Decadent, delicious.
I’ve been a huge fan of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody for quite some time now. She always comes up with the craziest recipes (kind of like what I do on Sushi Day), but as wacky as they may be, they quite often also sound delicious.
I had the opportunity to meet her at IFBC back in 2010, and can attest to the fact that she’s just as awesome (and hilarious) in person as she is on her blog. These days, I also consider myself pretty lucky to be able to call her a friend.
There are a lot of things from her blog that I’ve bookmarked to make in the future, but the only thing I’ve ever gotten around to making was her vanilla nutmeg caramels for my own version of scotch kisses.
But then, every once in a while, there comes a recipe that you see and just have to make RIGHT THAT INSTANT. This is what happened when I saw her recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars. OMG. (Plus, it doesn’t hurt that she gave Fridgg a shout out in her post, sending TONS of traffic our way – thank you so much, Peabody!)
The bottom layer is a peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips mixed in. Then you top it with full-sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Then a layer of cheesecake. Then top it with more of the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough, more chocolate chips, and mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
If you don’t think that sounds amazing, there’s something wrong with you. Or you’re allergic to peanuts. But still. It sounds ridiculous, right?
Obviously, I had to make it, and bring it to Son’s office for his coworkers. (They just started serving free lunches there, and one of his former bosses said to me, “I was going to tell you we don’t need you anymore now that we get free food, but this is MUCH better!”) Everyone loved them. They’re totally over-the-top decadent, but if you cut them into small squares, they’re just right.
So head on over to Peabody’s post for the recipe, then come back and let me know what you think!
It’s been just over a month since we opened up Fridgg to the public, and we’re really loving all of the beautiful food photos you all are posting every day!
This blog will continue to be a food blog (and even more so than in recent history, since I’ve been cooking and taking pictures of my food a lot more lately!), but now it will also be a place where we can post updates about new features on Fridgg. Even more importantly, the Fridgg blog is a place where you guys can talk directly with us – you can ask questions, give suggestions, and tell us what you think of the new features!
Take a tour of Fridgg!
First of all, we have a brand new snazzy tour page! If you’re still wondering what Fridgg is all about, or want to explain Fridgg to your friends, the tour page is the place to be.
We now send out an email every day (or once a week, depending on your email settings) with that day’s most popular photos, as well as anything new that the people you follow have uploaded that day. If you’re not already signed up for Fridgg, sign up here to get our daily emails of deliciousness. (We promise we’ll only send you the emails you want, and we’ll never give your email address to anyone else without your permission.)
If you use Google Chrome, we now have a Chrome App for Fridgg. Install it, and you’ll have an easy way to get to Fridgg straight from your browser.
Pumpkin Pie Wontons with Maple Whipped Cream
Thanksgiving is a week and a half away in the US, so it’s time to get planning! Check out the Thanksgiving tag on Fridgg for some great ideas for your Thanksgiving feast, and submit your own photos with the Thanksgiving tag so they’ll show up there too.
And lastly, if you haven’t already, you can follow Fridgg on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Have any questions, comments, or suggestions for Fridgg? Leave them in the comments, or email me at allison@fridgg.com.
Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
(For a bigger version of the photo, check it out on the new Fridgg! 
)
I love baking, but since it’s just Son and myself at home, a batch of anything is always too much. There’s only so much you can pawn off on family, so most of what I bake ends up going to my physical therapist’s office (they all love me there) and Son’s work (they do too 
).
The only problem with bringing baked goods into Son’s work is that one of his coworkers/friends has recently gone vegan… so she can never eat the butter/egg/dairy-filled baked goods I bring in.
Luckily for her, I love a challenge! I’ve been wanting to make something she can eat for a while, but I didn’t want anything that used weird ingredients like dairy-free margarine, or anything like that. I found this vegan peanut butter cookie recipe on ChooseVeg.com, and although I was a little worried it might not work, I decided to try it.
This last weekend one of his old coworkers had a housewarming party, which was the perfect occasion! The cookies turned out wonderfully – they’re a little more cake-like, and crumblier than non-vegan cookies, but delicious nonetheless. I thought they were reminiscent of the filling of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (which I LOVE), while Son said they reminded them of the Vietnamese mung bean cookies eaten around the Lunar New Year.
Just don’t do what I did with the first batch, and forget to flatten them with a fork (although in my defense, the original recipe left that part out). The cookies come out of the oven in the same shape that they were when they went in… and as you can see, flattening the cooked cookie balls after the fact doesn’t work so well.
(Although one of my twitter followers did have the great idea of using the cookie crumbs for a pie crust… which makes me want to mess up more cookies just so I have an excuse to try that!)
Flatten the cookies BEFORE they go in the oven!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup oil
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- extra sugar for flattening
Cooking Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Roll the dough into 1.5-inch balls, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.
- Dip a fork in sugar and use it to flatten the balls, creating a cross-hatch pattern on each cookie. Dip the fork in sugar again each time you flatten a cookie.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Let cool on the cookie sheet. These are crumblier than non-vegan cookies.
- Enjoy!
This post is about you guys. I adore you, you guys are incredibly precious to me, and I have a new project that I’ve created just for you.
Kimchee, bacon, and egg sandwich
We all know you guys like food. Looking at photos of food, reading about food, learning about and drooling over all types of different foods.
That much is clear – otherwise, why would you be here?
Cauliflower soup
But what you may not have known is that when I’m not spending all my waking hours cooking for and maintaining this blog like a good food blogger (which as you’ve probably guessed is, ahem, pretty much always), I work as a programmer.
I’m a programmer who loves food, so it was an obvious choice to spend the last two months working as hard as I can on something for people like you and me – something for people who love food.
And while Fridgg has been great as a blog, I’ve always meant it to be more than that (but don’t worry, the blog isn’t going anywhere!)
Zucchini blossom and pancetta pizza
So I present to you, the new Fridgg!
It’s currently in a closed beta, which means it’s not open to the public just yet. So if you want a peek inside before the general public gets their hands on it, you can head over and sign up for an invite!
I’m really excited to finally be able to show the new Fridgg to you guys, and I really hope you guys love it!
UPDATE: Fridgg is now open to the public, so head on over and check it out!
Ramen
Sour Candy Grapes
Ah, Pinterest. Now, I’m not really a Pinterest addict – nowhere near it. I can spend maybe 10 minutes on the site at most at one time. But still, it is an excellent place to find new recipes and food ideas.
For example, these grapes. I saw a friend of mine pin a link to these sour patch grapes and had to make them.
Not for me, mind you. I’ve never been much of a sour fan. No, these were for my younger brother. The guy is addicted to sour candies.
Now, I wanted them to be sour, and I wasn’t sure if the melon-flavored jello she used would do that. And since I didn’t have that much time to experiment, I decided to go with something I KNEW would be sour.
So what better than lemonade-flavored Kool-Aid powder?
Verdict? These were a hit. My brother had friends over for the Fourth of July, and they INHALED these grapes. Seriously. They were fighting over them. I’m surprised nobody got hurt.
They taste just like sour candy!
Recipe heavily inspired by the sour patch grapes from Pure Sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 lb green grapes
- 4 packs lemonade-flavored Kool-Aid drink powder
- ~1/2 cup sugar (less sugar if you want them more sour, more sugar if you want them more on the sweet side)
Cooking Directions
- Wash grapes thoroughly. Do not dry them. (You want them to be damp so the powder will stick.)
- Mix the Kool-Aid powder and sugar.
- Roll the grapes in the Kool-Aid mix. (Or you can lay them out and sprinkle the powder over them. This is much quicker, though it may not turn out quite as pretty.)
- Serve, and watch them magically disappear before your eyes!
