Creme de Menthe Brownies

What more can I say about these, except that they are completely amazing? My sister, Marnee, and I sat up one evening in her first apartment in Marlton, NJ, and ate almost an entire pan of these (along with a good half gallon of milk!). Needless to say, our stomachs regretted it. :)

Approximate cooking time: 40 minutes; 1 hour cooling time.

Ingredients
1 pkg. brownie mix, with ingredients necessary to make them

Frosting:
½ c. butter
2 c. powdered sugar
2 T. Crème de Menthe

Chocolate Topping:
6 oz. chocolate chips
6 T. butter

Prepare the brownies as directed on the package, but cook for approximately 5 minutes less than directed (they should be slightly undercooked). Allow them to cool completely. Combine frosting ingredients and beat well. Spread in a thin layer over the chilled brownies. Combine topping ingredients in a small pot over low heat until melted. Pour over the frosting layer and chill until set.

Caribbean Pizza

This is my version of a pizza that I had at Caribee Key, an unbelievably cute little Caribbean restaurant in Atlantic Beach, near Jacksonville, Florida. I tried to find a link to their website, but word on the street is that they're a new restaurant. Might explain why I can't seem to locate a website, despite my best efforts. I digress. If you aren't afraid to try shrimp on a pizza, give this a shot. Otherwise, it's excellent minus the shrimp. Another alternative to the shrimp is to thrown some portabella mushrooms or roasted red bell peppers (from a jar) on top prior to baking.

Approximate preparation time: 30 minutes.

Ingredients
pizza dough (I get mine from our local grocery store, Publix...sorry guys, I'm not so good at creating my own yet)
3 Tbsp. sun-dried tomatoes (found in a jar, usually in the produce section)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. jerk seasoning (Walkerswood makes an excellent version that I use, their Traditional Jerk Seasoning)
about 1 c. mozzarella cheese
1/3 lb. shrimp

Directions
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Roll out your pizza dough into a big circle, until it's pretty thin, but try not to break it. If you do, not to worry -- just push it back together and don't stretch so hard the next time. Drizzle a bit more olive oil onto a cookie sheet and place your dough on it. Mix the sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, and jerk seasoning (adjust the jerk seasoning to your taste) together and spread over the pizza dough. Cover that with the cheese, and spread the shrimpers (or the mushrooms or peppers, whatever your heart desires, really) on the top. Bake for about 15 minutes on the lowest rack in your oven until the edges begin to lightly brown and the cheese starts to bubble.

Tip: To prevent the shrimp from drying out, you can soak them in a brine (1/2 c. sugar and 1/4 c. salt in 2 cups water) while you're preparing the rest of the ingredients. It keeps them plump, and makes them handy for popping any extras into your mouth that "don't fit" onto the pizza.