drop by spoonfuls into chicken mixture.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat and simmer 10-12 minutes.
  • Ladle chicken and veggies into bowl and top with dumplings.
  • Spoon a ladle full of broth over dumplings.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY, MENU & RECIPES week 11 of 2025 ~ BLOG 365.76

Be sure to join Happy Homemaker Monday with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

LAST WEEK RECAPPED

Last week was better than the week before, but was still super busy putting out fires and trying to stay one step ahead of everything that was thrown my way. We were hit with back to back winter storms that made everything more difficult, but it is March in the Pacific Northwest 🙁 Sump pumps are working harder than ever, but unfortunately there is more water than drainage ability. A Lot of sandbagging going on coupled with prayers!

I started preparing and getting ready to serve the St. Patrick’s Day meal yesterday at the Eagles. The weather took a turn for the worse shortly after I put it in the oven and our town as well as many around us were closed down due to floods and eventually snow, so I had to go back, put a closed sign on the door and finish cooking at home. There’s nothing scarier than when your phone goes off with that emergency signal! And I HATE those words to “stay put and shelter in place”! I’ll use the leftovers for a Tuesday special and to make a soup for the cribbage tournament next weekend.

On Friday we were able to get a few things accomplished (the stars must have been aligned perfectly) to speed up hubby’s torn rotator cuff surgery. The medical system with all the referrals and extra people in the “middle” is so frustrating!!! When you add in the lack of enough medical professionals here in our area, it makes it difficult to get quality care, let alone any care sometimes.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

It’s cold and it has snowed, sleeted and poured down rain for days! It’s too late to build an ark, but we really need one. We’re on river flood watch after a couple of horrendous storms. The puddles have puddles and the ducks are wearing galoshes. LOTS and lots of layers are on the agenda this week. Highs in 50’s and lows in 30’s with lots more rain. As of today we’ve had almost 9 inches for JUST the month of March.

ON MY MIND

The first Cribbage event of the season is next weekend and the friend I work with for the tournament is currently in Arizona and not sure she’ll be able to get back in time because of these storms. Right now the menu, shopping and food prep is all on me 🙂 but I have faith she’ll get here in time for us to fall into sync 🙂

TO DO LIST, APPOINTMENTS & PROJECTS

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’m pretty up to date, but do have some pantry sorting to finish. I’m also deep cleaning the baseboards and window sills.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have the normal Eagles shopping to do and ALSO the shopping for the Cribbage Tournament. Our meals will be simpler this week using things on hand because I’ll be so busy!

DVR/TV TIME

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • STREAMING I’m still watching Gilmore Girls, Crossing Jordan and Steel Magnolias
  • CABLE I’ve finally all but emptied out the DVR from the build up during this really wet weekend so just Tournament of Champions, Spring Baking Championship, Ghosts, Matlock, Elsbeth and Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage
  • THEATRE there’s a new Jason Statham movie coming out that hubby wants to see – A WORKING MAN

READING TIME

FUNNIES

MENU PLANS

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀
3/17 MONDAY
3/18 TUESDAY
3/19 WEDNESDAY
3/20 THURSDAY
3/21 FRIDAY
3/22 SATURDAY
3/23 SUNDAY
DINNER
 CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE (BIG SURPRISE 😀 )
 CHICKEN SALTIMBOCCA
 CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN, MASHED POTATOES & GRAVY
CORN/YOYO 
clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own
 BEEF ENCHILADAS, CHILE CORNBREAD SALAD
 OUT
 OUT
DESSERT
 
 
TRES LECHES CAKE

FAVORITE PHOTOS FROM THE CAMERA

We’ve had a ton of rain this year and several slides. On this particular route we encountered a previous slide clean up on a rare sunny day. Look closely at the guy in orange. You couldn’t pay me to be where he is. It looks like the boulder he’s working on could go at any time! This was a few weeks ago. I can only imagine what it looks like after this past weekend. There were SEVERAL more slides, road washouts and flooding. I’m sure there are many more I haven’t even heard of yet!

The water is usually about 20 feet below this bridge, except yesterday. This was about 3PM long before the high water peak later last night.

On another note, beautiful spring blossoms and snow are NOT something you see very often around here! We went from lots and lots of rain and flooding to snow in just hours!

INSPIRATIONS

LIFE TIP

HOMEMAKING / COOKING TIP

RECIPES COMING UP THIS WEEK

  • SPICY CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS
  • BRAISED BALSAMIC CHICKEN & MASHED CARROTS

RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

WEEKLY FEATURED PARTY LINKS