Valentine's Day Adventure

We celebrated Valentine's Day this year by going out to our favorite Austin restaurant, Mesa Ranch (hurray for fried cactus!!), on Saturday evening, and spent the actual holiday enjoying a very normal Sunday. It was beautiful in Austin this morning, sunny with pleasant temperatures; we actually envied the Austin Marathon participants we saw on our way to church! Our pastor, Matt Carter, started a convicting sermon series entitled "Biblical Manhood," and we came away with lots to talk and pray about.

Once home, we planned our afternoon. Randy was going to get started on the back porch roof he's been planning since last summer. I headed to the grocery store and started some laundry. Mid-afternoon, a cold front hit, and the weather turned abruptly colder (dropping almost 30 degrees in about an hour). Luckily, the rest of my own afternoon plans did not include heading outside!

Randy spoiled me with a mini rose bush for Valentine's Day. I returned the favor by baking brownies. And not just any brownies - Best Cocoa Brownies, as shown over at Smitten Kitchen.

I've always made brownies from a box, a habit I picked up from my mom. And there isn't anything wrong with doing that, by any means! But I've been experimenting in the kitchen a lot lately (some day I'll share those stories!), and I figure I've used Randy as a test subject for plenty of meals, and it was high time I tried my hand at a new dessert.

The brownies came out very well, and Randy wasted no time in enjoying them!

Couple of deviations from Smitten Kitchen. I used my microwave to great effect for melting the butter (she used a skillet with water). I also only used about 1/3 cup walnut pieces in the actual mix, and saved the rest to sprinkle on top before putting the brownies in the oven.

I do highly recommend following Smitten's advice and putting the cooled pan in the refrigerator for a bit before cutting up the brownies. The tricks I learned here, about using parchment paper to line the pan and the refrigerator thing, really made this the best experience I've had while making brownies. Raise your hand if yours fall apart when you cut them! The great thing about thick, fudgy brownies like this is that they hold together well.

Already a new favorite in the Samuelson household.