Let me start by saying holy crap its December 1st and let me also say I love living in So Cal because this past weekend the temperatures were in the 80's. So a girlfriend of mine had the great idea to take me to a place in Malibu called M Cafe. They have the most gorgeous outdoor seating area and on Sunday afternoon we had a late lunch consisting of mimosas, brie cheese and spinach salad. It was truly a heavenly afternoon and to make it even better they had a basset hound wandering the grounds...which was my favorite dog as a childhood. Yes, I admit I tried to make friends but it really wanted nothing to do with me so I said fuck it and went back to my mimosa. However, if you are looking for a great environment for a warm sunny afternoon this is definitely the place!! Thank you Lydia!

So in general I am just not a candy girl. Even as a child I didn’t have a favorite candy per se. However, the closest thing to a candy obsession I have is York Peppermint Patties. I loved the old skiing off the coffee table commercials they use to have, I love the combination of chocolate and mint, I love the combination of textures-hard chocolate and smooth mint and being as health conscious as I am I love that they are one of the lower fat candy varieties. Sure I do have a few other candy favorites such as chocolate covered gummy bears, sour patch kids and red licorice once in awhile in a movie theater but in general candy isn’t my down fall.

However, prior to my weekly grocery shopping trip I was thumbing through some cookbooks in search of inspiration and I came across this peppermint chocolate brownie recipe and I thought to myself “holly heck that sounds like heaven.” So the ingredients made their way onto my shopping list and the rest is history. On a side note has anyone else found that as you get older you always forget something on your grocery list? I remember in my 20’s I would pretty much have my grocery list memorized and writing it down would just be an added bonus. Now I write down my list, do not have it memorized and still forget something. Yes, that was the case today because as I was baking my brownies I realized that I forgot to buy more cocoa powder. Thankfully the grocery store is quite close to my house but these in the middle of cooking run to the store for ingredients voyages are starting to becoming a pain in the butt….just saying.

The brownies smell delicious as they bake and this recipe is super easy and kind of festive for the holidays…just because it has peppermint in it duh. Speaking of which I love all of the Starbucks “seasonal” coffee flavors but I have to say I liked it better when the calories weren’t glaring at me from the big board. Grande eggnog latte 420 calories, really? Hmmm lets see for lunch I can have a sandwich or oh wait a latte and still be hungry…friggin kills me.

Anyway back to the brownies just add melted butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Mix in the eggs and slowly add the dry mixture which consists of flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Does anyone else always get baking powder and baking soda confused? I always double check the recipe and the containers like 900 times when I am baking because I am so paranoid of mixing these 2 ingredients up. Oy.

Take 2 cups of the brownie mixture out of the big bowl and then spread the rest of the mixture in a 13x9 greased baking pan. Add a single layer of unwrapped peppermint patties, don’t you love how the recipe tells you to unwrap them!!! You know that is because some dumbass complained to Hershey about the wrappers in their brownies because they failed to read the recipe with common sense. Kind of like all of the lame ass instructions on electrical products-oh I can’t put my curling iron in the bathtub…well hell!!!

Then add the remaining 2 cups of brownie mixture and bake for 50-55 minutes and cool on a wrack. I did have some of the peppermint patties bubble through the top layer of the brownies but they still look like heaven and taste absolutely divine. These are actually good enough that I don’t want to give them away and take them to work…but me and my big mouth…my co-workers know they are coming so there is no hiding them now.

Hope everyone has a fabulous week. I am on the countdown to yet another ½ marathon which is this Sunday in Vegas. I am truly looking forward to it, but I am also a little nervous as this is the first race I have ran that starts at 1730….how do I prepare and how will this impact my OCD race preparation tendencies? Wish me luck and cheers!!!