My dear readers, who doesn’t like chocolate as a soother and stress reliever?
Admit it, we have all used a piece of candy bar to allow ourselves to feel better.
OK….maybe I am the only one???
I was reminded of an incident by “Only daughter” just the other evening as I was returning from a dinner of eating out with the Captain.
I may be getting a bit ahead of myself in this story….so let me set the scene.
You see the Captain was flying home and his plane was delayed.
Nothing unusual there….happens quite often.
However, on this particular early evening….we had decided that we would “meet up” and have dinner. So, we decided on a steak house because the Captain was hungry for a steak.
So I suggested Longhorn Steak House Restaurant….mainly because it was closer to me than other steak houses and I was really hungry….and I love their prime rib.
The Captain agreed and said we could not set a time to meet because of the flight delay…but he assured me that he would call me as soon as he landed and I was to go on to the steak house and he would meet up with me there.
Luckily, he was only 30 minutes late and he called me and said to go ahead and leave the house and he would be at the steakhouse as soon as he could get there, but he felt that most likely we would probably arrive at the same time.
We had determined that whoever got to the steakhouse first should go in and get seated and then the other one would arrive soon after.
Simple, right?
Many steakhouses make you wait until your complete party is there on site….but when I arrived …the host was very kind when I said I was really hungry and he sat me at a booth to wait for my honey.
The Captain texted me that he was almost there….but he commented that traffic was very heavy.
So I waited…drinking water with lemon while the Captain’s Iced Tea glass sat there, silently dripping water droplets down the side of the glass and onto the coaster napkin making it a big wet glob.
The waiter came over asking if my party had arrived and of course I had to tell him, “No,…..but he should arrive momentarily”.
…After a while, I was getting a bit embarrassed at sitting by myself and having to shake my head “no” each time the waiter approached my table.
I have to confess that I felt like drinking the iced tea and saying my spouse had went to the bathroom or to the car for a jacket for me or some such excuse… but I decided honesty is the best policy, and I would wait it out.
Alone.
Watching diners come and go.
Finally, my phone’s ringtone sounded out the Adele song…”Rolling in the Deep” and the familiar female voice singing “we could of had it all” echoed just a bit too loudly throughout the restaurant.
That is my Captain’s ringtone…..I have a ringtone for E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E!
Back to the restaurant scene and the deep baritone voice on the other end of my phone.
“Where are you sitting? I don’t see you.”
I responded with the proper co-ordinates and he said……
….”I still don’t see you...and I have been up and down each area.“
I looked around frowning, as my response became a bit more drawn out, (in other words talking slowly which is what I rarely do) ….
“I don’t see you either.”
Both ends of the phone were a hushed quiet.
Finally I broke the silence and asked, “Are you at the Longhorn Steak House”?
More silence…and the deep voice became a hushed whisper.
“No, I am at the Texas Road House Steak House Restaurant!”
Which meant that he was clear across town from me and that I would have to wait for about 20-25 minutes more for him to arrive at the right Steak House!
But such is life….and that situation definitely called for chocolate to not only relieve the stress, but to relieve the hunger.
Only, I didn’t have any chocolate!
….but I did have a whole loaf of freshly made bread and soft creamy butter.
I won’t tell you what happened to the bread….
…..all of it…
….it isn’t pretty!
Which lets me segue into the delicious recipe below.
I wish I would have had one of these chocolate peanut butter ganache brownies in my purse….
….yes, I know…gooey, gooey…
…but when you are hungry….just sayin’!
I hope the sun is shining and the birds are chirping wherever you might be and I hope there is plenty of chocolate, and if there isn’t, please make the following easy chocolate ganache peanut butter brownie recipe.
You can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter… now can you?
Oh, the Captain F-I-N-A-L-L-Y made it to the restaurant where I sat still eating bread…..and not quite as hungry as when I entered.
*This post contains affiliate links for your convenience, which means I make a tiny portion of the sale with no additional cost to you whatsoever.*
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 2/3 cup honey
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
- 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- Stir together butter, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl.
- .Add eggs, beating after each one before adding the next.
- In a separate bowl, stir flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt together.
- Stir flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix until well blended.
- Spread batter into a greased 9x13" pan and even out with a spatula.
- Bake in a preheated 350* oven for 30 to 35 minutes. The brownies will pull away from the edge of the pan. Cool on a wire rack
- When brownies are cool, mix together peanut butter and honey and spread the mixture over the top of the brownies.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate chips in the microwave. Stir every 30 seconds until it's very smooth.
- Pour ganache over the brownies and spread gently.
- Place in the fridge and chill before cutting into squares
Janice Jenkins says
Hi ,
I love your stories! This one especially – it sounds so familiar.
Thank you for the recipe.
Happy Thanksgiving- Janice
Kari says
thanks for stopping by Janice, I am glad to see things like this happen to other people too. I hope you try the recipe as it is delish! Happy Thanksgiving to you too.
Kari