Yer Really Something...

Saturday marked my 18 month anniversary with Andrew (yay!) Andrew and I had already agreed that we won't give gifts for anniversaries or Valentine's Day, choosing instead to celebrate by doing something together, like having dinner. That being said, I told him baked goods from me doesn't count as a gift. So I decided to surprise him with something featuring Heath Bars, since that's one of his favorite flavors.

I found this great recipe for Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies with Heath Bars and Pecans through a Google search.

It calls for two 1.4 ounce Heath bars - I went with three Skor bars from the Walgreens around the corner (since they didn't have heath bars).

As a warning, it is ridiculously hard to resist eating candy bar bits while you're making this recipe so I think going with an extra candy bar is a great idea.

Here is what the batter looked like with half the Skor bars and pecans dumped in:




Ready to go in the oven:


Sliced and ready to eat (excuse the bad photography skills, I was in a rush):


These were really good, even though I was disappointed by how little you could taste the Heath bar flavor. Despite adding a half cup of Heath bar baking bits to the recipe, on top of the three chopped Skor bars, the strongest flavor from the brownies is still the cream cheese and the pecans. Andrew had no complaints - I was going to have a picture to illustrate this point, but he wouldn't hold still long enough while eating them!

I made these on Wednesday night while he was in Plymouth, and borrowing a page from his Mom's book, hid them in plain sight in the covered pan he gave for my birthday last year. I'll admit it, I was glad when Saturday rolled around so I could try them myself!

Saturday night, we headed over to the Parish Cafe, site of our first date and where we've gone each anniversary to have dinner. It's a great casual place on Boylston Street, right next to the Public Gardens, that features sandwiches that have been designed by local chefs (check out the menu here to see what I mean).

We got an order of the Bowl-O-Rings as a starter. These were incredible, not so much because of the onion rings themselves, but due to the chipotle aioli that accompanied them as dipping sauce. I would dip anything in this sauce and eat it! For our main course, Andrew went with his usual, Rowdy's Famous Chicken Sandwich, served with the same great chipotle aioli and I decided on a new sandwich, the Burke. It was delicious, but I have to admit, I stopped using the spicy pepper relish that accompanied it and dipped my sandwich in the aioli instead.

It was a wonderful day and I look forward to spending many more anniversaries there.