Tasty Tuesday

Between planting mums on Saturday and sawing logs (actual, not metaphorical) yesterday, I am too pooped to do much of anything, including offering a coherent post.  So, rather than sit here reading nothing, I suggest you do what I did on Saturday afternoon... make yourself some brownies.

Basic Fudgy Brownies

3/4 cup butter or margarine 

3/4 cup unsweetened baker’s cocoa

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease sides and bottom of 8 x 10 baking pan.  Gently melt butter in medium saucepan.  Remove from heat and stir in cocoa powder until well combined.  In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until light and frothy.  Add cocoa/butter mixture and stir to combine.  Sift flour over the mixture and gently fold in until just combined.  Bake on the center rack for 30 minutes.  (Toothpick inserted in center may not come out completely clean.)  Do not over bake.  May serve warm after 10 minutes, or cool completely before cutting to store.

Thursday This n That

Yesterday, I stopped by the store and all I bought was chocolate.  The new Ferrar 'signature' box of chocolates?  Disappointing.  For that kind of money, I want either quantity or quality.  There were 8 pieces of chocolate and the ones I've tried so far were just meh.  Live and learn.  I also got a box of chocolate covered cherries because reasons.  Those never disappoint.  And I picked up some turtles for Hubs because Hubs loves turtles.

What I really need are these.  Guylian Belgian seashell chocolates with their hazelnut filling.  OMG, so good and so worth the price.  You know, if I wasn't such a tightwad.

I sent out Christmas cards last week.  At the same time, I sent out my middle sister's b-day card.  She got the b-day card but not the x-mas card and Mom hasn't gotten her card either.  WTF?  They were in the same batch going to the same place.  

Speaking of the mail, Mom was telling me they're having problems with mail just disappearing.  For instance, a company they do business with sent them a check on 11/1 and it never arrived.  Of course, they're in Michigan and that was right around the election.  I suspect the check went into someone's garage with a boatload of other mail :cough:ballots:cough:

And that's all I have to say about that.

Yesterday morning, Hubs went out and fed the deer like he always does.  Usually, 3-6 deer arrive shortly thereafter.  Yesterday?  Thirty-three deer showed up.  33.  And that was without any of the bucks.  They went through the corn like damn and whoa, and then milled around looking for more.  Hubs took another bucket out and while some of the deer scattered, the ones that stayed went through that corn lickety-split.  Sheesh.  Sorry, deers, I know the unexpected snow makes it hard for you to forage, but we can't afford to feed you like you're cattle.  Umm, and if you stop letting the crows chase you away, you'll get more corn in your bellies.  Just sayin'.

In poker, I moved up from the 10K room to the 100K room, and now I have almost 8mil in chips.  It wasn't hard once I got used to the larger amounts, or more specifically, the potential to lose larger amounts.  I used to cringe when I dropped 20K.  Now I can drop 200K before I cringe.  It's all play money, so no big deal.

And I think that's about enough out of me this morning.  What's up with you?

Thursday This n That

Under the heading of things I did not need to know, I heard on TV the other day that koala poop smells lovely.  Apparently, it's all the eucalyptus they eat.  I would think that would make it smell like cough drops - cue the ewww - but that's me.

In college, I took a class called The Psychology of Sexual Behavior.  It was taught by a woman who looked like she ought to be home baking cookies for the grandkids, which made talking about sexual subjects kind of weird.  Anyway, the only things I remember from the class were the factoids she would drop at the beginning of class - like a sperm whale's penis is twelve feet long and three feet in diameter at the base.  =oO

The hardest part about quitting ice cream is that I have the urge to make chocolate cake but chocolate cake without ice cream is just wrong.  It's been 39 days since I last ate ice cream and I only miss it a little.  Sometimes.  A lot when I'm having a rough day.

Yesterday, I had to run a quick errand and on the drive, I got a sudden craving for chocolate.  Would you believe the dollar store has already changed over to Easter candy?  Those unromantic bastards.  Anyway, I snagged a Russell Stover Maple Cream egg and assorted non-holiday chocolates.  I inhaled the egg when I got home.  So fluffy!  Yum! 

I also picked up a Dr. Pepper, which I hadn't had in years.  I also haven't had a carbonated soda in months.  I might've drank a third of it.  It was interesting.  Definitely burpy.  And I definitely don't miss it.

Okay, I think I've chewed your ears enough today.  What's on your mind?

Thursday This n That

It seems like every Christmas, Dad would get Mom a box of chocolate covered cherries.  Naturally, because of this, I assumed they were Mom's favorite.  I would buy her them, too, on occasion.  Then several years after his passing, she told me that they were not, in fact, her favorites.  They were his favorites.  I assume he did this to get around being selfish and buying them for himself by buying them for her and then sneak eating her chocolates.  Don't do this.  If you love something, buy it for yourself.  Proudly.  Really, it's okay.

For the record, I love chocolate covered cherries.  They aren't my ultimate favorite, but they're right up there.  If I had to name a favorite chocolate to eat around the holidays it would be Belgian seashells.  Too bad I can't find them around here anymore and they're a bit pricey to order online and my ass definitely does not need a box of chocolates.

The Kid's Christmas box arrived at her home.  When I talked to her about it on messenger, she said something along the lines of  'and I may or may not already be wearing the pajamas... they're so soft'.  I haz a happy. 

I've been shifting books around again.  I'm running out of room.  I shifted some of my non-fiction around and commandeered a couple shelves there for literature.  Moved some literature - Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald - over there and then moved some books over into literature from my other shelves to make room.  That'll tide me over for a little while, but I really need to invest in new bookshelves.  And cobble out someplace to put more shelves. 

Once upon a time, I asked the manager of the closest thrift store if let me know if he ever got any bookshelves in because, while they always have scads of other furniture, they never have bookshelves.  He told me that as soon as he gets them in, they fly out the door.  I'd like to think it means people around here are reading.  They're probably using them for doodads, though. 

Have you seen the latest in decor?  People are putting books on their shelves with the spines turned toward the wall.  I assume this is so they can have continuity of color.  I think it's sick and wrong.  I mean, books can be used as decor, I guess, but with the spines turned out there's always a possibility they'll be read, too.  I shudder to think people might be buying old books that should be loved and treasured and then turning them to the wall and forgetting them.

I have some seriously old books.  There are a couple so old I'm afraid to touch them for fear they'll disintegrate.  Loved and treasured, but never opened again.  Which is kind of sad.

Okay, I think that's quite enough out of me this morning.  I'm starting to get weird.  Got any this n thats for me this morning?

Brownies Are Always Good

I wrote an especially long rant this morning and then discarded it.  Since I don't want that kind of negativity on my blog today, here's my recipe for...

Basic Fudgy Brownies

3/4 cup butter or margarine (1 and ½ sticks)

3/4 cup unsweetened baker’s cocoa

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease sides and bottom of 8 x 10" baking pan.  Gently melt butter in medium saucepan.  Remove from heat and stir in cocoa powder until well combined.  In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until light and frothy.  Add cocoa/butter mixture and stir to combine.  Sift flour over the mixture and gently fold in until just combined.  Bake on the center rack for 30 minutes.  Do not over bake.  Serve warm after 10 minutes, or cool completely before cutting to store.

I made these over the weekend.  I used real butter, which lemme tell ya, makes way better brownies than margarine. Moist and gooey and mmmmm.

They're good by themselves or with ice cream - room temperature or warm.  I've never had them cold, but I don't like cold chocolate.  One of these days, I'll cover it all in hot fudge, but I never seem to have hot fudge and brownies in the house at the same time.

I adapted this like twenty years ago from a recipe that used an 8x8" pan - which I didn't have then and don't have now.  I use a glass 8x10" cake pan.  I also calculated the measurements to make this in a 9x13" pan, but I can't find them now.  And I don't feel like doing the math.  Basically, 8x10 is 80 inches and 9x13 is 117 inches.  Work from there.

Enjoy!

Thursday This n That

Due to circumstances, I have been kind of absent - both mentally and digitally - lately.  I hope to clear this all up by next week.

The books I've been reading have made it so I will never look at the Headless Horseman the same way ever again.  And there are images of him everywhere right now.  :shudder:  If you want a spooky, but fun, read for Halloween, snap up the Sleepy Hollow books by Richard Gleaves. 

Someone.... I think it was Silver... asked on their blog yesterday what our fears are.  I had a tough time coming up with something.  I mean, my go-to answer has been 'moths' for years, but as I was sitting there trying to think of what scares me, I realized that my efforts to scrub away the moth fear have been successful.  I mean, I still don't want them on me when I'm unprepared, but I can look at them and touch them without going all 'super ninja warrior dance party'.  I'm not afraid of heights - but I do get vertigo (which sucks).  I'm not afraid of spiders.  I'm not afraid of the dark.  I still cannot have anything over my face when I'm sleeping - so I guess, fear of suffocation?  :shrug:  I'm not fearless by any stretch of the imagination, but I think I'm done with phobias for the most part.

I am not a patient person.  I hate waiting.  For anything.  I was bad before I started writing, but all those years of waiting on queries and submissions almost killed the last of the patience I had.  I want it and I want it now.  I will wait for stuff, if I have to, but I don't have to like it.

The above makes Christmas interesting.  When Hubs asks me what I want for Christmas, the answer is always nothing.  I don't need anything and whatever I want, I get without having to wait for December 25th.  (And if I needed anything, I wouldn't wait for it either.) 

Speaking of Christmas, what the hell?  All the stores I go to already have Christmas crap out - and have for a week or two at least.  The state of MO is already selling Christmas scratch off lottery tickets.  It gets earlier every year.  It's Christmas, people.  DECEMBER.  Or at least wait until after Thanksgiving for petesakes.  Before Halloween?  NO.

I haven't bought any Halloween candy this year and I probably won't.  We never get kids stopping by the house, but I used to buy it for Hubs and I.  This year?  Nah.  We have plenty of goodies in the house without the big bowl of candybars on the dining room table.  Maybe when they have the after-Halloween candy discounts.  I can't resist those sales.  Candycandycandy.

Okay, that's more than enough out of me.  What have you got for me?