Bake 52: Lunchbox Brownies

Brownies.  What's not to love?  Chocolate.  Dense.  Rich.  Fudgy.  Chocolate.  Oh, I said that already.  Can't really go wrong there.  

In all my years of making brownies from scratch, I have yet to find a recipe that I REALLY love.  Either they're too caky (I prefer them more dense and fudgy), or they're not chocolatey enough.  But this was a really great recipe.  

I went a little rogue this on this recipe, stepped out on my own a bit.  It's just that After reading through the recipe, I kept thinking about a killer brownie-esque dessert recipe that I've made repeatedly.  It's made in ramekins, and then a few chocolate chips are placed on top before cooking.  When ice cream is placed on top after cooling slightly, that cold ice cream turns those melted chocolate chips into hard little disks.  Ooo, it's good.  Can't truly imagine it until you've tried it.  Anyway, on to this week's recipe...

Start by melting the butter and chocolate together in the microwave.  Allow to cool slightly.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt.

Combine sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  (There's something about eggs.  That yellow color is so pretty.)

Here's where the deviation started.  Pint sized jars.

There's the batter, just a-waitin' to be cooked.

Close-up of the batter.  Mmmm.

There it is, right from the oven.  I forgot to put the chocolate chips in before baking, so I threw them in right after.  I think it had the same delicious effect.

 Look, plenty to go around.  Come on over.  I'll share.

Had to be done.  Top with vanilla ice cream.  Nothing wrong with that.

I thought about doing them in ramekins, but then thought about how fun these would be to give as a gift.  (Before the ice cream, of course.  That would just be too messy.)  Maybe to a friend for a birthday?  How fun to get one of these.  Just for you.  All yours.  Your own little birthday brownie.  You don't have to share with anyone.  The way it should be, at least one day a year.

Up close and personal.  Check out all that fudgy goodness.

And ready to be gifted.

Great pick Liz!  Head over to here, her blog, for the full recipe.

sewing with sadie

In October, Sadie celebrated her 11th birthday... my how time flies!  We figured she was old enough for her own sewing machine.  It was so exciting to order it and anticipate it's arrival.  She loved it! And for the last few "mommy nights" since then, we've sewn.

Isn't it a cute machine!

Her first project she actually designed the pattern herself.  She did such a great job meticulously drawing it out, measuring every side and angle exactly.  Finally she got to sew her first project on her machine.  What fun!

It's a tie pillow!  Quite the belly warmer!  Great for car rides!

So proud of her creation!

Just look at the comfort.  Doesn't it make you want one of your own?  I'm sure she'd take orders.

Here's Sadie in her own words...

I really like my ''new'' creation.  :)  It sooooooo fun to sew with my new sewing machine!(!!!!!!!) I can't wait for my other projects!  Next up:  a pillow case.

There it is.  We'll be sure to post about the others too.  I have visions that one day (when I have an actual sewing room), that Sadie and I will sit at our separate machines and sew.  Or that she'll go in on her own, and whip something up.  One day.

behind

Feels like I've been behind for a while now... could have something to do with a*new* (well, he's been here for 5 weeks now, but we're slow to adjust with the kids out of school and all), two-month old. Anyway, it's all worth it, and we hope he stays for a very LONG time! So here's some catch-up:

So, for teacher gifts this year, we went REALLY simple. Zipper pouches with candy. I asked the kids what colors their teachers liked, and we went from there. Here's what we ended up with...

At this point I don't remember what went to who... but they turned pretty fun. And really, who doesn't LOVE chocolate, plus a little zippered bag for whatever later - can't go wrong.

These next photos/gift are from last year. They were a gift for a baby girl...

Diaper/wipes envelope. One of my very favorite things... carries diapers and wipes, then when you need to change a diaper, you grab the pouch, instead of having to take the whole diaper bag with you. Especially handy if you have more than one child needing that diaper bag.

To go along with the diaper/wipes envelope, I made some cute baby shoes. They are really fun to make, lots of steps, but really not too bad... and they turn out so cute, that's it worth all the time.

Well, obviously Easter was a while ago, but here's the various fabrics I used for my girls' Easter skirts. Seersucker is such fun!

So, I had a *great* idea for the green/white plaid, to make a tie for Silas. I found a free pattern online and gave it a whirl. The pattern said it was for a little boy, guess it meant a little smaller little boy, because it was too small, by far. So, since that was left until last, Silas didn't have a new tie for Easter, he'll live. I want to try it again, but haven't yet... sometime. Course, the longer I wait, the bigger/longer the tie will need to be. Lovely.

Here's some of the fabric cut, ironed and ready to be used as bias tape on the skirt. What fun.

Of course, I don't have a finished picture... I'm sure we took one, I just can't find it right now... later.

About a month ago, Silas had a little friend that had a birthday party. She was turning 5, and after thinking what he could give her, here's what we came up with...

She got a Market Skirt. Here's the free tutorial, and here for the pockets. Really easy and fast. Always turns out cute. Can't go wrong. If you're in the mood for a cute skirt, go give it a try.

Close-up of the pockets. So fun. We actually hid some little stuffed animals in the pockets just for fun. She loved it!

I'm working on a gift for a birthday coming-up on Sunday - can't believe he'll be 4! Crazy. When I finish that, I'll post pictures, along with a large project I've been slowly working on.

Here's to a GREAT Monday!

typical

It's becoming the norm... I post through about fall time, and then fall out of blogland until January rolls around. Then, I make something for Abby's birthday, and suddenly decide to post pictures. Therefore, so-as not to disappoint, here was this year's birthday gift:



A felt house. Just the right size for Polly Pocket, or Strawberry Shortcake dolls (I LOVE that they brought these back. What clever marketing!)

This is the inside of the house. That's a swimming pool, with a nice walking path, flowers, you know, Arkansas in the summer. (Shawn wondered why there would be a swimming pool on the wall of a house. I had no response to this.)

I originally got the idea here. But as I looked at the size, I wondered if it would end up being too small for a soon to be 7-year old. So, I used the basic idea of using felt, oh, this was the cute small house from felt - anyway, I decided to use an old pattern that my mom used years ago. I've used the pattern before, probably about 6ish years ago, and made some fabric houses for my girls. They still play with them, so they were totally worth the time, which is nice, cause they require a good amount.

The back of the house:



The side:



And the front:



The house was given with a small Strawberry Shortcake doll wrapped inside. When I asked P how she liked the gift, P gushed, "Oh, she really LOVED it mom! She LOVED Strawberry's long hair!" Like I said... typical.

birthday gifts

Remember this post last year? Well, it's her birthday again. So here's this years gifts...

Felt hair clips.

This is a headband. I don't think you can tell, but it has velcro dots on the backside of it that keep it from sliding off the head, (common problem of headband wearers).

And lastly, a zippered pouch with some candy to share... or not. I don't know if you can tell, but the inside linning fabric is covered with clear vinyl, that way the candy won't get the inside of the bag yucky... just in case.

Happy Birthday Abby!