Sum-sum-summertime!! ..... and chocolate.

Summer may not be here yet on the calendar, but it's definitely here in spirit. And weather. And I love it! I've probably said this before, but ..... I love having the doors and windows open and breezes freshening up the house. I love driving with the sunroof open. I love going barefoot. I love the smell of freshly-mown grass, and blooming flowers and coming rainstorms. I love brighter colors after winter's duller and darker neutrals. I love sleeping with just a sheet and the ceiling fan running. I love lemonade and milkshakes and homemade ice cream. And I totally don't understand why we don't think of making homemade ice cream in the wintertime-- it's not like it couldn't happen then.

So, a week ago, school let out for the summer. My mother used to dread school vacations. I remember she would sign me up for summer school, just to get me "out of her hair". I didn't think I was that difficult a child, but Mom surely wasn't a fan of having me "underfoot." I am rather a polar opposite, because I love having the kids home and NO SCHEDULE during vacations! It makes me really happy!

So, when our local church youth leaders asked if they could use our back yard for a water play activity on the last day of school, I was all for it! I love the youth, and love having them here. We set up the volleyball net for them, and Todd actually had several from his Sunday School class come early for a pizza party. Todd has often told them about how amazingly-good pizza is when it's got the smokey flavor of being cooked on the pellet grill, so this was their chance to sample it. That's the only way we cook pizza anymore: outdoors, on the grill. It comes out with the crust a bit more crusty and the cheese takes on the smokey flavor --mmmmm-- so good!! Like it was cooked in a wood-fired pizza oven.

Then, it was game on, with all the teenagers! They used the volleyball net to create a Water Balloon Battleship game. I think you can figure out how that works!

One side would load up on water balloons,

And the other side would line up for the barrage:

But of course, the game changed into an all-out water fight ....

(Which, I'm so glad their leaders had figured that into their plans. Can you imagine how dull it would have gotten if the water fight part hadn't been allowed?)

I didn't get a lot of "great" pictures. I need to practice more with action shots in late afternoon light. I should really have everyone come over again for a rematch, just so I can practice with the camera!

After the water fight, the kids played some regular volleyball, and ate the yummy treats that everyone brought.

I think the kids enjoyed it a lot, it was a great school-end activity, friendships were strengthened, and their leaders were smart to have something for them that was just for FUN.

There were a little over 30 kids here that evening, and many of those were some of my former and current Seminary students, and also some of the new ones that will be in my class this coming fall. I love my Seminary kids so much!!

So, also that day, I decided to make some brownies to add to the table of treats for the kids. I've been trying to be careful lately on what I've been eating (more on that in an upcoming post), so I haven't done a whole lot of baking. But, sometimes, I just need to bake something!!

So this is my go-to recipe for when I decide to make brownies from SCRATCH. Most of the time, I'm all about a boxed brownie mix. In fact, that's so convenient, that when we've gone camping, I often bring brownie mix to make while we're gone. I take the bag of mix out of the box, and write the eggs/oil/water on the bag with a Sharpie marker, along with the baking time and temperature.

But if I want to feel like a Holly Homemaker, I make them from scratch. 

The original recipe calls for chopped nuts instead of chocolate chips. And while I love nuts, I am not a fan of nuts IN things. I like them on the side. Coated in cinnmony-sugary goodness. (That's another recipe post for another time.) I also like them spiced. Or roasted and salted. Or honey-roasted. Just don't (generally) put nuts IN things. Like cookies, or brownies. Unless the nuts are the whole point -- like pecan tassies or something.

So, yes.  I totally use chocolate chips instead of nuts. But if you're in the "love nuts in brownies" camp, go ahead and knock yourself out.

Here we go......

First, I've changed to always using a glass baking dish for brownies. Probably because I was tired of warning people not to use a sharp knife in my "good" non-stick baking pans. Even when I provided a plastic knife to serve them, somehow my non-stick pans were always getting scratched. This way, I stay happy! Baking times change a little, so check the recipe closely.

Start with the REAL butter, and please don't fudge and use margarine for this one. 20 years ago, I would have used margarine, but today's margarine has so much water and air in it, it's not even close to the same as butter for baking purposes. So, I put the butter and the baking chocolate in the mixing bowl and microwave it to melt it. Butter melts faster than chocolate,so you have to watch it, and stir it a little.

You don't have to wait for the chocolate to melt all the way, because it will finish melting as you stir it with the hot butter. When it's all melted and smooth, it looks like this:

Some how, a wooden spoon just seems "right" to use with this recipe.

Then add the sugar ....

When you mix in the sugar, it takes on a gritty look. Which is probably a help when you add in ...

... the eggs (and vanilla). The grit of the sugar helps the eggs incorporate better. And actually, I think the addition of the sugar helps temper the butter/chocolate mixture a bit, so that the eggs don't scramble on contact.

This is that chocolate chip part ....

Well, after the flour, that is. Flour, and THEN the chocolate chips. Anticipation of chocolate is probably at work in my brain, here.

By the way, going off topic here for just a moment..... Have you seen this product, or am I the only one who didn't know about these things:

These baking melts are kind of like big, fat, flat chocolate chips. I debated putting them in with this batch of brownies, but decided not to do it this time. (Which is fine, because these brownies don't need them at all.)

HOWEVER. In the last two batches of chocolate chip cookies I've made (both batches for other people, and one went to Cameron at college), .... I have used these, and they're REALLY good in the cookies! I don't mix them into the cookie dough, but I've taken one of them and embedded it into each of the dough mounds on the cookie sheets. So every cookie gets one of these babies inside it.

Oh. My. Goodness. Seriously, good stuff right there! Where have these things been all my life??

Anyway.

Back to the brownies! Mix it all up,

And put it into a GREASED baking dish. 

I totally thought I had greased my dish well enough (I use baking spray), but when Todd cut these brownies, he said he had a big problem with them sticking. So my takeaway lesson is: don't forget the grease, and be generous with it.

And don't forget to let the five-year-old lick the spoon, either!

I always thought my mom was the coolest for letting me lick spoons or bowls or beaters!  This is my way of being the cool mom. I admire mothers who are totally into healthy eating constantly. That's just not me, though.

Anyway ---- Then bake!

After you ignore the dirty stovetop, please note that these brownies were just a bit too underdone. But better underdone than overdone, when we're talking about brownies, here!

Not finished with these yet, but here's the recipe with exact ingredient amounts for you:


One Bowl Brownies

4 squares unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Microwave chocolate and butter in a large bowl on HIGH power for 2 minutes, or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

Stir sugar into melted chocolate mixture. Mix in eggs and vanilla until well blended. Stir in flour and chocolate chips. Spread in a 9x13-inch glass baking dish.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Do not overbake.
Cool in pan. Frost if desired. Cut into squares. About 24 brownies.

(When using a metal baking pan, increase oven temperature to 350 degrees.)


So, to me, brownies always need something to "finish" them. Usually, that's frosting. And sprinkles. Once, I tried just dusting them with powdered sugar. I thought it was great -- not as decadent, but still good -- but the family sure didn't go for them like that. Guess who ended up eating most of that batch? You got it.

So, I usually use canned frosting (for convenience sake) to frost the brownies, and I top that with sprinkles of varying kinds. And that's what I did for this batch, too, because I ran out of time to make frosting from scratch as well. (Sorry, no finished photos. Ran out of time for THAT, too!!)

BUT, if I were to make frosting for brownies -- THIS is the recipe I use:

Glossy Chocolate Frosting

3 tablespoons shortening
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Microwave shortening and chocolate until melted. Stir in remaining ingredients, beat until smooth. Place bowl of frosting in a bowl of ice and water; continue beating until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency. Perfect amount for a batch of brownies. Ok, and if you're really all that into nuts, you could totally put in 1/2 cup of finely chopped nuts. But I didn't tell you that.

I have also substituted cocoa and butter for the squares of chocolate in this frosting, and it worked just fine. 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder + 1 Tablespoon butter or shortening = 1 square of baking chocolate.

Whew!! This was a really long post. Probably should have divided it, but too late now! And, you probably are craving some chocolate by now. If not, you should go re-read this until you do!

The Divine Miss Em

 

Two weeks ago, Emma gave a talk in Primary. The topic she was given was, "Prophets foretold about the birth of Jesus Christ". Despite acting shy around people she doesn't know, she actually really enjoys getting up and speaking in front of others. She often has asked if she can give a talk, and we explain to her that that's not how it works -- they have to ask you to speak, you don't really volunteer for it. And you have to give other kids a chance to speak before you get another turn.

So, we came up with this little talk for her. We focused on prophets from the Book of Mormon, and colored some pictures for her to use for visual aids. The pictures actually work as triggers to help her remember which lines to say.

On the day of her talk, I was prepared to stand next to her as she spoke, to help her with the pictures, and be there as moral support in case she forgot her lines. As it turned out, she decided to do it all on her own, and I just sat in the back of the Primary room.

She did an amazing job, much like this practice run-through that we did at home before church. I think you'll probably agree that she has a knack for memorization. Enjoy!!

(This was off my phone, and you might want to turn up the volume to hear her. Thanks!)

 

P.S. Seven lines obviously wasn't enough. Note to self: longer talk next time.

July's Wings of Lightning

As I looked over all the masses of photos I took in July, to select some highlights for this blog post, I kept thinking of the words to the hymn, Improve the Shining Moments. The second verse starts with, "Time flies on wings of lightning...". (The whole second verse seems to be the story of my summer!) That's where this post title comes from.

So, here's a photo summary of most of our July, ... with a few explanations. Maybe it will be clearer why I haven't posted much lately! Here we go....

First, Emma explored her artistic side, with watercolors:

 

Then, we ended up with a little extra time before the start of a softball tournament, so we took the girls for an afternoon at Riverfront Park in Spokane. They got a chance to ride on the 1909 Looff Carousel there:

 

... and the Ferris Wheel....

 

Emma checked out the ducks and geese on the river:

 

This "sneaky tiger" is one of three in the world... pretty cool.

Emma loved the rides:

 

And here's something that you don't see every day, either. The idiom of "reaching for," or "grabbing the brass ring" originated on carousels like this one. And you can still reach for it today, too:

 

(Yes, she got it. She was pretty good at it, too. Better than me by a long shot!)

 

It was a fun afternoon!

 

July also brought the end of our summer softball season -- albeit, a bit earlier than we'd thought. 

Here's Alyssa, grabbing the pick-off throw and going for the tag:

 

Darcie got to play out of position, including at 2nd Base, which was less familiar, and at 1st and 3rd Bases, which she did great at:

 

 

(Yep,  that's dirt on her pants from a slide earlier)

 

And this mom got a little weepy, because I kept thinking that this would be Alyssa's last competitive softball game. It was hard for me to let that go. Softball has been such a big part of her (and our) life, and this was the end. With that being said, this is Alys throwing her very last pitch:

 

 

Sniff, sniff!! And her last at-bat:

 

 

I thought the coach was really nice to give her the game ball. Oh, how I have loved to watch these two play together!! (I wonder if she'll take her bat and glove to college with her? She could knock those intramural boys on their ears!! heh, heh)

 

Moving on.

 

Part of our stake's Pioneer Day celebration was at the Aquatic Center ...

 

 

... where Emma loved playing with some of her best friends:

 

...and random adorable babies!

 

And then, six of the wonderful young women in our ward earned their Young Womanhood Recognition Award (Yes, I can count; one of them had to work that evening.) Since they were twelve years old, they've worked to accomplish 48 goals and eight 10-hour value projects to earn their medallions. The biggest "project" is to read the Book of Mormon, which obviously takes much longer than ten hours.

 

I have really seen this program make a positive difference in my girls' lives, and we are so proud of them for accomplishing this! Plus, kudos to Darcie, who is two years younger than the other girls, and completed her recognition in less time.

 

 

LOVE those beautiful faces!!

 

(and those faces, too!)

 

Also in July was Grandma's birthday! We still get the family together for birthday parties, but our numbers seem to be shrinking, especially when everyone is so busy and heading in different directions. Still, we love being so close to family!

 

 

For part of the birthday treats, we made Grandma one of her most-favorite desserts: Crème Brulee.

And oh, it was SO yummy!

 

Just ask these people: