Brownies

Anyone who's worked in an office knows how people who come together love to eat.  And they invent reasons to bring in food and order out.  Since many of our representatives are grouped by teams, and the Supervisors of those teams comprise my team I get invited to participate to in gatherings for each of those five teams!

I'm certainly in the habit of baking often for them - and they eat anything!  Cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and of course cherry pie!  Many times I arrive at their desks just in time for their shift to start at 3 or 4pm with a container to take and pass.  It's bonded me with them, that's for sure!

We've also had several pot luck-type gatherings for the department as a whole lately too.  One was a going away lunch for one of the administrative assistants, Hilda.  And another was a multi-area recognition for Administrative Assistants Day.

Truth be told I believe that the baking must get old for folks to anticipate.  So for the first gathering I made crockpot queso - smooth white cheese with ro-tel tomatoes and beef to smother over tortilla chips.  Yes, I only learned to make that AFTER moving to Texas!  I have one team that will ask for it special - "and Miss Jude will you make it with sausage this time?"

And during the festivities several people said, "where's Jude's brownies?"  Well I'll be darned - I couldn't imagine that they'd go looking for baked goods!  And now they are asking for the recipe .. so when I was sharing it with them, I thought it best to post it here as well!

Annie's Eats Triple Chocolate Brownies

photo courtesy of Annie's Eats

Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies

Yield: about 12-16 servings

INGREDIENTS

5 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into quarters
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1¼ cups (8¾ oz.) sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (5 oz.) all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

• Place an oven rack in lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line an 8-inch square baking dish with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
• In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth.  Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth.  Set aside to cool.
• In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt; whisk until combined, about 15 seconds.  Whisk in the warm chocolate mixture until incorporated.  Then stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until just combined.  (It took me a while to get the flour evenly incorporated and I was worried it would affect the texture of the brownies, but they turned out fabulously – no need to worry.)  Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread with a spatula to make an even layer.  Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, 35-40 minutes.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.
• Remove the brownies from the pan using the foil and transfer to a cutting board.  Cut into squares as desired.  Store in an air-tight container.

The Key Jar

Here's our Key Jar.

What is a Key Jar, you ask?  I'll tell you.

My friend, Glennon Doyle Melton, sharing it on her blog Monastery this week.  Okay, so Glennon is not really my friend in sense you're thinking.  We don't call, text or even write.  But over the past several years I've bought 18 copies of her book to give to friends, moms, co-workers, just about anyone who is married and has kids and sometimes has a bad day.  A hard day.

Glennon is the one who reminded me that although life is hard, we can do hard things!  Every. Day.

Back to the Key Jar.  It is filled with questions to 'unlock' kids.  Conversations with kids.  It is the solution to the following situation:  "What did you do at school today?"  followed by, "Nothing."  And then, "really? nothing?  you had to have done something."  and finally, "I don't remember."

Here's where the Key Jar comes in.  It's filled with questions - random, thought-provoking questions to start the conversation.

Today's question:  If you had to choose one food to eat the rest of your life, what would it be?

Ellie's answer: "Scallops.  I was going to say shrimp, but I really like scallops more."  This led to a question about when she first remembered eating scallops, does she remember the ocean, does she want to go back to the ocean .. and so on and so on.

Now doesn't that make you want more answers!  Just you wait, I'm sure there will be plenty more where that came from!

Profound Pizza Place

Pizza in Texas is not like in New York or even the mid-west for that matter.  We loved our pizza in NY, and grew to love the deep-dish style of Chicago.  Just thinking of how long ago I had Lou Malnati's pizza makes me want to go back ....

So on Friday, after a very long week we tried Brooklyn's Pizza in Garland.  No, it wasn't like back home.  It was just okay.  But we wouldn't know unless we tried. It was a nicely decorated place with cool signs all over the place.  And it didn't require any clean up after dinner.  I'll consider that a success.

This picture hung on the wall.  It made us laugh so I'm sharing it with you!

Bring on the rain

We've had our fair share of storms this spring in Texas.  Lots of rain, thunder, lightening and even hail.  Storms are a metaphor for life.  They come, they go, they're unpredictable and often unforgiving in the damage they leave in their path.

And yet, sometimes with the release of the storm, a rainbow emerges.

That rainbow reminds us that beauty, wonder and awe still exist.  The colors show us that when we're smart enough to look for it after the storm, miracles happen.

These photos are not of the best quality, although they reminded me after a particularly difficult ending with an employee today, life goes on.  Sometimes more beautiful and more peaceful than before.  The storms pass.  They always do.  The sunshine returns.

The sky changed from purple ...

to golden ...

and even a double rainbow appeared.
In fact I showed Ellie it was a FULL rainbow, rarely seen!

The Hail With It

Tuesday brought a hail storm - lots of thunder, lightening and even the wind.  Those are pea-sized hail.  Perhaps not more than an afterthought.  Except when they are hitting the roof and the car.  They are small, but mighty.

Hail, hail go away ... come again another day!

Comes the Dawn

Dallas sunrise

The days in our life aren't always easy.  And somehow we get through.  Here's what I've learned.

Kindness matters.

People care.

A phone call to a good friend makes everything better.

A text from someone checking on you means they care.

Coffee really is good for you.  Seriously.  Just ask me.

The smell of Ellie's hair is a wonderful thing.

Holding Bill's hand often cures everything.

Being in my kitchen is like a sanctuary.

Ending a good book is like a painful goodbye.

Knitting is my meditation.

Color makes me smile.

The rain really does stop.  Eventually.

Karma is an amazing force.

The sun always rises.  Even after the darkest night.

Finding a treasure looks different to everyone.

Today I found a treasure.  It came in the form of a website with wonderful words and pictures.  Its written by a woman just a year older than me.  Just that much closer to fifty.  Which is what led me to her.  

She's broken and somehow fixed with crazy glue, good coffee and her amazing three kids.  She reminded me that kindness matter, love is eternal and as challenging as some days are - be grateful that you recognize the difference.  

She lives in Vermont, which makes me envy her surroundings.  Even the cold that she is dreadfully tired of this time of year.  I still remember a first breath of cold air on a winter morning.  Texas doesn't provide that reality.  Just storms,  heat and the occasional ice storm.

This is my reality.  And today I recognize that I love it.  All of it.  And when today is done, tomorrow will being a new chance and a new challenge.  Both are mine to accept.

It's always about the food

Today was a trip to Williams Sonoma.  At Bill's suggestion.  Whodda thought, huh?

I'll back up.

We invited the Schuler's for dinner on Saturday night.  Bill wanted to perfect his brisket smoking technique and they were the best guinea pigs we could find!  No, not really.  We really wanted to have them over so the kids could play and the grown ups could laugh and eat.  Good thing for us is that we discovered they love a good smoked meat too!

So Bill smoked an 8 lb. brisket and a much smaller boneless turkey breast during the day.  We added cowboy baked beans, cornbread and cole slaw to round out our offering.  I even found all the supplies to make s'mores with the kids.  Not sure if you're all aware but they actually make square marshmallows now specifically for s'mores.  We're so lucky!

In any event, we had a wonderful time.  We laughed and the kids played.  We shared margaritas and enjoyed BBQ like really old friends.

Which led Bill on Sunday to say, "we should go to Williams Sonoma for a new meat thermometer."  And I actually stopped listening after 'we should go to Williams Sonoma .....' because it didn't matter what we we're going to find.  We were going.  That's what mattered.  And in the end I knew this would result in something new and exciting for my kitchen.

Family Meal

On a Saturday when the rain overnight causes the morning soccer game to be cancelled.  We need a Plan B.  Good thing is, we have experience with this.  Plans change.  Life becomes a series of choices that lead us down paths uncharted.

Today was one of those days.

Last Friday we had our next family room furniture delivered.  And new furniture always has a way of revealing what else needs to be done.  Perhaps paint a wall.  Maybe replace a rug.  In our case it was to find new end tables.

Off to Plano we go.

Our favorite warehouse furniture distributor Weir's has a showroom of markdowns on the second floor.  And this is where we found our wonderful new end tables.  And then the other table didn't match.  So more furniture movement ensued.

A side table was moved to my reading area in the master bedroom.  And it revealed that a comfy cushion chair might just be what is needed in that corner instead of the rocker.  But that's for another day.

The other thing about our plans is that we like to include a family meal.  Cooking together at home, or dining out is a treat for us.  And our go-to burger place in Plano is Kenny's Burger Joint.  Wonderfully on the same road as Weir's ....

We enjoyed an Oreo Shake while waiting for our burgers.  And then experienced the new grilled-cheese-for-a-roll burger.  Wow, it was really something!  Bill shared his meal with each of us and Ellie's eyes lit up with just one bite.  It was enormous!

Shining the Way Award

At Ellie's school assembly on Friday morning Ellie received four awards:  A/B Honor Roll for all her final grades in the last 9 weeks being 85 and higher, "Just in Time" for arriving at school on time for every day she was in school, Perfect Attendance for being at school every day in the last 9 weeks and the last award ....

Shining the Way Award - Outstanding Character

presented to Ellie Fricano

for shining the way and being an example to others at Whitt Elementary

Third grade teachers pick one boy and one girl to present this award to every nine weeks.  Ellie was chosen by her teacher this time.  She was very excited for the exclusivity of the award!

Easter Sunday

Ellie's Easter Basket
complete with new toothbrush and toothpaste!

Easter Breakfast treat from Williams Sonoma
Peter Rabbit Waffle Mix

Traditional Easter Morning fruit salad
with vanilla syrup courtesy of the Pioneer Woman's recipe!

Saturday Soccer

After game congratulatory handshake line!
Coach Tony and Coach Mario join the line too.

After game snacks and Gatorade put a smile on her face!

With the all the unseasonal chilly days and rain this spring, the girls' soccer team has been unable to practice, and missed their first scheduled game.  They played last Saturday and lost 1-0 in the final 3 minutes of the game.  Which was disappointing as they didn't suffer a loss the entire regular season last year - not until the Finals!

Now that loss is out of the way, they've practiced twice and Saturday's weather was beautiful for a soccer game!  Sunny and 73 at game time - 1:15pm!  Today they were victorious - 3-2 WIN, with several great clearing kicks from Ellie playing 'sweeper' on defense!

Sleeping beauties!

And the game took a lot of out of our girl.  She's been up sick the night before so I wasn't quite sure she'd last the game .. but she did!  She showered and after dinner she caught a quick snooze ... and of course, her Daddy couldn't let her nap solo!

Friday Fun

Ellie and I both had Friday off - so we made a Girls' Day Out of it .. we kissed Daddy goodbye and got ourselves busy around the house and ready to have an adventure!

First, we made our way to Trader Joe's!  She loves the chocolate covered blueberries and we found some Easter candy for Bill.  Best part was that since it wasn't Saturday, it wasn't crowded!  What a bonus.  Second stop was in the plaza a block away in Plano at Williams Sonoma.  I didn't realize how much Ellie would love it there!  It didn't hurt that they were serving blueberry waffles as an enticement to buy the waffle mix .. which we did!

Next time you talk to Ellie, ask her what she picked out in the gadget section.  She was disappointed when she found something she wanted and said, 'Oh it's more than the $5 I have!"  Not to worry, we put it in our cart!

From Williams Sonoma we went to Kenny's Burger Joint for lunch - and since it was right at noon it filled up all around us ... and for the highlight of the day we went to the theatre to see Cinderella.

Kenny's Burger Joint for lunch

Awaiting the arrival of Cinderella ....

For our special day we'd also made dinner plans with the Schuler's too!  We met up with them at the Chiloso around the corner.  We didn't realize we had one so close to home as we've only been to the one close to work!  What a find!

We enjoyed our Tex-Mex with the grown-ups at one table, and the kids at another.  Great way to end the week.  Robin and Ellie, although both in 3rd grade are in different classes, while Lincoln is in 4th grade at Whitt too.

After dinner we went back to their house for dessert.  As we were arriving I received a photo from my mom with Dawn's mom together, as they were all in Pennsylvania together to celebrate Easter. The two Grammys!  So now as Robin and Ellie call each other cousins, Dawn has started to refer to me as her, 'almost-cousin'!

So our group quickly snapped a picture of the families together and sent that back.  We shared a Face Time call so that we could all laugh at the irony of it all.  Too funny to be together on the same night!

Dawn and I in the back.
Lincoln, Robin and Ellie in the front!

Best of the Happy Couple

Ellie loved to take our picture too!

Dinner at the Yachtsman

After dinner at Bama (Animal Kingdom)

Love this one at California Grille

"You two should kiss ..."
"thanks Ellie.."

One of our very favorite place at Disney - Via Napoli

Breakfast in a French cafe ...

Best of Bill & Ellie

This is our gorgeous bus stop to all the sights!

Daddy and his girl all dressed up for dinner!

Character Breakfast at Cape May Cafe.
Check out Bill's t-shirt, "I'm So Goofy!"

Now that's a big beer - and that's what happens in Germany!

The beach at our hotel