baked brie

I'm finally cleaning up my computer picture files.

This is a good thing, because removing one folder at a time whenever my Mac yells at me about the lack of storage space is not the most efficient form of computer or time management.

Be on the look out for lots of recipes and miscellaneous photos that have been lurking on my hard drive for far too long.


(Oh, how I wish, wish, wish that apple had a stem.)

The fact that I am doing this little bit of computer maintenance is quite impressive considering all I want to do is play Fruit Ninja on my son's new iPod touch.

I became instantly addicted last week during my very first game, and now I spend large amounts of time negotiating with Junior for usage of his new toy.


He is very stingy.

I did manage to score some quality fruit time over the weekend while he took his girlfriend home on Saturday night, but negotiations broke down as soon as he returned.

I now have plans to accidentally back my car over my Blackberry so I can replace it with an iPhone, and then there's a really good chance you'll never see me again, because I'll be playing Fruit Ninja all day, every day.


When I'm not playing Fruit Ninja, (which is all the time because did I mention that my son won't share his iPod touch?) I'm trying to finish the last book in The Hunger Games series.

I find myself saying "Katniss Everdeen" over and over in my head, and sometimes I even say it out loud. Please tell me that every once in a while you get hung up on a word (or a name....a rather strange, made up name) and it just gets stuck in your head.

And sometimes comes out your mouth.

Please tell me that sometimes happens to you.

Katniss Everdeen.

Katniss Everdeen.

Katniss Everdeen.

(Spell check is not acquainted with Katniss Everdeen.)

Okay, we're going to move on now, and pretend that I am a very normal person who spends her days cooking and cleaning and doing her laundry, instead of a person who repeatedly says the name of a fictional character out loud and licks marshmallows in the snow and dreams of uninterrupted fruit slicing time.

I have several recipes to clear off my computer, and the first one comes from my bff. She made it for us when we were blobbing last month, and it is fabulous.

Baked brie. With fruit and nuts, no less.


Fabulous.

The recipe calls for the Costco wheel of brie, but I only had access to the 8 ounce grocery store version, so it looks a little overwhelmed by the toppings in this picture.

19 oz wheel of brie
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar - I only used about 1/2 cup
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup finely diced Granny Smith apple
orange juice - a splash

Saute all the ingredients (except the cheese) in a skillet until the apple is slightly soft.

Place the brie in a pie pan, and pour the fruit and nut mixture over the top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.


I wasn't thrilled with the grainy consistency of the melted butter and brown sugar mixture, so the next time I made the recipe, I dissolved the brown sugar in a little bit of orange juice, and then added the butter to the pan.

I also put foil over the pan after about ten minutes in the oven, so the topping doesn't get too brown.

I'm not a huge fan of Table Water crackers, as I think they taste a little bit like cardboard, but in this case, they are perfect. The plain cracker really lets the cheese and toppings take center stage.


Speaking of brie, I used to work for an airline, and every once in a while I'd get to sit in first class if there was room. One of my first class meals included a really cute, mini round of brie, which I attempted to cut with my knife. However, cold brie is a little on the rubbery side, so instead of slicing, the mini brie went flying through the air and landed in the lap of a humorless business man sitting in the row in front of me. He didn't even smile when he handed it back to me, and he should have, because it was pretty darn impressive to see that brie flying through the air.

Come on, stodgy business man. Laugh! It was funny!

He was obviously not a cheese lover. Personally, I'll take my cheese anyway I can get it.

Happy Tuesday!