This column was a ridiculous amount of fun to write—I mean when is getting drunk and then eating baked goods ever not fun?? I am definitely going to miss writing it every month and I’m a bit sad to wish it a farewell, but I think this one definitely went out with a bang.

As for what I’m baking, because that is what truly matters, I decided I wanted to try making a rustic naked cake. You may have seen them on Pinterest and such, generally they’re really pretty and look like something you would see in a fairytale tea party or something. Mine definitely didn’t turn out as pretty as most but what’s on the inside is what truly matters, right? For the cake itself I used the batter recipe from April’s Cadbury crème egg molten lava cakes because it was insanely good, and then I got really fancy with the frosting: I made a whipped cream frosting infused with whiskey. Oh yeah, I told you I was taking this one seriously.

Time started: 4:00 pm

What I’m drinking: I couldn’t finish out the last Whisks + Whiskey without drinking whiskey, could I? I still hadn’t replenished my own yet but my roommate generously let me be use some of her Jim Beam which I took a large shot of before drinking, and then I thought I would get fancy and drink wine for the rest of the baking experience. It was $3 wine, but still. I drank a solid three-fourths of the bottle which I felt was fairly impressive.

Estimated difficulty: 4/5

(I mean I was making up the frosting recipe as I went.)

Challenges (besides being intoxicated): Other than not having a hand mixer to whip up the frosting and cutting myself with a butter knife, there really weren’t too many challenges. To improvise on whipping up the frosting I just poured the cream into a mason jar and shook it until it was the consistency I wanted it to be.

Time finished: So I kind of lost track of time while making this, but I think I finished around 7.

Results:

My drunk opinion:  I actually managed to forget to taste the final result due to having to get ready for a bar crawl immediately after finishing the cake, but I did taste the frosting and batter on their own and they were delicious.

Rylee’s opinion: “Oh, I like it.”

Jake’s opinion: “Definitely a good finale.”

My sober morning opinion: Getting to have whiskey-infused whipped cream on chocolate cake is definitely the best way to start a Sunday.

Final deliciousness rating: 10/10

Since I used the cake recipe I loved from last month and then added that ~*fancy*~ whiskey frosting to it I figured this recipe deserved the perfect ten out of ten. I would definitely recommend making this sometime you need something both impressive and semi-easy. The cake recipe can be found here, and again I swapped out the chocolate syrup in the recipe for hot fudge.

The frosting is super simple: you just need a half pint of heavy whipping cream and whip it until it is whipped cream consistency, fold in powdered sugar until it is as sweet as you’d like, and then carefully mix in some whiskey. Something I forgot to add to mine was vanilla, so I’d recommend stirring some of that in too. This should make enough frosting to cover your cake and spread in between the layers. Also, if you’re not feeling whiskey I’m sure you could replace it with rum.

Thanks for reading and following me throughout this whiskey-fueled adventure! I hope you try out some of the recipes yourself—drinking encouraged but not required.

Previous Episodes:

Episode 1: Orange Chili Brownies

Episode 2: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Episode 3: (Almost) Vegan Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Episode 4: Peppermint  & White Chocolate Brownies

Episode 5: Vegan Coconut Lime Cake

Episode 6: Berry Tart

Episode 7: Irish Soda Bread

Episode 8: Cadbury Cream Eggs Molten Lava Cakes

The post Whisks + Whiskey: Episode 9 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

I saw a recipe for molten lava cakes using Cadbury crème eggs as the “molten” center and I was pretty hyped to try it because for one, molten lava cakes just always sound super cool, and secondly, Cadbury crème eggs are probably THEE best part of Easter. Don’t even try to fight me on that. (And no the caramel ones are NOT better, go eat a rolo if you want caramel and chocolate.)

Time started: 5:30 pm

LISTEN: I know it was early, and it was a week day, but I had a lot to accomplish that day and there ain’t no rest for the wicked.

What I’m drinking: I ran out of whiskey the weekend before and I was too cheap to buy more at the time of baking this so I opened the last bottle I had of my mom’s rhubarb wine and mixed it with some Sprite for a nice little spritzer. I feel like that is pretty springy/Eastery.

Estimated difficulty: 3/5

The main thing holding me back from giving this an easier rating is that I do not have ramekins to bake the cakes in like the recipe calls for and instead will be using muffins tins; it may not make a huge difference but I didn’t want to underestimate the difficulty just in case.

Challenges (besides being intoxicated): Welp, I almost died from slipping on water walking towards the microwave with a glass jar of hot fudge in my hand. Spoiler alert: I didn’t die and I also managed not to drop the jar of hot fudge throughout the whole ordeal.

The other challenge was figuring out what to do with all the extra batter because this recipe made SO MUCH. It called for 6 crème eggs to make six cakes, but I ended up using up the two eggs I thought were going to be extra in a second batch and my sister had the brilliant idea of putting a glob of hot fudge in place of the crème eggs in the other four cakes from the second batch.

So while the recipe claimed to make 6 molten lava cakes, there was enough batter to actually make 12, with even a few spoonfuls of batter left over that we may or may not have just eaten. I thought the muffin tins were about the same size as the ramekins would have been, but maybe there were a lot smaller than I thought. Or maybe this recipe just made A LOT of batter, I’m honestly not sure.

Time finished: 7:30 PM

Results:

My drunk opinion:  “It’s really good cake, you just can’t really taste the crème eggs :(”

Mollie’s opinion: “The cake itself is good, but the egg has a weird texture now.”

My sober morning opinion: Again, the cake is delicious, but overall it’s kind of disappointing.

Final deliciousness rating: 5/10

This was hard to give a rating since I would definitely use the cake recipe from this on its own, because it is honestly a fantastic recipe, but putting the crème eggs in it was kind of a waste of a perfectly good crème egg (8 of them to be exact, SIGH.) The ones in which we put a dollop of hot fudge turned out really well so I would recommend doing that if you still wanted to try the whole molten lava thing, and then just eat the crème eggs on their own. But you’re an adult and you can do what you want.

This recipe can be found here. (The only other modification I would suggest is swapping out where it calls for chocolate syrup in the recipe for hot fudge. Because hot fudge.)

Next month will most likely be my last installment of Whisks + Whiskey since I am graduating (!!!) so I will have to think of something amazing for the last big hurrah, stay tuned!

Previous Episodes:

Episode 1: Orange Chili Brownies

Episode 2: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Episode 3: (Almost) Vegan Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Episode 4: Peppermint  & White Chocolate Brownies

Episode 5: Vegan Coconut Lime Cake

Episode 6: Berry Tart

Episode 7: Irish Soda Bread

The post Whisks + Whiskey: Episode 8 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The first opener and Chicago-based solo act, Paul Cary, started the show off with a bluesy, guitar driven sound. During his half hour set, he played about eight different songs all by himself—just a man and his guitar.

He has a soulful voice that would be at home in any Memphis bar, with a guitar style to back it up and keep you pulled in. His songs seemed on the shorter side, but all were fairly laidback and soothing. I was not really sure what kind of crowd to expect at the Mill tonight, but there was definitely an older crowd. It was already pretty packed when I got there at 8:00 with standing room only left and I ended up finding myself in a corner somewhat in the way of the waiters going in and out of the kitchen.

After Cary’s set came to a close at 8:30 and the set up for Elizabeth Moen started, I moved out of my corner closer to the stage area and the crowd seemed to double in size. This made sense after I found out she was and Iowa City native as she gave a shoutout to her cousin who was turning 21 at midnight. Moen took the stage with a gorgeous guitar and her band at 9:00pm and started off with a song that really showcased her powerful voice.

Her band members consisted of a drummer, rhythm guitarist, and a cello player who also sang backup vocals and really lovely harmonies. I saw Cary mingling with the crowd during Moen’s set which was cool to see and he seemed like a really laidback guy.

Moen’s style had a bit of a beach-friendly vibe to it with the rhythm guitar and I found myself captivated by her voice and stage presence. Her music was quite a bit more high-energy than Cary’s and I saw several people dancing throughout her set. I had never heard her music before tonight but I thoroughly enjoyed it. She announced during her performance that her album release will be at the Blue Moose on May 13^th and I am definitely considering going. Moen finish her set around 9:45pm with another song that showcased her powerful voice.

During the set up for the headliner, Bridget Kearny, the crowd shuffled around quite a bit and it seemed like it was almost switched out with entirely new people. Kearny, another Iowa City native, and her four piece band took the stage a bit after 10:00pm and kept the energy up with their upbeat music.

Overall their sound was less beachy than Moen’s and seemed to have a lot of 80’s influence. The vocals also were not as strong and it definitely seemed like more of a group act than a lead singer with a backup band. While most of the songs were upbeat, there were a couple slower, more soulful songs mixed in. Kearny closed out the set around 11:00pm, about an hour after beginning.

The Mill is a really fun venue for a show, but it was almost a bit too crowded for this show in particular. It seemed like every couple of minutes I had someone asking me to move so that they could pass by and it was a bit distracting. However, the performances were all really enjoyable so that made up for it, and I think Moen was definitely my personal favorite act of the night.

The post Mission Creek: Bridget Kearny @ The Mill 4/5/17 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Bonded with an old man buying sunscreen today at work over being Irish and pale. Didn’t have the heart to tell him I’m not Irish, just pale.

— Alison Schwebach (@alisonschwebach) May 17, 2016

Even before I was of the age to partake in the green beer and other green-themed festivities, St. Patrick’s Day was always just a fun, random holiday that helped break up the dreariness of March and meant spring was coming soon. So in honor of St. Pat and the Irish, I decided this month to make Irish soda bread.

If you’ve never had it, I highly recommend trying some. My mom used to have our grandparents over for a St. Patrick’s Day dinner a couple years in a row (again, our family is not Irish AT ALL so I don’t really know why), and although I would not touch the corned beef and cabbage, I always ate SO MUCH Irish soda bread. I didn’t have time to get the recipe my mom used before I had to do this thing, so I found a recipe from Ina Garten. Because I trust her.

Time started: 8:00 pm

What I’m drinking: I decided to go all out on the St. Patrick’s theme so I picked up some Guinness and had one before starting as well as another midway through. I also drank my favorite Black Velvet whiskey, of course, because what is more Irish than Canadian whiskey, am I right??

Estimated difficulty: 3/5

This didn’t seem too difficult, but Ina said I needed to use a mixer to properly incorporate the butter into the flour and I do not have a mixer.

Challenges (besides being intoxicated): The no mixer did turn out to be a bit of a challenge, but wasn’t as awful as I was expecting. I ended up having to mash the cold butter into the flour with a potato masher because I also do not have a pastry cutter. Its fine, it pretty much worked. However what was NOT FINE was me dropping the orange into the buttermilk mixture because I was using my hands to talk too aggressively while I talked to my sister.

Time finished: 10:00 PM (it honestly didn’t take that long to mix together, the baking time was just super long.)

Results:

My drunk opinion:  “This is some good Irish soda bread. I am happy.”

Mollie’s opinion: “You actually didn’t do bad.” (Rude.) “It’s good, good job. I am thoroughly impressed.” (Still rude???)

My sober morning opinion: I can’t tell if it is slightly undercooked or just a really moist recipe. Either way, it is delicious.

Final deliciousness rating: 9/10

I would probably make this again, however it didn’t really keep very well after a couple days so eat it quickly if you decide to make it! Here is the recipe if you wanted to try it for your own St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Stop by next month to see what else I manage to throw an orange at or something.

Previous Episodes:

Episode 1: Orange Chili Brownies

Episode 2: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Episode 3: (Almost) Vegan Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Episode 4: Peppermint  & White Chocolate Brownies

Episode 5: Vegan Coconut Lime Cake

Episode 6: Berry Tart

The post Whisks + Whiskey Episode 7 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Either way, I am in my last semester of college so that means “adulting” is something that has been an ever looming presence in my life the past couple of months, and it is only going to get worse as the months fly by towards May. While searching for jobs hurts my brain and my pride a little bit and I crave the simplicity of freshman year, I also have been finding myself increasingly unable to sleep in past 9:30 a.m. without feeling terrible and my tolerance for junk food is getting pretty weak.

Since I am sort of in the limbo of nearly-a-real-adult but still have no solid clue as to what I am doing with my life, I figured I’d make this month’s to-do list based on revelations I’ve had about #adulting over the past couple months.

1.Get your resume in check

Good resumes equal good jobs. (Or so I have been repeatedly told, I have yet to secure a post-college job but it’s only February so I have time right??) This is pretty much the first thing a potential employer will see from you, so you want to make a fantastic first impression. Depending on your field, a well-designed resume can really help you stand out and show your own personal flair.

Luckily for me, I will be searching for graphic design jobs and so I’ve been able to design my own resume exactly how I’d like it to match my personal design style. If you don’t have that ability, here are some ideas to help you out. And if your field doesn’t traditionally allow for personalized resumes, make sure you triple spell check that sh*t. If you have any questions regarding employment laws, you can visit HKM.com.

2. It’s Budget Time, bitch.

(Sorry for calling you a bitch. I don’t actually think you’re a bitch, I just wanted to make budgeting time sound more fun and was hoping a Britney reference would help.)

When you’re in college and are faced with the decision to either go out and get pizza or cook a meal at home with food already in your cupboards, both your heart and your wallet will choose the pizza. Because although I love cooking for myself and always to keep essentials stocked up, not everyone does and by the time you go to the grocery store and get the things you need to make yourself a dinner it probably would’ve been more cost effective to just go out for pizza. But in the long run, always going out to eat will get insanely expensive.

It will only get harder to budget as you get older and more bills start piling up if you don’t take the initiative and start now. Here is an article with some really helpful tips to get you started.

3.“Drink Responsibly”

Okay so I’ve always been on the more sober side of the college binge-drinking statistics. Like I’m pretty sure I’ve only been hungover twice, and one of the occasions was after my high school friend’s wedding located nowhere near Iowa City so I don’t know if it really counts.

I know senior year should be about getting your last college kicks in while you can, BUT it’s good to keep in mind that balance is good. So if you get hella turnt this weekend, maybe next weekend you should go for a hike and knit or something. Then should you be facing a DUI charge yourself, then be sure to research the most trustworthy DUI lawyers near you. There is a very reputable DUI lawyer in New Jersey which you can find here, so that is a great example of what to look for when you need a DUI lawyer to help you face DUI charges.

A DUI conviction has a substantial impact on your daily life, and it never goes away. This is why it’s so important to hire experienced drink driving lawyers to fight those charges.

4. Stick to a schedule

Like I said, I honestly can’t sleep in like I used to, and it’s pretty rare for me to stay up past midnight which is crazy considering I used to regularly see 3 a.m. It makes me feel a little bit sad to be honest. But, I have been more productive this semester than I ever have my whole college career, and with the least amount of free time. While it seems lame, if you make a schedule for yourself and for the most part stick to it, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how much you can accomplish.

Okay, so I think that’s enough grown up talk for now. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go read a book and try not to fall asleep.

Feel free to follow me on:

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The post The Walking Contradiction’s How-to Guide: Being an Adult appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Since it is February and Valentine’s Day is a thing that happens in February, I figured I should probably make a recipe that harkens to the other mostly useless holiday in the month. Now, if you thought that meant I was going to make some sort red velvet-type of baked item, I’m going to stop you right there.

To be honest, red velvet is pretty freakin weird—why do we have to add an entire bottle of artificial red food dye just to enjoy a mildly cocoa flavored caked with cream cheese frosting?? Traditional red velvet is actually pretty cool with the chemical reactions happening to produce the red tint, but people have become so used to the artificial hue that the traditional just doesn’t have the same sex appeal.

Instead of fake food dye that stains your mouth and teeth red (which isn’t a very sexy look for V-Day, unless you and your Valentine are into vampire roleplay), I wanted to make something that was naturally rose-tinged. For some reason, the thought of making a rustic berry tart has been calling to me for a while and I figured with plenty of strawberries and raspberries it would be the perfect antithesis to the basic red velvet.

I found a berry tart recipe (okay technically it’s a “galette” not a tart, but I like calling it a tart so whatever) from a blog called Finding Zest that used frozen berries, which was fantastic because fresh berries in February would’ve been hella expensive. To enhance the ~*Valentine’s Day vibes*~ I invited the boyfriend over for moral support, because what says romance more than having to babysit your whiskey inebriated girlfriend to make sure she doesn’t drunkenly burn herself??

Time started: 8:00 pm

What I’m drinking: This time I went full whiskey. I had a couple swigs before starting, and then mixed the rest of what was left in the bottle with some cherry coke. (There were only like 2-3 shots left in the bottle, okay. Don’t panic.)

Estimated difficulty: 2/5

This seemed pretty simple, and since I cheated with store-bought pie crust there really wasn’t a lot of labor involved. (I was going more for aesthetics than anything, forgive me.)

Challenges (besides being intoxicated): To be honest, there really weren’t too many extra challenges this time around. I do remember running into the chairs and table more times than usual. I also knocked a cup to the floor, but thankfully it was empty.

Time finished: 9:30 pm

Results

My drunk opinion: “It’s super tasty, I’m in to it. It’s also “berry tart” but in a good way.” (I do remember thinking I was very clever coming up with that pun while drunk.)

Jake’s opinion: “It’s good. Definitely one of the best pie crusts I’ve had.” (Store bought for the win.)

Shanea’s opinion: It’s really good! 10/10 would definitely eat again. I really enjoyed the blue goo.

My sober morning opinion: This is a really great balance of sweet and tart. The berries turned into kind of a jam, and it goes perfectly with the crust. I might actually be obsessed, not going to lie.

Final deliciousness rating: 10/10

Heck yeah I’d make this again. Here’s the recipe if you’d like to make it yourself, and I’d highly recommend that you do. (And it’s extra easy with store-bought pie crust!)

As a sort of “blooper,” I tried making a glaze for the tart out of some leftover canned coconut milk I had in my freezer and powdered sugar, and although it tasted pretty good, when I tried drizzling the glaze concoction on the tart it ended up looking like a bodily fluid you probably shouldn’t put on any sort of baked good, Valentine’s day or not. I didn’t take a picture for evidence, so I’ll just let you use your imagination to work out the details on that.

Next month is March, which means that’s the month spring is actually supposed to arrive in and I have no idea what I’m going to make!! You should still definitely tune in then though!!

Previous Episodes:

Episode 1: Orange Chili Brownies

Episode 2: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Episode 3: (Almost) Vegan Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Episode 4: Peppermint  & White Chocolate Brownies

Episode 5: Vegan Coconut Lime Cake

The post Whisks + Whiskey: Episode 6 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

I’m going to be completely honest though, writing this month’s piece on January nineteenth, otherwise known as the eve of the presidential inauguration, it’s a little hard to find the humor.

While the more literal spring isn’t that horribly far away, we’ve got another long, cold winter ahead of us. You could benefit from knowing what is heat pump for house and why it’s essential during winter. So, while this month’s how-to guide can be used as a quick fix until the northern hemisphere shifts closer to the sun, it can hopefully also be used as something to warm your hands by until the longer winter breaks.

But let’s face it—if we’re going to get through these long, cold months, we need more than just humor; we need warmth. And not the kind of warmth that comes from layering yourself in every sweater you own, but real, reliable warmth, the kind that only a quality furnace can provide.

When winter stretches on and the wind howls outside, there’s nothing more comforting than knowing your furnace is up to the task. That’s where Climate Experts for outstanding services come in, making sure your home stays cozy and energy-efficient, even on the darkest, chilliest days. Because if we’re going to survive the next few months with our sanity intact, a dependable furnace is as essential as that first cup of coffee in the morning.

I’m getting really tired of hearing the word “snowflake,” but I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing a lot of it even when there’s zero chance of precipitation so we might as well jump right in:

1. Find what makes you happy.

I know, that’s a hefty first step, but if you can find the little things in your daily life that give you a flutter of joy or makes you smile even on the coldest days, hold on to it. For example: my plant hoard is probably going to keep growing, I’m going to try to paint more, and I’m going to be less reserved about singing along with my favorite songs.

2. Bask in whatever sunshine you can find.

That little kid that laughed at you in the grocery store, the person you saw bring food to a homeless person on your morning commute, the dogs that will gladly let you pet them. I know it’s easy to forget that there is good in the world when it seems like everything is dark and dreary, but look out for the little bits of sunshine peeking out from the clouds and soak them in.

3. Create your own sunshine.

Donate to a cause that is close to your heart, volunteer at the humane society or soup kitchen, clean out your closet and give your clothes to someone who needs them more. Don’t forget that you can be a ray of warmth for someone else!

4. Persevere 

If the grass and flowers can come back at full strength after devastating ice, snow, and frigid temperatures, so can you. Be resilient and carry on.

Good luck y’all.

Feel free to follow me on:

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The post The Walking Contradiction’s How-to Guide: Surviving the Winter appeared first on KRUI Radio.

I’ve lived in Iowa my entire life and yet I still don’t know how we as a human species endure winter year after year. You’d think having some Swedish ancestry would help me cope considering they hail from the literal arctic, but I still despise winter with every fiber of my being.

To help break up the dreariness of winter I decided to make what I hoped would be a refreshing spirit-lifting recipe reminiscent of spring. I found a coconut lime cake recipe from Cotter Crunch that sounded very tropical and spring-like and also happened to be vegan, but I didn’t really want to go through the effort of making the coconut cream frosting even though it sounded delicious. Since I wanted the cake to stand out a little more instead, I used a glaze recipe from Daisy and the Fox and also made the candied limes from their recipe for decoration. I know, THREE whole parts?? I am so brave.

Time started: 8:30 pm

What I’m drinking: I’m not generally a huge fan of wine, but my mom sent me back from Thanksgiving break with four bottles of homemade rhubarb wine so I figured I might as well tackle some of that. I drank part of a bottle a couple weeks ago but it didn’t exactly go down the easiest, so this time I mixed it with some sprite and that was a pretty decent starter drink. After I finished the wine, I mixed Toasted Caramel whiskey with vanilla coke and it might have actually been the best thing I’ve ever done. SO GOOD, 10/10 would recommend. Then as a bonus spur of the moment drink, since I was using limes I figured I pretty much had to do a shot of tequila. Had to, not want to; don’t ever accuse me of not giving this column my all because tequila SUCKS.

Estimated difficulty: 4/5

Listen, I’ve never candied a lime—I didn’t know what to expect. Also three steps seemed pretty ambitious.

Challenges (besides being intoxicated): The grater we have did not work very well as a zester and I was struggling to get a decent amount of lime zest until I realized I could just kind of scrape it off with a knife. Also, doing shot of tequila. Always a bad decision.

Time finished: 10:30

Results

My drunk opinion:  It’s okay, the parts with a lot of glaze are good. It kind of tastes like coffee cake.

Rylee’s opinion: “Is there ginger in this?” (…No) “Oh, well it smells like gingerbread. I don’t know how to feel about it.”

My sober morning opinion: It’s slightly better this morning, but it still reminds me of coffee cake. Not very refreshing or springy.

Final deliciousness rating: 6/10

I combined two different recipes for this, so if you want to test it out the cake recipe is from here (it’s a gluten-free recipe but I just used regular flour instead of gluten-free flour) and the candied limes and glaze recipe are from here. The only other modification I did was adding lime zest to both the batter and glaze.

Looks like next month’s column will arrive just in time for Valentine’s Day, so that should be interesting, feel free to check back then.

(Bonus: me complaining about taking a shot of tequila)

Previous Episodes:

Episode 1: Orange Chili Brownies

Episode 2: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Episode 3: (Almost) Vegan Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Episode 4: Peppermint  & White Chocolate Brownies

The post Whisks + Whiskey: Episode 5 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

We’ve officially hit ~*~Holiday Baking Season~*~, so for this month’s recipe I wanted to do something pepperminty since candy canes are definitely one of my favorite holiday candies and anything utilizing them is a winner for me.

*Mid-article mini rant: You know what I don’t get though? Weird flavored candy canes. Like why would you take something so good and so pure as the perfect flavor of peppermint candy canes and decide to be like “Why don’t we just completely get rid of the iconic peppermint flavor and replace it with something completely different?” Get out of my FACE with your Sweet Tart and Jolly Rancher candy canes. Those aren’t candy canes, they’re just misshapen suckers, okay?! End of rant; please enjoy your regularly scheduled content.*

I know last month I said the recipe was too easy, and although I meant to step up my game this month, I ended up doing a *whispers* box mix. Which I know is a bit insulting to the craft, BUT in my defense, I was making this with my boyfriend and I wasn’t in my own kitchen so I didn’t want to haul a bunch of flour and sugar and things around so we’re gonna let it slide this time. Long story short: I decided to make dark chocolate brownie cups with a white chocolate and peppermint topping.

Time started: 8:00 pm

What I’m drinking: This time around I’m drinking leftovers since I still had two each still in my fridge of October’s pumpkin ale and November’s cookie dough ale and want them GONE. I honestly don’t know why it’s taken me so long to get rid of them; I guess I just haven’t had time to drink lately. SIGH. I ended up having one of the cookie dough ales before I started and then throughout the process I had several gulps of that sweet, sweet Toasted Caramel Black Velvet whiskey. I definitely had a few more than my rules allow, but since I had supervision this time I figured I could get away with it without falling into the oven or something.

Estimated difficulty: 2/5

I didn’t expect this to be too difficult with it being a box mix of brownies.

Challenges (besides being intoxicated): Again, since this was mainly a box mix I didn’t really have too many challenging variables. The main one was obviously that I wasn’t in my own kitchen which is always a mild challenge. The other obstacle was that we didn’t really have any specific tools to crush the peppermint so we improvised with my bottle of whiskey and a grocery bag.

Time finished: 9:15 pm

Results

My drunk opinion:  The brownies are sticking to the liners which is ANNOYING, but otherwise they’re pretty tasty.

Jake’s opinion: This is the direct quote he wrote in my notebook: “It’s that dank ass, dank ass. 8/10, 9/10 with rice.” Which equates to “They’re good,” I think? (Also he was completely sober through this process if you were wondering.)

My sober morning opinion: They could definitely have used more peppermint flavor, otherwise they’re brownies and I can’t really complain about brownies.

Final deliciousness rating: 5/10

Since this isn’t really a set recipe, if you’d like to try them for yourself just make a box of dark chocolate brownies in cupcake liners and add some crushed peppermint to the batter. (We only put in two candy canes and it wasn’t really noticeable, so I’d put in at least four.) Then once you pull them out of the oven, let them cool for a few minutes until they’re just warm to the touch and sprinkle white chocolate chips and crushed peppermint on top.

See you in the New Year, who knows what sort of baking adventures 2017 will bring.

Previous Episodes:

Episode 1: Orange Chili Brownies

Episode 2: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Episode 3: (Almost) Vegan Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

The post Whisks + Whiskey: Episode 4 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

So what happens when the season rolls around and you actually do have someone in your life? And especially what do you do when you’re actually taking them home for the first time?? Well, lucky for you, I’ve found myself in that exact predicament this year, so I’ve had a bit of time to reflect on the situation and have compiled my checklist for surviving the season.

First order of business: Get your story straight.

I can guarantee every person you introduce your significant other to will want to know the lovey-dovey story about how you met. Every. Single. One. If you have some cute or mundane story about how you met, this really isn’t an issue. But what if you met while the two of you were both drunk off your ass downtown, or what if you don’t remember the first time you met, or even more scandalously, what if you met on Tinder? (*Cough, cough.*) This virtual girlfriend app can offer a level of privacy and control if you’re concerned about privacy or reluctant to share personal information or feelings with real people.

While your family members are staring at you with that starry look in their eyes waiting for every little gory detail, you can’t panic. Like I said before: they can smell fear. On the car ride or plane ride home the two of you have to nail down exactly what story you’re going to tell, and you have to be on the same page for every single detail. Leaving it at a vague “oh, we met through friends” isn’t going to cut it. TRUST ME.

Next: Establish your territory.

Even if you’re a *genuine adult* with your own apartment that your significant other sleeps over at on the regular, chances are your parents will be wary about you staying in the same bedroom, let alone the same bed (especially if they’re Catholic.) It’s just a parent thing; you can’t hold it against them, they truly mean well.

You’re their baby after all, and all your parents are probably going to hear when you say “hey, is it okay if (insert bae’s name here) stays in my room with me?” is that their baby is going to be getting freaky with the dude or lady they just welcomed into their home for the first time. When in actuality, it’s more of a case of “yo it gets really cold in the basement and I rather not make them sleep alone on a couch when there’s a high chance they’ll wake up with our cat sniffing their face in the middle of the night.”

You might have to be firm with them, and remind them that since your baby brother’s room is DIRECTLY above your room nothing other than sleep will be happening, but hopefully they’ll cave.

Final step: Prepare them.

If you’re a better girlfriend/boyfriend than I am, you probably won’t find the entertainment value in throwing your love into the family fray unprepared just to see how they handle it. (I know, I’m the worst, but honestly it might be kind of funny). My family is what I would describe as aggressively nice, you know the type of people who will smother you with hugs, food, booze, and leave your cheeks sore from all the photo ops, so I’m really not too concerned for my boyfriend’s wellbeing.

However, if you don’t completely want to throw your love to the wolves, it would probably be crucial to the health of your relationship to prepare them for the next few days. Let them know who not to get into politics with, which sports teams not to talk shit about, and other sort of topics that usually lead to family rifts. “Babe, no matter what my uncle says, DO NOT pull his finger. Don’t fall for it. I beg you.”

Hopefully this helps at least a little bit. Good luck to all you love birds out there, I wish you the best.

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The post The Walking Contradiction’s How-to Guide: Bringing Someone Home for the Holidays appeared first on KRUI Radio.