Chocolate Brownies - YUM!

There are those that would argue that THEY make the best chocolate brownies around, but I think mine are best...and so do LOTS of other people. The kids, DH and co-workers from my PK (pre-kid) days request them ALL THE TIME.

This recipe is from an OLD Five Roses cookbook that my mom still has. There are LOTS of brownie recipes out there, but IMHO this one is the best. And don't pay any mind to the NEWER version of this recipe that appears in a more recent Five Roses Cookbook. They've reduced the amount of butter in the new recipe. Don't do that!

Here's what you'll need:

2 squares (2 oz) of unsweetened chocolate (make sure it's unsweetened - trust me!), melted
1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Oh! And one cute kid! Tell the cute kid that it's a surprise and to tell Dad to stay out of the kitchen. Tell him NOT to tell Dad you're baking brownies BEFORE he tells him it's a surprise...yeah...not so much a surprise...

O.K., so, first things first: Get that cute kid to grease up your pan for you. Hey. it's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it...might as well be him - LOL!














While he's doing that, melt your two squares of chocolate. Now, if I was a purist, I'd melt it on the stove in a double boiler, but who the heck has time for that? Just do what I do and put it in the microwave for a minute. Take it out and give it a stir. If it's not all melted, pop it back in for another 30 seconds. That ought to do it. And if not, try another 30 seconds. Whatever you do, DON'T burn the chocolate or you'll have to start over...burnt chocolate is ICKY!

Once the chocolate is all melted and slightly cooled, add the butter and give it a stir!










Then add in that cup of sugar. See, this is why I said make sure you use UNSWEETENED chocolate. There is PLENTY of sweet in that sugar! Mix the sugar, butter and chocolate till it's one big gooey mess!


















Then, add your two large eggs...I guess (technically) that you're supposed to beat them first, but I never have and my brownies are always AMAZING, so there you have it! Oh, and before you actually mix in the eggs, don't forget to laugh because they look like eyeballs in your bowl - LOL!
Once the eggs are well blended, go ahead and add your 1/2 cup of flour. Get the kid to mix it in.
And here's the finished product, before baking:
My pan is dark, so I bake them at 325 F for about 22 minutes. If you are using a lighter pan, you could probably turn the temperature up to 350 F. If you like your brownies a little drier, cook them for up to 25 minutes. We're a chewy brownie family so 22 minutes does the trick.

My apologies for the lack of a picture after the cooking process is complete. As soon as these things were cooled off, they were pretty much gone! I'm sure you'll find the same when you bake them at your house! Enjoy!

Roses and Chocolate

This year for Mother's Day, I got roses (and lobster and chocolate - WOOT!)

Now, I'm not normally a big fan of roses because they don't last nearly long enough for the price you pay...but these were GORGEOUS! Sweetheart roses...they didn't make it through the week, but I did manage to get a GREAT shot (IMO) of one in full bloom. Gotta love shooting in Aperture Priority mode for those real up close and personal shots...

DH always scores big when it comes to flowers...he picks bouquets that still have a few buds left on them to make sure they last longer. Yep! I got me one of the good ones...y'all can just eat your hearts out - LOL!

And my darling DD bought me a # 1 MOM piece of dark chocolate (she pays attention) as well as a chocolate coconut bomb (I think that's what she said it was called), which I ate before I took a picture - sorry!

Up next: My chocolate brownies - YUM!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mother's Day

How did you celebrate it? Did you spend time with your mom? Are you a mom yourself?

I got to sleep in. Of course, I do this EVERY Sunday as DH takes the kids to archery lessons. Jonathan doesn't take lessons, but he tags along with his brother and sister because he knows that in between lessons (they are an hour apart) there is always a trip to Tim Horton's for breakfast. Smart little man...lucky mom!

On their way home from archery, Scott and the kids stopped and bought what has become a mother's day tradition - LOBSTER! Lucky for me, Mother's Day usually marks the beginning of the Atlantic lobster season and that means most of the grocery stores here import them. That means I get lobster for Mother's day. And, if that wasn't enough...Scott and the kids also picked up a DIVINE chocolate cake for dessert...who could ask for more?

So...

sleeping in - check!
three great kids - check!
one wonderful husband - check!
lobster - check!
chocolate cake for dessert - check!
one AMAZING Mother's Day - check!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Alaskan Adventure

So much to tell...so little time!

A little bit busy today, so I don't have time to share the whole 4 days with you.

For now, you get this:

DH doesn't take the camera from me very often, but when he does, he rocks it! We went to downtown Anchorage and just walked and walked...I wanted to walk all the way to the base of the mountains, but I think that would have taken more than a few hours - LOL!

So, we found a car dealership where we had an unobstructed view of the mountains, popped on the zoom lens and just started shooting! Great shots to be had. There was a small airport nearby where the small "flightseeing" planes could take off (we didn't take one - WAY too expensive). There are a few shots of planes taking off too.

So, when things settle down (early next week), I'll come back and blog about our adventures. For now, enjoy the AMAZING pic Scott took and come back to visit next week.

Thanks for stopping by.

Been to Alaska?

No? You should seriously visit this place!

DH is here on conference and I got to tag along! How fun is that?

The mountains are just GORGEOUS! Got lots of pics to share when we get home, so brace yourselves. Between the pics and the digi layouts I'll be doing, everyone will start calling this the Alaska Blog - LOL!

We took a walk in downtown Alaska yesterday and were able to get fairly close to the mountains and got some pretty good shots. There is a small airport not far from downtown (we got close to it) from where the "flightseeing" planes take off, so we got some pretty decent pics of those too.

The weather here has been REALLY nice. I think yesterday it was warmer here than it has been in South Western Ontario in the past week or so.

Well, Scott is in conference all day today, so I am going to get my buns in gear and see what kind of trouble I can get up to - LOL!

Gotta wrap my brain around this 4 hour time difference and the fact that the sun doesn't set till after 10 p.m. over here. At this time of year, Alaska is already getting more daylight hours than we do at the summer solstice. At summer solstice here in Alaska, the sun doesn't set at all.

Thanks for stopping by!