The Best Brownies

Here's the recipe for some darn good brownies. I searched high and low for a recipe like this, and I've learned some do's and don'ts throughout the years. Take heed, lest you have a pan full of junk.

8 (1oz) squares unsweetened Baker's Chocolate. It's the whole box.
1 C. butter/margarine
5 eggs
3 C. sugar
1Tbsp. vanilla
1 1/2 C. flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat; set aside. When the chocolate is melted, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla at high speed for 10 minutes. Blend in chocolate and flour until just mixed. Pour into greased pan. I use the Pampered Chef bar pan, which is 10x15 or something, but you can also use a 9x13 cake pan. They may need to bake a couple of minutes longer.

Bake for 25 minutes. Check to see if the center is done. I've learned that if the tester comes out a little messy, they're probably done. If it's total goo let them bake for a couple minutes more, but it's very important that they don't overbake!

They're great with or without frosting. I definitely prefer them with mint frosting. I don't have a recipe for frosting. I dump stuff in a bowl until it tastes good and is the right consistency. If you have a good butter cream frosting recipe, use that and add a teaspoon-ish of mint extract.

I hope you all love them as much as I do.

Brownieliciousness

So there are these brownies that I love to make. I made them today for the first time in a long time, and I made a startling discovery. I'd like to share it with everyone, because I'm pretty sure it's changed my life forever.

Do you ever frost brownies and cut them, only to have brownie and frosting collect on the knife and tear apart the rest of the row? I'm not patient enough to wait for the frosting to set so this is usually a problem for me. Well, I had the idea to put the frosted brownies in the freezer for about 5 minutes to set the frosting. It worked great! Mmmm. Fudgy, minty, chewy deliciousness.

The Best 252 Million Moments of Our Lives

Today is our 8th Anniversary (just over 252 million seconds) so I thought I'd pay tribute to the woman that brings out the best in me and makes everything worth it. We've been together for a little over 11 years now and it just keeps getting better. So here's to Katrina.

Sorry for the amount of photos but I thought they were kind of fun.

Back in 1997, I met this incredible girl, Katrina.

I was a punk kid but somehow managed to rope her in.

We had some good times together. You know, going to Institute dances,

And even a Renaissance Fair, where Katrina won me lots of prizes.

Fortunately, we both knew that I had better serve a mission. So off to Brazil I went (where we baptized a photographer).

When I returned, things picked right back up where they left off and we were engaged.

And married in the Salt Lake Temple.

We loved the married life

And even did a bit of traveling.

After a few years we were ready to start a family (Anders in the oven here).

And somehow, after three kids, she just keeps getting hotter.

So here's to you, Katrina. I sure do love ya, bud. (sorry - inside joke)
Your eternally pale and scrawny homeboy,
Nizzle.

Addie as Joe Dirt

Addie cut her hair tonight. She used to have a cute side-swept bang thing going on. Now she looks like a little Joe Dirt.

This is what she looked like before 6:00 pm MDT. See how happy she is?

This is what she looks like at present, splotchy red face and all.

I know it's hard to tell from the picture, but the top of her hair is an inch long! What am I going to do with it?

The mullet is nothing new to Addie. She sported a serious one from infancy to age 2 1/2 as we waited and waited and waited for the top of her hair to grow. I guess she missed the good old days of her youth.

Blinded

My children are selectively blind. I don't know what caused it for Anders, but for Addie it may have something to do with her licking rocks from the Provo River. Who knows?

We dumped the kids in the bath before bedtime tonight. Unfortunately, Addie inherited her mother's frizz. Her hair must be combed before it dries or she looks like a Q-tip that's been pulled on.

Me (in the kitchen): Addie, we need to comb your hair. Will you get me the comb?
Addie (in the bathroom): I don't know where it is.
Me: Look in the bathroom drawer.
Addie: I can't.
Me: You can't open the bathroom drawer?
Addie: No.
Me: Please find a comb.
Addie: I can't find it.

I went into the bathroom, and it was 2 inches away from her face. I said, "Look!" and Addie said, with a surprised chuckle, "Oooohhh! There it is!"

The eldest child, Anders, is amazingly adept at losing shoes. I think it's his selective blindness.

Me: Anders, we have to leave in 2 minutes. Please get your shoes on.
Anders: I can't find them.
Me: Did you look under your bed, in your closet, in the shoe basket...
Anders: I looked everywhere! I guess they grew legs and walked away.
Me: Anders. LOOK.
Anders: I DID!

There, in the middle of his floor...shoes! Sometimes he really can't find his shoes. He can always find his moon boots, though. As much as I like Napoleon Dynamite, I don't want my kid resembling him.

Are your kids selectively blind, or did mine just lick too many river rocks?

Da Bomb

A few nights ago we came across a website Nils "built" many, many moons ago. In addition to the multitude of obnoxious animated gifs, it included one of our deepest, darkest secrets: Da Bomb.

When we were newly married, Nils felt it necessary to put his "mad skills" to work in the form of this song. He made me be his fly girl. I have to say, the catchiest part of the song, that you WILL have stuck in your head for the rest of your life, is the one line I sing. Over and over and over. More impressive is Nils' innate ability to rap.

We were laughing so hard when we listened to it. It would be selfish not to share it with the world. If there are any record producers reading this, YES, we will sign on to your label.

Prepare yourselves for the best 3 minutes of your lives.
If you don't see the player here, you can click on the title of this post to listen.

Surprise, Surprise

Anyone know any good 'A' names?

The last couple of weeks I've been having that ridiculous exhaustion; the kind that I've only experienced when I'm pregnant. I took the test just to rule it out...we honestly didn't think it would be positive. Needless to say, this was a shocker! We are excited, though. We've always wanted 4 kids, so this means we're DONE! I never thought I'd have babies 18 months apart. Thank goodness Anders will be in kindergarten, so that will relieve the chaos a little.