all natural red velvet brownies

all-natural-red-velvet-brownies

 

You know the expression, “beat a dead horse?” I’d say it’s probably time I moved on from the all-natural red velvet cake thing, but a lot of you keep asking for brownies, so read on, my friends, and I’ll give you my recipe.

But first, I want to turn your attention to the sidebar. Not too long ago, it read: “I’m Jaime, a single mom of three. I love the classics, French pastries, and British accents. Welcome to my blog.” Notice anything different?

I got married!!!!

wedding-sophistimom

Meet Matt, my wonderful new husband. Many people know him as Matthew J. Kirby.

I met him last July while I was at an event in Salt Lake City signing my cookbook. He came up after my presentation and wanted to know more about what I liked to cook. On my drive home, I thought, That guy’s gonna ask me out. Sure enough, the next day, I got an email from him, telling me who he was and asking me if he could take me out for lunch or coffee. When I googled him, I realized I had bought the first book he had written, The Clockwork Three, for my oldest son, three years earlier.

Our relationship started slowly at first, and then there was no stopping it. We are so happy. The children adore him, he adores them, and we are very, very, VERY much in love.

Enough of that mushy stuff. Now to the brownies . . .

By |April 9th, 2014|desserts, recipes, well-fed|8 Comments
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apple and chestnut stuffing with herbes de provence

pepperidge-farm-stuffing

Pepperidge farm provided me with a stipend for my time and materials to create this post.

It’s been such a long time since I shared a stuffing recipe with you! Remember that one I did with the apricots and sausage? Seriously, that has been my favorite one for a long time, so I really haven’t ever wanted to come up with a new one. But this year, I thought I’d try something new. So I recently took a challenge from Pepperidge Farm to use their new Unseasoned Stuffing, to see if I could come up with something good for Thanksgiving this year.

I’d heard of lots of recipes for stuffing that use chestnuts, and I finally decided this was my year to use them. First of all, I’d like to say, though, that chestnuts are my new favorite food. Their soft and sweet, and really low in calories, and really high in fiber. I’m not kidding. In one serving of five big chestnuts, you get two grams of fiber and only 50 calories. Pretty amazing. They can be pretty pricey, though. Which is okay if you’re getting them for Thanksgiving, right?

By |November 15th, 2013|bread, recipes, side dishes, well-fed|10 Comments
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a little something hazardous for halloween, anyone?

donner-dinner-party-review

When I tucked everyone into bed the other night, my ten-year-old daughter started reading this book. When I woke up the next morning, her light was on, and she was finishing it up. I’m sure she got some sleep in there somewhere, but whether she did or not, I was a happy mom. Anytime my kids read something because they want to, I’m overjoyed, and if it’s about history to boot? I’m over the moon.

All my kids fell in love with Nathan Hale’s first two graphic novels in his Hazardous Tales series, One Dead Spy and Big Bad Ironclad, when he first introduced them to us last year. They present history in a way that is not only accurate and informative, but entertaining and funny as well.

The kids and I came up with some questions we had about his series, most particularly about his latest installment, Donner Dinner Party. So we had a little interview. Here’s how it went (I love how he answered the last question):

By |October 31st, 2013|authors, books, children's books, educational, Good Reading, well-read|6 Comments
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dinner with five plates: beef brisket with carrots and potatoes

beef-brisket

I was paid to create this recipe and write this post by Five Plates.

Something crazy happened here in Utah: we’ve had a whole week of fall—during the first week of fall!! Maybe that doesn’t sound so exceptional to you, but around here, it is. Normally, it’s the middle of October before we see any days in the 60s, and then by Halloween, the kids are wearing their winter coats and we have to run our trick-or treating route fast enough that our hands don’t freeze. I like fall to come in gradually, just like it is this year. So naturally, I’m pretty ecstatic.

Since the weather has gone chilly so early, I’ve already started craving slow cooker recipes with meat, just like this one.

By |September 30th, 2013|dinner, quick fix, recipes, well-fed|4 Comments
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