Name: Blackberry Blondies
Ingredients: 1 cup butter (2 sticks), melted and cooled to room temperature; 2 cups white sugar; 1/2 tsp sea salt; 2 large eggs; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2 cups all purpose flour; 1/2 cup white chocolate chips; 1/4 cup blackberries

A few years back my friend Kelsey invited me to join a dinner group. It was a group of girls who got together semi-regularly for dinner. One person would host a dinner and decide on the theme or main course and then everyone else would bring something to compliment it like a side, dessert, wine, etc. Sort of like a book club, but without the books 🙂 I want to start calling it cooking club, but the name hasn’t stuck yet 😉 It had been a while since we had had a dinner, so about a month ago Kelsey and I decided to start it back up with a hybrid group of people. some from the old group and lots of new girls. It is a great way to get friends to meet friends and to share recipes!

I hosted the first dinner last month, the theme was Festive Fall Feast! I made Apple Cheddar Stuffed Chicken as the main dish and the other girls brought salads, soups and appetizers.

On Sunday night Kelsey hosted another dinner that was Cozy Winter Soup themed. She made two delicious soups – Loaded Baked Potato and Minestrone! She served them with warm bread and although it did not end up being great soup weather on Sunday it hit the spot!

I brought Blackberry Blondies for dessert. Admitedly I did not keep with the theme for this one, but when blackberries are on sale at Trader Joe’s for $3.99 I can’t pass them up! They came out well, but I would suggest using a smaller pan so they are thicker. They ended up tasting like a cross between a blondie and a shortbread since they were on the thinner side. I used a 9X13″ and I would suggest an 8X8″.