[[Cream Cheese Brownies]] Friends make the BEST food.

I'm going to go out on a metaphorical limb here and say that I've got more than one best friend. I know, this statement is heaping full of oxymoron; "more than one" and "best friend?" Together? Yep.

I have best friends from all of the different parts of my life, from elementary to college and every step and place in between. Erin...  she's my best friend from high school (and quite possibly my hands-down favorite person, ever) and she's a fellow foodie. The best kinds of friends are the foodie kind, I believe.

When we were in high school, Erin and I developed one of those beautiful girls-night-in traditions with a few other close girlfriends, all of which contained three key ingredients: pajamas, movies and THESE brownies.

The brownies came to life after Erin and I saw a box-mix for them in our local HEB and thought that we could do better. Over the years, the brownies have taken different forms; we usually used a box brownie mix and added the cream cheese. Here, I use my Gramma's scratch brownie mix and the same idea that Erin and I developed in her parents' kitchen many years ago.


CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES:

What you'll need:

2 1/2c. white sugar, divided
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. baking cocoa (unsweetened)
1 tsp. salt
1 c. veggie oil
6 eggs, divided
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. full-fat cream cheese

What you'll do:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of sugar, flour, baking cooca, salt, veggie oil, 5 eggs and vanilla. Using a large fork (not a mixer), mix by hand until well blended. Pour mixture into a greased glass pan (I use 9 x 13).

In a medium mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg and softened cream cheese. Beat until fluffy (and yes, you can use a mixer for this part).

Using a tablespoon, drop cream cheese mixture into brownie batter. Swirl the cream cheese into the batter or leave it on top, whichever you prefer.

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Let brownies cool completely and cut into bars to serve to your best foodie friends!

Mongolian Stir Fry FTW.

I know, I know. "FTW" was cool for about 34 seconds three years ago. But, gosh. I can't think of another way to abbreviate the way I feel about the increasing popularity of Mongolian stir fry restaurants (and frozen yogurt chains, but that's another blog). Mongolian stir fry is a win-win situation; there is something for everyone and it can be as healthy (or as diet-disastrous) as you choose.

If you've not been lucky enough to visit one of the many Mongolian stir fry restaurants which seem to be popping up all over the map, like Genghis Grill or Kublai Khan, here's a run down of dining events:

You arrive. You're seated. Your server takes your drink and/or appetizer orders. (What? This sounds just like any other dine-in experience, you say? Just wait. I'm about to blow your mind.)

You get an empty bowl. Bon appitite! ...Okay, or not. For to every empty bowl in the land of Mongolian stir fry is an endless buffet of raw food... chicken, beef, pork, seafood of all sorts and stinky kinds (nope; I don't like it), sausages; the possibilities are endless. There are seasonings for your meats, from the spicy to the sweet and the tart and tangy. Then there are the veggies. Miles and miles (or a few feet) of veggies. Broccoli, carrots, squash... onions, bean sprouts, spinach... I could fill up a whole blog listing veggies from the buffet. The point of these endless meats and veggies is to fill that empty bowl that the smiling server just gave you.

This is why Mongolian food is all about you. You decide what goes in the bowl. You decide if you want to go carnivorous, like David usually does, or if you want to keep it vegetarian, like my sister, or if you like a nice, dainty mix of protein and fiber, like I (generally) do.

At the end of the raw food buffet, you'll find caldrons of sauces and syrups waiting to be taste tested. I  highly recommend tasting them all; sometimes those names are deceiving! When you've settled on a sauce, simply spoon it into a sauce bowl (as provided) and voila! You're half way to a customized meal with zero cooking effort on your part and where the dishes are complimentary and taken care of.

At this point, you've got a whopping bowl full of raw stuff. Dig in? Not quite. There is someone just dying to cook it all up for you just a few feet away. Leave it with the chef-- he'll ask you what kind of starch you want (white rice, brown rice, fried rice, noodles...) --and he'll do the rest!

Give it 10 or 15 minutes. Like Santa on Christmas, your server will appear with your steaming-hot, cooked-to-order bowl of whatever goodness you selected. Ohhhhhhhh, it's good.

I could probably eat Mongolian every single day.

That's a scary thought... Cheers!