Wow, it has been awhile! What a busy summer. Here's just a little of what I've been up to:

This is my new favorite brownie recipe... double chocolate coconut brownies - yum!

 

I adapted the recipe from this King Arthur Flour recipe

Double Chocolate Coconut Brownies

INGREDIENTS 

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups dark chocolate chips

1 teaspoon coconut extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (This is the step I always forget :)

2. Beat the eggs with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, coconut extract and vanilla till smooth. 

3. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, add the sugar and stir. Heat briefly until the mixture is hot but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. 

4. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture to the egg/cocoa mixture, stirring until smooth.

5. Add the flour and chocolate chips, again stirring until smooth.

6. Pour the batter into a non-stick brownie pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the center comes out with just crumbs, not wet batter. 

Optionally, adding a tablespoon of Bailey's adds another great aspect of flavor. I also want to try adding lemon zest or orange zest, or a tablespoon of peach schnapps

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I've suddenly become a hat person - don't know where that came from. But I've collected a whole bunch of cute hats over the past few months, and made this hat rack to store them / show them off:

 

I'm really pleased. It has made my room so much more homey :) 

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Now that Fall is almost here, I'm super excited about...

Restarting aerials class (off for August)

Apple cider

Caramel apples

Getting to wear sweaters