#brownies

It has to be christmas! My dad's christmas dinner has always been one of the highlights of the festive season for me. He's always been a very good cook and his christmas dinners are especially delicious. So much so that they've actually ruined most other christmas dinners for me... 😅

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It isn't just my dad's cooking that I look forward to during the lead up to christmas, though. Since moving in with my partner almost four years ago now, we've formed our own traditions involving food and the holidays. Said traditions mainly consist of buying and subsequently devouring an ungodly amount of cheese and chocolate but every so often, we'll find ourselves in the kitchen, making treats from scratch...

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Mulled wine is one of our favourite things to make. I love the way it tastes, as well as the way it makes my kitchen smell! Like cloves and cinnamon with a hint of citrus. It's so, soooo good. I also like to bake things to give as gifts to our friends. Most years I will make gingerbread cookies, but sometimes I'll switch it up and do cupcakes or brownies!

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When I was a kid we used to have some sort of cake/tart and a piece of chocolate every Sunday morning when my parents drank a cup of coffee (and cake again in the evening) and ice cream after dinner. On other days a piece of candy every day when we came home from school and a dessert (yoghurt/"vla" which is a type of thin and often flavoured custard) every day after dinner.I wouldn't call sweets/candy desserts though. And in my experience cake is not generally eaten as a dessert but as a snack. If you say dessert people will probably assume you mean some kind of dairy product. Yoghurt, vla, ice cream, pudding, etc.
I still do the cake and the ice cream on Sunday though not as consistently as we used to. Dessert after dinner only if I feel like it which isn't very often. And I rarely eat sweets or chocolate these days. Growing up we definitely had more (homemade) dessert on holidays and special occasions, mainly because it was very holiday-specific and also took time and effort to make. Back then, confectionery-bought cakes had a reputation of being not very fresh, or made with dodgy ingredients (my mom still thinks that only lazy people buy cozonac instead of making it at home lol). Outside of that, my mom would sometimes make a tray of brownies, sponge cake or some crepes, nothing too complicated. During summer, ice cream and watermelon are a classic dessert after lunch. We also had chocolate, biscuits, candy etc at home but they were more like a sweet snack, not an actual dessert after a meal. Every day I have something sweet after dinner, usually a bar of chocolate or a hot chocolate. An actual dessert though like a brownie and ice cream or apple pie or something like that? I'll have that any time I go out to eat, am not super full after the main course, and other people want to get a dessert. So maybe like... once a month or so? Probably a bit less.
I don’t really have desserts unless guests are coming, but i have sweet snacks like chocolate, biscuits, etc a couple of hours after lunch so not sure if that counts. I love desserts though, especially ice cream and cheesecake. Every evening, but it’s usually something fairly healthy like fruit. Occasionally, we’ll have it with a little ice cream or custard; sometimes we’ll have something like a piece of cake or some sort of pudding (apple crumbles in winter are great). Most nights, though, it’s fresh fruit and perhaps a small biscuit with a pot of tea.
I haven’t eaten it since the last week in May. I lived 21 years and 11 months and suddenly I developed lactose intolerance. It really really sucks. I’m now 22 and it sucked I couldn’t even eat ice cream for my birthday back in June.

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Ｆｅｌｉｘ ➜ Ｈｙｕｎｎｉｅ
ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ
Höchstwahrscheinlich habe ich insgesamt 3 Liter Wasser an dem Tag aus meinen Augen gepresst, womit man eigentlich hätte Nudeln kochen können. Aber das waren glückliche Tränen, weil ich so fröhlich und gerührt war. Trotzdem reiße ich mich, Heulsuse, das nächste mal zusammen und strahle glücklich bis über beide Ohren. Ich will ja mit euren hübschen Gesichtern mithalten können. Außerdem will ich immer eine Umarmung haben. Los, drück mich, Hyunnie. Ich weiß du willst es auch. Und sonst...gibt es keine Brownies.

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#FELIX #HYUNNIE #STRAYKIDS #STAY #HEULSUSE #IMMERAMHEULEN #ABERDIESESMALAUSFREUDE
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Ｆｅｌｉｘ ➜ Ｈａｎｎｉｅ
ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ ּ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ ִ ˑ
Wir? Ich hoffe ich habe mich verhört. Mein Hintern bleibt im Bett und liefert nicht aus. Die Weintrauben müssen uns von selbst erreichen. Einstellen, wir müssen jemanden für diesen Job einstellen. Nimm einfach die Kredit-Karte von Namjoon und dann wird das schon irgendwie klappen... Außerdem wäre ich noch für Seifenblasen, die man zusätzlich für das Feeling ins Zimmer bläst. Aber weißt du auf welche Idee mich Hyunnie gebracht hat? Wir eröffnen ein Café. Ich werde der Bäcker, Hyunnie der Kellner und du stehst dann an der Kasse. So können wir uns den Spaß auch finanzieren.

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#FELIX #HYUNNIE&HANNIE #STRAYKIDS #WORKSMARTNOTHARD #SEIFENBLASEN #OBST #BROWNIES
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Bubbles, coloring books, arts and crafts, playgrounds, baths, blanket forts, board games, finding four leaf clovers, lucky pennies. Most things honestly.
Playing on my gameboy while in comfy pajamas as the sun rises in the morning. It’s a nice start to the day.
The original Nintendo Entertainment System. The mario brothers series, zelda, bubble bobble, mega man 1-6, blades of steel, teenage mutant ninja turtles, the contra series, donkey Kong series, mike Tyson's punchout, and many many other oldies
Super Nintendo, I don't know why just that one, but I play it all the time. Even getting more teary eyed as Ibeat games like Lufia again and again through life.
Lamb chops. Back in the day, these were cheap, and my family would have them often for dinner (loin chops, that is, not forequarter). I love them, both because lamb is delicious, and because it gives me warm fuzzies thinking about my dad cooking loin chops for us.
Polish sausage, mashed potatoes, amd cabbage with carrots. My mom was good at cooking the cabbage and carrots just right; they had a just-cooked velvety bite with no mushyness and so much flavor. I've never been able to replicate it.
Spaghetti-o's with meatballs. Served at approximately 50% the temperature of the surface of the sun. Improves my mood in a way that nothing else can besides a heroic dose of THC. Which only inevitably leads back to Spaghetti-o's. Vicious cycle.
i loved sweets as a kid (not really candy or soda actually, but i have always loved chocolate, any kinds of cupcakes or cakes, ice cream, cheesecake, brownies, tarts, really any desserts haha) and i'm in my early 20s now and i have even more of a sweet tooth than i did as a kid! does anyone know if maybe my love of sugar will decrease as i get older...? i sure hope so lol.
Honestly, candy. I never really lost my taste for super sweet things, although I don't drink soda anymore. I often have to force myself not to buy it every week at the grocery store because I just don't have any self control when it comes to sweets.

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Buckle up. The menu for this year, after changes, is as follows; Turkey, bone on prime rib, braised carrots, mashed Yukon tatoes, frog eye salad, cranberry relish(fresh not canned or cooked), fresh rolls, steamed broccoli, layered jello, fudge, hot chocolate, wassail, spiced cider, cherry pie, pumpkin roll, and Turkey gravy. This is all for dinner on the 24th. Breakfast for Christmas Day; baked ham, French toast, hot pear butter, bacon, sausage links, scrambled eggs, fried mashed tatoes, pan fried cabbage, sauteed onions, OJ, apple cider, miso broth, hot chocolate, and maybe cinnamon rolls. Our fancy dinner is Christmas Eve. This year, it's a prime rib roast with green peppercorn sauce, popovers, fennel and gruyere scalloped potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and a Danish riz alemande, rice and almond pudding in a whipped cream base served with fruit sauce. On Xmas day, we start with two kinds of panettone, two pastry strips (apple and raspberry), and whatever leftovers we have.
We always have a big 'drop by' party on Christmas eve - where people can drop by, socialize for a bit, grab some food, etc - without having to stay for a 'party'. Typically lots of people do stay quite late into the evening, though. For this party we always serve a big anti pasta plate, a chaffer full of meatballs in sauce, crusty bread, a few cold sides (salads, etc) and lots and lots of wine. There's also a table with cookies and deserts. We'll probably have between 35-50 people stop by. It's really easy and fun although I usually end up putting toys together drunk at 2 am.
Christmas eve we go to my in-laws and it is basically potluck. It's crowded so anything you can eat off a paper plate. She usually grills some pork tenderloins for sandwiches and will usually have one other meat. For Christmas day we are lucky to have it just us , as in me , husband, kids. Last year I started making my ham on Christmas eve day and getting it all sliced down so it is ready for ham and country gravy as part of breakfast. We'll also have a traditional ham dinner but since I have most everything ready , I can get started on the real reason I make ham and that is a huge pot of split pea soup to eat for days (and frozen to eat weeks later).
So for Christmas Eve my parents, who I'm visiting, and I visit my brother and his family. He recently sort of got into cooking, his wife doesn't cook at all, and his kids have very... Simple tastes. In the past we've tried to bring food like my mother and I make, generally simple but well seasoned and not lacking in flavor, but we've been relegated to desserts the last couple of years. I offered to make a pastry dessert but that was turned down (I'm itching to make another babka) so we're making brownies, and I expect to be served something dry and overcooked with sides from the prepared grocery section.
Christmas Eve in my family has always been and will always be my Mom's stuffed peppers. We eat and then sit around playing video games.

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I agree, but I think it's because most cheap/typical "chocolate" ice cream from a machine is really bad quality chocolate. I've had good chocolate ice cream, but it's like, expensive gourmet cocoa stuff. The standard chocolate ice cream brands all taste weird, fake and watery to me. Vanilla ice cream is way more consistently good even if it's cheap. Same goes for cakes and baked desserts.
Yeah, the problem for me is that chocolate ice cream rarely actually tastes like chocolate to me. It tastes good, but compared to something like a chocolate mousse? Now THAT tastes like chocolate. Even cheap vanilla ice cream made with fake vanilla tastes like vanilla. I just don't think there is a fail-safe way to have chocolate be properly represented in ice cream. There are so many other chocolate treats that do chocolate better.
Finally! Someone else gets it! I was always viewed as the weird kid when I said that I didn't want the chocolate flavored ice cream, cake, etc. I do like chocolate, don't get me wrong, but vanilla is way superior.
I prefer Ben And Jerry's vanilla to their chocolate, but proper Italian ice cream parlours make better chocolate than vanilla in my opinion. A local place mixes Nutella into his chocolate, which makes it god-like.
Vanilla's strength lies in what you mix it with, like using chocolate or strawberry syrup on your ice cream. But I don't see a point in buying vanilla ice cream and a bottle of syrup when I could just get chocolate ice cream.
It is an undisputed fact that chocolate is better if you disagree you are a disgrace to humanity and white chocolate is not chocolate. (Btw I think vanilla is better flavor for puding)
Vanilla for cold or refreshing deserts like ice cream or cake with fruit and vanilla cream and chocolate for hot deserts like hot cocoa or pudding and for treats that are supposed to taste rich and decadent like fudgy brownies or lava cakes.
I have noticed so far people have answered this as though it is ice cream because Ice cream that is vanilla is so much richer than the half assed "chocolate" flavor. However I would argue chocolate cake is better than vanilla cake.
A good vanilla flavour is 100x better than chocolate. Expensive vanilla ice cream has a much better taste than any chocolate. That’s just my opinion tho.
Because real vanilla is one of the most complex and interesting flavors there is. Chocolate just doesn't compare.
Because Rita's vanilla is certainly more tastier than their chocolate soft serve.
Because it is lighter to eat than Chocolate.
Chocolate. I actually like the vanilla flavoring more, but my mind said chocolate when reading the post for some reason. Probably because my gf is black and her friends have been telling me they think I had a craving for chocolate, which kind of weirds me out, but I guess it's seeped into my subconscious.
Vanilla, chocolate cake can be a bit too rich- and when its not there's something else wrong with it.

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Always watched mom from very little. Around 10 it switched to my sister in-law. At the same age my father took me into the bakery where he worked and I watched him bake.
Occasionally my father asked me to do easy things like kneading the dough, rolling cinnamon rolls (my father actually hated cinnamon), and egg white washing before baking. Of course he never let me around the big mixers or even the rotating oven. Mom on the weekends occasionally baked as well. Even had a few recipes in a couple of cook books published with the help of my sister in-law. Mom couldn't write pretty much anything. My sister in-law being a vegetarian of course never cooked any meat. My half brother usually cooked that. Yet he obviously never watched mom cook, so my sister in-law suggested that I cook. It was always just simple things like fist sticks and hamburgers.
Around 12 I was left on my own. Mom made prepared dinners for me and froze them. All I had to do was heat them up. Yet breakfast was something I had to do. So I occasionally made eggs and bacon if I had the time which was a rare occasion. Mostly cereals. And mom made up a lunch bag for me for school. Jr high was the same. Yet dad had me picking walnuts with him to make brownies at his place. Just simple baking. Yet shelling the walnuts and even insuring those walnuts were good was a choir. Dad had me working with him at a different job. This time a doughnut shop! These little jobs I did was mostly serving because the oil fryer was dangerous. As I found out years later when he himself got badly burned and forced into retirement. At 16 I had a bad motorcycle accident. Mom could no longer take care of me so I was forced to live with my half brother and his wife again. Dad couldn't do it either because he worked nights. He really wasn't supposed to have me working with him anyway on the weekends. It was almost a year before I really could do anything. So cooking even at my half brothers place was out until I got out of the caste. It was a long painful 10 months. When I got the caste off, guess who had to start cooking again? I really wasn't happy with that arrangement. So I picked up a job at a local Italian restaurant. At first it was just simple dishwashing for the first few months. My half brother was happy because the owner let the workers take home whatever was left over. Usually it was pizza. Yet occasionally some really good pasta dishes were available. That's where I learned to make the Italian dishes that I do make today. From there I had worked on and off in various restaurants. A couple of five star restaurants at that yet never more than a precook. Yet I always watched and learned. When I was 8yo as it quickly became more chore around the house to make dinner every night for the hole family. My parents started me off standing on stepping stools and doing everything under constant directions and I quickly picked up cooking.
I honestly can't remember ever not being able to cook.

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