This is what I came home to last night… a fabulous casserole of ham, cheeses, peas, and orecchiette pasta.  Oh my goodness gracious was it good.  As in really, really good!

It was so good, in fact, we had it again, tonight.

It was the perfect dinner for a couple of reasons.  First, because it tasted so good, and second, because reheating it was about all I had energy for after my marathon day in the kitchen.

Okay…  It wasn’t really all that much – I just made 48 cupcakes – 24 each of two different kinds plus different icings, a cheesecake, 4 pie crusts, and sourdough croutons for the Turkey Day Bird…  But I knocked it all out in just a couple of hours.  It was a lot of multi-tasking.

Victor usually curls up on the couch in a fetal position when I get into Manic Cooking Mode.  I do have a knack for getting flour – or anything else – into every nook and cranny in the kitchen and adjoining rooms.

It’s a gift I have.  A true talent.

But I fooled him this time.  I kept my messes to a minimum and actually had the entire kitchen cleaned and put back together before I started dinner.

One of the secrets for staying together for so long (our 17th Anniversary is Wednesday) is doing the unexpected.  Keeping him slightly off-balance by doing the unexpected works wonders.

The cupcakes are for a pot-luck at work tomorrow.  The recipe came via our friend Sara.  The concept is Oreo cookies layered with peanut butter, covered in brownie batter and baked in cupcake cups.  Ingenious.

I made them the other night and it was an epic failure.  I didn’t have muffin liners so I made them right in the well-greased cupcake tins.

What a mess.  I couldn’t chisel them out of the tins.  A total mess.

I bought liners today to do it right.  And then I frosted them, because, well…  they needed a cream cheese and peanut butter frosting!

And I made a big batch with boysenberry jam between the cookies and a cream cheese boysenberry icing.  Frosting?  Icing?  I’m confusing myself.  It’s like dressing and stuffing.  I use both interchangeably.

I didn’t use Oreo’s because…  well… I’m not an Oreo-Eater so I used a chocolate cream sandwich cookie, instead.

Peanut Butter Brownie Cookie Cupcakes

  •  1 box brownie mix
  •  24 sandwich cream cookies
  •  1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350° and line a 12 muffin cup pan with paper liners.

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. For each cupcake top each cookie with peanut butter  and stack them on top of each other. Spoon  batter over each stack making sure it runs down the sides of the cookies.  Bake about 15-18 minutes.

Yummy stuff.