Welcome Home "Brookies"

He's home!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After being away for seven weeks, Junior Goo Shoes is finally home from camp. 

The parents were cheering and clapping as the buses pulled into the parking lot, unaware that on board the buses, the campers were chanting…

"TURN A-ROUND! TURN A-ROUND!"

Thankfully the bus driver didn't listen, and the kids got off the buses with great big smiles. 

There were lots of hugs all around, and then we were on our way home with Junior Goo Shoes in tow.

Sadie was ecstatic when Junior GS walked in the door. When we left this morning, she seemed all excited, kind of like she knew he was coming home.

Junior GS dropped his stuff all over the front hall.  Yup, he's home.

It took…

1 minute to say, "Where's my phone?'

2 minutes to start texting…

5 minutes to jump on the couch, fire up the laptop and log in to Facebook…

6 minutes to turn on the TV...

30 whole minutes to go downstairs and play X-box...

1 hour to ask "What's to eat"

2 hours to say "I'm bored."

He's home. 

After seven weeks of beefy mac and cheese and bug juice, it is my annual ritual to prepare Junior Goo Shoe's favorite meal for dinner on his first day home. I made steak, home-made macaroni salad and corn-on-the-cob.

And for dessert, I made Brookies:

Half Brownie, Half Cookie.

I'd seen recipes for Brookies floating around Facebook over the summer, and knew it would be something Junior GS would like.  

I found this one from Just A Pinch Recipes. Normally, I stay away from mixes, preferring to bake from scratch, but I didn't have the time. 

I bought a roll of Nestle's refrigerated Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie dough, and a box of No-Pudge Brownie Mix. I like that No-Pudge has no fat and no cholesterol.

At least the "br" part is less fattening than the "ookie" part.

It took three tries for me to get these right (no fault of the recipe…my own errors). 

The first time I put too much brownie batter in the muffin tin, and too big a slice of cookie dough. They came out looking a lot like muffins…tasty, but not pretty. Those were the ones I served when Junior GS came home, and he did not complain that they weren't photogenic.

The second time, I got the proportions right, but I forgot to set the timer for the brownie part, so they got a little over-done.  

Third time's a charm, as they say. Now I know what I'm doing. But they still don't look as pretty as the ones on Just A Pinch. 

Aunt Goo Shoes came over for dinner, and we ate outside, while listening to all of Junior GS' camp stories...  

…like how he climbed Mount Marcy, the highest mountain in NY state (8 miles up 
and 8 miles back):

"The best part was having pizza and soda 
in the lodge when we were done."

Photo by Junior Goo Shoes: At the top of Mount Marcy

...and how he ruined his sunglasses:

"I had this gum -- Big League Chew -- and I blew a giant bubble, 

and Jonathan popped it, and it exploded all over my sunglasses."

We listened, we laughed, we ate.

The Brookies were a hit with Junior Goo Shoes.

After six summers at camp, we were worried that camp might start to lose its magic...

...but Junior Goo Shoes said it was the best summer of his life. 

"I am SO going back next year."

Who could ask for more than that?

Well, maybe another Brookie and a glass of milk would be nice.

And with that, he headed downstairs to iChat with his camp friends, that he had left only hours ago.

The house feels so good with Junior Goo Shoes back…

Even if his stuff is all over the place.

BROOKIES 
(Recipe adapted from Just A Pinch Recipes)

1 Box Brownie Mix (I used No-Pudge)
1 Roll Nestle's Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Make brownie mix according to package directions.

Fill muffin tin about 1/3 full with brownie mix.  There should be enough mix to yield 16 (I actually got 17 out of it).

Bake at 350 for 5 minutes.

Slice cookie dough into 16 slices.  Re-shape so that each slice is about 1 1/2 - 1 3/4" in diameter.  

Place the cookie dough slice on top of the brownie. 

Bake for 12 minutes. 

Cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Loosen with knife and remove from pan. Let cool. 

Enjoy!

Linking to:

Brag About It Tuesday
Time To Sparkle
Share Your Creativity 
Creative Linky Party 
Wow Us Wednesday  
Home and Garden Thursday 
Weekend Bloggy Reading 
Best of The Weekend
Ladies Only Blog Share
Metamorphosis Monday
Throwback Thursday

Ms. Toody