Happy St. Paddy’s Day, my green beer-loving beauty baking buddy! ☘️ Good morning to you. My first question for you on this lovely (albeit overcast) morning is this: are you wearing green? I am…sort of. I’m wearing a greenish blue Chanel, which I think should totally count. 
My second question for you pertains to brownies (yes, brownies), and I need your opinion on this. It’s VERY important.
OK…are you ready?
OK, so, as you know, I’ve been tweaking my brownie recipe for months, slowly but surely modifying it to create what I hope will be the best darned brownies in the city of Novato, and just when I thought I had my ultimate go-to recipe figure out, something occurred to me last night…
WALNUTS.
Toasted walnuts.
What if I toast the walnuts BEFORE adding them to the batter?
What do you think? Next level perhaps…? Would it be worth the effort?
If you have any experience in this area, lemme know. I’m thinking that the oven will be on anyway, so it wouldn’t take that much more time to toast a handful of walnuts in a pan.
I just might whip some up tonight.
These were from Connor’s birthday party. So far, I’ve learned that I prefer Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips to Tollhouse and Guittard chocolate chips, and I like the taste better when I replace a third of the regular sugar in the recipe with brown sugar. I feel like the brown sugar gives them a caramel-y depth, so they aren’t just sweet for the sake of being sweet.
Alright…now that I’ve probably teased your sweet tooth (sorry!), how about some light reading? Here are some things that made me go “Hmm…” this week.
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If you ever find yourself wondering what fragrance you should wear on any given day during your menstrual cycle…here’s the guide you’ve been waiting for!
Apparently, bergamot notes, like the kind in Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Intense, can help you chill-the-eff out when you’re PMS-ing.
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MIND BLOWN!
Technically, leopards don’t have spots.
SAY WHAT?!
Yeah, according to this abridged history of the leopard print. “If you’re being a nerd,” says Craig Saffoe, curator of Great Cats at the National Zoo in Washington, “leopards don’t really have spots. They have what we call a rosette. Leopards have a rosette, cheetahs have spots all over, and jaguars have a rosette with a spot inside.”
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The latest trend in perfumes: scents that are so subtle that they’re almost odorless, which begs the question…why the heck would I wear perfume if I couldn’t smell it?
It’s a thing, though, and it’s called “no-perfume perfume.”
Actually, I get the appeal of wanting a scent that doesn’t get all up in everyone’s face, but I also want to be able to smell my perfumes a little.
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It takes time to transform Mandy Moore’s character in This Is Us from a 25-year-old woman to a woman of 68, and part of the styling process includes her taking Advil early on filming days, because tightly pinning up her hair into a wig cap gives Mandy a headache. (I totally get this. I’ve had some tight updos with, like, a million bobby pins.)
Between the hair and the makeup, getting her into character takes three hours.
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Serena Williams might be getting ready to launch a makeup line.
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I still have home decor on my mind, and the Pottery Barn Lily Pulizter collection is making me want to drop everything and immediately plan a tropical vacay. I’m loving it all, especially the wallpaper, and I’m not even a wallpaper kind of person!
My parents visited last Thursday to watch Connor, so I holed myself up in my office and blogged like a maniac for a few hours, and this soothing white noise video of the sound of rain really helped me concentrate.
You’ve got the love I need to see me through.
Somebody please make these stuffed mushrooms for me.
I hope you do something fun today. As you know, this is the day when all of us are ? Irish.
I think we’re gonna don our green apparel and head up to Petaluma for 
brunch.
See you soon!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Karen, definitely recommend toasting any nuts before adding them to a recipe. It doesn’t take long but the richness of flavour it will add is totally worth it!
Hi Karen
These look yummy, could you please share a recipe with us
Happy St. Patrick day 😉
Xo’s
I second PJ’s recommendation to toast the nuts, because it definitely brings out the flavor, and I totally agree with you that Ghiradelli is the best! In fact, I cheat and use Ghiradelli double chocolate brownie mix, cause none of my from scratch recipes have been as good as their mix, but if you would be willing to share YOUR brownie recipe, I would certainly give it another try! They sound wonderful! If I could change the subject for just a second, I have been tinkering with tinted moisturizers, and I need to know if you think it best to wear primer under tinted moisturizer, or does that negate the moisturizing benefit by putting a barrier between your skin and the moisturizer? I really need your expert advise on this!
Thanks Karen, and Happy St. Patricks Day! (I am wearing green).
What caught me was the stuffed mushrooms video. I’d love those! It’s great that she didn’t use bread crumbs but I’m concerned about the fat content. I wonder if ground turkey, Neufchâtel and fat free cheeses will fix that problem. I think I might just try it. And as for toasting the nuts, go for it! Nuts are always better when toasted, no matter what you’re cooking.
I’d say all nuts should be toasted before adding to any recipe — otherwise, you’re only getting half the flavor! Keep a close eye on them when toasting, though — the very second you smell them, take them out of the oven! Nuts can go from barely warm to burnt black bits in a nanosecond.
Thanks, Alix! I’ll keep a close eye on them when I toast them. I’m making a batch this week (hopefully tomorrow).
Those brownies look delicious Karen!! Now I’m craving sweets. LOL!! Also, love the Chanel nail polish. It even has a hint of Robin’s Egg Blue, which I love!!
St PADDY’S!!! SAINT PADDY’s day!! Paddy is short for Patrick… Patty is short for Patricia!
Sorry to be a crazy Irish person, we’re very fussy about this 😉 brownies look delicious!
Did I miss the link? Or are you NOT sharing the brownie recipe with us?
I’ll share it this week! I’m going to make a batch with the roasted walnuts so I can take pics. 🙂 If I share it, you have to make it, though! That’s the deal.
Of course I’m going to make s batch (when I’m back in town). I mean, brownies!!!!!, right?
Making a batch would be the right thing to do (and so would sending me a pic!).
Where are you now? Vacation?
Tokyo. Dear Husband has a business trip and I begged to tag along. Now that Dear Daughter is self-sufficient, I can do this kind of thing.
Ooh I love brownies (and Ghirardelli chocolate) but I’m not a walnut fan so I can’t comment on that lol.
I’ve been dreaming of visiting Hawaii again, I’d love to be whisked off there for my birthday this year (the big 4-0!) But a big party here would be pretty awesome too.
Hi Janet,
I’m going to post the recipe soon! You’ll have the option to leave the walnuts out, of course. 🙂
You’re not the only one dreaming of visiting Hawaii again, le sigh. My parents are going back in June, but I think we’re going to pass this time because there are some things that I’d like to fix around the house.
When’s your birthday?!
My bit isn’t until 4 November. Since it’s quite close to Halloween, I’m thinking of a Halloween themed party. Halloween isn’t massively popular here in Australia, but I thinks it’s great fun!
One of my favorite holidays! How can you not love dressing up and eating candy?! 40 is a big one so you should do it up grand!
The first thing I saw in my email on your post today was BROWNIES and they looked awesome! And as far as I’m concerned, brownies are sooo good you could probably put BIRDSEED in them and they’d still be awesome.
I was actually IN the parade in my city today, and it was such a big parade that we spent THREE HOURS just waiting to get into the part that was moving! It was fun and a nod to my Ulster Scots ancestors. The weather was pretty cooperative, too, so it was a fun morning.
I read a comment from a contestant from the GBBS who said to always use muscuvado sugar because it’s more “pure” than brown sugar. I guess some brown sugars are white, refined sugar with food color and starches added back. I have no idea if this is true, but I plan to compare some packages when I’m at the store.
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for the heads up! I’m definitely going to try the muscavado sugar soon!
Need that recipe. Love brownies. Having some in my next carb break!
Hi Michelle,
I’m going to make a batch this week (gonna try it with the roasted walnuts) so I take pics! Will post it soon. 🙂
Try this recipe, it’s utterly decadent! I actually use glace cherries rather than fresh ones. http://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/c/chocolate-cherrybrownies.html
Yummy!
Hi Jane,
I’ve never tried brownies with cherries before, and this recipe is intriguing! Thank you for sharing it. 🙂