Who isn’t a fan of hot chocolate? If you’re not then I probably consider you a communist. I will essentially call anyone a communist if they don’t agree with me, so it’s not a big deal.

Well my boss recently changed how I drink my hot chocolate. I’m a lover of the marshmallow but they are always stale when I’m ready for a cup of cocoa and then I’m hostile and no one wants to drink hot cocoa in a hostile environment. My boss told me to put a layer of marshmallow fluff on top of my cocoa in lieu of marshmallows.

BRILLIANT!

Not only does it give you the delicious, melty marshmallow goodness that you want. It also acts as a layer of insulation on your cocoa and keeps it warmer longer. How come no one told me of this genius before?! I will never go fluffless in my pantry ever again.

I found a recipe online for a brownie, cookie, Oreo bar and send it to my sister. She audibly gasped on the phone when she saw the image. And then she read the recipe and decided that brownie mix and standard cookie mix just wouldn’t do and she’d have to make her own version. Oh and did she. My sister Anne made chocolate chip from scratch and spread them in the pan. Then she layered in Oreo cookies and then she covered all of that goodness with homemade brownies. And they cooked into this wonderful little bar that we proceeded to put ice cream and hot fudge on top. Too much? Or just enough? Clearly, my sister loves me.

Washington, DC got its own Serendipity restaurant with Serendipity 3 in Georgetown. My family went there on Sunday to celebrate my sister’s birthday and I made sure to save room for dessert. 

I’ve been to Serendipity in NY and had one of their famous frozen hot chocolates (a peanut butter frozen hot chocolate to be exact) but this time I went for the red velvet sundae with vanilla ice cream instead of chocolate (I don’t do chocolate on chocolate on chocolate). 

It was good but it wasn’t amazing. I thought the cake was a little dry and I found it odd that they put the hot fudge underneath the ice cream cup on the plate. Why are you making me work for my hot fudge? WHY?! The staff was very accommodating, the manager was silly and joked with us and we had a good time celebrating my sister’s birthday. I’d go back and just order dessert though and not an entire meal. For a glass of water, a salad, a bowl of chili and 2 sundaes the husband and I spent $68. And although that included the tip, I still thought it was a bit overpriced. But I’m always willing to pay a bit more just for dessert. 

Right before Christmas in 2006 after I bought the house I’m living in now, I was in the grocery store and picked up Cooking Magazine’s Best of Chocolate issue. I figured there would be a multitude of baked goods that I would make from that magazine and help expand my chocolate recipes. So I bought it without hesitation. 

In the 5 years since I bought that magazine, I’ve only ever made 1 recipe from it : Brownie Cookies. Or as all my family and friends have so affectionately renamed them, Brookies. 

They look like brownies with the glossy crackled top but when you bite into them they’re a deliciously rich and decadent cookie. It’s the best of both worlds. They’re also the first dessert I ever made with bittersweet chocolate (I use 1 bag of the Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chocolate chips for this recipe) and they’re super simple to make. They’ve now become an annual request at the holidays from my husband’s office (the head of his firm usually asks when they will be arriving around the first week in December) and friends always ask if I’m making brookies if they’re coming over for dinner.

This is definitely a recipe you need to add to your baking list. YUM!

Had sundaes at Ghiradelli today. I love how this is 1 sundae and 3 hands.