Double Brownies and Chocolate chip cheesecake bars

I am posting two recipes that are amazing on their own, but today I tried combining them and it made an amazing birthday cake for my sister-in-law!

Double Brownies

Chocolate layer:

2 eggs
1 pinch of salt
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup cocoa

Beat eggs till foamy. Add sugar, flour, and salt. Melt butter and cocoa together. Add to egg mixture and blend well. Spread in greased 9 x 13" pan. Set aside.

Butterscotch layer:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Add flour, salt and chocolate chips. Stir. Spon over chocolate layer in small daubs. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Chocolate chip cheesecake bars

1-2 recipes chocolate chip cookie dough depending on size of recipe

Beat:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

Put 1/2 of cookie dough in 8 x 10" pan. Spread filling over top. Crumble remaining dough over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.


Now to combine the recipes use cream cheese mixture between the chocolate and butterscotch layers of the double brownie and bake about 35 minutes till done. If you really like the taste of cream cheese do 1 1/2 recipes of the cream cheese mixture as it's not as strong when put in a 9 x 13 pan.

Easy Pear Cobbler

2 to 2  1/2 cups sliced fresh pears (I used 3 pears and it worked well)

1 cup sugar divided

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

Mix pears with 1/2 cup sugar and let stand. Put butter in 2 quart casserole and place in 325 degree oven until melted. Combine all dry ingredients, including the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Mix well. Whisk together the milk and egg; slowly combine with dry ingredients to make a batter. Pour over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon pears over the batter. Do not stir. Bake at 325  for 50-60 minutes, or until nicely browned and pears are tender.

Serve hot or cold with ice cream or whipped cream.

Kale Potato Soup

1 large bunch kale (chopped)

Steam and set aside. (Don't cook it with the potatoes; the flavor will be too strong.)

1 tablespoon butter

1 large onion (I use 1/2 of quite a large onion)

1 tsp. garlic powder or 1 clove of garlic

Melt butter in soup pot. Add onion and saute until golden. Add garlic and saute another minute.

2 large potatoes

2 cups hot water or broth (I use chicken broth)

Add to pot with the onion, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft. Remove half of the cooked potatoes; puree the rest with the cooking liquid and return to the soup pot. Return reserved potatoes and steamed kale to soup pot. (Puree everything if a smooth texture is desired. I puree the kale as well but leave some potato chunks as Kyle likes some chunks in his soup.)

3 cups water or broth

1/2 teaspoon salt (don't over salt, not much is needed with this soup)

pepper to taste

Add along with additional hot water or milk to preferred consistency. Heat gently until hot and serve. ( I like to add 1 cup of milk mixed with 2 heaping tablespoons of flour to make a creamier soup)

Kale is a good source of calcium, beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C and iron.

Starting Out

This is my first attempt at blogging. The reason for this blog is to have a place to store all our family's favorite recipes in one location. No more searching through dozens of cook books to find that one recipe! Please feel free to try the recipes out as well and let me know what you think of them or how you would/have changed them!