I would call it a Chocolate Almond Brownie!

   I would call this a chocolate almond brownie!  I used about 2 oz. of baker's unsweetened dark chocolate, 2 sticks of unsalted butter, 1 cup of dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup of white sugar, 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla, 3 eggs, 2 cups of a/p flour (mixed with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon of baking powder, and about 1 cup of chopped almonds.

   In a microwave oven, I melted the butter in a 2-cup measuring cup and added the chocolate (chopped into very small pieces) to the hot butter.  I stirred all that to make sure the chocolate melted.  Then, I poured it into my mixing bowl, added the sugars, and started mixing to cool it down before adding the eggs.

     I added the eggs one at a time plus the vanilla and almonds to the mix.  While I let the mixer thoroughly combine all that, I placed the flour, salt, and baking powder in the baking dish I used (no special reason for that other than I didn't want to mess up another dish).   At about this time, I turn the oven on to 325 degrees.

     Slowly, spoon by spoon, I added the flour-salt-baking powder mixture.  Once incorporated into the chocolate mix, I turned the mixer on to a faster speed and let it mix for about a minute to get it all fluffy.

     After putting the mixture into the baking dish, I placed it in the oven and let it bake for about 45 minutes at 325 degrees.  I tasted a slice after letting it cool down for about an hour.  YUM!

Refrigerator Oatmeal. I never thought of it before!

     The other day, my first piano teacher (#Eileen Carver-Marsh), posted an idea about "Refrigerator Oatmeal."  I decided to give it a try, and I'm glad that I did.  I've found that it can be delightful and so easily tweaked to suit flavor and consistency preferences.  

     The way I've done it is this.  I've used mason jars.  I've measured 1 part old fashioned oats plus two parts canned cream.  I've shaken all that up in jars.  After that I've added stuff like raisins, dried cranberries, pecans (you get the idea), capped the jars with lids, shooken the mixes all up again, and placed them in the refrigerator to set over night (six hours or so).  The next morning, I've found the mixtures to be soft, cool, and delicious!

     One day I thought, "I wonder what it would taste like with dairy whipped cream on top?"  After all, butter is made from that!  Oh my!  Oh my!  What delight it was!

You like my food. I like your food. We like each other's food. You cook for me. I cook for you. We cook / eat together.

I made the bread a few days ago.  

Above, they're soaking in eggnog (plus a couple of eggs).

Golden Delicious apple ready for the microwave 

for a couple of minutes.

Medium heat.  Cook on one side for a few minutes. 

Turn over the toast.  Cover with a lid, so the custard will gel a bit and all will stay moist.

What remained of french toast batter, I poured into a skillet and covered to cook until the mixture gelled.

That's the way it was for awhile on December 29, 2013.

You'd see me doing this a lot where I live! Coffee?

For this batch of bread:

• about 2 cups of warm water
• about 2 tablspoons of yeast
• about 1/2 cup of sugar
• about 1 teaspoon of salt
• one egg

I used my electric mixer and mixed all that together before adding my bread flour.

• I used my dough hook on the mixer, so it would knead as I added flour.
• I added flour 1/3 cup at a time and mixed for about 1 minutes before each addition.
• I kept adding flour until the dough was gathering on the dough hook and sticking less to the sides of the bowl.  The dough was still a little sticky to touch, but it was twisting and twisting and twisting on the dough hook.  I let it do the twist for about 15 minutes.
• See that cake container.  I use that as a proofing chamber.  I put the dough in that, place the lid (well usually it's the bottom for cake) on it.  I placed the container of dough in a warm place (top of our family freezer).
• After two hours in the proofing chamber, I punched all over the dough and let it rest a few minutes while I got the muffin tin ready (butter and flour).
• I rolled the dough out flat, brushed butter all over the top, folded the dough in half, and rolled out flat again.  I repeated these steps two more times.
• I cut the rolled out dough into two parts.
• I rolled one of the parts into a log.
• I cut the log into sections, and placed each section into the muffin tin.
• I placed the muffin tin into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 375 degrees.
• I baked the rolls until they were light brown (about 20-25 minutes.
• I removed the rolls from the oven and brushed the tops with melted butter.

What about the other half of the dough?

I noticed some lonely blueberries in the fridge, so...! Muffins / Pancakes anyone?

        I'll keep the reading material to a minimal.

     I've never seen much difference between muffin and pancake batters.  I put eggs, butter, and milk in both.  I use self-rising flour in both.  In both, I start with mixing everything, except the self-rising flour, in a bowl until everything is (wait for it) well mixed and distributed.  Then, I gradually, and gently, start folding in the self-rising flour until I see the thickness I want in the batter -- lumpy-clumpy for muffins, pourable for pancakes.  Obviously, I make pancake batter thinner, so I'll start with more milk than with muffins.  In both cases, "GENTLE" is a key treatment of the batter once I've added the flour, because over mixing the batter produces tougher pancakes / muffins.  I ignore the lumpy-clumpiness of the batter.

      Egg, vanilla, buttermilk, oatmeal, sugar, diced apples, and fresh blueberries....

        I baked them at 375 for until light brown and a toothpick would come out clean.  With the batter left in the bowl, I put a skillet to work.  Saphira (my canine child) loved sharing the pancake with me!

Coffee?