Tuesday, Tuesday, touch your shoe day...and other random musings...

So, first things first...Blogger tested my feelings of being blessed by making it impossible for me to post any comments on any blogs, anywhere, yesterday. (Superman told me, however, that Google had bigger problems than Blogger and that the entire Gmail network crashed yesterday. So, see, I am blessed!) Then Microsoft Outlook 2007 decided to add to my frustration by manifesting a "known, but unacknowledged" glitch (that means they totally know there is a problem, but they don't feel like dealing with it yet) in the receipt of RSS Feeds, so I didn't receive any of my feeds yesterday. Borrowing a phrase from Superman's place of employment, after Superman got home from work, I threw the problem into "escalation" and required status updates every 15 minutes until the situation was resolved to my satisfaction.

(Okay, not really. I said, "Honey, my Outlook isn't working right and I can't read any of my blogs and I can't comment on the blogs that I remember the URL for and, well, could you fix it for me?" That approach seems to work much better than throwing it into "escalation and demanding constant status updates".)

So, today will be a catch up day. Thus the random picture of Buttercup and Biscuit...too cute for words. Who knew I'd learn to love hamsters? Weird, I'm telling you.

Things are going well with my re-dedication to being a disciplined mom. The kids are happy, I'm happy, and Superman is happy. The house is clean, the chores are done, and the schoolwork is done. We have craft time, movie time, wood shop (yeah, Superman handles that), and video game time (again, Superman's arena). Melissa, we've exercised both days this week and are on track to get to our ideal of a five-day workout week. (We'll accept 4 from ourselves, but are shooting for 5.)

Unfortunately, I still think I have a discipline problem here. It seems to me that Sam I Am is really being defiant and ignoring the whole "these towels are where the cats sit on my bed" thing.What do you think?

Last night, to say thank-you to Superman for getting my computer fixed (again), I made Brownies from scratch, which then turned into Brownie Sundaes (warm brownies, vanilla ice cream, and hot fudge sauce). This recipe is super easy and all you need to do is make sure you keep Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate on your shelf and you can whip up brownies in half an hour.

Brownies

2 sticks of butter
4 oz of unsweetened chocolate (this is four of those little squares)
4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
2 Tablespoons of Vanilla Extract
1 Cup of Flour

*handful of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9 x 13 pan. Melt butter and chocolate together. (I melt the chocolate first, on medium heat in the microwave, then add the butter for the last minute. This way, I don't burn the chocolate - and, yes, this is the voice of experience talking - burnt chocolate is gross!) Beat eggs and add sugar slowly until smooth. Add vanilla, chocolate, and butter and mix well. Fold in flour, mixing until just incorporated. Pour into pan.

* Sprinkle a few handfuls of chocolate chips across the top of the brownies if you want or frost them when you're done or eat them plain, whatever suits your fancy that day. Last night, I sprinkled the chocolate chips across the top.

Bake for 28-35 minutes or until pulling away from sides of pan. (I've found that I need to cook these until the edges look over done to me or "perfect" according to Superman.)

This is definitely one of my favorite recipes and I've been using it for years. The fact that it is so simple and uses nothing exotic makes it perfect for those last-minute desserts or the need for a perfect thank-you.

Try it, you won't be disappointed.