Sunday, February 13, 2011

Über Horrific Idea #1

Okay, I love household shortcuts…

Faster ways to do everyday chores, products that cut the work load in half, as well as techniques to effectively threaten bribe encourage preschoolers to pick up their toys or dress themselves in less than a fortnight.

I also love, love, LOVE lasagna…

It’s seriously one of the best pseudo original recipes in my repertoire. It can feed a crowd heartily all evening or my family for three days (which tastes better every time I pull it out of the fridge), and in general, makes me about as happy as any non-chocolate food can.

But this is just plain lasagna sacrilege...a WikiHow article on how to cook lasagna in your dishwasher. Yes, I said dishwasher. Even with detergent and dirty dishes along for the ride.

All the work in making lasagna is in the preparations and layering. For me, it takes about an hour, before cook time, which is also right under an hour for a full pan.



Soooo, don’t most high heat dishwasher cycles take longer than an hour?

Not to mention that cumulatively, it’s can be an expensive dish to put together with all the cheeses, sauce, noodles, meat, and veggies (my recipe averages $15).

And please tell me who has a dishwasher but NOT an oven?

So why, why, WHY would anyone ever risk defiling the culinary sanctity and laborious nature of lasagna by cooking it in the freaking dishwasher?!

My only answer is that this was thought up by a man; the same kind of man that cooks a deer steak and a can of beans on the manifold of a pickup truck, in the woods, wearing camouflage, while drinking beer.


Lots of beer.


Any other theories out there?

Friday, February 11, 2011

Feed Me! Friday: Gooey Butter Brownies

These are a crowd pleaser, and a butt expander. Enjoy!

Gooey Butter Brownies

Basic boxed brownie mix (13x9 or "family size"), baked according to instructions, but in a slightly larger pan (I used my lasagna pan).
Pull brownies out just a couple minutes before normal time.

For Gooey Butter Cookie Layer:

Ingredients
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add cake mix, and stir until well blended. Roll into 1 inch balls and roll the balls in the confectioners' sugar. (Messy but worth it) Try as hard as you can not to eat ALL the cookie dough raw. Place balls almost touching on top of the partially cooled brownie layer. Press down slightly around the edges.

3. Bake another 13-15 minutes until golden

4. Sprinkle with a little more confectioner’s sugar, just to make it a little more purty and tempting.

5. When cooled, cut portions as needed along the rounded lines of the killer gooey butter cookies on the top.

6. Share them with guests so that you don't eat them all by yourself. Like I did.