Adventures in Metuchen, NJ: Bodega Blondies

by EP & X


Pimm's Cups and Lauren welcome us to Metuchen, NJ!
Clearly, we are thrilled.

Long-time readers may recall that the BCD girls love them some NYC.  Until recently, we used to go every couple of months, check out the hot new places to eat, see friends and family, drink fancy cocktails, crash in a fancy hotel (or on our best buddy Lauren's Brooklyn couch - either option was tres glamorous), and have a whirlwind Manhattan experience.

Our last visit was in Summer '11 and it was high time for us to visit the NY metropolitan area.  But, instead of actually going into NYC, we instead hung out in Metuchen, NJ.  On purpose.  Yes, folks, we wanted a lounge-y vacation and while NYC is lovely for so many reasons, lounging is not really its forte.  Thusly and forthwith, we went to New Jersey to hang out with Lauren, catch up on all the news (aka gossip), eat pizza and banana cream pie, and watch a heck of a lot of movies.  Oh, and BAKE!

In the midst of our movie-watching and bagel-nomming, we decided we should bake something together since that's certainly not something we could have done together during a weekend in Manhattan.  What to bake?, we pondered.  We finally decided to make the Smitten Kitchen recipe for blondies, which basically gives you a basic recipe and you can throw in whatever mix-ins or flavorings you like.  I've made them before with dark brown sugar, chocolate chips, and espresso powder (and called them "dirty blondies" since they came out so dark). 

Lauren's pantry was a wee bit bare so we needed to go out for ingredients.  But it was misty and cold out and we didn't feel like going to a real grocery store (so much WORK), so we decided to hit up the closest, dustiest convenience store, also known as a bodega (say it with me now: BO-DE-GA), for ingredients.  Alas, Bodega Blondies were born.



Boar's Head VIPs in the house - clear the way!

We arrived at the bodega and first grabbed some eggs and butter for the blondies.  Then we wandered through the aisles, trying to figure out the best flavor combo and giggling all the way.  We ended up getting a wide selection of sweet and salty treats including: pretzels, Twix bars, Potato Stix and Skor bars (like Heath bars) as our flavorings, plus we knew Lauren had some honey roasted peanuts at home that we could consider.

We were the life of the party in this bodega

Once we got home, we surveyed our ingredients.

Wafting the potato stix, for the aroma, sure to follow science lab technique

Xani eyes the pretzel specimens, which we rejected as an add-in after her analysis

Finalists!

The batter came together easily and quickly, and we got to take out some frustration by smacking the shit out of the Skor bars, pretzel stix, and peanuts.  After 25 minutes, they were done!  Hooray!

Why use modern technology like a hand mixer when you have an ancient egg beater?

Batter up!

Only the batter is paler than us in this light

Bodega brownies, straight from the oven

The result?  They were moist and chewy, and we ate them right up.  But, I felt they could have used more chocolate flavor.  As Xani points out, though, if I wanted chocolate, we should have made Bodega BROWNIES.  Next time.

It was a fun, relaxing, and hilarious weekend together, and we look forward to having Lauren come down to Baltimore for some serious lounging, snacking, baking, hijinx, and bally-hoo.  We love you, LP!



All dressed up and headed for the Metuchen nightlife


Bodega blondies and caviar dreams -

EP & X