Stoemp (Mashed Potatoes with Leeks):Spotlight on The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen

Yay! Another Sponsor Spotlight!

Today I want to introduce you guys to the incomparable Susan, The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen. Susan lives in Brooklyn with her husband and adorable pug and she cooks up delicious (and often-times award winning) food in her little, red, kitchen! She and I also have a special bond. For one thing, red is our favorite color. BUT ALSO she is the first fellow food blogger I ever met in real life! You guys remember when I blogged about our fun foodie date at Chelsea Market? Yeah? Great! Then you know how funny, fun, and fabulous (the 3 "F's") Susan is!

She has blogged sooo many delicious recipes! On the sweets side, I can't wait to try her (award winning) Belgian Supreme Ice Cream, the (also award winning) S'more Nutella Rice Pudding, Homemade Nutella, and her Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie! This girl also knows how to do savory right-like um her post on how to cook steak at home!? And she is queen of risotto (I want this recipe to become the first risotto I ever try). AND yes Buttermilk Oven Fried Chicken and Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese with Kale and Onions-mmmm!

And, so we can all get to know her better, she filled out a fun questionnaire for us!
(I filled out one for her too, AND she made one of my recipes so go check it out on her site!)

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip & Pecan Cookies: Spotlight on The Messy Baker

So-you guys remember my girl Jennie, right? She's The Messy Baker. She's amazeballs

 (that's her catchphrase!)

Jennie is cool, hilarious, and makes some of the tastiest food you've evah seen!

She and I have been sponsoring each other, and now it's time for another spotlight post!

(You should check out the spotlight post I already did on her, you'll get to know how awesome she is!)

Oh and also go and see the spotlight she's doing on me!

For this post, I wanted to make a recipe from her fabulous blog.

And um...how could I pass up a post entitled "The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies...Ever!" ??

Jennie described them thusly:

"...these really are the best chocolate chips cookies I’ve ever sunk my teeth into. How do I know this? Because I’ve baked and tested several different recipes and this is the only one that bakes up soft and chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. I call that cookie perfection. They’re so good that I’ve been eating them around the clock." 

With a ringing endorsement like that-I HAD to make these!

I just made a couple teensy tweaks.

The recipe already called for melted butter so I was like "Um...let's brown that butter!" because I'm obviously addicted and need help (no I don't, no one should ever quit browned butter). And then I was like "Oooh let's toast the pecans!" And then I went "No salt in the recipe? Let's just sprinkle a smidge on top of there" and voila! Cookies made. And I must say-they totally live up to the hype! We ate these cookies up in record time. Michael COULD NOT stop eating them. He was totally in love with them. And he admitted, "You're right...browned butter makes everything better." THESE COOKIES HAVE WROUGHT A MIRACLE! MIRACLE COOKIES I TELL YOU!  These cookies are chewy and crisp and full of the amazing flavors of the chocolate, pecans, and wonderousness of the cookie (just enhanced a bit with the browned butter :P).

The fact that Jennie came up with this recipe is just a perfect example for how in awe of her I am.

She's like a rock star. And these cookies are delicious masterpieces. Michael proclaimed them to be one of his favorite cookie recipes I've ever made, and I agree!! You should go look and see all the other great things Jennie has to offer:

Follow Jennie, The Messy Baker!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Green Monster Smoothie

Oh yeah.

I like green monster smoothies.

Well...1 kind of green monster smoothie.

Have you ever had a Starbucks Vivano smoothie? 

It tastes like chocolate and banana. 

This tastes exactly the same (+ some peanut butter, which of course just adds to the awesomeness). 

And oh yeah there's like 2 cups of spinach up in there.

And if I tell you that you will not taste the spinach, trust me, you WILL NOT taste the spinach.

Just a choco-pb-banana smoothie with a special little surprise that no one would ever guess was there.

It's a great way to sneak some nutrition in for any picky eaters you may know! And a favorite breakfast treat of mine.