Hot Dogs, April 6, 2016

I usually make a pot of soup and some kind of sweet for our women's Red Tent gatherings. This month, things went awry and the spinach & artichoke soup I made was inedible, as were the brownies. I made more brownies later, though, so you get that recipe, my modification of a Ree Drummond recipe. They were yummy! The women who had gathered for "being time" brought snacks, luckily, from their homes and cars and we had some good munchies. My contribution was a bag of gluten-free pretzels covered with salted caramel coating and a box of Blue Diamond Pecan Thins (fantastically delicious gluten-free crackers). So, we had a snack potluck---or, as I joked, "stone soup."

When I got home, Jeannene had already gone to bed, but she had left me some hot dogs, so I had those for my supper.

Dulce de Leche Brownies

5 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

2 sticks butter, room temperature

2 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 1/4 c. flour

A pinch of salt

2 tbsp. vanilla

14 oz. dulce de leche

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt chocolate (I do this in the microwave, in 30 seconds increments, stirring between heatings). Allow to cool at least 15 minutes. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. The color is stunningly lovely. With the mixer on low, slowly drizzle in the chocolate, followed by the flour, salt, and vanilla. Spread in a greased 13x9 baking pan. Warm the dulce de leche (I use the microwave, in 30 second increments, until it's more liquid) and drop large dollops of it on top of the batter. Swirl with the tip of a knife. Bake 35-45 minutes. Cool 15 minutes before cutting. Makes 16-20.