Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

These turned out pretty yummy. Brownie mix is maybe the biggest rip in the supermarket. You've probably got all the stuff you need already, and it really only takes like 3 mins longer. This is my standard cribbed-from-Mark-Bittman recipe, fancied up a little bit.

The Brownie Part:

• 1 stick butter
• 3 tbsp cocoa, plus a little more if you like it that way.
  
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
  
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder if you want them cake-y. (I used this for the raspberry cheesecake version, but I don't just for regular brownies. If you leave the baking powder out, they're more like fudge that is cake.)
• 1/2 to 1 tsp (scant) cinnamon (optional, if you like it spicy.)
• pinch cayenne pepper (ditto)

Melt butter with cocoa, sugar, and vanilla over low heat. Stir until uniform, then turn off heat. You're really just melting the butter here, not cooking anything. Beat eggs slightly, then stir into mixture. Add flour and stir just until smooth. (At this point, if you want plain old brownies (and there's nothing wrong with that) scrape batter into pan and bake for about 20 mins at 350 degrees F.) Otherwise, forge on, dear reader.

Melt about 6 oz of raspberry preserves or all fruit or some such and drizzle over the brownie batter, reserving maybe two tablespoons or so.

The Cheesecake part:

• 8 oz Neufchatel or cream cheese, room temperature. (Here, I'm talking about the American kind, not the Frenchy kind. I didn't even know there was a Frenchy kind until I read this. I thought it was just some weird pseudo-French thing.
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 egg

Cream sugar and Neufchatel cheese. Add vanilla and slightly beaten egg and beat until uniform.
Spread over brownie/raspberry layer. Artfully blob the rest of the jam on top and swirl around with a toothpick. Bake for about 20-25 mins or until slightly puffy and just a touch brown. If you don't want these to fall apart when you cut them, you should let them cool completely.

Lovely Orange Mashed Potatoes

The other night I tried this variation on the usual garlic mashed potatoes I make. Turned out pretty good. If you're not used to the idea of savory sweet potatoes, this is a good intro. I likes 'em candied, but they're good for other things, too, and are really good for you.

• 2 med sweet potatoes, peeled and chunked up into pieces about 3/4 inch wide. (I say "chunked", because it's the best approximation of sliced our dull knives can do with such an unruly vegetable.)
• 2 baking potatoes (or, "ice" potatoes as my Mamaw would say. This confused us for years, until somebody realized that "ice", or "iche" was grandma for "Irish") Cut these to roughly the same size as the sweet potato chunks.
• about 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and trimmed. If you believe the recent stuff about how good the oxidized compounds in garlic are for you, chop them in big pieces and let them sit for about 10 mins.
• about 1/4 c. feta cheese or some other strong cheese you like (optional, if you're a sissy)
• 1/4 - 1/2 c. milk (cow or soy), fat free half and half (a wonderful mystery) or dairyish item of your choice)
• 4 tbsp butter

Using a large-ish pot, boil potatoes and garlic in just enough water to cover until tender enough to mash. Err on the side of more cooked rather than less. Drain and smash with a potato masher or ricer or fork or implement of your choice. Add butter and cheese, mash some more. Then add the milk until you get to the consistency you like. Add salt and pepper to taste, but remember the cheese is kinda salty so be sure to taste first.

Slightly Healthier Date Bars

Susan Richardson from Edna, MN is a date bar genius, an I mean her no slight, but since I don't take instruction well and I wanted something a little less butterific, I set to tinkering, resulting in this, my slightly better for you version of her fabulous date bar recipe. If you want straight up yummy and you just don't care, go with the original. But, if you want something you can rationalize as breakfast, try this one.

• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. chopped pitted dates
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F'inheit. Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.

Simmer the dates in the water until very soft. Mush them up with a fork until it's just a kind of grody looking brown slurry. Don't think about it, just do it. Stir in the vanilla.

While the date goo is cooking, do this part.

• 1/2 c. white all purpose flour
• 1c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. old fashioned oats (Not instant. Quick cooking might be ok, but I'm not promising anything because I use the slow kind).
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. (4 tbsp) butter, slightly soft and chopped into smallish bits.
• 1/4 c. (plus maybe a little extra) olive oil (you could use some other kind of vegetable oil, but I use olive oil for everything, so there.)
• 3/4 c. walnuts

In a large-ish bowl, mix dry ingredients except walnuts. Use your fingers (or a pastry cutter if you're a freak or are hygenically impaired) to mush the butter into the flour-oat mixture. When it's mushed up to the point of being nearly undetectable, drizzle the olive oil on the flour mix and continue to smush. When it's all uniform and it holds its shape when you press it together, pour half of it in the prepared pan and press it down. Add the walnuts to the top and gently pat down. Spread the date goo over this layer and then evenly put the rest of the crumb mixture on top of that. Press down gently. You want to compact the stuff so that the top crust holds together, but you don't want to smush out the date goo. Bake for 40 mins. Let cool before cutting if you're the patient sort. If you're not, they just won't hold together as well. These are really good warm with a little vanilla ice cream on top.