18, already..?!

A few weeks ago, my oldest daughter turned 24. That, for some reason, was easier to swallow than my oldest son turning 18 this past weekend. Wow. Come August, he'll be getting settled into his dorm room, loving his new found freedom, and starting the next chapter in his life... excuse me while I cry...

For reasons we haven't quite figured out, he requested MC Hammer's Greatest Hit's emblem to adorn his cake. He doesn't listen to him. He doesn't even like him. He just thought it would be a cool thing to have on a cake. If any of you out there have any clue's, please, fill me in, because I am seriously lost... Still, I started coloring fondant and tried my best at recreating the emblem he so desired. He was happy, and that's all that mattered.

One thing we are clear on, though, is his love of Architecture. He has a natural, God given gift- amazing artistic talent, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for him.
This kid's gonna be big... he's gonna go far... everyone's gonna know his name.

For now, though, his baby sister is going to finish off his cake, hoping no one will notice...


On another note, I was over at Patsy's blog- Family, Friends, and Food. She had a post with THE most scrumptious looking brownie, titled "Brownies to Rock Your World". How can you possibly ignore something like that?! Now, I trust Patsy's judgment completely, and felt that our family needed some good "world rocking" this weekend, as we have a potluck party to attend tomorrow, so I followed the recipe link included in her post, and spent the day baking away. I'm glad I did. These are OMG good! As I plated them up for tomorrows party, I shared some with my hubby (and I stole a bite!), while he just rolled his eyes in his head and gave a contented ~*sigh*~. Yup, Patsy, worth every dirty dish!

If you don't want to follow the link above, here is the recipe I followed, from Nosh With Me.

Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars

Brownie Ingredients
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping Ingredients
7 ounces mini marshmallows
1 ½ cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup Jif peanut butter
1 TBSP unsalted butter
1 ½ cups Rice Krispies

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

In a medium saucepan, melt the chocolate, butter, and ¾ cup of the semisweet chocolate chips on medium heat. Stir occasionally while melting. Set aside and cool for 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, place the eggs and whisk thoroughly. Add in the sugar and vanilla. Stir the melted ingredients into the egg mixture, mixing well. Stir in the dry sifted ingredients and mix well. Fold in the remaining ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and even with a spatula. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the corner of the pan comes out with moist crumbs.

Remove the brownies from the oven, and immediately sprinkle the marshmallows over them. Return the pan to the oven for 3 more minutes.

While the brownies are baking, place the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat, add the cereal,and mix well. Allow this to cool for 3 minutes or so.

Spread the mixture evenly over the marshmallow layer. Refrigerate until chilled before cutting.

Makes 12 3×3-inch bars.