Two Firsts

The snow inspired me to cook two new things today.  Chickpea Blondies and French Onion Soup.  Let's start with the Chickpea Blondies.  The other day I saw Tina @ Carrots N Cake make these and was immediately puzzled.  How could the same ingredient that makes hummus be used in a blondie?  I had to try them for myself.

This recipe originally comes from the "Have Cake, Will Travel" blog.  I altered the ingredients slightly.  Instead of Strawberry Preserves, I used my Grandmom's homemade Strawberry/Rhubarb Jam.

Instead of crunchy, natural peanut butter, I used Trader Joes Creamy Almond Butter w/ Sea Salt.

I also used whole wheat pastry flour instead of flax or rice flour.  Coming out of the oven, I was slightly worried.

Then, I took a bite.

Not a hint of hummus at all!  ;)  Next time I plan to add in some chocolate chips for an extra something-something.  These were absolutely delicious and I cant seem to stop sneaking into the kitchen for small slivers that dont actually count.

Moving on to the French Onion Soup.  Kevin's favorite soup in the world is French Onion.  So, when I went looking for a recipe online, I had to choose "The Best French Onion Soup (ever!)" from Cookography.

This recipe told me to use a dutch oven.  I don't own a dutch oven.  I want one very badly, but since they are a million dollars, lots of onions went into my largest, heaviest pot.  It couldn't go into the oven, so I did this all on the stove-top and it worked just fine.

After a few hours, the onions had cooked down and I began the deglazing process.  Pouring the sherry into the caramelized onions was one of the best smells ever.  

Well, that and the smell of freshly brewed Americana's from High Grounds down the street.  We had been craving coffee and kept calling down there to see if they were open.  Kevin was lucky enough to catch the manager stopping in for a few minutes.  Yesss.

I will take this moment to sneak in another Oscar photo since he was such a good helper overseeing the shoveling today.

Back to the French Onion Soup.  The onions were a rich, golden color and it was time to pour in all the broth and seasoning.

At this point we had done enough shoveling for the day and I wanted a beer.  Flying Dog's In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen is my new favorite.

The soup...all by its lonesome.

Toasted croutons thrown into the mix.

Topped with a slice of provolone and gruyere cheese.  We both love cheese.  Can you tell?

The broiler got to work very quickly

And out came a beautiful sight.  Brown, bubbly cheese.

Oh my goodness.

I couldn't wait to dig in.

If you know someone who likes French Onion Soup, make this for them and they will love you forever.  I promise.

Have a great night!