Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

You know how you're supposed to bring new parents stuff like casserole?

That's not how I roll. Unless its my dad's awesome hash brown casserole, or has the words french toast in its immediate vicinity, casserole is usually not my thing.

However, friends of mine just had an adorable new baby, and when I went over to their house a couple weeks ago to snuggle her, and pet her soft hair, and inhale her new baby smell I wanted to bring them something edible. So, I brought them cookies using two of the most delicious flavors known to humankind: chocolate and peanut butter.

Thank God I gave these cookies away. You may not be able to tell from the photos, but that's a regular sized Reese's cup in the center of the cookie, and tiny peanut butter cups in the cookie itself. These suckers are 4-5 inches across each. Ginormous. If I'd made these for the heck of it without having a recipient in mind, it would've been super dangerous to have these sitting around.

P.S. If you like these, you may want to check out my small-batch peanut butter cupcakes with fudge frosting, peanut butter and fleur de sel brownies, and my peanut butter cheesecake swirl brownies!

P.P.S. This is completely unrelated to cookies, but if you need a laugh, go read this hilarious post from Don't Quote the Raven. I found this a few weeks ago, and have been meaning to share it with you guys ever since. I sent it to one of my friends, and she started laugh-crying so badly that she had to leave her office. You've been warned.

P.P.P.S. I'm writing this at 11 p.m. Tuesday night, and I keep peeking out the window looking for snow. DC is about to get its first significant snowfall in 2 years, and I'm vacillating between excitement and annoyance. Mostly annoyance, since I'm mentally ready for spring, and don't feel like dealing with the power outage that will most likely accompany this storm. I wanted snow in December, not now! Blergh. I know this snowstorm is supposed to hit a lot of areas, so stay warm, friends!

Chicken Quesadilla Pie

 

I *just* made this chicken quesadilla pie yesterday afternoon, and it was so delicious that my planned cookie post for today is being postponed until later this week. The cookies are amazing too, but Mexican food beats cookies any day, at least in my world. I wanted to share this as quickly as possible, so that every single one of you can add it to your dinner plans this week. Seriously. Do it.

Not only is this pie delicious, it's quick and incredibly easy. All you do is fashion a makeshift crust out of a tortilla, dump in a bunch of shredded rotisserie chicken, cheese, jalapenos, and cilantro, whisk together a quick batter that gets poured on top, and bake it for about 20 minutes. It's kind of like a quesadilla crossed with a quiche.

Blammo. You just made yourself an awesome dinner. 

This isn't very spicy with the specified amount of jalapenos, so feel free to toss in more if you like your food with a kick. I think that pepper-jack cheese would be a great sub for cheddar if you feel like mixing things up!

Also, a quick Public Service Announcement: I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Best Simple Recipes. I've been using this thing like crazy over the past couple months, and every single thing I've tried from it has turned out perfectly. If you're in the market for quick dinner ideas I could not recommend it more.

Okay. Time to go get my weekly dose of secondhand embarrassment and watch Girls. Have a happy Monday, friends!

Croque Monsieur + Baby Arugula Salad with Creamy Dijon Vinaigrette

Cooking inspiration can come from the most random places.

Several weeks ago, I was watching Girls. Specifically, the episode "One Man's Trash", where Hannah has an affair with a rich, hot, brownstone-owning doctor. While she's sitting in his gorgeous kitchen, she looks around and remarks, "I feel like I'm in a Nancy Meyers movie."

I thought to myself, "Man, I love Nancy Meyers movies. I don't have places to go or things to do. I should watch It's Complicated, then Something's Gotta Give, and then It's Complicated again, all in one evening." So I did. For those of you who aren't familiar with her films, Nancy Meyers is known for her impeccable attention to detail in every tiny aspect of each scene. Every home in her films is stunning and beautifully decorated, but the particular detail that always sticks out to me is - what else? The food.

It's Complicated is definitely the food-porniest of all Meyers' movies. Meryl Streep's character, Jane, plays a chef/bakery owner, and several scenes heavily feature food preparation. From the scene where a slightly stoned Jane makes pain au chocolat from scratch, to her preparation of her ex-husband's favorite meal of roasted chicken, sauteed string beans, mashed potatoes, and double fudge cake in anticipation of their evening rendezvous, to her admission that she makes ice cream (of the lavender-honey variety) when she can't sleep, food is ALL over this movie.

My favorite food-related scene in the movie occurs when Jane prepares Croque Monsieur and a salad for her architect and love interest, played by Steve Martin. She tells him that Croque Monsieur was the first thing she learned to cook for herself when she lived in France. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty sure that one of the first things I learned to cook for myself was grilled cheese. Croque Monsieur is basically grilled cheese on crack. Gruyere, ham, and dijon mustard get sandwiched between slices of white bread, topped with a Mornay sauce and more gruyere, then broiled.

The day I made this, I mentioned over on Facebook that it's really not fair to all the other sandwiches how good this is. This takes about 30 minutes to make. Any quicker, and I'd be in BIG trouble since I pretty much want to eat this every day, while imagining that I'm cooking it in a kitchen painstakingly designed by Ms. Meyers herself. Until I can live inside a Nancy Meyer's movie, I'll settle for just cooking like her characters. Trust me...the rest of that food is coming. Roasting a chicken has been on my culinary to-do list for far too long!