Come Take a Walk With Me

Today was a beautiful day - we woke up to discovery we were at the center of a beautiful, gauzy globe of white, shifting fog.  The world seemed to consist of nothing but our yard and the sparkling films of frost that had descended during the night.
After completing a few projects down by the barn a camera was fetched and I wandered about the yard to see what interesting frost decorations I could find.   Come and join me!

 I love frost - there are so many different kinds. One of my favorite is this type, the soft, furry looking white frost that just skims the edge of the bi-colored leaves.

Isn't that beautiful! Just look at all those intricate veins.  I still wonder how people can question if there really is a Creator when they are surrounded by the wonder of God's handiwork everyday!

I love this one - delicate little flowers that look like God picked them up and dipped their petals in super fine sugar. :)

You can see here some of the fog in the background.

Pretty little red buds on our silver maple.

Frost dusted chokecherries. (Don't they look good enough to lick?)

I don't know what this plant is, but I love the colors and the stark contrast of the white frost.

The pictures don't do justice to the real thing, but I hope you enjoyed the small tour of the fall foliage in our backyard.

    Psalm 19:1 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. 

 

Things To Look For in the Foreseeable Future

  When we were talking about starting this blog we had a few ideas for what we were going to use it for - so that it wouldn't just be about the ins and outs of our lives. (Although those can be pretty interesting:) 
   Because we know just how hard it is to dress fashionably and modestly we wanted to share with you various tips we have discovered - but mainly to encourage you that it really is possible to dress modestly and cute. 

   So, when we get around to actually starting those posts keep your eyes open for these titles:

Score! These posts will cover accessories, pieces, or entire outfits that we have found for ridiculously cheap. We will list the price of each item and then, if we can find the items online, a comparing list of their original price.  (It's partially because I get a kick out of seeing how much I was able to save on an adorable outfit:)

We will also mention if they were second hand store finds or items placed on clearance. 

Occasionally Affordable   Because finding clothing really inexpensively is not always possible, there is the middling ground of this section.  We will mention a few tricks we have learned in deciding when and when not to actually buy a piece of clothing.

Being able to find coupons will really help with this, and the following, section.

Splurge!  I believe that every woman in the world ought to go out and splurge at least once . . . . . or twice. . . .occasionally.  :)  (Irish Rose's note - as she laughs hysterically: spoken by the sister who is most likely to fit the description "miser".)

This section is for those purchases that are either so cute we can't live without them (buy them, trust me, other wise you will get home, which is probably hours and hours away, regret that you left it in the store, and are never able to find it again) or so necessary that we had to break down and buy them.

Remade  For those outfits that are adorable but are not quite acceptable "as is".  More than once we've found something that we like (not as easy as it sounds), fits well (bonus!), but has an added complication of being too short/neckline being too low/strapless, etc.  In some cases those cute clothes can be re-made to blend fashion with modesty.  We're still learning the in's and out's of re-modeling clothes, so if anyone has any really good books on the seamstress's craft, recommend them to us!

We thought it might be helpful to have specific names for these sections so that you could see at a glance what kind of post it is.  We're hoping to get these up and running soon - and if we can't find a dressmakers model somewhere we may just have to rig up a sheet and hangers:)
If you have any tips, shopping techniques or favorite websites we'd love to hear them.  :)

Potato Salad

   Okay, here it is.   A few weeks ago I posted a picture and asked for people to guess the number of people the potato salad would feed.

   Drum roll please . . . . . . . . . . .

We made potato salad to feed 200 people!

   Yep, I think we maybe are crazy after all. . .

   We documented it very carefully so we could share it with you. . . . . . . . just in case you ever find yourself elbow deep in boiled potatoes, celery, eggs, and oodles of mustard and mayonnaise; bemoaning the state of your sanity and wondering what got into you.

   Hmm, apparently we only documented the second half of it . . . .

   To begin with we had to peel, chop, and cook our potatoes, boil our eggs, dice celery and onions, and mix up the dressing.

Here is the process of what was used and how we managed -

5 dozen eggs

The initial bowl of dressing all measured up.

Here it is, every single ingredient - notice the additional pan and bowl of potatoes in the background.

(Gah! My skin just itches thinking of all those potatoes we peeled!)

 Those three jars are full of potato salad dressing - bleck!

After we very carefully made sure everything got divided equally between all the bowls we glopped the dressing on top and mixed it all in.

And here it is - 5 huge bowls of potato salad.

Because our fridge happens to be in use at our house (imagine that) there was no way we were going to get it all in - so we trucked everything to our church to borrow the empty fridge there. 

Every single container pictured is full of the salad (excepting the bag of celery)

It was a whole lot of work - and I, personally, am so glad that there were three of us.

Puppy #4

      My teacher was going to a hockey game in A Larger City, but the puppy's started to come after she left, so she called me and Mom drove me over.  Her son (one of them and the one who owns Beanie) was the only one home, so we just sat around Beanie to wait.

      First two puppies came not to far apart but then Beanie seemed to be having a bit of trouble with number three.  Finally though it came out, double sacked but with a hole in the first sack.  Then just a few minutes after it came this little guy.....with no sack!

 

I was about to bust into tear, I thought it was dead.  It wasn't moving and it didn't respond when I put my finger in it's mouth.  But thankfully there was a lady that my teacher knew with us and she stepped in and looked the puppy over and said "Oh, there is a little movement." (she came in between puppy two and three)

So we wrapped him in a cloth and I started to rub him and pray.  After that if was a bit of a juggling routine; put the puppy down and go help with a new one; pick the puppy back up then put it down again; and on and on and on. :)

Eight puppy's, EIGHT!  I thought she was only going to have six, nope not going to happen.

Finally I was able just to sit with the little guy.  We didn't put him back with his mom because he was still to weak.

So after a time formula was made, I fed him some and he ate pretty well.  When my teacher got back we decided still to leave him out of the liter and bottle feed him.

Earlier my teacher's son asked if I would take the puppy home and take care of it, I said that we would ask his mom.  If it was OK with her then I would ask my parents and we'd see.

So long story short puppy number 4 made if through the night and came home with me on Saturday.  He was going to need a whole lot of care and loving but I was hopeful.

It was just so amazing to see the transformation; first he's just too weak to move then he gets a stronger grip when I put my finger in his mouth.  Starts to make little noises, beginning to push with his little feet and holding his head up. :)

And here he is the day after his birth (he got a lot of "Oooo's" from us :)

Isn't he Sweet :)

He seemed to be doing fine but on Tuesday morning he just started to go down hill fast.  I guess God decided He needed one more puppy so He took the little guy home.

NEWS

Just a little news drop to let everyone know that eight little puppies came into the world yesterday. :)

Cool Nails!

Hi everyone
      Monday I decided to put on the nails Mom gave me for my birthday, they're the stick-on kind so there's no nail polish involved (unless you want to put a topcoat on).  Which is nice for me because when I paint my nails my fingers feel cakey and not nice.  So I only paint them a french manicure, and only on special occasions mostly.
      The Stick-On's are leopard print and before I wouldn't have thought about that for my nails, but I do like it!  It's one of those things where it looks cool in the package but your not sure if you would like it on yourself.

      They aren't perfect but it's my first time so I can't expect them to be.  Although I do have that habit, that when something doesn't turn right I get disappointed/frustrated and not want to try again.  But I shouldn't because it takes practice at something to get better.  So I'll be giving the nails another try. :)

Magic Pear Grumble

Interesting title, what?

    Once upon a time a Maiden Odd acquired, to her delight, a book which held Tales of Old, spun from threads of imagination. Whilst delving into the delights of the book a discovery was ere long made, that after the story had come to an end, there were set down several of Ye Olde Recipes.

A Maiden Odd marked those she found appealing, and setteth them aside until Ye Various Ingredients could be acquired for a proper and thorough test.
   Ye Old Recipe she is sharing today contains a mere handful of Ye Various Ingredients and, in truth, thou shalt surely find it easily mastered.

   To begin, having inherited the particular peculiarity of not being able to leave some of Ye Olde Recipes alone from Ye Older Sister, A Maiden Odd forsook the idea of using pears (for she doth not care for them overly much), using instead some rather ripe apples lounging in Ye Olde Pantry.

   It was recieved fairly well enough, and A Maiden Odd accepted Ye Gentle Criticisms offered.

"Gadzooks! I dost believe this syrupy dish doth contain several grains of sugar too much!"**

A Maiden Odd determined Ye Olde Recipe could improved upon be - and Ye Olde Recipe upon the table graces every year.

Magic Pear Grumble

1 cup flour (115 g)
2/3 cup sugar (265 g)*
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk (115 ml)
4 ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-3/4 inch chunks
(peaches were used here because Maiden Odd better prefereth them)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (150g)
1/4 cup butter (55 g) cut into 5 pieces
3/4 cup boiling water (175 ml)

*This recipe hath a very sweetness of taste, especially if the fruit thou useth is not very tart of a nature. The last time it twas made the sugar was diminished to 1/2 cup.   Twas better but mayhap would have been fine if more hath been left out.

Ere thou begin thou must preheat thy cooking fire (stove) to 375 degrees F (190 C)

In a large crock (bowl), using Ye Olde Whisk, mix together thy flour, white sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ground cloves until wondrous well combined.

A Maiden Odd dost not oft measure everything out beforehand - but, verily, since the start of this blog, the accounting of food images on her hard-drive seem to hath begun multiplying rapidly. . . . .

Now, return us to Ye Olde Recipe -
Add thy milk of a cow, and beat until smooth. Verily thy batter, ere long, shalt be very thick and sticky.

Making sufficient use of a rubber spatula, fold in peaches (or pears or any fruit that thou art using) to thy batter.
Scoop ariont an unslicked (ungreased) baking or casserole dish.

Boil thy water and measure 3/4 cup (it would behoove thou to have thy water merrily rolling already - A Maiden Odd hath done it both ways before and it taketh a longer time, significantly, when thou hast to stand and stare at thy pot, waiting for it to boil:)
Place thy butter and brown sugar in a small, heat proof bowl or, mayhap, measuring glass and pour thy hot water over yon butter and sugar. Stir until melted and dissolved.

Huzzah! A favorite part is now upon thou - it puzzleth Maiden Odd greatly, how Ye Olde Recipe worketh out so wondrous well. . . . .

Pour thy hot water mixture over the batter in thy baking dish - and DOST NOT MIX!

Does it not look appetizing?  

To pour liquid like thou hast, and not mix, rings of error great - but wait til thou seeist what hast happened to it!

*Oh, on a side jot - whence thou puttest thy batter in a baking dish thou doth not have to smooth it all out, making it level. It shall looketh a sight more interesting if thou stayest thy hand. (A Maiden Odd inevitably oft forgetteth and endeth up smoothing it out. Thou can if thou wantest, but thou dost not have to.)

Bake thy dessert for 45 minutes. It shalt be bubbly and golden brown when completed.

VIOLA!!!!  Looketh rather enticing, dost it not!
No longer watery and odd looking, instead the syrup hast bubbled all around the edges; the batter hast puffed and turneth golden brown, and smelleth wondrous well!

Served warm with whip-ed cream or fresh, vanilla iced cream Ye Olde Dessert tastes wonderful well!

Thou could even try drizzle chocolate sauce over everything. (It has not been tried, but it soundeth pretty rather well.)

**canst thou guess who hath been quoted thus?

GF Experiment Diary 2

Photo from dailymail.co.uk

      When we turned the calendar page to October I realized that it was time to re-evaluate the special rules that have been shaping my food choices.  I haven't noticed great changes in the way I feel - which even without a blood test pretty much eliminates Celiac disease - but there were enough subtle improvements that I'm not certain I want to return to "normal" eating habits just yet.  And rather than debate the whole gluten free issue with myself in the public arena of this blog, I decided to instead share with you some of the resources I've found most helpful since this experiment began.  Its the list I wish someone would have handed me when we started.  Although, I don't know if I would have been inclined to value it or give it much credence had I not had to go through the effort of researching it myself.  :)
      Though there have been a lot of web-sites I have browsed in the last two months, only a few stood up to time-tests that allowed them to stick around in my web favorites folder. For example:  The Spunky Coconut has some really great looking recipes, but frankly I can't afford her pantry.  So I moved on to another site.
It would have been extreamly helpful to have found the "Going Gluten Free" and "Gluten Free ABC's" pages over at the Gluten-free Goddess blog when we first started.  Trying to figure out just what we could eat and what was off limits, not to mention all the different ways gluten is snuck into food, was really overwhelming.
I mentioned in the Gingerbread post that I used an all-purpose gluten free flour mix.  The mix I originally started with was from the King Arthur Flour blog, and is pretty simple.  And I quote:

"Whisk together:

6 cups (32 ounces) King Arthur stabilized brown rice flour; 

2 cups (10 3/4 ounces) potato starch; and 

1 cup (4 ounces) tapioca flour or tapioca starch. 

Store airtight at room temperature. Note: You can substitute white rice flour for the brown rice flour if you like; it'll make your baked goods grittier (unless you manage to find a finely ground version)."

      Of course, I didn't have stabilized brown rice flour, so I simply milled some brown rice in my mum's wheat grinder at the finest setting I could choose and used that.  Seemed to work just fine.  (However, it should be noted that, in using mum's wheat grinder, I contaminated my flour with the gluten that was residue from previous grinding sessions.  It might seem like minuscule amounts, but it does count.  Especially for someone who has Celiac.)

      Shauna over at Gluten-free Girl has a nice flour blend guide, too, as well as a definitive explanation of why she doesn't use xantham gum or guar gum in her GF baking.  (I couldn't help going, "Eeewww!" when I read what xantham gum is.)  Who knew that flax and chia seeds were so helpful?  I had sort-of accidentally discovered the chia seed secret when I dumped a spoonful or two of chia seed meal in a batch of pancakes one morning and Sharpi commented on the nice texture that was no longer crumbly and falling apart.   Regardless of where my eating habits go from here, I think I'm going to keep the pancake recipe we've been using lately.  It's just that good.  
      So far one of the things that frustrates me most about trying to make my own gluten-free baked goods is the amount of starches in the all-purpose mixes.  Shauna's mix does have more whole grains in it than the King Arthur version, but it is still more than I would like to use.  Some things, like pancakes and muffins, don't seem to need the lightening starches to achieve success: unfortunately, fussier things like bread do.  I'm still reading about that . . . I have hope that, if only I could master the concept of baking by ratio, I might be able to get the mixes (and subsequently bread) where I wanted them to be.  I'll keep you posted.    That's the beauty of the modern technology called "blogging" . . . . when you get tired of me talking you can move on without hindrance.
So before I quit talking about GF - for now - are there any questions or curiosities you've wondered about as we've been going through this experiment?  Feel free to ask.

Freedom Isn't Free

      There are quite a few people that have written moving essays on how freedom isn't really free; how it is dearly bought by the pain and sacrifices of the soldiers serving on the front-lines.  Some even bring to light the fact that the families of our soldiers are part of the purchase of freedom as they hold down the home-front.

      This is not such an essay.  We wish it was, but we're a little too close to the subject to wax eloquent.  Instead, it is a plea for prayer - not on our behalf, but for our soldier and his family.

      On Wednesday our brother, The Soldier, deployed to Afghanistan.  Officially he has been told that this deployment will last nine months; he warned us it would be better to plan for a year because the army has a way of changing things last minute.  We were able to Skype with him and his family a couple times over the weekend.  Tuesday evening they called and we were able to pray for him as a family.
      We are so proud of him, and so grateful that he has chosen to defend the freedom this country has begun to take for granted.  We know that God is just as capable of watching out for The Soldier whether he is in Afghanistan or our back yard; we know He is going to be watching out for our sister-in-love just as much now that her husband is absent as when he was home.  But we also readily admit that this absence is going to make the next year a bit difficult.  And as much as we already miss him, his wife and children are going to miss him more.
      So when you think about us, would you also spare a minute to pray for The Soldier, Sorelle, and their three little boys?

A Treasured Gift - Day One

   The first day of our Grand Adventure drew nearer and nearer, bringing with it an air of excitement that stirs in the very pit of your stomach.  You know the feeling, that jittery, almost sugar or caffeine induced buzz that makes you feel unsettled to the point of nauseous, yet intensely eager at the same time.
   As eagerly as I was looking forward to this trip there was a point, about three days before we left, that I didn't want it to come.  I knew very well that once it was here time would fly by far quicker than seemed possible and it would be over and done with.   I am not saying I wasn't looking forward to the trip, the reality was that I became more excited the closer it came.  But I wished I could hit a pause button and relish the anticipation just a little while longer, for I once again realized just how fast time does pass. When you are living day to day, doing the same things you always do and going about your life, time seems to melt together in a seamless pattern that flows by without much thought given it.  For me the realization of the passing of time is most often the sharpest when I am looking forward to something - time seems to slow to an almost imperceptible crawl, and then, when the greatly anticipated day comes it is over seemingly as fast as the gentle intake of a breath.

   So, before I even get into the details of our Grand Adventure I would like to offer forward a simple challenge to you - take a moment today and enjoy something - it could be nothing more than stepping out your door and taking a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air and admiring the scene around you; smiling as you revel in the sound of your children; admiring the ethereal softness of the clouds above you; or the few beautiful notes trilled by a little bird.  Just stop for the briefest second to fully enjoy the moment you are in.

   Now - onto the first day of the precious gift our parents gave us:)
   Seeing as I had determined to enjoy each and every moment of this trip I was surprisingly cheery at 6:30 a.m. the morning of our departure. (And for me that is saying a whole lot! Of course you can't count the first 20-25 minutes, my body may have been up and obeying me, but my brain activity wasn't there at all:)
Having spent practically the whole week planning and packing (and wiping excess images off camera cards) we had not actually realized just how much stuff we were taking, until we piled it all on the couch that morning.

 

Are you serious?! All of this for a Three Day jaunt?!  Of course we were justified by explaining it all away to the fact that this time of the year a person has to be prepared for any kind of weather; plus we needed extra shoes for when we were walking a lot; and of course I needed my camera and tripod. . . . . . (I still couldn't get past the fact that there was so much!:) 

 Eventually the van was packed, goodbyes said, and we hit the road a mere six minutes later than we had intended. (Yes!)

And because it is such a rare occurrence that I see it, I had to take a picture of the sunrise.

Having seen it, enjoyed its beauty and wiggled around until relative comfort was found - I started my nap.

Nothing much to report for quite awhile - we drove, and drove, and drove, and drove. Scenery was really pretty, we had fun watching the leaves gradually start changing color the farther we got.

Finally we topped a hill and there it was, the gorgeous blue expanse of a sparkling lake!

Because we were ready for a break and some exploring we stopped at a little cafe to order lunch, then set out to find a beach where we could eat and enjoy the beautiful day.

Not being able to find the road that led to the specific beach we wanted we stopped at the first one we came across. Lunch was thoroughly enjoyed as we perched on huge slabs of black rock, gazing out at the rippling water and enjoying the feeling of the sunshine.

Being so excited to start exploring and sifting through rocks we were practically ready to abandon lunch (hungry as we were) after the first two bites:)

 At one point, because I can't seem to stuff the photo-nut in me away into a box (especially when there is water, rocks, and the fact that the perfect photo op is relatively challenging to reach:) I had Irish Rose and Chickadee pick their way carefully out to a pretty slab of flat(ish) type rocks a few feet off shore to arrange themselves in comfortable positions while I set up the tripod.  Then I hit the button and dashed like mad to reach the same spot without; tripping over the tripod, slipping off the stones (word of advice, even if the dry rocks do take longer to traverse, you'll probably make better time on them than the partially submerged, slime covered ones that look as though you'd be over them in three seconds), breaking any bones, or splashing water on the other two - in the space of 10 seconds. (Oops, try again. . . . .oops, try again. . . . . Oops. . . . .good enough! At least you can see me in that one. . . )

It was loads of fun - until I discovered that there was an odd, black line slashing diagonally across all the pictures I'd just taken.  Not being able to ignore the uneasy knot in the pit of my stomach I sat down on a rock and literally took my camera apart trying to figure out what was wrong; I could just imagine a delicate lens somewhere in the inner workings had gotten scratched and the entire thing was ruined.   Finally deciding there was nothing that could be done about it right then, I packed the camera away and went to join my sisters as we began our rock hunt in earnest.

We settled into our room that night with utter contentment.  

Worn out as we were we all opted to take a quick catnap before heading out to see what kind of shops the town offered before getting takeaway for supper.

Mmm, looks good doesn't it? 

Our last event before returning to our room for the night was a walk out to the point.  The lodge we were staying at sits on acres and acres of land that offers, among other things, hiking trails. The one we chose led us around the small bay, across the little beach, and up through some woods until we had completed a semi circle and come out on a rocky point that juts out into the lake.  .   .   . the beautiful, gorgeous, amazing, splendid lake of ever changing blue.

As dusk fell, deepening the blue of the water to silky shades of deep blue-gray, we each found our own special seat and simply sat, soaking in the splendor and beauty of the lake as we listened to the waves crashing against the rocks; watching as invisible breezes danced across the top of the rippling water.

(Listen to me, waxing all poetical)

Loathe as we were to leave it we did eventually return to our room, where we were given one last cherished item of the day (a small treasure hunt from our parents:) before settling in to get some rest before continuing our adventure the next morning.

Gluten Free Brownies

      If asked what the most epic of failures is - so far - in my Gluten-free cooking experience, I'd have to say it is a toss up between my mum's birthday cake and the bean brownies.  Although, when you come right down to it, the fact that the birthday cake got eaten and the brownies got tossed is pretty definative. 
  If asked what my most appreciated success was, I'd have to say . . . . .  the brownies.  Huh?  Not the Bean Brownies (epic failure), The Brownies.  There's a difference.

      The Bean Brownies were a horrible study in contradiction.  Visually it was a nice brownie.  Unfortunately that is where the 'nice' ended: texturally it was moist, but it tasted incredibly dry.  There are some things that can't be fully explained - this would be one of them.  (By the way, Mrs. B . . . if you want to pass along your recipe for Black Bean Brownies, I'd like to see it.  I'm pretty sure whatever I tried was not what you had in mind when you said they were good.)

      On the other hand, we have The Brownies, adapted from GlutenFreeGoddess's Dark Chocolate Brownies.  When I mixed up the batter it tasted like brownie batter; when I slid it in the oven, it smelled like brownies.  And they tasted yum . . . just like normal brownies.  I was ecstatic!  And I wanted to share them with you.  But like most things, there were details I wanted to tweak . . . the first time I made them I substituted coconut flour for the almond meal, which worked but we weren't terribly fond of the fiberous texture it added.  And they were too sweet - ridiculously so.  Then again, there are people in this house who would tell you that it is near impossible for me to leave a good thing alone. 
      So I sat down today with my kitchen notebook, the Dark Chocolate Brownie recipe, and the recipe I used to use pre-GF.  (Aside from the flours used, the recipes were very similar.)   And there are a few things that we'll do differently next time . . . .

      Those are some pretty light brownies . . . I think the word I used when I pulled them out of the oven was "blond".  So it is definitely more of a "milk chocolate" brownie than "rich" or "dark".  But they'll do.  For now.    At least now I know the flour combination works, the texture turns out quite well, and the sugar ratio is almost right.

      Say hello to our Cast of Characters!  (Hey, look at that - this time Sugar made it.)  Here we have:

5 oz chocolate chips, which equals a generous 3/4 cup (I should have used baking chocolate - live and learn)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup coconut oil

(or you can use a full half cup of one or the other)

1 cup sugar (gahh!!)

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup buckwheat flour*

1/2 cup rice flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

*Before we get too far into this, I should mention that I added a little chia meal to this.  I threw about a tablespoon in my mum's electric coffee grinder, buzzed it a few times . . .

 . . . and threw it in the bottom of the measuring cup before I started to measure out the buckwheat flour.  I figured it would work really well as a binding agent instead of the gums I'm trying to avoid.  Okay - back to the recipe.

     Before we get started, lets preheat our oven to 350 F.  Now the fun part.  :)  Put your chocolate chips and butter/coconut oil in a saucepan and melt over medium heat.

      Get it nice and melty . . . and then exercise some self control and refrain from eating it right out of the pan as is.  Tough, I know, but it will be worth it later.  Once that is done remove it from the heat, and while it is cooling - and you're not sticking your fingers in for just a small taste - measure your dry ingredients into a bowl.  Make a little dip in the center and pour in the whisked eggs and vanilla.

      The instructions say to pour the eggs and chocolate in at the same time, but my chocolate was still a bit warm.  And runny, scrambled chocolate eggs didn't sound appealing.  So I did the eggs first, and then added the chocolate.

(Don't eat it yet, don't eat it yet, don't!) 

 . . . . ahem!  Once you get the chocolate in there, beat the stuff until it is a bit glossy.  Then pour it in your greased pan. 

(I will not eat the batter, I will not eat the batter . . . .)

Now smooth it out nice.  We don't want the Franklin Mountain Range to show up in our oven.  Ahh . . . that's better. 

(Now its okay to lick the spatula . . . if you really want to.  Just don't "find" a batter wrinkle that needs fixing afterwards. )
 

      Slide it into the oven and bake for 32-35 minutes, or until the brownies are set.  And while you're waiting, clean up.  No really - of all the details that go along with cooking, this is the one I am most likely to forget.  Unless my recipe involves half of the mixing-bowls in our cupboard, various measuring utensils and a dozen mixing spoons clean up should only take about five minutes.  So I'm not quite sure why I end up delaying this part . . . . yet another thing I need to work on.

      Once your brownies are done go ahead and sample - although they really are a little easier to cut when they've been given a chance to cool a little.  Oh yum!  (Please don't count all the "taste tests" that are missing from our original photo.)  When we got serious about serving up a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of mint chocolate sauce made it fancy.  Oh sigh . . . . it doesn't get any yummier than that.  Gluten or not.