Enjoy those brownies, Thomas!

If you happened to read my interview with Thomas Morstead from earlier this week, you know that a member of his family brings him brownies to eat before every game and during halftime. It started off with his grandmother dropping him off the goodies prior to a game when he was a student at SMU and it became a family tradition.

Since I won’t be able to drop off brownies to Thomas prior to our game with those nasty pigeons from Atlanta—really, they need to pick up their droppings because they are stinking up the NFC South—I decided I could do the next best thing….virtual brownies. And, these aren’t your everyday brownies. This recipe is courtesy of Zach and Mandy Strief from Zach’s cookbook, When You Are the Biggest Guy on the Team.

A Friend of the Chicks with Zach Strief

Speaking of the Striefs, I had the opportunity to cover Zach’s Dream Big Foundation’s Big Night Out on Thursday and it was a phenomenal fundraiser. From eyeballing the turnout, there must have been at least 1,000 people in attendance at Generations Hall in downtown New Orleans. The food, catered by Cafe Reconcile who were also the beneficiaries of this event, was absolutely outstanding, especially the barbecued shrimp. I’m still dreaming about them, actually.

The auction featured a double date with Lance Moore and Pierre Thomas (hmmm….a Lance and P.T. sandwich also sounds yummy to me…could be better than the shrimp!), a shopping spree with Reggie Bush, and a Saints-autographed George Rodrigue Blue Dog print, to name a few items.

In attendance at the event, in addition to our wonderful hosts Zach and Mandy Strief, were players Thomas Morstead, John Carney, Reggie Bush, Troy Evans, Lance Moore, Mike McKenzie, Billy Miller, Jon Stincomb, and Pierre Thomas, to name a few. Check out the photos on Chick Picks.

And, now, onto Zach’s Blonde Brownies.

Bon Appetit, mes petits poules….

Blonde Brownies

Ingredients
2/3 cups of butter, melted
1 pound brown sugar
2 ¼ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, well beaten
12 ounces chocolate chips
½ to 1 cup of peanuts

Preparation
Mix butter and brown sugar together and cool. Add flour, salt and baking powder to the cooled mixture above. Add the eggs, chips and peanuts to the top ingredients. Mix well and spread in a 13×9 inch Pyrex pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Much better underdone than overdone.