The sister factor

Last week at S's house two year-old J changed into his swim trunks at the pool several times. The first few times Katherine ran to her sister and they whispered to each other and erupted into hilarious giggling. One time Caroline wasn't available for conspiratorial giggles and comments. Katherine ran to me. This is the conversation that followed:

"Mommy!" (giggles, giggles) "I saw J's p---s!" (more giggles)

"Okay."

"It's yucky."

"It's not yucky. It's part of J's body."

"It's funny looking."

"I understand it's different from you, but it's not funny. All boys have one."

Serious contemplation from Katherine.

"So I guess you really like Daddy's p---s then."

Conversation over.

Mother VACATION

Travelling with the girls is not a VACATION. It's exhausting. Our trip to San Diego a few weeks ago was fun. Not relaxing. A family TRIP. Not a VACATION. But last week the girls and I had a VACATION. We didn't go to Hawaii or the Carribean or anywhere near a beach. No, we flew to Toronto:

A Pillow Pet, Trader Joes Pomegranite seeds and a Pringles pack helped make the plane ride enjoyable for all!

The girls were surprisingly patient when we had to wait in a very long Customs line:

The complaints about the heavy backpacks - "why do I have to carry the DVD player???" - didn't start until we'd made our way through the line and dealt with a very rude woman Customs agent. Thanks Canada. Nice welcome.


We stayed with my good friend S in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area for those of who aren't Torontonians) and the only times we left the house in the five days was to walk ten minutes to Z's riding lesson. It was a true VACATION. Restful, relaxing, fun and filled with girlfriend talk. The girls didn't have to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, hurry, hurry, use the bathroom, don't forget... to get somewhere.


They swam in the pool twice a day.

Katherine jumped in the deep end 100 times

Caroline jumped in 101 times

They went with Z to her riding lesson:

Monty  - "the most cutest pony ever!"

Girls and pony = Happiness

The girls played with Z and J's toys, went to the playground next door (by themselves!) and watched Cinderella on Movie night:

Two-year-old J fell in love with Caroline. The first thing he said every morning: "Caroline sleeping?" or "Where Caroline?"


Only one major temper tantrum from Katherine and a couple I'm-being-a-rude-and-bossy-eight-year-old moments from Caroline made for a smooth Vacation.


And me? I swam, lounged and caught up with girlfriends.


Thanks S!  See you next year (:

Ten years Later. Ten things I remember.

A lot happens in ten years but every year when this day - August 26th -  comes around I spend a few minutes thinking about that day, about us when it was only us. About how it all started.


1. Our first phone call. We chatted for fifteen minutes and then Tim hung up. I couldn't figure out why Tim hadn't suggested a date; it seemed like we'd had a fun conversation. My friend Heather who had given him my number laughed when I told her and said Tim was a very proper Southern gentleman and I should expect his phone call in the next few days.


2. Our first date at Ago restaurant. At the end of the date Tim told me how much he had enjoyed meeting me and could he call me again. Wow. I was impressed. He had me right there. When I told my sister I'd had a great blind date she said: "So tell me about my future brother-in-law."


3. Our third date. Hiking. A great date.


4. Flowers. A lot of flowers. A Toblerone chocolate cake on my birthday. A potted plant and A LOT of dirt fell on the birthday cake I made for Tim. I didn't tell him until after he'd eaten it and told me it was the best birthday cake he'd ever eaten.


5. Three days of giggling and laughing in Cabo.


6. The ceremony was my favorite part of the whole day. I wasn't expecting that. Even today that's what I love remembering the most. Everything about it.
Tim's childhood friend, a minister, started the ceremony with: "Today we are here to celebrate the marriage of Anne and Tim." I can hear her voice.
My father walked me down the aisle and then forgot to stand up and say, "we do" when the minister asked who was giving me away, leaving my mother to stand up alone and declare: "I do."
The two of us saying our vows in clear, confident voices. I surprised myself. I was expecting my voice to be shaky.
Tim had a hard time getting the ring on my finger. We laughed.
Walking - no floating - back up the aisle at the end of the ceremony. One of the most wonderful moments of the whole day.


7. And then disaster. My sisters and girlfriends couldn't figure out how to get the wedding dress bustle up. Three people were fiddling around under my dress and no one could figure it out. Finally, we called the store where I had bought it and turned out they mistakenly put a different bustle system in than originally planned. Thanks a lot.


8. Ten minutes before the dinner was supposed to start the wedding cake had not arrived. But when they told me I didn't care. This was my wedding day nothing else really mattered (at least once the bustle was up!)  By the time we sat down to dinner the cake had arrived and it couldn't have been more perfect.


9. The dances. We laughed throughout our entire dance. It was terrible. We were terrible dancers.
My father and I were supposed to do the foxtrot but I had no idea what he was doing. He swept me around the dance floor, grinning giddily, while I laughed and kept repeating: "This is NOT the foxtrot they taught me at Arthur Murray's!"
My sister and a friend performed a jive. This helped everyone forget our bad dances and get out on the dance floor.


10. At one in the morning when everything was over we realized we had forgotten to arrange a way to get to the hotel so we walked through the warm summer air along Bloor Street to our hotel. Much more fun then taking a taxi.


Happy Anniversary T.

Pop Rocks and discarded loveys

Last night Tim and I went to The Bazzar alone, sans les enfants who stayed home and had a sleepover in Caroline's room. Tasty tapas like Jicama wrapped guacamolé, Caviar bun and Codfish fritters were all  surprising bursts of different flavors and the Sweet potato fries with whipped Greek yogurt made me want to try my own version at home. For dessert we moved into the Patisserie - pretentious but fun - and sat at a communal bar table listening to a Frenchman telling his partner that she never contacts his friends to which she responded: "I don't speak French, how can I?" Not even her Heart of Chocolate cake seemed able to lift her out of her misery as she listened to him lament all the compromises he had made. 


The most fun of the whole evening was the chocolate-covered pop rocks. I loved Pop Rocks as a kid. I remember pouring them into my mouth by the bagful. Served in a delicate little candy bowl, The Bazzar's house-made chocolate-covered pop rocks were more sophisticated than those of my childhood,  but they popped, sizzled and fizzed just as much. We brought some home for the girls to try. I was so excited for the girls to have some that I  let them have them this morning before breakfast! We all had fun opening our mouths and listening to the popping as I was transported back in time.

Chocolate-covered pop rocks we brought home

This past week we also tackled a major Lovey-Purge. We're beginning to get ready for a huge garage sale at which I'm determined to get rid of all the extraneous stuff that accumulates over the years.  Katherine was told she could keep one bin of Loveys and it could not be overflowing. So earlier this week we sat down on the floor in her room and made two piles: The Keep Pile and the Garage Sale Pile. Caroline joined us, expecting drama, but didn't get any. Katherine very calmly went through all of them until she had two piles. She had to then go through her Keep Pile a second time whereupon Caroline announced that she was going to have make some very hard choices.
"That's not hard at all," Katherine retorted and then she very efficiently swept through the Keep Pile until it was an appropriate size. "There, see how easy that was?"

The Garage Sale Pile

After the three of us stuffed all of the Loveys into garbage bags I wondered if the Lovey purge wasn't harder for me than for Katherine. Even now, while recognizing the absurdity of this huge pile (all gifts from friends and family who fed the Lovey obsession), as I  see Tigger (upside down) and Groovy Bunny (face down on the floor) discarded without a second thought, I feel a sadness, a pang, a desire to return to those moments not so long ago when they were snuggly, comforting Loveys.


Pop Rocks and Loveys. Things of the past.

Building castles

Caroline crashed her bike this weekend resulting in a skinned knee.

So we went to the pharmacy to buy large band-aids where a woman checking out seemed to think it was an appropriate time to go through every single coupon in the coupon flyer while holding up the line behind her. The girls used this as an opportunity to point out all the fudge and candy that stores always place at child eye-level in the check-out line so that parents will be forced to buy candy in order to avert an embarrassing tantrum. 


This whole predicament caught the attention of an elderly gentleman in front of us who thoughtfully offered me his place in line.


"I know kids," he said. "I got five of 'em. And they all went to college, too."


"You must be very proud of them."


"I wouldn't be telling you about them if I wasn't proud! Education. If you give your kids an education you've done okay."


The woman was still looking through the coupon flyer. 


And that's when the man said this:
"You know, I'm seventy-seven years old. At the end of your life it's the kids that matter. You could build castles. Castles. And it won't mean anything. But if you've got kids. That's something."
He smiled a broad smile and the light caught the edge of his thick glasses.


The coupon woman bought her coupon goods and I bought the band-aids. We got home and I put the Neosporin and the band-aids on Caroline's knee.

A few days later Caroline's knee is starting to heal and I'm thinking that when I'm seventy-seven I could probably build a castle out of discarded band-aids.

Two amazing things

We got back from our family trip to San Diego this week. I could post about all our cool animal encounters.

Or about the clichéd power of this image.

Or some sappy drivel about quality family time.

Or about all the treats we ate.

But No. I'm not going to post about any of these because two amazing things happened on our family trip to San Diego.  

1. Caroline learned to ride a bike. 

2. Katherine got through the entire trip without a single breakdown or tantrum when she wasn't allowed to buy a new stuffed animal (aka loveys). Considering that we passed, on average, half a dozen booths overflowing with gorgeous loveys Every Single Day this was truly an Amazing feat. 

When she left her favorite lovey, Puffball (a white baby seal) in old town and we drove back together to look for her she said: "Anyways, I am prepared for disappointment, Mommy. Puffball may not be there." Puffball was there. Right where Katherine had left her. 

On our final night when Katherine was told Mommy and Daddy were not going to bonk the monkey on the head at the amusement park to win her a lovey she said: "I know. I'm obsessed with loveys." Wow. No temper tantrum AND self awareness. 

Those two amazing things made the last hour of the car ride home replete with screaming, shrieking, hitting, throwing, crying - am I missing anything? - almost worth it. Almost.

My brave daughter and one big bug

A few weeks ago at around two am Caroline woke us up screaming. Unusual. But in the scheme of nights and parenting not that unusual. She slammed open her door and charged up the stairs, panting. Tim got out of bed, not particularly quickly and I stayed in bed. The two of them went back down to her room and I heard loud bangs and whacks. A few minutes later Tim reappeared. We went back to sleep.

In the morning Caroline filled me in, breathlessly, her face red with excitement. She had woken up, suddenly when she felt something biting her neck. At this point in the recounting she bent over and showed me a red mark on her neck. She sat up in bed and turned on her bedside lamp and found this staring at her.

She leapt out of bed and came running for us. After Tim had thoroughly squished the offending bug Caroline got back into bed and went back to sleep.  The next night we did a thorough check of her bed before she went to sleep. And we've repeated this almost every night. But now that several weeks have passed I realize the checks are really more for me than for her. She doesn't seem too bothered by the whole affair.

Jerusalem Crickets are BIG and SCARY looking.  We had seen two of these in her room before but they were on the floor. The first time we saw one we couldn't figure out what it was. A cockroach? A bee? A hybrid? A neighbor told us it was a Jerusalem cricket. These are as big as two inches long and are fat, juicy things with hard shells that are disgusting and hard to squish (hence all the banging at two am). They're not venomous but have strong jaws that can deliver a sharp bite (hence the red mark on Caroline's neck). Apparently they're not seen very often because they're nocturnal (hence the two am appearance). And a final interesting note: the female will often eat the male after mating - information I skipped when telling Caroline about the bug.

Fly on the wall - day in the life of a hollywood production company

After guiding his spaceship-like Porsche into his private parking space on the Warner Bros. lot, Peter enters his company's office, in Building 81, just down the hall from Clint Eastwood's production company. A year ago Peter partnered with an A-list actor and acquired these hips digs in this much sought-after building. Peter walks through the lobby, past the framed black and white framed posters of classic films that he had nothing to do with, past the door leading to the bathroom that contains an orgy- size shower that Steven Seagal had designed when he occupied this space. He doesn't notice the new, overly-smily intern sitting at the reception desk.

Further into the office he nods a good morning to Greg, assistant to Anne, the VP of Development.
"Can I have a cappucino?"Peter asks.
"You got it," Greg answers, jumping up.
Greg beckons the intern to follow him. "This morning," he says to the intern in the kitchen, "you will learn to make the perfect cup of cappuccino."
"Great!" The intern exclaims.
"Making cappucino is a pain in the ass," Greg says, struggling to clean the steamer spout. The intern's broad smile disappears.

"Get me my brother!" Peter shouts out to Hannah, his perky blonde assistant who is attractive but not so attractive as to make the MAW (model, actress, whatever) wife jealous.

Hannah quickly dials the number, one of hundreds she has memorized.
"Tom?" She says. She's very polite, very proper, very efficient. "I've got your brother, Peter, calling for you." She places Tom on hold, swivels around in her chair, gets up and enters Peter's domain, a spacious office modeled after Sylvester Stallone's office, replete with a sink-in, big-enough-for-sex-sofa, German 1970s black leather and metal chairs and a glass desk perfectly organized for the day by the super-assistant. "Tom's on two," she says and then she closes the door behind her. A day at Halo Pictures has begun.

The phone buzzes non-stop. The two assistants handle three or four calls at once. Anne doesn't allow the intern to answer the phones after she twice gave Lisa the incorrect name of callers. Anne will fire the intern later today when she has time. For now, she scrambles to put together notes for Peter's latest "great" idea: a romantic comedy set in white trash culture.

Greg and the intern reappear with the perfect cup of cappuccino. Hannah knocks on Peter's door, enters and places the cup on top of a napkin in the far right corner of the desk.

And then Brian saunters in. He wears gym shorts and a black T-shirt and sneakers. He's been playing basketball on the set of the hit TV show that put him on the map.
"Hey! I'm Brian," he says casually to the intern.  He offers his hand. The intern's jaw drops. She stammers. "Welcome aboard," Brian says.

Hannah catches her breath as Brian approaches. He defines sexy. Even in his sweaty, post-work-out mode, or maybe because of it. She stands up as he leans in to kiss her and offers him her mouth. She always kisses him on the lips.

Anne isn't aware Brian is in the office. She's on the phone fighting with an agent who won't give her the spec script that went out that morning. Brian knocks on her door, gives her a big smile and makes a comical gesture about the agent on the phone. He comes around her desk and kisses her firmly on the cheek. Anne hangs up, follows him out to the assistant area where Hannah makes adept small talk with him.

"Brian!" Peter says too exuberantly, emerging from his office. Next to Brian, Peter seems small and nerdy in his tight black pants, tight black T-shirt and army boots.  "How are you?" He laughs giddily. Anne returns to her office and rolls her eyes. Just last night Peter had whined to her about not being invited to Peter's party over the weekend.

Inside Peter's office, Brian throws himself onto the oversize sofa. He puts his hand up his T-shirt and plays with it, revealing his taut stomach. Does he notice the picture of Peter's nubile twenty-year old wife in the Demi Moore naked-while-pregnant pose? Or the naked post-baby picture of the perfectly whittled body with just a hint of pubic hair showing? Or the naked with two-year old child card that went out this past Christmas? If so, he doesn't comment.

Instead, he says, "so I've been thinking. I don't want to do romantic comedies. I want to concentrate on smart thrillers, dark dramas."

Peter's goofy smile fades. He's spent the last year looking for romantic comedies for Brian to headline. He spent all weekend working on his white trash rom-com idea.

"Hannah! Get Anne in here!"

Anne hears the desperate shout before Hannah summons her. In Peter's office she doesn't sit on the sex-sofa with Brian. She sits on one of the very uncomfortable chairs to get a better view. She knows something significant must have happened because neither Brian nor Peter say anything.
"Great shoes," Brian finally says. Anne just bought the leopard skin shoes at the Nordstrom sale that weekend, her only respite from twenty scripts and two five-hundred page manuscripts she had to read.
"Thanks," she says.
"Okay guys, good to see you. Gotta run." And with that Brian is off, but not before kissing Lisa and Hannah goodbye.

"Anne, we'll reschedule the white trash meeting," Peter says. "Hannah, cancel my lunch and get me Dr. Rosenbaum on the phone."
Everyone, except the intern, knows that when Peter wants Dr. Rosenbaum, his shrink, their day will be miserable.

After she gets the shrink on the phone, Hannah comes to tell Anne about Brian not wanting to do rom-coms. Anne shrugs.
"We'll make the white trash rom-com a white trash thriller."

In Hollywood there are many ways to spin a story.



**All names except for mine, Clint Eastwood's and Steven Seagal's have been changed to protect the guilty.

Chocolate bread pudding - recipe to print

Ingredients

3 cups milk

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup sugar

6 tablespoons butter

9 ounces unsweetened chocolate

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Trim the crusts of 12 slices of bread. 

Lightly grease an 8 x 8 pan.

Whisk the milk, eggs, and sugar together in a saucepan. Add the butter and the chocolate and heat over low heat, just until the butter and the chocolate melt.

Arrange a single layer of bread in the pan and pour the sauce over it. Add the next layer of bread and pour the sauce over that. Arrange the final layer of bread slices and pour the remaining sauce over it. 

Cover with plastic wrap and place another baking pan over it with something heavy on top of it (I used a heavy mug) to weigh down the bread. Set aside for one hour.

Note: if you have leftover sauce, go back after 30 minutes and pour the leftover sauce onto the bread. Sometimes it takes a while for the bread to absorb the sauce.

Remove the weight and the plastic and bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes until the pudding sets.

Serve with a dollop of cream whipped by hand.

Enjoy!

Macadamia and white chocolate cookies - recipe to print

Ingredients

3/4 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and still warm

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup dry-roasted salted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions

Pulverize the oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and salt to combine.

In a large bowl mix the butter with the sugars and the vanilla and then whisk in the egg.

Stir in the flour mixture just until everything is moistened. Stir in the nuts and the chocolate chips.

Tim rolled his dough into a ball, covered the ball with plastic wrap and then refrigerated it for 2 hours. But you can also leave it overnight.

Remove the dough from the fridge and scoop by the tablespoon on to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Bake until golden brown. About 13 to 15 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Heavenly day

Today I had a Heavenly day with my girls. Today was a day when it was good to be a mother and to have my two girls. Two Heavenly girls. A Heavenly Day (inspired by Patty Griffin's song "Heavenly Day" - currently on my ipod).


We started our day talking about sisters. We each shared things that we like about having sisters (I have two older sisters) and we each shared things that we found difficult. Katherine said she liked it when Caroline gave her loveys and when Caroline played with her but she thought it was hard when Caroline was mean and put her hands around her neck and pressed, at which point she demonstrated a stranglehold! I did my best not to react.  I was not aware Caroline was given to strangleholds. 


Caroline said she liked having Katherine to play with and share things with but she found it hard when Katherine wouldn't share with her. I said that I liked having sisters to play with when I was growing up but that I found it hard to be the youngest because I often felt like my sisters were bossing me around. We talked about how special it is to have sisters. And then we talked about Fighting. Squabbling. Yelling. Screaming. I told them all siblings fight and that fighting with your sibling can be good practice for working out problems you'll have in life. Then I said from now on they had to work out their own problems. They couldn't come running to me or Daddy screaming for help.


Twenty minutes later I heard high pitched screams followed by crying and feet charging across the floor downstairs. I was stepping into the shower. I held tight to my plan and had my shower. When I was done I poked my head out the bathroom door, listening for trouble but instead the girls were playing quietly in Katherine's room. As we were getting ready to leave for the Natural History Museum, Katherine showed me a bandaged toe. "Caroline bited it so she put this on."


On our drive downtown Caroline pointed out that there's a $1000 fine for littering by the side of the freeway. We discussed crimes and prison and how even kids can go to prison. Katherine wanted to know if there were any toys in kid prison and Caroline declared quite seriously that she would never steal anything like a car.


At the museum we got cheeseburgers and hot dogs from the BBQ out front and then spent an hour and twenty minutes exploring African mammals, being paleontologists, checking out the bobcat - "That cat is ADORABLE. So adorable I can't even look at it!" - and learning about California history. Katherine was particularly interested to learn that The Chumash Indians were often naked. 


When Katherine announced her heels were hurting we quickly made our exit. The ride home was event free - or should I say scream-free? - despite bad traffic.

In Africa with elephants and water buffalo for a moment

Paleontologists for ten minutes

Tonight at dinner we talked about wars. About how wer're at war now and also about wars in our history. The girls had seen various exhibits about battles at the museum and Katherine said she thought wars were bad because it wasn't good to kill people. She told us about how she had acted in a play in Kindergarten where she was a farmer and a soldier and how she had shouted: "I want my country to be free!" We talked about the American Revolution and how one of their ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence but I didn't bother to mention that the ancestor in question is the only Supreme Court Judge ever to be impeached - I figured that would be lost on them.


After dinner we played Rook. Tim and Katherine won.


A Heavenly day. Tomorrow may not be a Heavenly Day. But I had today. What a great day.

Chocolate Chip Pie - Recipe to print

Ingredients

1 9" unbaked pie shell *

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

12 oz chocolate chips

Directions:

Remove the pie crust from the freezer and let thaw for 20 minutes. Prick the pie crust with a fork all over. Bake in the oven at 400 F for 10 minutes or until baked but not brown.

Melt the butter in the microwave. Let cool. I put mine in the refrigerator while I'm preparing the other ingredients.

Beat the eggs until foamy.

Measure the flour and sugars into a bowl and then add to the eggs. Mix well.

Add the cooled butter and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips.

Pour into the pre-baked pie crust.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 F or bake until brown on top. Insert a fork in the middle before removing it from the oven. If the fork comes out clean (the chocolate chips may stick a little) it is done.

Enjoy!

Chocolate chip and M&M cookies - recipe to print

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 lb butter (2 sticks), melted
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup M&Ms

Directions
Mix the flour and baking soda together with a fork in a large bowl.

Combine the melted butter with the sugars, vanilla, and salt. Mix in the eggs, one at a time.

Stir in the flour mixture until everything is just moistened.

Stir in the chocolate chips and the M&Ms.

Let the dough sit for at least one hour. Letting it sit overnight is best.

(You can even roll the dough and freeze it, cutting off just enough for one or two, or more, cookies at a time whenever you want. This ensures fresh from the oven cookies every time.)

Scoop the dough out by the tablespoonful and place each cookie 3 inches apart.

Bake at 375 degrees for 9-11 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown at the edges and no longer wet on top.

Let the cookies sit on the pan for 2 minutes before removing.

Enjoy!

Delicious Turkey Meatloaf (to print)

Ingredients

1 teaspoon Olive Oil

1/2 Cup chopped onion

1/3 Cup chopped celery

4 or 5 slices whole wheat bread

1/2 cup milk (I use skim)

1 to 1.5 lbs ground turkey (I use 1.25 lb Jenny-O Lean Ground Turkey)

2 eggs, beaten (you can substitute egg whites)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons fresh basil (the secret ingredient!) (I use Gourmet Garden but you can chop up fresh)

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons worcester sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

Sauté the chopped onions and celery in the olive oil until they're soft. About five minutes.
While the onions and celery are getting soft make your own bread crumbs. Put the bread in the toaster until it's lightly toasted. Rip up the toast and throw it in the blender. (Or use purchased - about 1 cup)
Soak the bread crumbs in the milk. Set aside.

Put the ground turkey in a big bowl. Add the parmesan cheese, salt, basil, onions and celery.

Using a fork, mix it all together.
Throw in the bread crumbs and pour in the beaten eggs.
Mix everything together. Shape it into a meatloaf shape (you'll have to use your hands for this). Place it on a lightly oiled pan. I like to use a broiler pan.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.

Enjoy!

Best ever chocolate brownies (print version)

Ingredients

4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate

1/2 (1 stick) cup of butter

1 1/2 cups of sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup flour

Directions

Melt the chocolate and butter together. You can do this over a double boiler or in the microwave. I melt the chocolate for 3 minutes at 1/2 power, then add the butter and melt for another minute at 1/2 power.

Set the chocolate mixture aside to cool.

Mix the eggs and the sugar together at high speed until the mixture is thick and glossy yellow. This can take two to three minutes.

Add the vanilla.

Slowly pour the cooled chocolate and butter mixture into the eggs and sugar. Mix the chocolate in at a slow speed.

Once the chocolate is mixed in, add the sifted flour. I sift the flour right into the bowl to make it easier.

Fold the flour into the mixture.

Pour the mixture into a greased and floured 8 x 8 baking pan.

Bake the brownies at 350 F for 20 - 25 minutes depending on the temperature of your oven. Be careful not to overbake! These brownies are yummier if slightly gooey in the middle.

Remove from the oven and cool before slicing.

Butterscotch brownies - recipe to print

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour, sifted

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the brown sugar until it dissolves. Pour into a mixing bowl and let cool slightly.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat well. Add the vanilla.

Add the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until well blended.

Add the chocolate chips.

Pour into a greased 8 inch pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees, or until the brownies are golden brown on top. They will still be gooey in the middle. Do not over bake!

Cool on a rack and then place in the refrigerator for one hour before serving.

Enjoy!