My Brownies

Mom has asked for my brownie recipe, so I thought I'd share it. The key to these super-rich brownies is to use dark cocoa (mine is called Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa). I also found some caramels (like the wrapped cubes you melt to make caramel apples) that were not wrapped and they were shaped like chocolate chips. Those were great to use, but if you can't find them, just unwrap a bunch and cut them into smaller pieces.

Sarah's Absolute Favorite Brownies
1/2 C. plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 C. special dark cocoa
1/4 C. (regular) cocoa
2/3 C. white sugar
2/3 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. dark chocolate chips
1/2 C. chewy caramels
1/2 C. chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. oil
3 eggs

I put the dry ingredients in a clear, quart-sized jar one ingredient at a time and make layers (like sand art) and add a tag that says "When ready to bake, pour contents of jar in a large mixing bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 cup of oil, and 3 eggs. Stir until blended. Pour into a greased 9-inch pan and bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees." These brownie mixes make great gifts for teachers, neighbors, or me, or they can be stored in the pantry for a quick-mix when you are in the mood for this chocolaty goodness.

I had a recipe I had gotten from MOPS, and I made these up for Will's teachers for Christmas gifts and some neighbors. However, like I do with every recipe, I made some changes (the dark chocolate chips, dark cocoa, and caramel chips). I forgot to taste them before they were distributed, then one night I couldn't sleep because I couldn't quit thinking that maybe I had given awful-tasting gifts. The next morning I made up a batch & they were the best I've ever had. The teachers all wanted the recipe, so they must've been tasty. Allen made some for Mom's birthday a few days ago, and she liked them too. Enjoy!

Liver Tea (nope, not a recipe)

I never realize how dependent I am on the internet until I lose it . . . (the internet, I mean). This weekend we had some huge storms so we unplugged everything. Somehow one of the cable wires got bent strangely, so we weren't able to get our cable modem to work for the last 5 days. It's been repaired, and I am so happy to have access to the outside world.

The weekend was very rainy, but we managed to get out for a short time to wander around a plant nursery and a few furniture stores. I prepared many meals, and we ate some yummy food. There are the little things that have been happening with the kids that seem like the highlights for the week. . . Jon and Maddie gave me kisses!!! Last night I was sitting on the floor and Allen was on the couch. When Jon climbed down off of Allen I mused aloud, "I wonder if Jon is coming to give his mama a kiss?" He picked up on the hint, and holding the couch, he walked himself over to me and stuck his outer lip out like a happy pout (that is his kissy face) and kissed me. A little bit later, I asked Maddie for a kiss and she leaned toward my face with an open mouth like she would bite my nose. At the very end she blinked hard, nodded, and made kiss lips and giggled after she kissed me. I wish I could explain better how adorable they are when they do that. Ben is still working hard to reach the television and DVD/VCR. He will line toys up under them and climb them to push buttons. When I get the toys away from the TV, he climbs the chair and leans way over to try to reach the buttons. When that fails, he takes his little monkey toes and holds tight to the edge and starts walking his legs up the set. When I get him down, he huffs with determination, and looks for another way. This is definitely a determined little guy. All three babies are darling during our dinner blessings. Maddie folds her hands together, Jon laces his fingers together, and Ben uses one hand to tightly squeeze the fingers of the other hand. They are still working on saying "Amen," and some nights they say "A-ma!" or " 'men!" and other times they just do the sign language for it. Maddie babbles when Will is saying the prayer; she must think she is praying, too. Wouldn't it be neat to know what a baby says to God?

Will has been serenading us with a song of Herman the Worm and can recite the Pledge of Allegiance. It is impressive that he says all of it, but it's hard not to chuckle when he finishes it with "Indivisible, with liver tea and justice for all!" I'll take the justice, but the liver tea better be on the side.

One day last fall, Will came home from preschool and asked, "Mama, what does justice mean?" Please tell me how to define justice for a (then) three-year old without using any other words that will make him ask for another definition. A little while later, "Mama, what is liver tea?" I had NO idea how to answer that. I figured he heard "justice" on his Superman cartoon, but I had no idea where to start with liver tea. When he asked "What does un-de-visible mean?" I put all the parts together and realized he was learning the Pledge.

Grocery shopping & Fish Feast recipe

I decided on a bit of a whim to go grocery shopping with the babies for the second time this week. On Tuesday, I put them in the wagon at the grocery store and they did really well while I was shopping for our basics for the week. Today, after I dropped Will off at school we did it again, but this time with the mega-list in hand. The comments we get at the store crack me up. So many people comment that they've never seen triplets. My answer, "Duh! Do you realize how challenging it is to shop with all of them?" (No I don't really say that, . . .well . . . maybe I've said it outloud a few times. Here is why it is a challenge:

1. It is difficult to push a heavy cart while pulling a circus train and steering both so that I don't run into people, carts, or aisles, and so that the little ones cannot reach things on the shelf. I've learned when they start reaching things, they think it's fun to pull everything down.

2. It is frustrating when we pass bananas and all three scream "nanana - nanana!" at the top of their lungs then cry when I don't give them one. That's the perfect moment to pull out the goldfish and give each of them a handful. Luckily, they aren't into candy and other sweet treats like their brother is.

3. When my trunk is full of the wagon and the carseats are full of kids, there is very little room left to get the groceries home. I don't want to get them out and into the wagon for just a couple of things, so we make the most of the trip and hope we found the perfect amount to fit.

We filled the cart with produce and meat and had just a little room left for some canned goods and spices I need for the new recipes. All three kids are very well behaved in the wagon, but I could tell when we reached the point of exhaustion (for me and for Ben, who was ready for his nap.) They all fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep while I put away all the groceries.

We got two 5-pound chickens, 6 pounds of chicken wings, 24 chicken breast halves, a 10 pound ham, 6 pounds of roast, 6 pounds of sirloin strips, 2 pounds of tomatoes, 1 pound of cole slaw, 2 bunches of green onion, 3 mangos, 4 pounds of red potatoes, 8 onions, 2 bags of celery hearts, half a pound of ginger root, 3 green peppers, 3 zucchini, a dozen bananas, 3 pounds of mini carrots, a bundle of parsley, and some other canned goods. We don't always buy this much meat and produce at one time, but we plan to cook a lot this weekend -- in case you didn't know, Allen and I love cooking together. When we make time to cook, we make enough in each recipe that we have several meals that are ready to pull out of the freezer and heat and eat. I didn't have room to get all the seafood and dairy products, but I can go tonight after the kids are in bed. Here are some of the main dishes I've planned to cook this weekend. Most of these are new recipes, so I'll taste them before I post recipes: Roast beef, Asian beef & veggie wraps, Asian steaks, Jumbalaya, roasted chicken, crock pot Italian chicken, Thai chicken wings, grilled garlic chicken (with mango salsa), herbed flounder, and fish and veggies, assorted ham recipes. If all my calculations are right, we should end up freezing about 30 meals. I know we love this recipe; it is light and tasty:



Fish Feast (about 8 servings)
3 pounds orange roughy (I've used frozen)
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1 large onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, cut in 1" pieces
2 unpeeled zucchini, sliced
14-oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup white grape juice



Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Place fish in first. Mix all other ingredients and pour over fish. Cover and cook on high 2-3 hours until fish is flakey, but not overdone.
I don't like left over fish, so I split this recipe like this: I keep half the fish frozen and I assemble everything else as the recipe says. Then I put half of the veggie mix in a freezer bag. I package the frozen fish with the veggie bag (in a big ziplock bag) so they are ready to go when I am ready to cook them.

A long walk with Will (et al.)

What seems like "too much information" right now might be just the right amount of detail when I read about this day in a few years. Today is windy and cloudy, but the temperature is just right for the windows to be open and bringing in fresh air. The house is still in a bit of disarray with clean (yes, folded) laundry and unpacked suitcases still out in several rooms. The dishes in the dishwashed are clean and need to be put away so I can clear the dirty ones off the counter. There are toys littering the living room and all the beds need to be made. Why bother? Playing with the kids is more fun. All four kids are in great moods today, so we had fun playing with the ball machine, the dress-up hats, and pretend kitchen. We had fun making noises, clapping our hands, and tickling each other. The rooms were filled with laughter. When the tears and whining started, it was naptime. While the babies snoozed, Will and I played a Berenstain Bear game on the computer. The kids and I had a tasty lunch of scrambled eggs cooked with leftovers bacon, creamed spinach, and yummy gruyere sauce. We had sides of canned mandarin oranges and white cheddar cheese-its. While we ate, Shadow sat at the backdoor waiting impatiently to be let in so he could "vacuum" the kitchen floor under the three highchairs. All four kids inhaled the food and then we all went for a long walk. I let Will choose the pace and the path, so we stopped to observe a lot of little things. The triplets were happy to be outside and in the circus train; they had their feet up and were humming and chattering while they nibbled on Teddy Grahams. Along the way, we stopped and compared an ant to an itty-bitty bug, looked at all the prickly thorns on a pretty cactus-like weed, smelled the dogwood flowers and azaleas, picked a few small yellow puffs of petals, blew on fuzzy dandelions, counted a lot of pinecones, wondered what that was (trash), investigated the baby pinecones on a broken pine branch, climbed the ladder and crossed the bridges at the park, let the little ones out of the wagon to play in the grass, pulled pebbles out of Ben's mouth, took away a stick Maddie was gnawing, watched Jon study a lot of the rocks and sticks the others passed over, visited with an elderly neighbor, kicked sand and made a dusty cloud, watched a forklift move piles of lumber at a new home site, and checked for mail in our mailbox. It was peaceful, we all enjoyed it, and it entertained the kids for about and hour and a half.

When we got home, I put the little kids down for nap #2 and Will and I read stories until it was time for his nap. Now that they are all asleep, I am writing everything down while it is fresh on my mind and catching up on the parts of the TV shows I missed. Here are my takes on this week's episodes of reality shows I watch.

Jon & Kate Plus 8 -- I only watched one of them & was saddened. Jon & Kate took all the kids to the Crayola factory & Kate had a fit when the kids (ages 3 and 7, I think) wanted to do the crafts. She said "no" a lot because she didn't want to spend a day doing stain treatment on the marker and chalk spots on eight outfits.

My take: it's okay for kids to be messy. Let them make a mess; they are washable. Most days I am okay with messy kids, many days I thrive on it. Clothes can be replaced, but creativity has to be nurtured. Look what Will made on the porch yesterday while I made dinner! I am so proud of his drawing of himself and his name next to it. He did this all by himself. Oh, he was a mess, all right -- chalk all over his clothes. . . Dancing with the Stars -- I was only impressed with a few of the dancers. I think the final three should be Kristy Yamaguchi, Mario, and (my favorite) Jason Taylor.

American Idol -- Who will go tonight? I think any of these could, and I wouldn't be heartbroken: Ramielle, Kristy Lee, Syesha, Chikezie. Since Kristy Lee sang "God Bless the USA," she will be around for a bit longer. Simon said it was a brilliant song choice & I agree; it would be blasphemous not to vote for her, right? Personally (and my husband agrees), they should quit the competition now and give the mic to David Cook. He continues to be awesome!

Happy Easter

(Want to know our secret? . . . we knew it would be cold and damp on Easter morning, so we did the egg hunt Saturday just before dinner). We let Will look for his eggs first; it was challenging enough to keep him busy, excited, and entertained, and just difficult enough that we are still missing an egg. After he found all his eggs in the backyard, we took the little ones to the front to collect eggs scrattered in the grass. Will joined the fun and tried to show Ben, Maddie, and Jon how to pick up an egg and put it in the basket. He was so sweet with them. Maddie held her yellow egg, Jon's first was green, and Ben finally got into the game and spotted a blue one. I think Jon may have gone to get one other egg, but otherwise, the adults and big brother had to pick up the eggs and put them in the babies' baskets. The babies were content to sit in one place and rattle the eggs. Maddie quickly took all of hers out and threw them on the ground, then scrambled to get them back in the basket just as fast. She did that several times and never got bored with the game. Jon and Ben figured out that there were sweet treats inside and they got a bit chocolatey. For me, it was fun to watch their joy and surprise as they discovered the noises, colors, and m&m's inside. When we sat the four down for an Easter photo, Jon stole Maddie's eggs while she was taking Ben's. All the kids had a great time. Yup, it was fun!

Unfortunately, the little ones are still supposed to stay away from other kids, so we haven't been to church in awhile. I am really looking forward to going back. I miss being at church, but I am fortunate that our church services are on the local TV station on Sunday mornings. Amidst the colored eggs and baskets of candy, is the real blessing. . .Will knows (and the others are learning) the reason we celebrate Easter is because God sent Jesus to save us.

Baby's first haicut (times 2)

Here is the before picture (Ben is on the left, Jon on the right):Here they are after:

Ben and Jon both got thier locks trimmed today. Although I did get pictures, I am so sad that I forgot to pick up a few pieces of their baby hair. Pre-cut, Ben's hair was very straight except for a tiny little curly-Q at the very bottom of the back of his head. Jon's, on the otherhand, was very curly -- especially when it was wet. He had a "superman curl" in the middle of his forehead, and several others all over his head. Both of the boys had pretty bad bed-heads when they woke up or after they had been in thier carseats. I really wish I had a little bot of the baby hair, because now they are looking like little boys. { s i g h }

Both guys were very calm and well-behaved. It helped that the hair-dresser had a little bag of goldfish, but I was so glad it went smoothly (except for forgetting the hair . . .)

When we got back from the hair cuts, Allen and Dad went fishing. After the little ones woke up from naps, they fussed for Daddy because they could see him from the kitchen window. I went to a crop at the scrapbook store and had a good time doing several projects and visiting with other ladies who share my insane hobby.

Will is not home

This week Will is at my parents' hanging out with Granddad (since Gramma had to work). I am glad he is having fun hiking, fishing, learning about critters from Granddad, and eating ice cream; however, I love, love, LOVE it when he calls. His high pitched pre-school voice is so happy to be talking to me. Last night he called and asked me to sing his lullaby (this week it is the ABCs). Odd as it feels singing on the phone, I did it. It brought tears to my eyes when he joined my at Q. I don't know why it made me teary, it was just so sweet that his pure, albeit off-key, noise was joining mine. . . .and I really miss him.

Allen and I watched the American Idol results last night, and we thought it was a little too soon for Amanda to go home. I don't actually vote, so I probably have no right to complain, but I can so I will. I was surprised that Ramiele wasn't in the bottom three and that Carly and Amanda were. As for Kristy Lee, I can't believe she is hanging on still. And I think it is absolutely horrid that American Idol and Dancing with the Stars overlap on Tuesday nights!! How am I to decide which to watch?? This Tuesday, we mostly watch Idol since I can easily catch all the dances online. But the guys danced Monday and we all (I apologize to Allen for revealing that, but the triplets were still up & he was helping herd the cats) watched the guys dance while we switched to Jon & Kate during the commercials. Yup, all my TV habits occur on Monday and Tusday nights. I missed Mario dancing & he had the high score from the guys night, but I didn't miss Jason Taylor -- wow! He is a hottie, I had to watch him online later & he is really graceful. It will be interesting to see if he can pull off the Latin dance as well as he did the foxtrot. . . .and the girls? No surprise to me that Kristi Yamaguchi started the season with 27 of 30 points from the judges. As a skated she had to focus a lot on posture, motion, acting the part. Overall, we thought the women danced better than the men, but it should be a fun season. I am so sad that my favorite professional dancer, Julianne Hough, was paired with Adam Corolla. He will be out of there very quickly, and I won't get to watch her dance. So sad, so sad. There is my reality show bad habit shining through. Which reality shows have I seen this week? American Idol, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Dancing with the Stars, Living with the Mek Tribe, Iron Chef America. I think that's it. Allen will comment if I missed anything.

Today I need to pack for our Easter weekend at my folks'. Will is looking forward to "Eastertime" and he plans on it starting when we arrive. It might be a challenge to his patience waiting until Sunday for an egg-hunt, but he is eggsited. Tomorrow Ben & Jon will get their hair cut for the first time, and in the evening, I am going scrapbooking. I am sure Allen and Dad will compete to see who can catch a bigger bass, and Will will probably join them with his new SpongeBob fishing pole. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will all have a great time. Happy Easter!