Toffee Brownies

I watched the pilot episode of ABC's Pushing Daisies last night. I liked the second half but thought the beginning, where they explain the premise of the show, was quite long and almost tedious. And I'm rethinking the "almost".

The show has good writing and I like all the peculiar personality issues the various characters have. I think the basic plot engine is sustainable--private investigator teams up with guy who can temporarily reanimate the dead so they can pursue bounty rewards on murder victims--albeit quite off the wall. This sustainability is good since it already looks like one of the shows I like, Journeyman, is headed for the axe.

I didn't like the impossibility aspect of the dog being alive but given the premise the rest held together pretty well. I like all 4 lead actors--5 if you count the dog--and for me to like all the actors in a show is quite rare. Anna Friel is particularly interesting though the only place I'd seen her before was in that awful movie Timeline (Sorry Chris) where she played Lady Claire.

On to food...

Here's another recipe. This one I saw on the morning news on the local Fox affiliate WGHP. Like many rural counties, we have a County Fair going on here and Tamela Ingram took second place for the brownie recipe below. The dessert looked so good to eat that as soon as I got home from work I looked it up on the Fox News website:

"Dixie Classic Fair Food Winner"- Tamela Ingram is from Rural Hall and she took home the Runner Up award for her toffee brownies in the Chocolate Championship at the fair. Here's her recipe:

• 2/3 cup butter (no substitutes)
• 4 oz. semi-sweet Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Frosting:
• 1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• Topping:
• 1/2 bag of toffee bits

In a microwave or double boiler, melt butter and chocolate; cool for 10 minutes. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and salt until foamy. Gradually add sugar; mix well. Stir in chocolate mixture. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to chocolate mixture. Stir in vanilla. Pour into a greased 15x10-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool.

For frosting, heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat; add cream and vanilla. Beat in sugar until smooth and thick. Frost bars. Sprinkle toffee bits on top.
Yield about 2 dozen brownies.