January 24, 2012

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!

43 comments:

  1. Your posts make me smile. Thank you. It is always a good thing to smile. I agree - smile stodgy business, flying brie is funny.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mmmm - looks yummy. Also I'm super jealous of all your beautiful jadite. I dream of finding a whole box full at Goodwill or a garage sale... one of those dreams that will never come to fruition I suspect.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds incredible~! I was at a wedding shower and ate my first Brie. It was warmed with brown sugar, and crushed pecans served on Ginger Snaps. Whoa, I must have looked like a pig, I stood by the table and kept eating. "D

    ReplyDelete
  4. A friend introduced me to phyllo wrapped brie with apples, walnuts and maple syrup. WOW-so good!! I'm sure it has zero calories too :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love all your photos, and especially the Jade-ite. I love this glass so much! I do have a few pieces myself. Would like to find more.
    Blessings,
    Susie

    ReplyDelete
  6. You always make us smile, whether by flying Brie, or gorgeous photos. Yes, smile, stodgy business guy!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Are you kidding? This week it's "Miss Mary Mac, Mac, Mac, all dressed in black, black, black" and the worst of it is that we don't know the rest of the words, so over and over and over it plays like a needle stuck on a 33 RPM record. It's my son's fault this time, he came up with it over the weekend and it's been going round and round ever since. Hope you get your own iPod Touch for ... um, guess Valentine's Day is right around the corner, whadya think, could hubs spring for one?!?! We'd miss you, of course, but a woman has to do what a woman has to do. Hugs ~ Mary

    ReplyDelete
  8. I will be making this! Not to add to your addiction, but I discovered words with friends and I'm seriously addicted. My husband hopes it passes just like my angry bird addiction :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. You are hilarous. Your post always make me laugh. I would have never been able to stop laughing if I saw a mini brie flying through the air. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  10. I've got a Iphone - still pretty new to me - and still not worked out WHAT I am doing - a friend said when I got it to get this fruit game...
    OK I will now go have a look for it. maybe it will help make me bond wi it

    Love Leanne NZ

    ReplyDelete
  11. That story made me laugh! And Brie is one of my favs yum!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I thought I was the only word-repeating weirdo...glad to see that's not the case. Also - Fruit Ninja on the iPad is epic - it's huge!! This recipe is going straight to my "eat" Pinboard, too! Thanks for sharing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hellooooo...

    I am so not a disciplined person either but at least we recognize it....lol! Stop by, I posted some wedding photos:)

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hellooooo...

    I am so not a disciplined person either but at least we recognize it....lol! Stop by, I posted some wedding photos:)

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  15. I laughed the whole way through this post. Thanks for the recipe...it sounds delish!
    Annette

    ReplyDelete
  16. No one tells a story like you. If it weren't so early I would say, "Pour the wine, I'll be right over". What the heck, pour the wine...it will take me a few hours from California anyway. Happy Tuesday! Patty

    ReplyDelete
  17. You have a talent for setting up beautiful colors in your photos and I have a some of those items. One of those fabrics, a green lidded container jar from MS, and an Jadeite Alice saucer. I used to have a beautiful MS jadeite cake stand but it broke in 01 when we shipped up here to Alaska. A lot of other MS items broke in 10 years, a heavy glass jadeite pitcher and two plates. They cannot take temp changes. I love your collection of jadeite and have some myself, the real thing.

    ReplyDelete
  18. i just love your posts..you always make me chuckle :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hahaha! I have one or two of those stories too, from back in my waitressing days. I had to install a different browser just to come and say "Hello" to you...now that's love.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I got the 3rd book of the Hunger Games series for Christmas, but have been sooo swamped with projects that I haven't even started it yet!! LOVED the first 2 books!! Can't wait for the movie to come out in March!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Cheese... I love cheese. I think I could live on bread and cheese. This is one of my favorite ways to eat brie. Its also good with a dollop of lemon curd and pistachios on top. yum....

    ReplyDelete
  22. love baked brie. Try it with honey and almonds. Your story just confirms my impression of 1st class travelers...often not first class folks when anything disturbs them! Good thing it wasn't a kid who did that!
    Snow is melting here and slushy all around. Yuck!

    ReplyDelete
  23. pretty food photos! all looks yum yum! what on earth is "Ninja Fruit" ??!! Hilarious name. I have an iphone, so i will have to see... jealous? Ha ha!! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  24. ...ha,ha,ha..."Excuse me Sir, do you have any flying Brie?"...Oh well, he needs to learn to laugh more anyway. :o)

    ...Lovely photos and the Brie looks divine. Thank you for sharing.

    ...And btw, yes I do repeat things over and over compulsively in my head and otherwise. And I obsess with things at any given time for no apparent reason. Hmmm..."compulsive", "obsess"...nah. "Oh look, a chicken!" *giggle*snort* ;o)

    ...Enjoy your day!

    ...Blessings :o)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thanks so much for the giggle...Love those photos and this brie recipe is perfection...yummmm

    ReplyDelete
  26. You are so fun . . . would love an in person meeting where I could hear you telling your tale and you could hear me crumbled in massive laughter . . . it would be delightful indeed . . .

    ReplyDelete
  27. LoVe LoVe LoVe cheese. I'm suspicious of anyone who doesn't. Your baked brie has fruit and fiber in it too so no excuses not to eat more cheese!

    ReplyDelete
  28. oh thank you for this ...I have seem many pics of this! My daughters will thank you two! I shall make this on the weekend when friends are over!
    There are a few Fruit Ninja playing adolescent adults in this family!...I think I kinda got carpel tunnel......& I'm not even very good!
    p.s. Is the jadeite butter dish old?..I have a thing for jadeite..our pantry is a place for dishes some food! It has soooo many dishes it was featured in a Canadian Magazine!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Dear Teresa, could it be I got through? without switching browers? Thank you for always making me laugh! Okay I'm going to push the button now. Let's hope...

    ReplyDelete
  30. Laughed when I read this because I just finished book two of the series and my BFF and I who are both 50 just had a phone call disagreeing about who we like best. I am pro Gale and she is pro Peeta. If you could have heard the conversation you would of thought we were in middle school talking about boys...truly tragic

    ReplyDelete
  31. I too want to get rid of my blackberry and replace it with an Iphone. My husband (the most technologically challenged man I know) got one before me! Yet I am the one learning everything for him and teaching him about that phone. If I back over mine "accidently" please don't tell him it wasn't an accident.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Oh.. you need an iPhone.. and an iPad! :-) Today my younger sister and I bullied my older sister into getting an iPhone 4S. :-) Now all 4 of us siblings have iPhones! I wouldn't know what to do without mine. I love your way of writing.. you make me smile. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

    ReplyDelete
  33. You are the cheesiest and I mean that in the very best way possible. Now stop tempting me with easy-to-make fattening treats because it'a a New Year and I'm not quite at the cutoff point for abandoning my 'improve eating habits' plan. (which explains why I have an entire bag of *fat-free* red vines next to me)

    ReplyDelete
  34. well now i know all the things that are keeping you away from reading...blogging, computer-cleaning, fruit-ninja, eating brie.... really, the one and only thing you should be doing with your time right now is reading.
    ok, and you can take bathroom breaks.
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  35. That does feel good, Katniss Everdeen, I too get hung up on words, but I am a sandwich short of a picnic at the best of times!
    Lovely photos I love the simplicity of them, with the wording underneath,
    Oh and baked brie, I love it with chutney and crusty french bread! yum....

    Denise
    xxxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  36. I will be blobbing with three other gals for three overnights at the end of March. In Montana, even! We're going to a B&B but are being given an entire cottage to ourselves, so we can stay in our jammies and slippers and laugh loudly if we want. And I will be bringing the ingredients for this baked brie. Yum!

    I have to be honest. I devoured books 1 and 2 but didn't love book 3. It actually took me a while to finish.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Thanks for the great recipe, I will have to make this for sure. Addison, my 3 1/2 year old loves Brie. We probably go through a costco wheel of brie once a week!
    I love the Hunger Games too and I cant wait for the movie.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Oh you are killing me with the cheese. I sit here and fight the urge to go get cheese most evenings. This did not help. Also, as someone who sits around saying Snape, Snape, Severus Snape, I totally get you.

    ReplyDelete
  39. I cannot see a brick of cream cheese without thinking of you. I know that's brie - but I'm just sayin. You are making a cookbook right?

    ReplyDelete
  40. Love this post! It's true. Sometimes I say words out loud because I just can't imagine how such a word came to be. And usually there is a husband or child nearby to give a concerned, quizzical look.

    ReplyDelete
  41. these food photos are sooooo lovely. cheers for being awesome.

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  42. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my chin! Your recipe looks delicious! I don't think I've ever had brie, but now I'm anxious to try it!!

    ReplyDelete