ksquared's chicago

Patron XO Dark Brownies

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 10:19:51 -0500

I saw a story about a local bakery that had a Patron XO donut, which made me wonder why I never tried making an actual dessert with it instead of just dessert cocktails.

I decided to convert a mint brownie recipe from my childhood that is just a regular brownie recipe with mint icing and chocolate on top, but replace the creme de menthe Patron XO Dark. To increase the coffee flavor, I also modified this Martha Stewart mocha brownie recipe for the base.

Patron XO Dark Brownies

1 cup flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 tbsp butter

8 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

1 1/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp Nescafe Cafe de Olla

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp Patron XO Dark

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
Melt butter and chocolate in microwave, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Add sugar; mix to combine. Add eggs, and mix to combine. Add Nescafe, cinnamon and Patron XO Dark. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
Bake 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes.
For topping, beat together: 2 cups powered sugar, 2 Tbsp. Patron XO Dark, 1/2 cup butter. Spread topping over cooled brownies. Melt 6 oz. chocolate chips and 6 Tbsp. butter. Spread over Patron icing. Cool.
Cut brownies & enjoy.

80s Party Food Ideas from the 80s-themed birthday party I threw...

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 17:40:00 -0500

Oregon Trail Mix = Chex Mix (made with steak sauce instead of Worcestershire sauce so it was vegetarian)

The Breakfast Club Fruit Sushi (we don't eat fish so made fruit sushi instead of regular)

ET Phone Home Cupcakes - dark chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting topped with Reese's Pieces

Seven-layer taco dip in individual cups

Ghostbusters Rice Krispy Treats (made with vegan marshmallows)

Book It Personal Pizzas (these may still exist, but Book It pizzas were a memorable part of my childhood in the 80s)

Where's the Beef? sliders - ordered three kinds from a local burger bar

80s Party Food Ideas from the 80s-themed birthday party I threw for my husband. When I was looking for ideas, it was hard to find stuff. It turns out 80s party foods are pretty much the menu at TGIFridays - potato skins, spinach and artichoke dip. So I did some food from the 80s and then also made labels to make most of them more 80s with photos for the labels.

Here’s what I did:

- Oregon Trail Mix (Chex Mix)

- Seven-Layer Taco Dip

- Potato Skins

- Book It Personal Pizzas (mini pizzas)

- Where’s the Beef? Sliders (mini cheeseburgers and veggie burgers from a local burger bar)

- The Breakfast Club Fruit Sushi (in the movie, Clare brings sushi in her lunch - we don’t eat fish, so I made the fruit sushi like they serve at Orange)

- Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man/Pac-Man ghost sugar cookies

- Ghostbusters Rice Krispy Treats

- Personalized M&M’s

- ET Phone Home Cupcakes - dark chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting topped with Reese’s Pieces

Cookies for my husband’s 80s themed birthday party....

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:20:29 -0500

Plain from the oven

Iced

Eyes being added

Finished cookies

Cookies for my husband’s 80s themed birthday party. Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man ghost cookies. Oddly, Ms. Pac-Man has an eye, but Pac-man does not.

Latkes for Chanukah

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 12:26:29 -0500

Latkes in the frying pan

Last night of Chanukah

Homemade applesauce is 100 times better than store bought

Apple-sauced cocktail with mini latkes for garnish

Latkes for Chanukah

I’m running the Chicago Marathon on Sunday to raise money...

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:56:07 -0400

I’m running the Chicago Marathon on Sunday to raise money for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. During the month of October, all donations to the Food Depository are being matched, so if you donate to my page, they’ll actually get double whatever you’re able to give. Thank you for your support!

We adopted Mac the Puggle from One Tail at a Time, so...

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:15:07 -0400

We adopted Mac the Puggle from One Tail at a Time, so she’d like you to vote for them to win $20,000 in food & supplies from Kriser’s Pets so they can save even more wonderful dogs like her. You have to vote from a computer - the voting app doesn’t show up on iPhones, iPads, etc. Thanks! https://www.facebook.com/kriserspets/app_416637245046514

Marathon Mutts for One Tail at a Time

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 16:38:19 -0400

I’m running the Rock ‘n Roll Chicago Half Marathon on Sunday, July 22, as a Marathon Mutt to raise money for the dogs of One Tail at a Time.

One Tail at a Time is the wonderful dog rescue group that we adopted our dog, Mac the Puggle, from almost two years ago. In fact, she came to live with us during the “foster-to-adopt” timeframe the week before I ran my first Rock ‘n Roll Chicago Half Marathon (and first half marathon ever).

Here she is checking out my medal:

With just a week left, I’m $50 short of my fundraising goal of $150. Before a dog is eligible for adoption, One Tail makes sure that it is spayed or neutered, microchipped and up to date on vaccines. $150 will help to defer these costs for one dog. If I can exceed that goal, even more dogs will benefit.

In order to help generate some donations in the last week for the race, here is an added incentive: Donate at least $10 to my page. When you make your donation & have the option to comment, guess my finish time for the race. I’ll give the person who guesses closest to my actual time their choice of one of the following:

* Your choice of One Tail T-shirts. I have both the Team Billy and V-Neck shirt, & both are awesome.

* Your choice of merchandise from the Marathon Mutts store up to $30.

* Donation on your behalf of $30 to your favorite local dog rescue.

You can donate online at my Marathon Mutts page here

People who already donated to my page can still guess my time for a chance to win.

To help narrow your time guesses, my two previous Rock ‘n Roll Chicago Half Marathon times were 2:43:43 in 2010 and 2:36:03 in 2011. Although last year, I did twist my ankle in a pothole and spent a good 5-10 minutes at the side of the road getting it iced by a pair of race spectators before limping/walking/jogging to the finish so that slowed my time down some. This year the course doesn’t go on the stretch of Jackson where I fell, but there’s likely to be other potholes in the city.

If you’re not able to donate, please take 1-2 minutes out of your day to vote for One Tail at a Time in the Kriser’s Christmas in July contest: https://www.facebook.com/kriserspets/app_416637245046514

Last year, they won $20,000 in food & supplies that helped them to feed 150+ dogs. You can vote every 24 hours between now & July 23.

Thank you for your support! Mac & all the dogs of One Tail at a Time appreciate it!

Virtual foster dog for One Tail at a Time and designed and...

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:35:00 -0400

Virtual foster dog for One Tail at a Time and designed and donated by www.rzfolio.com

It’s the perfect way to help real foster dogs if you live somewhere that you can’t have a dog or aren’t able to foster for another reason … like your dog might like being an only dog & knocks the head off the virtual dog and runs off with it in her mouth.

http://www.onetail.org/foster/virtual-fostering/

Help One Tail at a Time

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:26:19 -0400

Help One Tail at a Time:

Watch & share this 3-minute presentation about One Tail at a Time and some of the happy, wonderful dogs they have saved to give them a chance to win money from SlideRocket so they can rescue even more dogs who deserve it. Unique views count as votes, so you only have to watch it once

Running for charity

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:05:03 -0400

Running for charity:

I’m running the Chicago Marathon for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. I’m also donating 25 cents per mile for every mile that I run this year leading up to the marathon. So far I’ve been slacking a little on running so I’m only up to $13.75. But I have more races scheduled in the coming months, so I should be back to racking up miles again.

Please donate to my page if you can. Your donation will help feed the 678,000 men, women & children served by the Food Depository every year.

I don’t condone bikes on sidewalks, but this may be the...

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 18:12:43 -0400

I don’t condone bikes on sidewalks, but this may be the most adorable bike ever

Sweetest

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:40:05 -0400

Sweetest

These barely capture the joy Mac gets from rolling around in the...

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:20:05 -0400

These barely capture the joy Mac gets from rolling around in the grass

Photobombed by a tourist

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:19:11 -0400

Photobombed by a tourist

Hello

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 11:08:08 -0400

Hello

Photo

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:34:05 -0400

I love that the Chicago skyline goes green for St....

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 13:20:05 -0500

I love that the Chicago skyline goes green for St. Patrick’s Day

Patron XO, Half & Half, Cinnamon Sugar

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:20:05 -0500

Patron XO, Half & Half, Cinnamon Sugar

Excuse me, I believe it’s time for a bellyrub

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:40:05 -0500

Excuse me, I believe it’s time for a bellyrub

Spiked Orange Soda Sprecher’s Orange Dream Soda Vanilla...

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:20:05 -0500

Spiked Orange Soda

Sprecher’s Orange Dream Soda
Vanilla Vodka
Grand Marnier
Ginger Liqueur