Oh my...

If you need a chocolate fix - say brownies - and you have no eggs, are you out of luck?

Nope! This was the case last night, and I found THIS incredible recipe on Allrecipes.com. And Oh, My is an understatement!


Here is the recipe with pictures. I made a few changes, as suggested by one of the commenters on Allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
  
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan. In a heavy saucepan combine the 1/3 cup of flour and water. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thick. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside to cool. {This took a while. I used a whisk. Lost track of time. Just suddenly noticed that I had a very think glue-like mixture.}
   
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter. When butter has melted, add the cocoa and mix until smooth; set aside to cool. Beat the sugar and vanilla into the cooled flour mixture. Stir in the cocoa mixture until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stir into the batter until just blended. Add chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool before cutting into bars. {Mine took closer to 28 minutes. I used a 9X11 pan though.}

These were just wonderful! And egg free! I'd like to know what kind of magic is going on with the flour+water=glue stuff. But I can just live in ignorance. With these brownies.


They weren't NEARLY as sweet as boxed mixes. Which meant they were PERFECT with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce on top.


Oh my.

This is what it looks like now!

The kitchen is completely done and functional! And gorgeous! Enjoy!




Of course, it now has dirty dishes on the counter, canisters on the sink, etc. But it was nice and clear for a few hours :) Long enough to snap a few pictures!

I am so please and I really think this will help the resale value of our house. Wouldn't you be happy with this kitchen if you were looking for a new house?

This is what my kitchen used to look like.....

Yes. That is it. It is the original 1946 kitchen. No dishwasher. Only about 3 feet of usable counter space - if you put the dish drainer under the sink.

Erin, over at The State That I Am In, has issued a cleaning up the house challenge. We are to write about our feelings about cleaning. And boy, do I have some feelings!

We are currently in the final stages of a kitchen remodel. It has been a wile ride! My house has been a disaster since the middle of May. Here is the story, in pictures, and you can see all the mess I've had to try to stay on top of.

Mid-May: Purchasing Cabinets. They had to go somewhere: in my dining room! My dining table got moved into the entry/living room because you can see cabinets stacked clear up to the pendant fixture in the dining room. OMG! And there were 2 huge base corner cabinets in the garage that we couldn't even get in the house (since I couldn't lift them.) Seriously, you may be thinking, "Aww! What is the big deal? So you eat in the living room." Yes, a living room full of furniture that I now have to navigate around when cleaning or serving food. And it is doubly far from the kitchen!


Early June: Demolition

This actually went ok on the uppers. They were only held on by a few screws and a bracket. No big mess to take them down and put up the new uppers. But the base cabinets... oh, there was a huge surprise waiting on me down there.


Base cabinets were fairly simple to remove. But when we pulled out the sink base (a huge 5 foot monster!)


we found this...


There are simply not words to describe what I felt when I saw this, the Hilton-Marriot-Waldorff-Astoria of mouse houses! After DH checked it for remains, I got the task of scooping it into the trash - and sucking the rest into the vacuum cleaner.

I hate remodeling. I hate cleaning. I hate being away from home because I have no usable kitchen. I hate coming home from 10 days away to a nasty, black, mildewed toilet and bathtub. While waiting on the counter-top installers to come on Tuesday, I get to clean the bathroom. Joy. But at least they clean the kitchen when they leave. :)

So, now you know more about me. And how I have been CRAZY for the last 6 weeks - can't clean when stuff is all over the house. At least on Wednesday, I'll get to put my kitchen together and restore my house to its former, pre-renovation, minorly cluttered state. What bliss!

Crazy, Creative, CLEVER Child!

Saturday, while at a friend's house, my daughter broke out with a rash on her belly. Our first thought was "the pox" (chicken of course) even though she's been vaccinated. We're not sure, but she latched onto that idea. A few minutes before bedtime, on my bed, after applying a large dose of calamine lotion we had the following conversation:

Katy: Where do chicken pox come from?

Me: A virus.

Katy: Well, will they go "brawk, brawk?" (She falls over in a fit of giggles at her cleverness.)

Me: (after I stopped laughing) No, I'm pretty sure they won't.

Katy: (Lifts her shirt and looks at her belly) "Brawk, bawk, brawkkkkky brawk!" (Looks at me) Nope they aren't chicken pox... but they told me to do the chicken dance!

She then stood up on my bed and proceeded to do a bed-jumping, CRAZY version of the chicken dance while she "brawk-ed" the music.

I'm still laughing! BTW - she's 5 and will start Kindergarten in August. Won't her teachers have fun with her?

Great Accessories Swap!

Got into this from Erin over at the state that i am in. Very good idea. Here are my items for swapping.

This pretty scarf is brown and beige. In the past it went well with my wardrobe but it no longer does. It says, "Made in Italy" on the tag. The background is dark brown stripes of slightly opaque and transparent fabric. Beautiful!


Very cute black and silver beaded belt. Would really jazz up a "little black dress." It fit me before kid #2. *sigh* I cannot find the tape measure - must be at school. If interested, post and I'll get back to you with waist measurements. Probably fit a size 6 or 8? If you are clever, you can probably find a way to make it fit bigger sizes too.
Very cute leather belt that ties. Would fit any waist size. Has multicolored flowers all around. Love it, but not my style.
Simple little bag made of strange fabric. Has a velcro closure. Would make a great little bag for small summer outings.

Thats what I got! Leave me a comment if there is something you like!

Boo Hoo

I have been very diligently keeping a reading list this year. I'm please with myself - up to now I've not left any books off the list. I enter them as soon as I get them home from the library. But the last batch - didn't do it! So I've lost about 6 titles that should be over there - and absolutely can't remember them. Waaaaaa! No real loss - they were more of the same stuff I've been reading. But I wanted a complete log. I wonder if the library has a list of books I've checked out recently... This is going to bug me! :(

On other fronts, we are making plans to:

• Replace the kitchen cabinets and countertop
• Work on improving the condition of the bathroom
• FINISH the SCHOOL year - about 20 days left with kids! Yay!
• Go to Chicago to see DH's stepmom
• Go to the OBX for 2 weeks!!!
• Get DH a job!

All those things will happen between now and August. I'm glad to have a good camera - I must capture all these exciting events for posterity. I must also start posting more pictures!!

Have a happy Mother's Day!!!

A Day Without Kids...

At school that is! Today was a teacher work day so I got a good dose of "Mommy alone time" while slaving in my classroom. I won't bore you with the details - just know I worked like a dog.

Then I came home to a lovely, home-cooked pot roast. I guess we have made up since Sunday's pressure cooker chicken. We've made progress too. This was heard on Tuesday and is a direct quote: "Since you all didn't get sick, go ahead and use the pressure cooker to make chicken tonight. I'll eat it."

I won! :) That feels nice. :)

Here is a photo of the girls, taken over Spring Break at my folks' house in Atlanta. They were up to no good, I assure you!


And to assure my whole audience (of 0) that spring has arrived:
Azaleas will be out eventually - ours are ALWAYS the last on the block. I'll post pics as soon as they bloom!

Happy weekend!

DH means what??

Today, in our house, it doesn't mean "dear husband." I'll leave today's meaning to your imagination.

Here is what went so wrong...

I've been reading about pressure cookers for some time now. Saw Alton Brown use them a couple time on "Good Eats" and thought it would be nice to have one. While at my parents' home in Atlanta for Spring Break this past week, I did some research and chatted with my parents about it. Our last night, they surprised me with a set from Fagor - really nice! It was my birthday present. I was pleased - they had listened. I hadn't been hinting they should get me one - but it sure beats an "unauthorized" gift - like the George Foreman grill collecting dust in the garage.

Anyway, DH immediately starts in on how it will fit perfectly in the garage with the George Foreman. About how it will sure be quicker... he was generally a pain in the a$$. I finally got him to shut up and told him not to worry about it.

Skip to today - I washed the set this morning and planned to use it for dinner. I planned to make everyone's favorite chicken. As dinner time approached, I got started. All went smoothly and quickly. What usually took 90 minutes only took about 30. Ended up smelling delicious - and just like my traditional version. I called that dinner was ready and started plating it up. The girls were very excited - all they cared was that it was their favorite chicken dish. DH walked in and mumbled some comment - not sure what - and so I told him not to eat it if he didn't want to. He went to sit down - I guess to keep us company. But we've been in slightly similar situations before and I knew he wouldn't be able to keep from making inflammatory, irritating, stupid comments. So I told him to just leave and not to "contaminate" the girls. He did leave - thank goodness!

The girls and I had a nice dinner. They did eventually ask where daddy was and I told them the truth - he was afraid I'd make him sick with the chicken and he didn't want to eat it from the pressure cooker. They both rolled their eyes and DD#1 said, "Well, I know it's done because it's white all the way through!"

From the mouths of babes, right?

Anyway, if any of you have a pressure cooker I'd love to hear about it. If any of you have a DH that isn't so Dear right now, I'd love to hear that too. And if you have any brilliant ideas about how to get him to eat stuff from the pressure cooker in the future - EMAIL me!!! His only saving grace is that he came in and cooked his OWN dinner after we vacated the kitchen/dining room.

Happy Birthday Katy!

Today was spent celebrating Katy's birthday. More on that in a minute.

Thursday night was scary for us. Erin woke at 3am VERY sick. I ended up staying home with her - rare for me! Usually I'm fine leaving her with her daddy. This just felt different. It was! At a doctor's appointment on Friday morning we found out she does indeed have strep again - and also classic Croup! She has been on Zithromax and steroids all weekend and is MUCH better.

But now Katy seems to have strep. Poor girl! Her birthday is tomorrow but we celebrated today since Mondays are CRAZY around here (school, soccer, etc.) Pictures are in the sidebar of the cake. I was hoping to get pictures of the decorations and the day's festivities up - but no dice. We opened presents at 8am - followed by donuts and reading her gift books in bed. Her presents were:

• Giant 19" stuffed orangutan
• small orangutan
• huge orangutan poster
• Care Bears poster
• 2 books about orangutans
• a Care Bears book
• a WonderPets gift box - with Ming-Ming and a book

Katy was thrilled. She said so many "I love it!"s and "Thank you Mommy and Daddy!"s that I ALMOST got tired of hearing it! But not quite. It was so wonderful to see my little girl so happy.

Especially since she is now acting like she is on death's door. She seems to have the strep. She came to be this afternoon around 4:30 complaining that her throat hurt. Her little cheeks were flushed and - sure enough! She had a fever of 101.5! We dosed her up and she proceeded to cough and whimper and whine all evening - in the sweetest, most pitiful way! It has been a long time since she's been truly sick - and never with a sore throat.

Time to go to bed - only 4 more days of school until Spring Break!!!!! Yahoooooooo!

Who knew I was so well traveled?

I've visited all the red states. That's 33!! Can you top it?

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

First letter fun!

Found this over at Simply Sassy. She found it at Random Nicole. Great fun!

Here is what you do. Use the 1st letter of your middle name to
answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names,
things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person you
took this from had the same 1st initial.

You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. Middle name letter: K

2. Famous artist/band/musician: Keith Urban

3. 4-letter word: kick

4. U.S state: Kentucky

5. Boy name: Kane

6. Girl name: Kathy

7. Animal: kangaroo

8. Something in the kitchen: knife

9. Reason for being late? kicking butt

10. Body Part? knee

11. Drink? Kool-Aid

12. Something you shout: kewl!

13. Something you eat? kiwi
***************

A weekend at home!

We spent the weekend at home... a nice change! The last several weekends, we have been on the go.

Saturday was spent buying groceries and cleaning the house. Took 2 hours to get the place spiffed up! Gah! Today we went to Target, Keith washed clothes, and we will hang out this afternoon. I'm hoping to make some Dill Crackers. Here is the recipe.

Dill Crackers

1/4 cup oil
1 envelope ranch dressing
1 tsp dill
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 16oz. package of cheese crackers

Mix all but crackers in large zipper bag. Add crackers. Toss bag to completely cover crackers. Dump into large pan (or 2) and bake at 225 degrees for 15 to 30 minutes. (All the measurements are to taste - I rarely measure them. I also buy the cheap Wal-mart brand cheese crackers. Two 12oz boxes are only a little more money than the 16oz box of Cheez-its.)

Enjoy! Store in an air tight container (I like a glass or plastic jar).

Bad Bloger Beth!

So over a month has passed since I blogged. Shame on me. I vow here and now to do better. I'm currently running 3 blogs. I will post here on Sundays. I promise! I'll post on my Classroom Blog on Fridays. I'll post on my teacher blog on Wednesdays. I'll even put that into the Palm Pilot so it isn't forgotten!

Neat Quiz....

So apparently I should vote for....

67% John Edwards
65% Hillary Clinton
63% Barack Obama
62% Bill Richardson
61% Mike Gravel
61% Chris Dodd
61% Joe Biden
53% Dennis Kucinich
50% Tom Tancredo
49% Rudy Giuliani
46% Mitt Romney
45% John McCain
42% Fred Thompson
41% Mike Huckabee
41% Ron Paul

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

We'll see after the primaries!

A Shame

This afternoon we discovered that 2 of our daughters' bikes have been stolen. They were matching, pink 16 inch 2 wheelers. We are so angry! The girls are angry but sad too. Thank goodness they have other bikes to ride. I half expect to see other girls riding them in the neighborhood. I can't imagine how it happened. We keep the bikes in the garage - which is at the end of the driveway, behind the house! Visible from the street but quite a ways onto our property. Also it is very visible from the house. So angry about this - and beginning to be worried too! What if next time they try to get into the house? DH is talking about buying a shotgun - and now I can totally see why!

*sigh* So sad, angry, frustrating, scary, ______________ (fill in your word here.)

Chocolate Chip Melt Pie

A co-worker made this for our grade level several years ago. I got the recipe and have been making it a few times a year ever since. It is SO good! To serve, zap a slice in the microwave for about 10 seconds - no longer or it will totally disintegrate.

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together chocolate chips, nuts, and
eggs. Add sugar, butter, and flour.
Stir in vanilla. Pour into pie shell
and place on a baking sheet. Bake in
center of oven for 30 minutes or until
pastry is lightly browned and filling
is bubbling. Serve warm or at room
temperature.

My favorite thing is to make a bit of a big batch with a whole bag of chocolate chips instead of just one cup. Then I put the extra into the tiny, individual size pie crusts. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy - since you can't come over and have a slice!

Yippee!!

I've got a blog all about me - personal me. Not teacher Beth - just me! It feels great. I can't wait to blog about all the funny things that happen to me.

I've got a great husband and 2 wonderful daughters. DH is Keith and the girls are Erin and Katy. Erin is 6.99 (birthday in 2 weeks or so!) and Katy is 4.5. Both are out to drive each other and me crazy! Karma sucks - my mom says they are a lot like I was as a child - talkative, cute, and smart!

Must go get busy with baths and Christmas preparations.
Later!