TGI Friday's Cheesy Bacon Cheeseburger

 I cannot believe that it did not occur to me to post about this until now...  TGI Friday's was actually my boyfriend and I's (grammatical nightmare) idea of a romantic evening.  We both ordered TGI Friday's Cheesy Bacon Cheeseburgers.  OH.  MY GOD.  Just thinking about it makes my mouth water (and I mean that literally, it actually is watering mmmm burger).  Their burger had the obvious yummy burger topped with cheese and bacon... and... two mozzarella sticks.  They totally made the difference.  We then shared a pisspoor attempt at cookie dough cheesecake.  It was over 5 quid for a tiny square (square?!) piece of the world's most lackluster cheesecake.  Meh.  The burger totally made up for this though.  It took us at least a two hour toddle around central London after dinner to try and walk off this food baby.

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Dessert Trash: Cookie Brownie Beast

So, you know when you're a busy student... and you're like 'I need something sweet... and I want to put off that paper...' Things like the Cookie Brownie Beast get invented.  I cannot take credit, as I'm almost certain this was invented by my dear ex-roomie.  It is cookie dough baked in brownie batter. 
I've since moved elsewhere and made this.  Turns out, my roomie and I were not sick sick individuals, but rather... onto something!  It was gone within hours.  Honestly, vulturous flatmates (just kidding, I adore them!) picked at the carcass of what was left even...
Anyways, my point is that if you're a poor student with little time and a monster sweet tooth:

You will need:
1 box brownie mix
1 box cookie mix
Ingredients necessary for their preparation

*I recommend that mixes that only require water, for extra trashyness.  Plus they are a smaller size, so you don't have to make two 'beasts'.  (Regular-sized mixes should yield two small pans).

1. Prepare brownie mix according to package and pour into one or two cake pans (depending on yield of batter, use your judgement as to whether it will all fit in one pan and cook evenly when cookie dough is added!!)

2. Prepare cookie mix according to package.

3. Drop cookie dough by large spoon-fulls into the brownie batter.

4. Press tin foil around the edges of the pan(s) so that the foil hangs over some of the 'beast', otherwise the edges will cook before the inside, almost-certainly.

5. Bake at whichever mix has the lowest temperature, for at least that amount of time.  Use a toothpick to check whether it is thoroughly cooked (or not, your choice, hehe).

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Tangy Crab Meat and Cream Cheese Dip

I will eventually be transitioning my recipes to UK/metric measurements and foods..... but here's another american recipe in the mean time:

Crab meat and cream cheese dip makes for some incredibly quick/easy hors d'oeuvres!  It goes great with all types of crackers and breads.  Perhaps even bruschetta?  It is one of the easiest things you could slap together for a party and throw out at the last minute.  You can keep cost down by buying tinned crab, if you're not a snob about such things.  I am not.  hehe

You will need:
8 oz. cream cheese (1/3 less fat seems to work fine)
6 oz. crab meat
10 oz cocktail sauce

Crackers (onion or Ritz do the trick...!)

1. Allow cream cheese to sit at room temperature for a bit.  Spread it around a plate in a circle, about 1/2 - 1inch thick. 

2. Sprinkle crab meat over top.

3. Evenly-cover in cocktail sauce for the necessary 'tang'.  Most cocktail sauces have 'bits' in them which I prefer to strain.  But obviously this is completely unnecessary if they do not offend your's or your guest's palette. 

And there ya go!  Seafood for picky eaters and partyers alike.

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